Physical endurance

“ It is well known that endurance, both physical and mental, is one of the most variable of the human faculties, and it is usually considered that exercise or training is the chief cause of the differences so frequently seen. ”

“ Exercises of endurance include walking, running, swimming, and rowing—the range of movement in these is much more limited than in exercises of effort. In these, each movement is well within the individual’s powers, yet, by increasing the rapidity of the movements, or by their prolonged continuance, the total amount of muscular work accomplished may be very great. ”

“ Running is the most effective of all exercises of speed, and, like all exercises of speed, can be changed into one of endurance by a certain moderation in the pace. By [Pg 365] running the heart and lungs are developed more than by any other exercise. ”

“ In nine out of every ten cases there exists almost a certainty that a larger measure of physical health and capacity of endurance in after-life would have been attained by some other course, or method, attended with less stimulation and expenditure of nerve-force. ”

“ The effect of exercise on our body is not permenent. In other words, any change due to the exercise is reversible if the exercise are discontinued. The changes are classified as Temporary and Chronic, Any ehange that disappears after a very short reasonable time is known as Temporary change. for example breathing due to exercise or pulse rate. Any change that may remain longer is known as Chronic change For example muscle size due to weight training or capillaries due to endurance training. ”

“ Resistance to disease. Muscular strength and Muscular endurance. Cardiovascular—respiratory endurance. Muscular power. Flexibility. Speed. Agility. Co-ordination. Balance. Accuracy. Though the physical fitness components are specific but they are inter-dependent. If one component is developed the other related components are also slightly improved. Strength and Endurance are very important components to be developed first. Strength has its influence in all other components of physical fitness so strength has to be developed first. ”

“ There should be the greatest variety possible in the kinds of exercise taken, not only to develop the body symmetrically, so as to obtain strength, vigor, grace, celerity, and accuracy of movement, but also because there is no such potent cause of fatigue as monotonous repetition of the same act, whether physical or mental. ”

“ But even where natural or physical energy is deficient, an energetic manner may be acquired by practice and exercise under judicious direction; just as the muscular powers may be improved, and bodily vigor increased, even in a feeble frame, under a course of training and well-regulated exercise. ”

“ Nature meant that for their work they should be, in the first place, supplied with food; next, that they should have certain intervals of rest to rid themselves of the excess of blood accumulated during their periods of activity; and this is to be done by sleep, and also by bringing into play the physical machinery of the body, such as the muscles—that is to say, by exercise which flushes the parts engaged in it, and so depletes the brain. ”

“ Physical exercise, by accelerating the circulation of the blood, stimulates the activity of all those internal organs whose functions conjointly constitute the phenomenon of life, and counteracts innumerable functional disorders, any one of which is sure to react on the nervous system and the organ of the soul. ”

“ There is an interesting point in mountain-climbing which I should like to speak of, by the way, and which makes it much pleasanter and better exercise. If, after first starting—and, of course, you should start very slowly and heavily, like an elephant—you get out of breath, let yourself stay out of breath. Even emphasize the being out of breath by breathing harder than your lungs started to breathe, and then let your lungs pump and pump and pump until they find their own equilibrium. The result is delightful, and the physical freedom that follows is more than delightful. ”

“ How many of the most admirable character-traits of the ancient Greeks, and how much of their success in the arena of life may be distinctly traced to these sources of mental and physical health! Health in the widest sense of the word was, indeed, the primary characteristic of their age, for health and vigor are synonyms. The same process of adaptation that qualifies the body for the performance of athletic feats disqualifies it for the development of any morbid elements, and accelerates the elimination of effete matter from the organism. ”

“ For two or three days he would work terrifically, then, his weight besetting, he would placate himself with long tissue-feeding sports. I told him that he had everything to build upon; that true strength really begins where physical strength ends ”

“ It is that a long life itself is to be ensured by exercise. It is only by exercise, and by exercise alone, that the various organs of the body, the heart, the lungs, the stomach, the liver, &c., are maintained in their normal state of health. ”

“ It can be as simple to incorporate into our daily lives as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking an extra block instead of riding, or taking a walk after a meal instead of taking a nap. Regular physical exercise can help to prevent and manage coronary heart disease, hypertension, noninsulin-dependent diabetes, osteoporosis, and mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety. ”

“ Old Age.—Unless the habit of taking physical exercise has been pursued more or less constantly through life, persons in advanced years, especially if feeble, need to observe great caution in beginning it, on account of the unusual strain upon the heart and blood-vessels. ”

“ Exercises and Their Object
To make yourself strong and healthy it is necessary to begin with your inside and to get the blood into good order and the heart to work well; that is the secret of the whole thing, physical exercises should be taken with that intention. This is the way to do it:—
(a) Make the heart strong in order to pump the blood properly to every part of the body, and so to build up flesh, bone, and muscle. Exercise: "Swimming" and "Wrist Pushing."
(b) Make the lungs strong in order to provide the blood with fresh air. Exercise: "Deep breathing." ”

“ The manner in which the organic functions are performed not only determine the health of the body, but the temperament and character as well. There is a conservation of energy in the fashioning of the will—only part of the energy is expended in the outward effort, while the rest goes to lay the foundation of a future will, so that exercise builds up faculty and conduct character. ”

“ How rapid, how delicate, how complicated, and yet how accurate, are the motions required! Think of the endurance of such a muscle as the heart, that can contract, with a force equal to sixty pounds, seventy-five times every minute, for eighty years together, without being weary. ”

“ Exercise for Vitality Building
Inactivity is non-existence. It means death. Our bodily powers and organs were given to us for a definite purpose. Failure to use them brings serious penalties. There can be no real health with physical stagnation. To be sure, we may point to some men possessing extraordinary vitality who, apparently, have lived without exercise. But a study of their habits of life will usually bring to light some form of muscular activity, even if it be nothing more than a moderate amount of walking. ”

“ Exercise as a Counteractive Agent.—In counteracting tendencies to disease and in the maintenance of the functional equilibrium of the body, no agent has yet been discovered of greater importance than physical exercise, when applied systematically and persistently. ”

“ But abundant proof that some physical exercise will not dull the man, but even brighten him, can be had without difficulty. A moment's reflection will show that a mind ever on the stretch must, like a bow so kept, be the worse for it, and that the strain must be occasionally slacked. There are two ways of slacking it. Both the physician and experience tell us that nothing rests a tired brain like sensible, physical exercise, except, of course, sleep. ”

“ The general effects of excessive exercise may, in the same manner as all physical and moral stimulants, exhaust the vital faculties too quickly, communicate too much rigidity to the fibres, render the vessels varicose, bring on chronic rheumatism, destroy the freshness of the skin, blight the flower of youth, and produce old age and death before the time ordained by nature. ”

“ Hence sleep, “tired Nature’s sweet restorer,” may be regarded as a complete rest.
The periods of rest should vary with the kind of exercise. Thus exercise which produces breathlessness requires frequent but short rests. The trained runner, finding his respiration embarrassed, stops a moment to regain his breath. Exercises of endurance cause fatigue less quickly than those of speed, but require longer rest. Thus a man not used to long distances may walk a number of hours without stopping, but while fatigue is slow to result, it is also slow to disappear. ”

“ Now when you engage in physical exercise, for instance, you must have noticed how at first you soon get tired and all done up. But if you wait a little and then start again, you will find how the sense of fatigue has quite passed away and you can run your body under full pressure for a very long time, and the more you exert yourself the greater and more powerful the surging up of your vital energy. With each new exertion you seem to acquire a fresh start. ”

“ Physical exercise is destined to effect the regeneration of the Caucasian race; but we should, remember that it cannot at once counteract the mischief of all our manifold sins against the health laws of nature. ”

“ The only thing that I can suggest is more physical exertion. Really vigorous exertion, the kind that makes you pant and tremble and get a bit dizzy. Try that every day for a month and come back to see me. ”

“ It is, to say the least, remarkable that hitherto so little effort has been directed toward discovering the factors which explain such differences in endurance. That exercise is one of the most and perhaps the most important factor has long been recognized. ”

“ Though less obnoxious to specific disease, debility and delicacy are the frequent results of habitual seclusion and avoidance of the solar light. These, added to more obvious causes of occasional illness, suggest the necessity of vigorous exertion and regular exercise as indispensable protectives. ”

“ It would doubtless be incorrect to attempt to account for all the increased strength and tireless endurance, which may be experienced in periods of great excitement, on the basis of abundant supplies provided then for muscular contraction, and a special secretion for avoiding or abolishing the depressive influences of fatigue. ”

“ CHAPTER XXII. EXERCISE. Nature demands of us that we use our mental and physical powers in order to get the best results. Man was made to be active. In former times he had to earn his bread in the sweat of his face or starve. Now we have evolved, or is it a partial degeneration, into a state where a sharp mind commands much more of the means of sustenance than does physical exertion. The consequence is that many of those equipped with the keenest minds fail to keep their bodies active. ”

“ At the same time a temperate or intemperate life, skilful or unskilful regimen, [Pg 236] physical exercises well adapted to strengthen the weaker parts, physical apathy, vicious indulgence, misdirected or excessive effort, will all in their different ways alter his bodily condition and increase or diminish his chances of disease and premature death. The power of will over character is, however, stronger, or, at least, wider than its power over the body. ”

“ A blow which kills, a posture which benumbs;—pressure, which in long disease becomes a chief obstacle to recovery, exercise which gives health and strength—are all evidences of the influence of motion over our system. ”

“ You need to do warm-up exercises, which any good book on running describes in detail, and then you need to build up your endurance—gradually and patiently—until you can run a minimum of three times a week for an hour each time, without stopping, and {206} with a pulse rate of at least 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. ”

“ No hours were too early for me, and in the bright, sunny fields in the early mornings, amid dews and odour of flowers, I breathed that pure air which gave a life-long tone to my lungs that I still reap the benefit of. All those daily habits of climbing, running, and working developed my frame to perfection, and gave a vigor to nerve and muscle that have stood well the wear and tear of existence. ”

“ Now, this is no fair test of the endurance of a man. There is no rapidity of action. The amount of muscular force expended is not equal to that ordinarily used in ten hours brisk walking. Besides, some minutes are taken every four hours to bathe. ”

“ Over physical work will produce insomnia, and nervelessness; but moderate exercise will prevent and cure. See to it that you take a moderate amount of exercise. Avoid combative work.
People who do not exercise sufficiently have flabby flesh, soft and sickly muscles; and their bones are dry as chalk, and are easily broken in a fall; on the other hand, if sufficient exercise is taken, the bones are full of sap, and have a spring or flexibility that will resist a fracture. Such a person is generally safe against disease. ”

“ When Professor Fisher began his experiments he encountered a singular fact, which was that the science of physiology had given very little attention to the study of endurance. “That strength and endurance are not identical, is only partly recognized,” he writes. “The strength of the muscle is measured by the utmost force that it can exert once; its endurance, by the number of times it can repeat any exertion within its strength. ”