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MY BREATHING SYSTEM

drawing in of the abdomen impedes tlie ribs from being contractcd, in that the muscles and intestines simply come in between the walls of the thorax.

We must never forget that the ideał breath for an athlete in action is the breath which causes the greatest amount of air to enter and lcave the lungs in the shortest space of time. It is thereforc of the utmost importance for the working atlilete to usc the whole lung, not only part of it.

Now, the lower and middle lobes are best filled and emptied by moving the ribs, and the upper lobes by simul-taneously lifting the upper part of the body, collar-bones, and shoulders (but not the shoulders alone!). This last movement should be strictly vertical: to arch the chest forward and press the shoulders baekward is only a muscular strain which will not bring morę air into the lungs, because their air space is only shifted, not inereased thereby.

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