PRACTICAL TRAINING FOR RUNNING, WALKING, ROWING, WRESTLING, BOXING, JUMPING, AND ALL KINDS OF ATHLETIC FEATS; TOGETHER WITH TABLES OF PROPORTIONAL MEASUREMENTS FOR HEIGHT AND WEIGHT OF MEN IN AND OUT OF CONDITION; INCLUDING HINTS ON EXERCISE, DIET, CLOTHING, AND ADVICE TO TRAINERS; ALSO, BANTING’S SYSTEM OF REDUCING CORPULENCY, AND RECORD OF FAST ATHLETIC PERFORMANCES. BY ED. JAMES, AUTHOR OF “MANUAL OF SPORTING RULES,” “THE GAME COCK,” “TERRIER DOGS,” ETC., ETC. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY ED. JAMES, 88 & 90 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK CLIPPER BUILDING. 1877. Price Fifty Cents.

Twenty-fourth Edition.

PREFACE.

CONTENTS.

PRACTICAL TRAINING.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Training is the process of getting a man who has to perform any muscular feat from a state of obesity and almost total incapability into a perfect state of health, which is shown by the great increase of strength, activity, wind, and power to continue great exertion and pace to the extent of his endowments. It is this acquired power which enables the pedestrian to persevere in his arduous task, apparently in despite of nature, which, but for his thorough preparation, would have long before been utterly prostrate. So much is depending on, and so many results accruing to the efficiency of the trainer, that a few words of friendly advice to that official will not be out of place; for although the veteran has learned the precepts given below by heart, yet there is always a beginning to all occupations. As a rule, a great pedestrian is not qualified at the outset of his career as a trainer to undertake the care of most men, in consequence of there being a leaven of the remembrance of the manner in which he went through his work, etc., which will in most instances render him less tolerant than is requisite to the man of mediocre talent. Another difficulty is to find one with sufficient education and forethought to be able to study the different constitutions of the men under his rule. The above are only a few of the objections; but all are of consequence, so much depending upon the treatment of the man independent of his daily routine of exercise and diet. The man who goes first into training is like an unbroken colt, and requires as much delicate treatment. The temper of the biped ought to be studied as carefully as that of the quadruped, so that his mind can be carefully prepared for his arduous situation, which is one of abstinence, and in some cases total deprivation, which always tries the patience and frequently the temper of the competitor, who in these cases should be encouraged by word and example, showing that the inconveniences he is undergoing are but the preliminary steps to the attainment of that health, strength, and elasticity of muscle which have caused so many before him to accomplish almost apparent impossibilities. Such a trainer is worth a hundred of those who have no judgment in the regulation of the work which a man may take without in any way making him anxious to shun his duty or to turn sullen. Let the trainer bear in mind and always remember that a fit of ill-temper is as injurious to the man in training as any other excess. In many instances, from a supposed well-founded cause of complaint, a continued civil war has arisen in the cabinet, which has not been quelled, perhaps, until the dissension has had a very serious effect in destroying the pedestrian’s confidence in his trainer’s capabilities and temper, as well as throwing back the trained man most materially in his advance towards condition. Nevertheless, the mentor should be firm in his manner, intelligible in his explanations, and by no means bigoted in his favorite notions respecting the use of any particular medicine or “nostrum” which he may think may be requisite to the welfare of his man. The trainer, of course, is known or supposed to be of sterling integrity, and having the welfare of his man as his first aim; and on this in a great measure depends the monetary interests of the man and his backers. We are sorry to have to mention that such a man is requisite as a trainer, but consider it necessary to mention it, as, if the trainer is not honest, and has not his heart in the well-doing of his man, all the pains taken by the pedestrian would be nullified and rendered of no avail. The trainer must be vigilant night and day, never leave his man, and must act according to his preaching, and be as abstemious, or nearly so, as his man, whom it is his duty to encourage in improvement, to cheer when despondent, and to check if there are at any time symptoms of a break-out from the rules laid down—but at all times he must, by anecdote, etc., keep the mind of his man amused, so that he may not brood over the privations he is undergoing. Let the trainer not forget that cleanliness is one of the first rules to be attended to, and that the bath can hardly hurt his man in any season if only due precautions be observed, always bearing in mind that it is a preventive instead of a provocative to colds, catarrhs, and the long list of ills attendant upon a sudden chill. The duration of the bath is, of course, to be limited, and a brisk rubbing with coarse linen cloths until the surface is in a glow will always be found sufficient to insure perfect safety from danger. Of course, the amount of medicine required by any man will depend upon his constitution as well as the lowness of his nervous system, in some cases there being no occasion to administer even a purgative. But these are the times when the skill of the trainer is brought into requisition, and if he knows his business he will in these instances give his man stimulating and generous diet, until he is enabled to undergo the necessary privations to get him into a proper state to be called upon to work to get into condition. In no instance ought he to allow his man to sweat during the days on which he has taken a purgative, as in many instances men have been thrown back in their preparation, or, as it is professionally termed, “trained off.” The best test when all the superfluous flesh has been trained off by sweating, by long walks or runs, as the case may be, is taken from the fairness and brightness of the skin, which is a certain criterion of good health. The quickness with which perspiration is dried on rubbing with towels, sufficient leanness and hardness of the muscles, is also the right test that reducing has been carried to the proper extent.

TRAINING FOR PEDESTRIANISM.

SLEEP.

CLOTHING.

TIME AND DURATION OF TRAINING FOR RUNNING.

SPRINT RUNNING.

QUARTER AND HALF MILE RUNNING.

ONE MILE RUNNING AND UPWARDS.

HURDLE RACING.

HINTS IN, BEFORE, AND AFTER THE RACE.

TRAINING PRACTICE, FAIR WALKING, ETC.

HIGH JUMPING.

BROAD JUMPING.

HAMMER THROWING.

PUTTING THE STONE.

TRAINING FOR ROWING, ETC.

TRAINING FOR LONG-DISTANCE GO-AS-YOU-PLEASE CONTESTS.

TRAINING FOR BASEBALL.

ADVICE TO BUSINESS MEN AND OTHERS.

THE LATE JOHN MORRISSEY’S VIEWS.

TRAINING IN REGARD TO PUGILISM AND WRESTLING.

PRINCIPAL MUSCLES USED BY THE ATHLETE.

TEMPERAMENT.

GROWTH AND DECAY.

MEATS, ETC., TO BE AVOIDED.

NATURAL SWEATING.

ARTIFICIAL SWEATING.

SWEATING LIQUORS.

TREATMENT OF THE FEET, HANDS, SINEWS, Etc.

Soft Corns.—Pick off with the nails as much as possible; next day apply caustic, rubbing it in; afterward keep a piece of carded cotton between the toes night and day.

Hard Corns.—Pare off the hard cuticle; then apply tincture of iodine with a brush or caustic.

Hardening the Flesh.—Lemon juice is one of the simplest and best for rubbing on the hand. Horseradish grated and mixed with vinegar is also good. Whiskey poured in the shoe is frequently used.

Bunions.—Apply two or three leeches every day for a week; when the bites are well, brush with tincture of iodine every other day. An application of “Papier Fayard” is sometimes very beneficial.

Boils.—Apply linseed poultice, or open it with a knife. If on the “seat of honor,” apply a plaster spread on leather, and composed of equal parts of mercurial and opiate plaster. Do not use the knife. To those subject to boils use the following as a preventative: take nitrate of silver, from fifteen to twenty grains to the ounce, made into a wash, and paint the surface every night. This turns the skin black, but do not mind that.

Strains.—The following is the receipt of Westhall’s stimulating embrocation: Spirits of wine, ¼ pint; spirits of turpentine, ¼ pint; white vinegar, ¼ pint. Mix thoroughly, warm by the fire, beat up a fresh egg, and mix gradually with the spirits, etc.; shake the bottle well.

Sprains.—For sprained ankle, make a flannel bag about a foot long by six inches wide, which fill with bran and plunge into boiling water until thoroughly saturated; then squeeze almost dry, and apply it as hot as the patient can bear on the weak part. There should be a couple of bags, so that when one application gets cool fresh heat may be immediately applied.

Chapped Hands, Etc.—Smear over the parts chapped with glycerine, by means of a brush or feather, night and morning.

Blisters.—Prick with a fine needle before they burst, inserting the needle obliquely, and the water presses out, repeating whenever the blister fills again. If the blister is broken, apply collodion with a brush; if too painful, use finely carded medicated cotton in a thin layer, under a kid glove, or powdered gum-arabic, taking care to keep the hands from water for twenty-four hours. For feet blisters, spread a piece of kid with soap-plaster, applying over the skin; also bathe in strong salt water mixed with powdered alum and vinegar. If large, run a stocking-needle threaded with white worsted through; then cut the end off, leaving the worsted in the blister until the water runs out. Do not leave off washing the feet in salt water, etc., as this will act as a preventative.

EXERCISE, SUN BATHS, ETC.

BATHS—HOT, COLD, ETC.

THIRST, MEDICINE, ETC.

WEIGHT AS PROPORTIONAL TO HEIGHT.

WEIGHT WHEN IN CONDITION FOR ATHLETIC FEATS.

BANTING ON CORPULENCY.

THE REDUCING SCALE.

RECORD OF FAST PERFORMANCES UP TO JANUARY, 1877. CONDENSED FROM NEW YORK CLIPPER ALMANAC.

COMPLIMENTARY PRESS NOTICES ABOUT Health, Strength and Muscle.

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY ABOUT “PRACTICAL TRAINING,” AND “MANUAL OF SPORTING RULES.”

SPECIAL NOTICE.