Percy cerutty why die pdf

Obviously, if these strains and stresses are too drastic there is some risk that the organism will succumb rather than react favorably.

This is what happens in a small way when a novice commen ces running too enthusiastically and finds that his legs are so sore and stiff that he can only manage to walk, and then in pain and d is comfort. The tyro attempting too much in a workout with weights finds the same thing--his arms and back, or other muscle groups, complain bitterly, and painfully, at such indiscretions.

Because of this, it was the general idea that we must never subject the organism to heavy strains or stresses, that is, never train too hard. But we also know now, as well-informed athletes al ways did know, that without subjecting our musculature, our lungs and hearts, to considerable strains, we never attain to much more than mediocre developments--that we never are likely to set world records for instance.

But it is a shortsighted policy to suddenly subject the organ ism to marked changes. It is far more sensible to move into a high order of development by a properly graduated scheme or schedule. Not only must we introduce the principle of resistance into our work, but just as importantly, we must introduce the principle of progression.

Slowly and surely the organism must be subjected to steadily increasing loads. However, these loads cannot be added in a contin- yous effort. Nature does not work like that so neither must we. There must be some cycle that we conform to, a period where the load is on, and a period when it is lightened. To subject the organ ism to a continuous and unremitting strain is to invite ultimate break down, even permanent injury. Thus it is with our human bodies. No man in running has yet proved to what limits the organism can be raised by intensive pro gressive methods of training.

Again, my inclined saw-tooth schedule is designed as an attempt to move athletic training to meet these modem demands. It is known that strength is gained after we exercise at de grees that are a little above the ordinary levels. That is, after we have exercised to a point involving some exhaustion. Take a miler able to run a mile around five minutes almost at the first attempt--a common enough experience. If he only continues to run a mile in around five minutes in his training, he will be lucky indeed if he ever moves to being a miler.

We know he must try andrun fur ther at that rate and translate his improved stamina into speed, or teach his organism to sustain a higher rate of speed. What the future holds in regard to world-records when the import of progressive resistance training is understood--who knows?

When we talk of the four minute mile we really speak of the difficulty of maintaining this relatively slow rate of running for more than a couple of laps--not even three for the many. Given that the lungs are conditioned by much running, then two main factors impose themselves between the runner and the four min ute m ile. These factors are: 1. Wasteful, awkward, ineffective or stultified movements; in a word, the runners' poor running movements, what is termed "style".

Lack of strength. He lacks muscle, size or quality, his glucose reservoir is insufficient insufficient in size or needs replen ishment.

Given that his lungs and heart are conditioned, given that he satisfied the second requirement, then only the first is left. With those who do regular and serious training involving some 40 miles per week and upwards, this is what we fine--the runner's movements are poor.

On the four minute mile basis of the 60 second quarter mile we find that he would run his laps at the speed of 54 seconds each. Remember we are assuming he has the stored strength to do this and it is his movements that are poorish or wasteful. These figures and possibilities are not so fantastic as they may at first appear. I am of the opinion that hundreds of runners in a country such as England, for example, condition their heart and lungs sufficiently.

Many have strengthened themselves by the means that are now being generally adopted, viz, the indroduction of r e s is tance into their strength work. What is it, then, that they appear to lack? It would appear to be mainly running techniquer-inferior move ments, stultified actions, mechanical-like movements especially of the arms and body, absence of spirit, a zombie-like attitude.

It is all these things that retard the more effective performance of many runners over all the distances. This state of affairs is not helped by the text books.

The out moded ideas of how we run--the ball-of-the-foot-drop-on-to-heel and other traditional ideas of how we run not based in truthful observation' do not help at all the serious runner. Indeed, they grievously m is lead him into error.

At least in the next year or so. As things are, these sincere and hard-trained athletes suffer the chagrin and disappointment of not being quite good enough. Often they realize that they are better conditioned, more sincerely trained, and cover more mileage in training, than many who prove more suc cessful. Take heart, I say to those athletes. It can be different. Slowly the technique of the art of moving over the ground fast, effectively, and economically, is being mastered.

It is now known that the foot does not land as was hitherto thought. The slow motion camera has altered all that. No more is the tensed leg controlled to a ball of foot landings, nor do we rock-over and so on. The camera shows us that the foot approaches the ground with toes cocked up as if it was to be a heel landing. Yet at speed it isn't. Nor is it a ball of the foot landing.

In very slow motion it can be viewed as a slow slither with a caressing movement from the outside of the whole foot to the inside, embodying a clamp down movement much as we use to stamp on a coin rolling to the gutter--a very quick movement. The ball-of-the-foot-drop-down-on-to-heel went out with the m ile. It is slow, wasteful, and is certainly not used by runners like Landy or Bannister, Zatopek or Stephens--and there are hundreds of still photographs to prove it.

But not every one has the "seeing eye". Even when the pic tures are scanned in the magazines not every one sees.

It would appear that these details need to be pointed out. To teach them'pro perly, I have found, requires personal demonstration. This is not easy except in a most limited way. Nevertheless, we are making slow progress here in Australia. Athletes from every state of the Commonwealth are finding their way to Portsea, Victoria, for just this instruction. Just how much the Australian athletes can profit by this, the future will disclose. But the work is too limited.

The few days avail able are not sufficient, really. But if we also realize that why, having completed one four minute mile, we cannot immediately run another although being the same athlete with the same technique and will, we can begin to real ize the part great strength plays in athletic performance.

And when we can so strengthen an athlete, such as Elliott, that which appears abnormal to others becomes normal for him merely because he has acquired greatly added strength by means proved and taught from my own personal experience. How is this great strength acquired? This strength that moves the consciousness from the legs, which are inferior we can live without legp but not without our trunk and viscera , to the trunk and its organs, which are superior?

Resistance is the answer--putting the musculature through a series of efforts against resistance. It is elementary to recognize that if we merely move the arms without the use of a resistance, little strength is developed. Use a resistance, such as in wrestling when the opponent becomes the re sistance , the gymnasium when the body weight becomes the r e sis tance, or best of all for powerful and fast results, the added r e sis tance of the barbell and similar apparatus such as loaded pulleys.

The principle, simply is this: As strength is gained through the use of resistance, that resistance must be added to, or little or no progress continues to be made.

I set off by instructing my athletes in the sit-ups, chinning the bar, pushups and the like, as well as putting them to using the heavy barbell. The weights to be used? Right from the beginning, for the variajs exercises, a weight that can be moved six times without the undue calling up of the will, and which is difficult, or impossible, to move 10 tim es. There is one exception--the dead lift.

For that lift it is better to use a weight that can be lifted 20 times and not One thing must be stated; the current ideas of weight r e sis tance work, based in light weights and quick movements, jumping with weights and all such, are more or less u seless. No greatly added strength will be gained that way. I claim this uniqueness --to be the only known teacher of some reputation who was experienced and practiced weight lifting as a sport and distance running as a sport at one and the same time for many years.

I claim to be one of the few who can speak with authority as befits a weight trained man and runner. For my running was not of a very extreme order in mileage per year, rarely exceeding miles per year, or 30 miles per week. Indeed, I am convinced that for future superior performances running alone can never be the answer.

Strength, added strength, per medium of the gymnasium, the barbell, the sand hill, the steep hill, grass or road, or in the cities the flights of stairs in buildings.

Anything at all that makes for hard, sweating and continuous effort. A certain amount of steady, or more or less steady, and con tinuous effort in running is required if we are to strengthen the heart and acquire a good oxygen debt. The evidence of both is a low pulse rate. That known as the basic pulse rate requires that the pulse be taken on waking and before any movement, such as sitting up in bed, even.

When the heart is conditioned and the oxygen debt capacity is at its maximum, the basic pulse rate will measure in the low forties, even in the thirties. No other evidence is required. It is not freak ish to have a BPR of It is customary in all well-trained and con ditioned athletes.

It is foolish and risky to attempt feats that require this conditioning where the BPR indicates we have not been conditioned. When Chataway fainted after finishing the meters race at the Olympic Games at Helsinki I saw evidence of too little condition ing and too much reliance upon nature, ability, speed and courage.

It is noticeable he did not win the race, either. Briefly the main excercises I favor for athletes to strengthen themselves herewith are: Warmup with the snatch, using one third of the body weight. Ten repititions. The rowing motion. Six to 10 reps. Three sets of reps, making 18 to 30 in all.

The press; the curl, front and reverse, and the one-handed swing, all the same number as for the rowing motion. The dead lift. Twenty to 30 reps; Three sets. Note: For full and complete instructions as to the use of the barbell, exercises and movements the athlete is advised to buy one of the many books on the subject published by well known weight lifting authorities, or direct from Bob Hoffman, York, Penna.

The usual books written for athletes are not of much use, some positively u se le ss. One exercise I do not like for runners, since it unduly builds the size of the thigh muscles for no running advantage, and moreover causes injury around the knee area, is the deep knee bend, or squat, done with a heavy weight held across the shoulders. J sss Winter Conditioning Racing Sprinters miles per week. Some 10 miles per wk. Gymnas Squash. All track. Sand hill and occasional run Stamina or warm to five m iles.

Some swimming miles per week. Gymnas miles wk. Some other interest with Similar to winter sports, perhaps afield game. Gymnas miles week. No time for other sports Similar to winter. Concentrate event. Marathon miles per week. Gym Similar but tapers nastics. No time for other off before races-- sports. All Events: In winter conditioning. Gymnastics and heavy weight training two days per week, some every day if like such work; say 20 to 30 minutes daily.

Reasonable, not exhausting swimming is good all the year round, the life being as "normal" as possible. In the winter conditioning the emphasis should be on longer, more extensive work. In the race practice period, definitely inten sive work.

Once racing starts on the track, the athlete ever does exhaus ting training. The work done should leave the athlete with the feeling he could do it all over again if he had to, pleasantly tired and happy.

The sprinter can have a racing season of four months, the marathon man of four weeks, with other events in between, the miler having a season of about two months. For Elliott and similar we condition 6 to 8 months--called winter conditioning. We move out of this by degrees and move into race practice by degrees. This lasts'eight or 10 weeks. During this time odd races can be run as part of race practice. These are trials, or full dress rehearsals, to see how we are under racing conditions.

There is no resting up, even on the morning of such races. I favor, of course, success by individuals, but realize many cannot gain that success and club and team events are "athletic life and interest" for such.

However, they must carry on without bothering the real champion who often does bet ter by winning a championship in one race than flogging around in 50 races for a team or club result. Indeed, I hold that team, club and relay events are for the young, that, as the youth matures into the man, his effort will be come more individualistic.

He will less and less be interested in club events and more and more be interested in his own individual success. If his evolvement as an individual is not arrested this will happen. He will also more and more be content, even anxious, to train and run alone, just as the unevolved will always be unhappy un le ss functioning in the herd. Incidentally, the next step is, when an individualistic period is over and we have given up serious competition, to return to the Club or sport and foster both so that the coming generation can enjoy what he, the individual, enjoyed--perhaps bigger and better.

It cannot be emphasized too much that the miles quoted in the table of effort are merely a guide. Some will be very keen and may do more. But it must also be remembered that, while work does do things, it is intelligent work that does superior things. Work itself without brains to back it can often results in disappointments. If you are not improving from year to year until you are 25 or 30 years of age look for the reason--unless you are content to enjoy your sport as a recreation and not something big to achieve in.

Conditioning, training, racing, is an all the year round effort, although a week or two break occasionally is good.

I like a hiber nating period of complete rest, two or three times each year for two or three days, and I advise one day's rest from training in each seven. For those who work in jobs and have week-ends free to train and condition, the best day of rest is Monday.

The week-end is too valuable for such an athlete to waste as a rest day since each day, Saturday and Sunday, can be filled with two, possibly three, hard sessions each day.

The other means are weight resistance work, gymnasium work, tumbling, wrestling, mountain climbing carrying heavy packs, skiing and similar strenuous activities. Then follows a period of race practice, when the added strength is exploited in the chosen events which are assiduously practiced.

Race practice is just what the words imply--practicing racing --and involves much running at the speeds we hope to race at.

These are estimated and pre-determined. Take the mile as an exam ple. Much running is done at intermittent paces for indeterminate distances in free running on golf links, in parks and gardens.

This type of training is continued at high and full speeds and pressure, for at least an hour. Where no other venues are available, the track, perforce, must be resorted to, but otherwise as little as possible should be tone on artificial, or hard, tracks.

And certainly not according to regular, stereotyped or fixed schedules. Nothing must be dictated, fixed or regimented. When at athlete goes out to train, his body should dictate his needs and he runs according to its capacities and demands. If the athlete is not a free and full worker, working him to a fixed schedule, or according to the dictate of another person, such as a coach or authority, must end in confusion, disappointment, dis - illusionment, partial successes to what they might have been, break down, and eventual frustrations and abandonment.

Another feature is that the organism, while it is trained to run at the speeds required, must also be conditioned to sustain high and hard levels of effort for the time it has to sustain them in races.

Add practice in varying pace, starts, early race running, middle part and finishing, and all that is implied by "racing" as I under stand it and teach it. S o m e t h i n g on t h e H a n d s and F i n g e r s As has been mentioned, it is the opposing thumbs that differ us from the unreflective dumb creatures.

The power to seize and grip tools, weapons, and the like rapidly placed the human animal, homus sapiens, in a privileged class in nature. Man can grip and hold something from a spear or rifle, or a captive, for hours on end without strain or fatigue. Yet, as soon as he commences to run he is abjured to relax his grip, which means no "hard effort". The fingers normally close and in the McKenley punch-on the thumb and fore-finger are pressed together.

The harder the effort the greater the pressure. It is true that the fingers can, and should, open relax occas ionally to rest the organism, but it is impossible to exert full power, to drive as we should drive, with open hands.

Moreover, such a pos ition imposes strain and tightness where it should not exist--in the neck and shoulders. Only when the fingers are well pinched-on or clenched can the shoulders and neck be free and the full power and drive of the runner be exerted. Weak men, weak arm and upper body strength have created the illustion that relaxation rests in unclenched fingers.

Nothing is more untrue. Why I Believe in Fartlek Man is an animal. Naturalistically he fluctuates from day to day--his feelings, strength, abilities, desires. Capacities vary from day to day, hour to hour. His strength ebbs and flows. Civilization, the daily routine of school and work, disciplines him, conditions him, and mostly reduces him to an automaton, a robot.

How futile to add to such a regime his athleticism. How much better to use his training, conditioning and racing as a means, as it should be, to at leasttemporarily to remove him from this artificial, and harmful, civilizing mediums that result from normal school and work.

In his ordinary life he has little chance to escape from the humdrum, the routine. Why, then, as I say, add his exercise, his athleticism, to the list of compulsions. Athletics should be, and with me is, the prime means to escape from these imprisoning conditions, to exult in our liberty, free movement, capacity to chose. Our train ing should be a thing of job, of hard, battling exhaustion and enthus iasm, not a daily grind upon a grinding track, artificially hard and carried out under full circumstances and un-aesthetic environments as a rule.

How much better to run with joy, sheer beauty and strength, to race down some declivity, to battle manfully to the top of another. At Portsea we train along paths that are found along the cliff tops, descending at times to beach level, in the midst of some of the finest scenery in our state. We run for miles on the heavy sand with the great waves crashing and pounding and swirling, at times, to knee depth as we run.

Or we run upon the golf links, or moors, or some speed work, occasionally on the grassed oval in one of the prettiest and most natural amphitheaters, surely, in the world. Here, in this environment, over this terrain, the spirit of beauty and high endeavor enters our souls. World records have come out of Portsea, and most of the great Australians of recent years have received instructions there, as well as New Zealanders such as Mur ray Halberg and Bill Baillie.

Landy, Stephens, Elliott,Thomas, and how many more, athletically nurtured there. Seek out your Portseas , train and run as the impulse comes on you. An hour, two hours of hard training slips away as so many minutes. We become tired, exhaustingly tired, but never unhappy. It is work, but it seems only fun. Exhilarating, satisfying fun.

When we have had enough we stop. When we want to we have three hard sessions a day. We train as we feel, but we rarely feel lazy. Sometimes we go out for long steady rims on the dirt roads - -. Elliott has run to 30 miles before exhuastion set in. This was in the heat of our summer. Two days later he won a handicap from scratch, coasting in in I'll say, built in and developed at Portsea, where we haven't a track of any kind at all.

It is a truism to say Elliott never trains on a clay or cinder track and rarely trains in shoes of any kind. Of horses I observed several interesting things. Firstly, ail of them galloped, apparently violently, although the body and neck and head merely went through an undulating easy movement when seen with the legs cut off by a low hedge or fence. Further, they all gallop with exactly the same movements..

All animals do. Except man. I deduce from this some men run cor rectly, others do not. That some perform better because their in trinsic movements are better, and, incidentally, I have noticed that few coaches appear to know good running movements from poor. Mostly those who have ran world records, especially several, may be considered to run well as to technique and a' study of such athletes by pictures confirms that they all run reasonably exactly like each other.

That is, to the seeing eye. Few appear to have this seeing eye, by the way. I also noticed that when we galloped horses on hard surfaces they did two or three significant things. They did not respond kindly to having to do so. Their instinct told them the surfaces were bad and dangerous. Or, when forced along, they shortened stride, which became free and full again immediately the hard track was left behind. Or, their legs got sore and they could not run again for some time.

Athletes who train mostly continuously on hard tracks are noted for short strides and mincing gaits, of which in the USA Truex and Delany are prime examples. Elliott moves much more freely, even when forced to race on a hard track, and myself, conditioned as I am mostly on grass and to barefooted running, affect easily a seven foot stride and can demonstrate an eight foot or eight-and-a- half foot stride when need be. At less than 5'7" height, pounds, and 63 years of age, I merely indicate by invidious comparison the poor, weakly and pattering strides of those ill-conditioned, hard- track ruined athletes we see everywhere, in every country.

What applies to the horse definitely applies to the man. There are no hard tracks in nature, and soft insoles on shoes are not the answer. Nor can we tolerate continually training in that monstrosity, the athletic spiked shoe.

We may have to race in such shoes, although records have been set in Australia barefooted on grass tracks, and we may have to race on concrete hard tracks. But, for the love of Mike, we don't have to train on them. There are usually parks, gardens and other much more satisfactory, pleasant, and intelligent mediums. We will consider the yards since in this event there is a slight conser vation in the application of power.

In addition there is a sufficient lapse of time to study what goes on. And this is what happens: Consider then, there are two main types of runners. And there is that unique individual who embraces both types.

The first type under consideration are the "pullers". This type tends to pull more than they push. They are usually strong, stocky types. They crouch more, have plenty of shoulder shrug, and tend to reach out for the track, bite in with their spikes, and pull their body forward. They work their arms across their body more than for and aft. The other type are the "pushers". Taller and longer legged, they run with an erect posture, draw themselves well up, lift their knees high and drive their legs down and backwards With great vigor.

There is little "pull" in this movement and their power and speed is mainly derived from the vigorous push, which is continued until the pushing leg is completely extended and the finish of the drive is off the full extended toes. The body, meanwhile, is stretched upwards and forwards. There is a composite type. It is possible that McDonald Bailey is of this type.

They are middle in stature, beautifully proportioned, and in no way ext reme. Because they are not extreme they are more often found in middle-distance runners. Harbig and Whitfield occur to me. I am inclined to the idea that when these types are more pro perly understood and exploited, when co aches can direct the abilities and gifts of good runners into more perfected types, then can we ex pect superlative performances superior to those derived from the haphazard methods of the past.

But this will not be fully accomplish ed unless the coach can feel and demonstrate in his own experience, all the capacities, and can vary them at Will, not in words, but in actions in his own movements. Exercising routines, modifications and exploitations, the development of great muscular strength without due loss of maximum agility--there are the possibilities I envisage and which can result in the nine second and the 44 second The rise of a runner such as Harbig and the great number of 9.

The observations in the foregoing apply to- all runners. Fun damentally there is no difference in the basic movements of a sprin ter or a marathon man. The-prime difference is chiefly in the vigor and speed of the movements together with the extent of them. Also he should be taught to vary them at will. Unless he can do so these words will remain words. They will never become realities in the experience of the athlete.

Untill he has this "awareness" of himself and his movements, and learns to play the tune he determines both consciously as well as instinctively, that athlete will never be able to do all that he could. In a world, he will fall short, not matter to what heights he may have attained, of his full potentiality.

In this regard I think Zatopek is a lesson to all. Able to vary pace, to adapt him self to all types of competitors and events, at least from meters to the marathon, able to sprint finish, up to date in the realm of distance runners he undoubtedly encompasses within himself "the lot". Let the young runner consider these matters.

Let him realize that if he is unable to sense within himself his movements, to vary his stride, lift, and posture, to stay or sprint, all at will, he will be largely in the category of the motorist who merely pushes on an ac celerator and steers until the engine stops. With no comprehension of the use of the gears, with no knowledge of what the compnents of the engine are like, or are capable of, what hope would such a driver have in a competition with a first class racing driver Who appreciated to a nicety all these things.

We will assume that both drivers sit in cars equally powered. One can win out of his engine and car the last ounces of power translated into speed. One will get more speed as measured over a given distance than another driver from the same car. Quite a lot of the training should be self-conscious. That is, the runner must think "inwards". Like a dancer who learns intricate steps, at first he must study himself, actually look down at his own movements, check up on himself in mirrors.

Most runners imagine that they are performing certain movements while in actual fact they mostly do something quite different. The few unspoiled naturals, they are O. But most "experts" think good running style is something different to what a natural does. It is not everyone who understands these matters. No man can under stand them if he cannot demonstrate them in his own experience. If you have been taught wrong concepts that is unfortunate. We can only go as far as we have the inward power and knowledge.

Strive for this knowledge and for self-knowledge, daily, every hour. In time you will learn much. And to those who have much is always added more. To those who start with little, and do not care, they soon leave any sport, if it is a hard one.

If you are one who keeps on try ing you have the seeds of success in you. Even more important than finishing. If you start tensed you will continue to run tensed. As you start so you tend to continue. For the marathon? Just line up in an easy posture, no stoop or set position. Relax and listen intently for the gun. Then move off without tension and strain. In 10 or 20 yards you will pick up your speed.

Let it come, do not force it or you will run the whole 26 miles under strain. Give yourself up to your running as it grows on you and you will run your distance races guided by the part of your brain that can, and should, accurately control all that is good for you in the race.

You can give yourself over to it, and it will do best for you, if you trust it, and start without tension. The and 10, meters? The same principle holds good. Have you studied Zatopek starting? Well, you have missed a classical lesson. He does not start slowly as so many imagine--it is they who start too fast. He rims off at his race speed and picks it up in the first 20 yards. Most start as if it were a mile and rush into speeds they cannot maintain. Jostling for position is what they call it.

Zatopek never needs to. He merely won in his own time, his own way mostly. The jostlers jostled for the places, mostly. The and mile? Still I feel that the same principles obtain. I favor the standing start, some lean, relaxed and intent on the gun. Again let the running come even if out-positioned on the turn. If strong and relaxed you can more than make up these disadvantages. Power, not tension, is what must work for you.

It is control, a ruth less cold certainty, not a panicky burst for position. Bannister under stood these things. The sprints from the to the ? Now we come to it. Be Poised on the mark, not Set. Do not look up the track from under your eyebrows.

Above all else do not lift the head so that you can see up the track. Keep the head in perfect alignment with the spine and back. You must look down where the first footfall will be if you do this And this first step is all that you are concerned with when on the mark Its instantaneous execution, its perfect execution. If the first step is O. If the first step is tensed, I ask you! So look down at the spot where the foot will fall. Pin-point it in fact. Wait for the gun that springs the leg and foot into action.

If you do this we will feel alert yet composed and will never break. Breaking suggests two things: You are prepared to cheat to gain an advantage, or you have so little control over yourself that you act as an hysterical person could be expected to act. Going out with another man who breaks is excusable when you are keyed up, but to be a chronic false starter--girls are expected to act that way--and mostly do.

Make no effort to come upright. In fact stay down as long as you can until r unning at full speed, at least. Then look for the finish. If you start correctly we shall not see the customary "bob-up" as we leave the mark. It is best seen from 20 to 30yards away. Get som e one to check on this. A little reflection shows that it will mean quite a lot of different things to different athletes and different events, whether field games, sprints or marathons, high jumps or hurdles.

Despite all the wonderful talk about "springing out of bed", we all know how sluggish we feel until we really get moving--yet we were warm enough under those blankets. But our pulse rate was down very low, and as we move about and the pulse rate rises so do we feel more active.

Again, what do we find in the animals, and ourselves, when we rise? Nothing more than a natural desire to stretch and lengthen all our parts. Observe the cat and dog--the horse does the same thing in his owni peculiar maimer of neck arching and rearing. We do not usually get out of bed to race but we often have been sitting in vehicles and merely move from one to the seat in the dress ing room.

And it is quite usual to find we are yawning, feel lazy and quiet, that we would just as soon go to bed as race. And why? These feelings are nature's way of ensuring that we will not exhaust our selves either physically or mentally before what we are mustering our resources to do.

Why, then, oppose these natural tendencies by an extreme amount of activity immediately prior to a race, especially if it is to be an exhausting one both by virtue of speed and distance? But just as we know we do not feel ready to jump into a four minute mile two seconds after we awake and crawl out of bed, so we can hardly ex pect to do so to the best advantage a few minutes after crawling out of a bus or train.

These seem to me to be the facts and requirements as I under stand them. Cold cramps us; we tend to contract ourselves. If it is at all cold we need to take enough exercise that we feel ourselves expand, stretch up and come "free".

For any event this can easily require a couple of laps of varied activity. But, if the other factors that I will deal with are satisfied, I see little advantage in prolonging the pre- race activity. But two laps may not satisfy all the other factors and the needs can easily vary considerably with the various temperments of the athletes.

Some may need quite a lot of pre-race activity for them to shake off a natural passivity. Others feel roused to "fight ing" fitness by merely thinking about it. This stretching also extends to the trunk. One draws oneself up and stretches upwards, moving the neck and head freely, as also the shoulders. These movements should counteract the tendency that is so common of starting off in a race with mechanical movements and never entirely becoming "full, free and fighting".

We finish as we start--an automaton--giving a lifeless display when we might just as easily give a vital performance full of vigor and sparkle. The sprinter wants to cover about 10 to 20 miles per week. The man about 20 to 40 miles were week. The miler needs to do at least 40 miles per week, maybe more. The one to three m iler around 50 per week, and the three to six miler around 60 per week, but he can do up to sometimes. We will not deal with marathon men who need at least miles per week.

Some of the following need to be done each week, and some only at least once a month; 1. Half the work done needs to be running at fast pace with as much "lift" as possible, high knee-lift, and strong stride, com bined with the most vigorous arm and shoulder movements you are capable of.

Do a mile or two of this, vary it also with of the above, working into fast hard effort for 30, 50 up to even yards, then rest a bit by gentle jogging, picking up the hard slow work, into another burst, and so on until tired. Once or twice a week do a good steady "straight" run from two m iles for sprinters to 10 miles for three and six milers.

Em phasis on lift and stride with deep rhythmic breathing rather than speed. Once a month at least. Also run on heavy loose sand or the tanbark of a race course. This latter can be done each week. Twice a week work with heavy weights. Do dead lifts, some curls, swings, rowing motions and presses.

You cannot ex pect to run the same day as you do this work. Try and get four good sessions of training in each week end. Saturday morning as well as races in the afternoon. It is not justified to save yourself for more than two races in the cross coun try season.

Time is too valuable if you wish to succeed in a big way to waste it on cross country. Give up all other hobbies other than your vo rk and train ing. There is no room for any more if you do not want to see others get ahead of you.

Live your athletics all the time. Every time you move, or even sit you can practice lift and running motions. Train all day. Get an average of eight hours in bed every night. There is no room in a champion athlete's life for late nights. Nine hours are best.

Run when you feel like it. A mile or so before breakfast when the weather improves is very good. A mile or so before you hop into bed—what better? You cannot do too much during this period as long as you strive to be always up and run strongly and with lift and power. Power is what you have to build in. And that shows itself later in great strength, strong long stride, dynamic tempo, well lifted body that goes over the track and not laboringly on it.

Practice the things you are taught all the time. This man in my opinion is the greatest living authority on such matters. He stressed the importance of these matters in the following order. On reflection, any reasonably intelli gent mind, if at all informed, will agree with these conclusions.

This was the order stressed: 1. The Dictum: Experience cannot be trusted, nor the intellect. The importance of functioning instinctively. Training: Living and exercise generally should be a spon taneous urge, and not something dictated by the self or others.

Let us briefly examine these factors and consider why this great man laid this down for me. Obviously we are the nutriment that we take into the body. We can, physically, be nothing else. This excerpt I think best sums Cerutty up.

Otherwise it is like judging the femininity of a woman by the size of her breast, or thighs. Paul knew it: I know it. That's two of us! I actually see a lot of Cerutty in current tennis star Nick Kyrgios, another Australian icon who has a troubled history with the media and the expectations of his sport and fame. One can only imagine how inflammatory and dangerous a Cerutty in the age of social media would have been.

In terms of the writing, this book is laborious and thorough, like a gruelling training session, I just wish it had have been more like a gold medal performance.

Sims should be commended for delivering a balanced view on a fascinating but troublesome man. He was undoubtedly bizarre and there are definitely times you want to step into the pages of the book and punch him in the face something he threatened to do and did do to a lot of people. There are a lot of "what if's? What if he'd had more financial support? What if he'd been less antagonistic? What if he'd come to the business earlier in his life?

I think it's best to say well then he wouldn't have been who he was. Though we've we'll continue to see people like him, there'll never be another Percy Cerutty.

A thorough, well-balanced, entertaining and overall excellent biography on the extraordinary and eccentric, Percy Cerutty. Most famous for coaching Herb Elliot to a gold medal in the m at the Olympic Games in Rome, Cerutty was a passionate and divisive character with strong views on athletics and life in general. Along with his fascinating life story, Sims covers in entertaining detail, Cerutty's Stotan philosopy and programme, his training camp at Portsea, his beliefs and ideas, and the less-than-perfect side to his character.

For anyone interested in Cerutty, a highly recommended book. Tom Swan. I was debating between a 4 and a 5 and decided on a 5 because I've been trying to find a copy for over two years to read and once I finally did I wasn't in the least disappointed. I checked out the book doing an inter-library loan which seems great for hard to find titles Anyway on to the book.

Graem Sims did a remarkable job chronicling the life of enigmatic Cerutty. At no point did he sugarcoat Percy's achievements, failures and flamboyant behaviour and also provided excellent insights of this remarkable man. If you are an athletics fan this is a MUST read. Stevie Hine. I originally wanted to read this book because Bill Arias, coach of high school power house Fayetteville Manlius instills Cerutty's Stotan philosophy in his athletes.

The book is a great resource for those interested in the evolution of running as a sport, and the history of track and field. Cerutty's philosophy will inspire you to train hard, and live a healthy lifestyle. The downside, is you won't learn anything you didn't already know abut training, and quite frankly, I felt Percy was an awful person.

But my love for all things running, made it a worthwhile read. Joshua Hosea. Author 2 books. Percy Cerutty certainly like to do things his way.

And this included his style of coaching which made a controversial coach.