The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-02-09
CHEST EXPANSION A FARCE"
SAYS PHYsIoLoGIsT.

! ABalL am Calle0 upon Tor an
| opinion concerning the outcome of
the Jeffries-Johnson battle; and
again | say that, barring unforeseen
accidents, which so often determine
pugilistic counters, | pick the negro
as a winner.
But they tell me that Jeffries has
greater girth at almost every point
that his muscles are bigger and
| longer than those of Johnson; that,
in short, he is bigger and heavier at
every point save his arms.
Now, in the first place, 1t should
be understood that big muscles do
not necessarily mean great strength,
any more than small muscles neces-
sarily mean weakness.
Muscle is merely the engine; the
instrument of the motor nerves and
the power and rapidity with which
that muscle can contract depends
mainly upon the intensity OF the i'm
pulse conducted to it by the motor
nerves.
In my professional experience
have on numerous occasions seen
patients OF delicate proportions
who, under excitement or mania, ex-
erted muscular strength to control
which required the combined eff
forts of several powerful attend
ants.
On the other hand, we know how,
through fatigue, dissipation, drugs
or fear, an athlete with big, bulging
muscles, may be beaten by fellow
of half his girth, but with a well
nourished and imprisoned nervous
system. A striking instance of this
was furnished in the last battle of
John l.. Sullivan, when the slim,
1.-the, steel-muscled Corbett ended
the big fellows phenomenal puglis-
tic career.
Behind the muscle is the nerve;
behind the nerve is the blood; when
the blood is rich and pure, then we
have strong, quick, nervous action;
and then we shall ever, with small
muscles, have greater physical pow
ers, than if we had the biggest mus
cles on record and inferior nerve
service. Strength is not in the mus
Gle, but in the nerves.
Again ] am reminded by many
people that Jeffries has an unusual
chest expansion-that he can expand
his chest five whole inches, while
Johnson's expansion is only one and
half inches.
OF all the fads, farces and fall
lacies of athletics, this chest expan-
sion is the most ridiculous and mis-
leading.
In the first place, "chest expan-
sion" as usually practiced, depends
only to slight extent upon actual
lung filling, but is due almost en-
tirely to the trick of throwing under
the measuring tape the two big mus
cles of the shoulder, the pectoralis
major in front and the latissimus
dorsi behind.
In the second place, such strain
ing of the muscles and of the bony
cartilaginous structures of the chest
does not increase actual breathing
power, but through stiffening the
chest, really limits the breathing.
This will possibly surprise you, and
you will ask why.
Simply because proper breathing
requires above all things flexibility
of the chest; and the straining of
the chest necessary to gain unusual
expansion" so stiffens it that this
fexibility Is to a large extent lost.
The fallacy is in assuming that be-
cause an athlete can expand his chest
four, seven or more inches he in
hales more air with each breath.
Another fact overlooked or un-
known by those who lay such stress
on chest expansion is that the chest
at the point measured is far less eX-
panded in normal breathing than
other parts of the trunk-the back
and abdomen.
Thus we can see that while in a
prize fight, as in any other form of
physical effort, great breathing pow
er is essential; still, large "chest
expansion" so far from insuring
great breathing power, limits it for
the reasons | have explained.
So in making your prophecies on
the outcome of this much talked of
battle, beware of laying too much
stress on the tales told by the tape
measure; for the tape in athletics
is a gay deceiver. Cirth of muscle
does not mean strength; "chest ex-
pansion" does not mean respiratory
power.
The outcome of the Jeffries-John-
son battle will be determined not so
much by Drawn as by BRAIN not so
much by actual punching power as
by endurance, elusiveness, ring gen
eralship and temperament-the last
most of all. If Johnson wins it will
be because of his remarkable tenn
perament.
FLIES AT SEA.