exercise for increasing the size of the chest is that which compels the
deepest inspiration.” The lower limbs, with their masses of muscular
tissue, are most capable of awakening the respiratory need which is
proportioned to the expenditure of force. Exercise induces change of
shape as well as change of size; and too much exercise of any one kind
will produce a local effect.
Breathlessness is not the only form of fatigue, and fats are not the
only reserve material. Nitrogenous products of combustion, which cannot
be derived from fatty substances, are produced by work; and these are
stored among the reserve material, and produce stiffness, as fat
produces breathlessness.
In no other sport is the blood sent coursing through the veins in the
same way as in bicycling; and as there is not a very great quantity of
that wonderful fluid passing and repassing through the circulatory
system, any obstruction or pressure is instantly felt and provided for.
To avoid giving nature unnecessary trouble in providing for interrupted
or unequal circulation, not even a glove that is the least tight should
be worn; indeed, the covering of head, hands, and feet should be
carefully selected. And the same precaution should be exercised with
regard to all clothing. No tight underwear should be worn, and nothing
like equestrian tights, which interfere with surface circulation. The
waist and lower ribs must be kept free. You should never ride so hard as
to allow the air to force the ribs out and in, so that you cannot
control them. It is a good rule not to ride so hard that you cannot hold
your breath at pleasure.
It is important always to remove perspiration before cooling; therefore,
take a bath at once on coming in from a ride; if you cannot do that, rub
off with a dry towel, or sponge with tepid water, and rub dry gently;
then put on dry underclothing. The cold bath is most invigorating and
refreshing, and never more refreshing than after bicycle exercise; but
all cannot use it with good results. Provide for your change of
underclothing before starting out, and if you do not intend to return,
take it with you.
Remember always that it is essential to provide an entire covering for
the body that will admit of free exhalations, and warm enough to prevent
chilling under all circumstances. While riding, provided the condensing
moisture is allowed to escape, it is quite possible to feel overheated,
yet the skin must be protected from chill resulting from rapid motion
through the air. Air pressure and evaporation nearly balance each other,
and the extra heat caused by exertion is tempered by moisture and the
constant fanning of rapid locomotion. These effects are most appreciably
felt upon halting. If the covering is thin, of light weight, and of too
hard a texture to admit of quick passage of air and steam, the garments
at once become saturated with moisture, and a serious chilling follows.
Even if the halt be but short, it will be found that an appreciable time
passes after remounting before one becomes warm, and the distaste for
work that follows is a sure indication that something is amiss. If
energy were preserved, instead of wasted in warming up after halting,
the benefit of the rest would be felt.
A proper porous material should be always worn. With a flannel
shirt-waist and woollen sweater, even in quite warm weather, riding is
not at all uncomfortable; but substitute a Holland linen coat for the
sweater, and the rider will be first very warm, and then very damp
indeed and most uncomfortable. Nature provides various means for keeping
the body at an even temperature, and it is most essential not to disturb
this balance. While working, heat is generated, the skin becomes moist,
and a normal temperature is maintained by the rapid evaporation. Too
little covering means too great evaporation and lowering of temperature;
and even if no chill is experienced, the too rapid cooling prevents good
working results, and stiffness is apt to set in with fatigue after the
day’s work, and a languid, sleepy feeling on the day following.
Too much stress cannot be laid on the necessity of being able easily and
expeditiously to adjust or redistribute the clothing. Flannel is a good
non-conductor of heat, but the bicyclist must use discrimination in
selection. Too heavy flannel will induce a copious and weakening
perspiration; insufficient clothing will allow the body to be chilled by
too rapid evaporation.
One of the greatest benefits to be derived from bicycle exercise is the
free, healthy action of the skin that is induced. If this activity is
retarded by pressure, much injury may be done by the holding and
reabsorbing of waste matter. This reabsorbed matter, which is a direct
poison and must be worked off again in the complexities of the system,
causes languor and headache and a feeling that exercise is of no
benefit, as indeed it is not if proper hygienic laws are not complied
with.
While in the open air, there is little danger to be apprehended from
damp clothing, as oxidation is going on freely. It is under shelter that
danger lurks, where the air does not circulate freely. The underwear
should be changed before eating, or the food will do little good. Where
you can get shelter, you can usually find conveniences for making the
change; otherwise, it is better to eat in the open air.
Digestion involves muscular action as well as chemical processes.
Wherever in the system muscular work is being done, the blood is needed
in large quantity to enable the muscular processes to continue. In the
process of digestion important chemical work is accomplished by the
action of certain juices or secretions of the stomach, and rhythmical
muscular work in the walls and coatings of the stomach is required to
regulate their supply. It may be easily understood, therefore, that
digestion should be properly or rather uninterruptedly accomplished, and
it cannot be thus properly accomplished if too much of the blood supply
is called away in the earlier stages of assimilation.
Active muscular work should never be undertaken immediately after a full
meal. The more food there is to be digested, the more work there is to
be done, the less capable is the rest of the system for severe work.
Such work, after eating heavily, would involve an interruption, almost a
suspension, of digestive processes, and a consequent difficulty in the
adjustment of the processes involved in muscular work. It would mean a
much longer time to get the second wind, inability to do hard or heavy
work, as well as inability to prolong the work without discomfort. Such
a course of action must lead to serious complications and derangements
of the digestive functions and eventually induce liability to disease.
It is very injurious, also, to attempt to perform heavy work fasting, or
to prolong the period of exercise when food or rest is required. The
human machine requires a certain amount of fuel, and the supply must be
taken at regular intervals, or reserved material, which is too valuable
to be recklessly expended, will be consumed.
A mixed diet, with plenty of variety, is the best to work on, everything
to be thoroughly cooked. Three good meals a day, and no eating between
meals; though, when tired, it is not well to work on an empty stomach,
and if you are delayed it is better to eat something while waiting than
to go too long without eating. Beef and mutton are always good food; and
fresh vegetables, fruit, milk and eggs, and cereals either with cream
and sugar or milk and sugar. Simple desserts are not harmful, neither
are they necessary.
The so-called sustaining power of stimulants merely enables one to burn
up reserve tissue, to use up more fuel, to produce more power. Work done
under such conditions is forced work, like the forced draught of a
steam-engine using power to force the air into the furnace. In both
cases, intense heat and great power can be produced, and corresponding
radiation and depression occur while the system is undergoing its
processes of restoration. Tea, coffee, bouillon, are stimulating, and
good as food accessories; but they are not good to work on.
_CHAPTER XXII._
_Breathlessness; The Limit Mechanical._
Seated awheel, the bicyclist feels master of the situation. The bicycle
obeys the slightest impulse, moving at will, almost without conscious
effort, virtually as much a part of the rider, and as easily under
control, as hand or foot. It is because weight is supported and friction
overcome that the bicyclist loses consciousness of effort as he moves,
with seemingly no limit to endurance.
A trouble often experienced is breathlessness. For this there are
several causes. Sometimes the machine is started too hurriedly and
before the processes of the body have had time to adjust themselves. To
work easily, the muscles must be heated gradually, until they are
brought to the proper point of tension. Again, the easy movement of the
wheel often causes the cyclist to become oblivious of the fact that the
muscles are working quickly while doing easy work, that the power
applied is being converted into speed with little appreciable effort,
until suddenly his breath becomes labored, and a halt must be made for
rest. We need not attempt here to give the figures for power expended
and work done, though both factors may be estimated.
Technically, effort is a physiological condition involving complicated
chemical changes and concentration of power. The work of the lungs is
done mechanically, automatically, is muscular work, involving chemical
changes and giving chemical results. We breathe in air full of oxygen;
we exhale air loaded with carbonic acid. Muscular effort produces
carbonic acid through chemical changes in the tissues of the body. The
oxygen of the air, taken into the lungs to purify the blood, is absorbed
and stored. Easy muscular movements give off a limited quantity of
carbonic acid and other products, but not more than can be eliminated
without readjustment of processes. When a succession of efforts is made,
involving the manufacture of larger quantities of carbonic acid, the
eliminating capacity is correspondingly taxed.
In making an effort, the lungs become momentarily fixed, and their
regular respiratory movement is suspended. Carbonic acid is held, not
given off, and a feeling of suffocation is observed. Unless respiration
is restored by a pause, poisoning by the waste products ensues, they
being reabsorbed, and inducing discomfort and fatigue. Working with
effort, the lungs should be free to expand and contract. To this end it
is all-important to exhale, expelling the air from the lungs by
compression of the chest after severe exertion. Air rushes naturally
into the chest cavity; attention, therefore, should be directed, not to
getting in air, but to expelling the air already in the lungs. This
successfully done assists materially in bringing about that desirable
condition known as “second wind,” and gives control over the muscles of
the chest, which enables waste products to be readily eliminated.
“The intensity of breathlessness during exercise is in direct proportion
to the expenditure of force demanded by the exercise in a given time.”
Breathlessness is due to power expended in a limited time. This, at
least, is one of the inducing causes. On the bicycle, power is converted
into speed. In hill-climbing, shortness of wind is due not so much to
position on the wheel as to the amount of power expended in doing the
work. If power is wasted, the work attempted is usually not
accomplished; if intelligently expended, the work is done easily and
well, leaving the bicyclist in condition to renew the effort when
necessary.
Hill-climbing is like stair-climbing; power is expended in a succession
of efforts made in raising the weight on an ascending plane. The weight
must be lifted, either pushed up or pulled up, and the respiratory need
is increased. The hill-climber must aim to mount with as little effort
as possible and to make the ascent with the minimum expenditure of
power.
Rapidly increased heart-beat is accompanied by deeply inflated lungs and
a tendency the bicyclist should guard against to work open-mouthed. Here
the question of tight clothing comes prominently forward. Sitting erect
and holding by the handle-bars, the bicyclist’s upper chest muscles are
held comparatively fixed or rigid; the arms, being used for support,
act as levers holding down the upward expansion of the chest. The air,
being compressed, is forced laterally and downward. The downward
expansion of the chest is checked by the movement of pedaling, there
being a constant upward pressure in the ascending stroke and an
increased muscular compression in the descending stroke. With a tight
belt, the breathing is chiefly upward, and downward when sitting or
walking, the lateral expansion depending on the width and compression of
the belt.
When working on a bicycle, with the hands fixed and holding hard, the
upper chest is comparatively rigid, the muscles below the diaphragm hard
at work; and muscles at work do not admit of compression, which prevents
the diaphragm from moving downward. The diaphragm is a muscular wall,
stretched across the trunk below the lung cavity and near the
waist-line. If the lower muscles of the trunk are actively at work, the
diaphragm can be distended but a little way in a downward direction by
lung pressure. The air in the lungs, which are hard at work, and
over-full, presses against the heart, and makes harder work for that
organ. When the lungs are distended, any clothing that can be felt about
the waist exerts more or less pressure. The lungs of a bicyclist at work
are constantly distended, seldom deflated, and an equal pressure is
exerted in all directions. The diaphragm is forced downward, pressure
comes on the large blood-vessels, and the legs feel tired as one of the
results of the constriction. Pressure on the heart and the large blood
vessels of the lung cavity causes rush of blood to the head and gives a
heated look to the face and a feeling of faintness and headache.
The muscles of the waist are elastic, but lose their elasticity when not
in use. Fat accumulates, and is pressed down, usually below the belt,
causing the muscles of the figure to sag and the trunk to lose its
proper lines. Compression of the waist while cycling is dangerous, and
will cause enlargement of the hips and distort the lines of the figure
below and above the waist. If tight clothing must be worn, do not wear
it while exercising any more than while sleeping.
Bicycling is a great equalizer of tissue. The system, when this exercise
is moderately indulged, is freshened as is a city by a heavy rain, all
accumulations and deposits being swept away.
There is a difference, a very great difference, between muscular fatigue
and breathlessness, and the two conditions should not be confused.
Breathlessness is general fatigue; muscular fatigue is fatigue
localized. When you are breathless, all your muscles are tired; they do
not want to work and are indeed incapable of performing work. Work
performed by the lower limbs causes breathlessness more quickly than any
other kind of exertion, and the bicyclist must bear this fact in mind.
The respiratory need is increased in proportion to the amount of
carbonic acid in the blood. The lower limbs can perform a great deal of
work in a few seconds, the large masses of muscle in the legs at work
throwing large quantities of carbonic acid into the blood to be given
off or eliminated by the lungs.
Each individual has his own limit or pace, at which he can do work most
easily. If this pace is exceeded, effort follows and increased
expenditure of power; a greater quantity of carbonic acid is produced to
be given off; and fatigue is induced sooner than when working at the
pace which can be kept without extraordinary exertion. Every bicyclist
knows his own natural pace, and when departing from that must expect to
be winded sooner or later.
Rapid work on the bicycle is similar, as muscular exertion, to running,
racing, speeding, and sprinting. Here we have the time limit,--great
speed produced in a short time; tissue consumed, and carbonic acid
produced in large quantities to be quickly eliminated. Increased effort
means more power expended. The fixed lung cavity means lessened capacity
for increased air-consumption and greatly lessened means of inhaling and
expelling air. One of the effects produced by carbonic acid in the blood
is a stimulation to increased effort, which causes a desire to prolong
work after reasonable limits have been exceeded, a feeling that more
must be done, rather than a desire to stop and rest.
Second wind is the condition produced by the adjustment of the processes
of the body to the new state of exertion, where the heart and lungs
balance and work according to the demands of the new condition. A
pendulum, slipped on its spindle and let go, swings irregularly until it
finds its new rhythm. The rhythm that corresponds with its weight,
momentum and length of spindle, leverage, is the rhythm of the work. All
repeated work has a rhythm, and the movement disturbed requires a
little time for readjustment. The heart and lungs work automatically and
rhythmically, and any new movement disturbs their rhythm, which must be
adjusted for change of occupation or exercise until the balance of the
working functions is established.
The second wind usually comes after the first fifteen minutes of work.
Quickly acquired, it means rapid and easy adjustment of processes, a
quick response to effort, and little power wasted. Though individuals
differ in this respect, a difficulty in getting the second wind, when
exercise has been suspended for a time, will sometimes be experienced,
and care should be taken not to overwork when taking up an exercise that
has been for some time discontinued.
When you have had exercise enough, stop and rest. Change of occupation,
turning from active mental work to active muscular work, has been said
to give rest to the mental faculties. Though they perhaps do, in a
sense, experience rest, it might be unwise to assert that this rest is
really recuperative. Repeated alternation from active mental exercise to
active physical exercise would inevitably result in a state of
exhaustion, in which the reserve fund of energy or strength would be
completely consumed. It is a more accurate statement that a certain
amount of muscular work, which will restore the balance of the system,
is a good preparation for rest after active mental exertion.
During mental work of any kind, muscular work must be performed; for
breathing, seeing, moving the hands, require muscular movement. The
question, therefore, resolves itself into one of degree of work done and
equilibrium of forces to be maintained, rather than one of restoration
of one set of faculties by the overtaxing of another set. Good muscular
work cannot be accomplished without the exercise of brain and will;
therefore, when the mind is actively employed, a certain amount of
muscular tissue is consumed, though not enough to maintain the system in
a state of bodily activity. For body and mind, to be in a state of
perfect health or equilibrium, should be equally active.
The tissues of the body are constantly renewed, and the amount of work,
mental or muscular, that can be accomplished is determined by these
constantly renewing processes. The amount of material taken up and
stored for use depends upon the amount of material needed; and this is
gauged by the amount of work already done, and restricted by the amount
of work the material is capable of performing. The balance of work and
rest, quantity and quality, varies with different temperaments.
Training means nothing more than preparation. For those engaged in
active mental occupation it is well to consider if they are giving
themselves the best preparation for resisting the fatigue consequent
upon their occupation. Cycling is a pastime and sport, and may be a
relaxation and the alternate of other athletic exercises. After the
machine is under control, the muscular work becomes virtually automatic;
and for this reason cycling, in its various forms, has proved so
beneficial as a relaxation.
Overwork produces the effect of poisoning of the system, and reduces its
power of resistance. This poisoning is produced by the waste products of
the system, which accumulate during work, as the forces for eliminating
them are overtaxed; and before work can be properly resumed, the poison
must be eliminated from the system, and the power-producing materials
again stored for use.
Stiffness is a form of fatigue due to an accumulation of deposits in the
tissues, which are best removed by exercising after a period of rest.
With their removal, stiffness disappears, to return with fresh deposits
if exercise is again prolonged. The amount of material not taken up by
the system lessens with regular exercise, and the tendency to stiffness
gradually disappears. The only remedy for stiffness is work, then rest,
then work again. Sleep does not always come to the over-tired, and we
may therefore conclude that it is better to be rested before attempting
to sleep.
A pause, to be recuperative, need not be prolonged; fifteen minutes’
rest after exertion should be sufficient; and during a day’s work, this
fifteen minutes’ rest between changes of occupation, not including the
quiet necessary for digestion, will keep one fresh. A pause longer than
fifteen minutes prepares or readjusts the processes. Do no work, mental
or muscular, for at least an hour after a meal; and sleep in a cool--not
cold--well-ventilated room.
Low tension power usually accomplishes its object without waste. Work
done at high pressure, that might be done at low pressure, indicates
waste of effort under strain. The intense concentration of effort when
the beginner is struggling with a bicycle is made at high pressure. The
excitement of the unexpected probably has something to do with this, as
well as the novelty of the situation. If all bicycle work required the
same state of tension, however, it could not be long endured; the strain
would be too great.
There is a certain amount you can do, or think you can do; this is one
measure of your capacity. The work you do is done by stored energy. How
may that energy be applied to give the best results? The intricate
workings of the mind we may not attempt to analyze: what we do, we do
because we wish to, or because we ought, or because we must.
Concentrated effort, persistent effort, continuous effort, all consume
force. When you dread anything you have undertaken as too difficult of
accomplishment, just so much more force is required to overcome that
idea. If, mounted on your bicycle, you wheel along in a state of
apprehension, you induce a high nervous tension that requires a great
reserve of power to resist and supply. Fear, or a sense of insecurity,
or a lack of confidence, produces the same result. A bicycle is run by
the direct application of power; and power diverted is power wasted.
In wheeling, after the invigorating freshness of the exercise has
reached a certain point, the benefit derived lessens with the amount of
power drawn from the reserve. Bicycle exercise, moreover, to be really
beneficial, should be alternated with other exercise. The bicycle
freshens and brings into good condition muscles already developed, but
it is an exercise that must be taken with judgment. It is not a panacea
for all human ills; it can be generally beneficial, or, immoderately
indulged, may become most harmful.
Wheeling for long distances should not be undertaken without proper
training. For the sedentary, and for all others tempted by the
fascinations of the sport to over-exertion, caution is most necessary.
Reaction from over-exertion will bring about a physical condition as
detrimental as that caused by lack of exercise--general lassitude and
unfitness for work, if nothing more serious.
Persons who are naturally timid cannot accomplish in the same time as
much as the more courageous, for their powers are actively at work
overcoming their dread of collision and fear of falling; and the
distance covered, for power expended, must consequently be less than
when no other exertion is required than is needed for propelling the
bicycle.