ATHLETES' PULSE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 194, 2 September 1937, Page 15

ATHLETES' PULSE

-Own Correspondent)

EiiecU oi Prolonged Exertion

(By Air Maii—

LONDON, Ahg. 3. It has long beeii lcnowtt that athietes who indulge in thdse fortns of sport involving severo Uiid prolonged pliysical exertion usually have a slow . pUlse, and it has also been recognised that young men are less dapable than their settiors Of enduririg severe alid prolonged physical exertion. Dr. Crighton Bramwell; who has made a close study of the physical state of Olympic Games cliampionS, liriks up these two facts by a series of observations on the pulso rate of different lages in a leoture which has now been published. The pgilse was counted in 2521 norrnal subjects, and it was found thafc the sloWest rateS ate teached at about 25 years of age. Before this timfe the the more rapid rates mean that the lieart has less reservc, so to spcak, when some prolcinged exertion is required, and MarathoU miiners, for cxample, are usually over this age. Indeed, at the Olympic Games in 1928 only One man under 25 distinguished himself, and the avoragO pulse rate of 28 Marathon runners was only 58, thG norrnal for healthy adultfe being about 70 per minute. The sitme featuro of slow pulso and prolonged physical exertion is seen in other groups, aud it is pointed out that of the membirs of Nausen's' cxpedition to the Nortfc Pole in 1897 the avorago age was 33 and all were over 2o. Dr. Bramwell states*. 'fI had also imagined that this defect in younger men was due to lack of nervous Tather than physical stamina,'' but, he" continues, liis analysis of pulso rates at different ages has led him to suggest that the real rcason lies in the fact that the heart and circulation do not attain their greatest effieiency until about the 2oth year. The relation between a slow pulse and athletie animal, has a pulse of only 70 animal lcingdom. The hare, a very athlete animal ,h£ts a pulso of only 70 per minute, while the rabbit, which is mucli more sedentary, has a pulse rato of over 200.