The Washington times., 1928-07-12
CHAMPION
STRESSES
DIE 7
BY Gene Tunney

SPECULATION, n. :, July
12.As time for my contest
with Tom Heeney draws
eadily nearer, the food prob
I'm grows more important.
81 is the problem exactly as
Ii appears on the face.
Every day now I must increase
M amount Of work necessary to
tfKin my body up to the apex Of
condition for the fight Of July 2s.
Az the work increases so does the
lfecessit for strong, wholesome FOOD
fn rebuild the body tissues broken
fiown by the heavy exercise OF the
ring. After mealtirne, however,
there must be d period Of perfect
relaxation to ensure equally per-
feet digestion. And that, for the
rn6st part, is the problem
with fine physical drain stead
nv increasing. It e. only natural
that the means Of repIenishing
the stores Of nervous energy
burned up in training must be
attended 60 more carefully.
cannot safely increase the ex-
enditure Of strength until ! am
absolutely certain that the power
plant Ii flInctioning in perfect or
der and easily able to supply any
Nlennalids made upon 1t.
OF course, power and strength Is
nothing more than nervous energy
and can be stored up in the body In
three ways-ti1e utilization Of food,
sleep, or complete mental relaxation
without dropping into condition
Of sI1nber.
Nervous energy is expended In
four ways /. Through worry, which
attempt to avoid at all times in the
belief that normal-minded men
should be above giving way to a con.
dition that saps precious strength,
needed for whatever is ahead, with.
orr aiding the situation the tiniest
bit.
2. Brain work, More energy is ex-
pended in writing this story than I
normally burn up in a four or five
mile hike.
3. Physical work. Whether IL
b the ordinary pick and shovel
work Of q day IabOrer or the RE.
OrOus training Of an athlete,
nervous energy Is expended di.
recting the moves Of the mus.
eies, voluntary or involuntary.
Especially does this show up in
fIae ring, where the brain must
work at 3 terrific clip TO direct
nkkSaL a,.A ~ANfAuaA
4. Eating. And this is probably
the most important Of all as the
training period enters the final three
weeks.
After eight miles on the road each
morning, / return for breakfast.
When the meal is over must spend
a full hour lolling about, alone il
possible, so as not to exercise my
mind with conversation and thought,
in order to rest while nerve energy
IL being devoted TO digesting my
food.
Even more rest and more careful
attention IL necessary to the diaes-
ton OF my evening meal. the second
Of the day. In between the two
repasts is the entire days program
Of hard work; another walk after
breakfast, boxing in the afternoon.
bag punching, calisthenics, a rub.
down and another walk,
OF necessity the second meal
h the largest and most difficult
TO digest, for the system Is
fatigned. not fresh as it In for
the morning meal. Yet upon
this meal must i depend for the
vast majority Of the food
atrengtb that goes into the
muscular and nervous chaDDeIs.
1T isn't hard for an athlete to
realize why Jack Shsrkey collapsed
and had IN support himself by one
~ the stra nds Of the ropes after
knocking ont Jack Delaney in only
two minutes of fighting this spring.
Even in that short time, Sharkey's
terrific effort burned up every bit
Of nervous energy his body had
stored up in weeks OF strenuous
training. 1t is no wonder then
that must have every ounce of
strength possible for IS rounds
with Tom Heeney.
Copyright. 1928. King Features
g. F..