Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-03-19
PERIL IN ATHLETICS
PHYSICAL EXERCISE SHOULD BE TAKEN IN MODERATION.
Muscle Building Is Not Necessary to Good Health, and Severe Training Weakens the Heart and Nerves and Lowers Vitality.

Weakens the Heart and Nerves and
 Lowers Vitality.
 Once beyond the bounds of mode-a. ton, physical exercise and physical training not only weaken the heart fcs 8 lifetime, pretIispose to pneumonia cause pulmonary tuberculosis and make extra possible a dozen other ills, but they unfit man from being the ideal husband and father.
 Dr. Robert E. Coughln of Brooklyn. says the New York Times, has been collecting statistics upon and follow ing the careers of athletes for years He examined the contestants in ana. teur boxing matches, and the abnormal development of the best of them struck ihim. Magnifcently developed as to their muscles, they were far from be- Beyond certain point the muscular training was at the expense of their vitality. It took away from the heart and lungs. There was scarcely an or gan of the system not affected and made less efficient. It seemed worth while to explore further into the cause
 ''1n regard to the benefit to be de rived from athletics" says the doctor. lone has only to remember the physiol. ogy of exercise to become convinced of the fact that exercise, per SC, may be very beneficial The point to bear in mind is to advise the person to stop before fatigue becomes evident. We can do this readily when the athlete is interested in games for the mere exer- else, but such advice cannot be offered when his aim is to excel in an athletic contest. Here Is where athletics do great harm, and 1t would be a safe rule to advise against all forms of athletics in the nature of contest.
 Athletics may be said to be bcne. dcial until the heart begins to be mark. edly hypertrophied, This is the dan. ger signal
 Hypertrophied is the medical mans way of saying enlarged-that is, the walls or muscles of the heart increase \ In size. Though this is the danger Signal" there is no real danger here, only a warning The danger comes
 
 ertion, the heart dilates, it's interior grows larger, displacing the delicate machinery, causing the valves to leak. Then come "murmurs," and though a man may live for years with weakened valves he may die any day and any moment.
 Does physical exercise, then, build up the general health and make better man out of a man? There seems to be question, with some scientific men saying today very en- phatically, Not unless that physical exercise is very moderate indeed"
 Health, one of the big English all. thorities (Sir Michael Foster) puts it, does not exist. 1t is like happiness. Each has goal or limit which, while seemingly attainable, eludes perfect possession. The body consists of a number of mechanisms which have the closest and most exact relations, and as they approximate to harmony there Is health, but when disordered there is III health.
 Not necessarily does q man by phys ical training and much exercise be- come better man, nor does he even get better health. Here is the striking ievidence of it in scientific statements of the day.
 To obtain good health, muscle build :ng is not a necessity. One cannot judge of persons health by the size and hardness of the muscles. We have seen that the converse may be true. To obtain health one must not be in perfectly trained condition ow- ing to the effects of severe training on the nervous system. There is no evi- dence to prove that athletics and mus cle building improve the constitution. One should always keep in mind the fact that built up or hypertrophed muscle has a tendency to degenerate The heart, being muscular organ, shares in this tendency.
 But the athlete is a man who goes through the severest physical strain and training. If he boxes, runs, is gymnast, football player, wrestler. an expert at baseball or tennis, any sport requiring violent exercise and the constant keeping in trim for 1t, all the rest of his body Is sacrificed for the overdevelorment of these special muscles, and the rest of 1t must some how suffer.
 All the body should develop together. kls 1t were. Body and mind should be built up evenly. If overathletics does nothing else 1t produces wearing and tearing nervous strain.
 When 1t comes to the actual athlete. the man who specializes on some form of physical force and muscle power. these conditions are greatly aggravate cd. Severe athletic training and mus ole building, it Is now an acknowledged fact of science, are at ths expense Of the nervous and glandular systems.
 "An experienced athlete," says one authority, gave as his opinion that