mbs 113

MY BREATHING SYSTEM

diaphragmatic breathing during voluntary contraction. It should be done for two or threc minutes at a time by the watch. He persevcred diligently with thesc exercises when preparing for his next contest, and astonishcd evcrybody with thc speed and stamina he displayed on that occasion. But sińce then, I have cause to believe, he has totally neglected these breathing exercises. for what reason I know not, and his subscąuent failures are, therefore, easy of cxplanation.

Scveral of these hints will also be useful for wrcstlers, morę for Graco-Roman than for Catch-as-catch-can cx-ponents ; but most of all for Cumberland and West morę land wrestlers, who are foreed to stay at elose ąuarters for long periods, often with scveral muscles of the body contracted.

For Swimmers.

Most other sports and games can be performed, even records be beaten, without special attention being paid to correct breathing. The harm donc to thc heart may oni}' be detected some long time after the “ records ” have been declarcd and published. But in swimming it is quite another matter. ft is cjuitc impossiblc for a swimmer to do anything until he has learnt a convenient method of breathing. It is really a part of the gamę itself, whieh necessarily must be studied as early as thc movements of the limbs. It follows that every expcrt swimmer knows how to breathe when in thc water, and my hints on tliis special subjcct will thus bc only of use to beginners. In all styles air is inhaled ątiickly through the mouth, and exhaled slowly through the nose under the surface of the water. Mouth breathing is, perhaps, not so harmiul as on shore, bccause of the abscnce of dust ; but, in a London swimming bath, it must be borne in mind that the air is apt to bc foul, which makes it the

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