MILITARY TRAINING.[*]
Gentlemen:—The training of the soldier, though in actual practice not a part of the duty of the medical officer, must nevertheless be considered a problem in practical physiology and hygiene, and as such it justly excites both our interest and sympathy.
The same training exactly that applies to the soldier may, with but little modification, be applied to the man-of-war's man, for, say what we will, since masts and sails on board a man-of-war have been altogether displaced by engines and steam, since the sailor can no longer go over the masthead for his morning and evening constitutional, and work on the sails, he has become more of a soldier than he was, and consequently needs more of a soldier's training than he did in former times.
By military training, therefore, I would have you understand not only the application of certain gymnastic exercises, intended to develop the physique of the soldier in certain spots, but the term, as here used, implies a study of the influence which a soldier's occupation, with all its many accompaniments, has on the man as well.
From such a study we will find that the ideal, properly brought up and finished soldier is an athlete in the modern sense, and one who has no superior in the field or out of it.
We will, I hope, come to the further conclusion that the soldier has not only but little to learn from a sport like foot-ball, but that unless, indeed, every man in the ranks as well as every officer be taught to play it, it would even prove a direct disadvantage when considered seriously.
The most senseless statements have been made in the most rambling sort of fashion as regards the wonderful influence of foot-ball and other athletic sports on the soldier, as if it was the universal panacea and sine qua non for all military purposes. I am, on the contrary, of the opinion that the soldier per se has nothing whatever to learn from, for instance, foot-ball discipline, but should rather say, if there must be discipline in foot-ball training, it simply is military discipline applied to an athletic sport, and whoever advocates foot-ball training as being an aid to military discipline puts the cart before the horse, and can have very little idea of what discipline really is and where it originated.
As regards the amount and kind of strength and endurance to be derived from foot-ball training, though very great and most satisfactory for a sportsman, these do not come up to the amount and kind of strength and endurance now-a-days required of the finished soldier.
If we could ascertain and express in foot-pounds the amount of work done in a given time by the soldier in the field during, say, an autumn-maneuver, as easily as we can count the number of bacteria in a given quantity of water, and compare this to the amount of work done by any other athlete or strong man for the same length of time, we would find the soldier far ahead and in better condition at the end of it than is either the sportsman, athlete or strong man.
Football is, after all, mere play, and should never be regarded as anything else. A soldier's calling is and must be of a more serious nature, having a more serious object, and kindergarten methods do not apply to such training, at such an age and for such a purpose. It is merely a fine pastime and recreation.
My ideal soldier would be the one whom we find represented by the infantryman of the best European armies, and the conditions and requirements peculiar to and unavoidable in the United States, when compared to those of Europe, no matter how different they may be, can have no essential modifying influence upon our conception of what the soldier ought to be and what our aim should be with regard to his training.
In writing this paper, and before proceeding with the subject with which I have been charged by your literary committee, I must acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. Leitenstorfer, to whose valuable monograph[*] I owe much of what I have to say on Military Training in the pages that follow.
One of the fundamental conditions for the successful training of the soldier being the harmonious co-operation of the training officer and the military surgeon, we must begin by studying the nature of this bond which so closely unites both their interest and responsibility in this work.
The human body has been spoken of as a workshop in which every organ and cell performs its special duty assigned to it, in its proper time and place, and for the common good of the whole.
But work, in the mechanical sense, is done by muscle and muscular organs alone. Since all training, as applied to the human subject, has for its object and purpose the increase of man's capacity for work, it is with muscle more especially that the physical trainer has to deal. A knowledge, on the part of the trainer, of the physiology of muscle must, therefore, be considered the conditio sine qua non of all successful training.
Let us, therefore, briefly review the most essential points in the physiology of muscle and of those other organs and tissues upon the functions of which muscular work most directly depends.
Muscle.—By far the most distinctive and important property possessed by muscle is its contractility. All the tissues, even bone, possess a certain amount of elasticity, but muscle alone is contractile. The biceps muscle, in contracting or shortening, flexes the forearm upon the arm. In so doing that muscle performs a certain definite and measurable quantity of work. When a long muscle is made to contract as much as it can, it loses about half its length, but gains in circumference and hardness what it has lost in length. A muscle never contracts without a stimulus. Of the various stimuli to which muscle answers by a contraction, the only one that can interest us here is the stimulus transmitted to the muscle through its motor-nerve and coming directly from the brain.
Voluntary or skeletal muscles are under the direct control of our will, and can be made to contract, therefore, by an effort of that will as much and as often as we desire, while involuntary muscles, not being under the control of the will, contract in spite of our will.
The trainer, therefore, addresses his efforts to the voluntary or skeletal group of muscles only, or those that are attached to and move the skeleton.
As soon as the stimulus conveyed to the muscle from the brain ceases, the contracted muscle returns to its normal resting length. In case it is desirable to keep a muscle in a state of contraction for some time, a series of very quick impulses becomes necessary. Stimuli are then sent into the muscle in quick succession, but none is as strong as the first, and by-and-by they become weaker until they cease entirely.
The trembling which we notice about the entire limb during this tonic contraction of its muscles is simply due to the various stimuli running in quick succession through the nerves into the muscles attached to it, and does not necessarily mean the fatigue of the limb.
Muscle possesses a certain property known as tonus or tension. This tonus denotes a condition of constant readiness for making a contraction. The tonus of a muscle is not yet work, but is rather a preparatory stage of it, and passes into actual work imperceptibly.
Co-ordination is the harmonious working together of all or certain groups of muscles, while muscle-sense is that property of muscle which has been acquired by experience and developed by practice, and by means of which the muscle estimates, as it were, the amount of pressure of any weight or resistance that rests upon it; this sense is more particularly developed in balancing exercises. Persons with locomotor ataxia have no muscle-sense, and consequently are unable to balance themselves with their eyes shut.
The chemical process which accompanies muscular contraction consists in the oxidation of certain definite quantities of carbohydrates and fats into carbon-dioxide, accompanied by the production of heat. Under ordinary circumstances the muscular substance remains intact and only loses part of what it had stored up in fats and carbohydrates, and which it had taken from the blood during its resting stage. "The muscle cannot nourish itself during contraction." If we were capable of replacing these substances as fast as they are used up, no fatigue would be possible, since, however such substances can only be appropriated by the muscle during the periods of rest, they are exhaustible through continued work.
It is the same with the products of wear and waste; these also require a condition of rest to be thoroughly removed, and their presence alone in the muscle would be sufficient to put a stop to its work.
The circulation of the blood is charged with the two-fold office of supplying new material, as well as with that of removing the old and used-up substances. Hence the increased circulation in every working muscle and the reflex dilatation of its blood-vessels. For the reason that, in a strongly contracted muscle, the blood flow through it is impeded on account of its blood-vessels being compressed, it follows that a continuous contraction is much more quickly fatiguing to a muscle than are contractions alternating with periods of rest, no matter how short. When in a state of fatigue the muscle possesses less tone and elasticity, and is therefore much more easily overstretched than normally. This condition is particularly to be dreaded on account of its serious and, most likely, permanent consequences when affecting the muscular substance of the heart.
For the reason that muscle can be nourished only during rest, the oftener a muscle is fatigued by work and allowed to rest for the sake of recuperation, the more often also recur these periods of nourishment, and muscle grows in consequence. Overdoing, however, produces swelling, heat, pain, inability to contract, and delay in normal recovery, on account of the normal conditions being seriously interfered with. As the muscle grows in extent, its capacity for storing up energy also becomes enlarged. Hypertrophy of muscle can only be applied to that condition in which the normal bilateral symmetry is destroyed—by one side of the body showing much more muscular development that the other. This condition may prove a source of weakness rather than of strength, and should, therefore, be guarded against. A steady and uniform increase in the size and strength of all the muscles at the expense of useless fatty tissue is the ideal which we wish to attain.
Lungs.—It cannot be doubted that, of all the organs that are concerned in training, outside of muscle itself, by far the greatest and heaviest requirements are put on heart and lungs. It is these two organs, therefore, that also require to be watched with the greatest care in individual cases, since no previous physical examination can be considered an absolute guarantee in all cases that they will stand the pressure of training. Extreme pallor, with an abnormal pulse during muscular efforts, should meet with early and careful attention.
When we consider that the function of the lung consists on the one hand in removing carbon-dioxide from the blood, and on the other in supplying oxygen to it, it ought to be perfectly clear that breathing must become' more rapid in mounting a flight of stairs than it is while lying down. The explanation is a, comparatively speaking, simple one: The muscles of the legs have performed a large amount of work in raising the weight of the body to a height of from 15 to 25 feet in a short space of time. In overcoming so large an amount of resistance the muscles concerned in the task had to use up a certain quantity of fats and carbohydrates producing carbon-dioxide, and needing for this purpose an increased amount of oxygen. This increased exchange of oxygen for carbon-dioxide must be effected through the lungs, and hence their greater activity during exercise.
The retention of carbon-dioxide in the blood would result in the quick suffocation of the muscle and end its work.
In a person, while at rest, the number of respirations is sixteen in a minute; during sleep it may be still less; during work it may be from twenty to thirty; under hard work, as mountain-climbing, running, dancing, it may be increased to forty to sixty per minute; while during racing it may be increased to the extraordinary number of 100 to 140. But such frequency in the number of respirations would indicate respiratory insufficiency; frequency increased at the expense of thoroughness.
The following table, taken from Leitenstorfer, shows the approximate amounts of CO2 exhaled:
| CO2 P.M. | No Resp. | Pulse. |
Sleeping | 0.38 | 10-12 | 60-70 |
Lying down | 0.57 | 16 | 75 |
Walking | 1.42 | 20 | 80 |
Walking fast | 2.03 | 26 | 100 |
Climbing | 3.38 | 30-60 | 120-160 |
Maximal work | … | 100-140 | 200-240 |
While, in climbing, the amount of C02 exhaled is ten times that while sleeping, we ought also to breathe ten times more rapidly than we do while sleeping, which would make 10X12 = 120 times.
But breathing while sleeping is very superficial, which is, of course, not the case during a steep climb, when our whole lung area is engaged in the exchange of gases. We experience, as the effects of training, especially of running, an enlargement of our lung capacity, which normally varies from three to six liters.
Heart.—The relation of the heart to muscular work is similar to that which the lung has; it also must answer to an increased demand for work by more numerous and more voluminous contractions than it makes during rest, for much more blood flows through the muscles in a given time. To this must be added the increased resistance which the contracted muscles oppose to the flow of blood through them, resulting in an increased general blood-pressure, which the heart must sustain. The greater the muscles and the larger their number engaged, the greater also must be the resistance opposed to the blood-flow, and the greater, consequently, the increase in blood-pressure to be overcome.
While respiration is aided by the muscles of respiration which are skeletal muscles, and under the control of the will, the muscular action of the heart is perfectly independent of our will. In the main, however, both the heart and the lungs in their action are governed primarily by the want and the necessity for the exchange of gases in the blood. Want of oxygen and over-accumulation of carbon-dioxide in the blood and the tissues generally stimulate the automatic nerve-centres of the heart to greater activity, and the number of contractions may thereby be enormously increased, until, in some cases, the heart-beats are three times their normal number.
Just as was the case with the lungs, abnormal rapidity of contractions on the part of the heart must sacrifice the thoroughness of its work. When the heart beats at the rate of 160 times per minute, the ventricles contract before they are half full with blood; the pulse, though rapid, is small and feeble, for the arteries are incompletely distended. The contractions of the heart itself are incomplete, being inadequate to the demands put upon it, and consequently we have as a result a momentary insufficiency of the heart, which, however, given a certain period of rest, returns to the normal, providing the heart was originally sound and not altogether unprepared for an occasional demand upon the endurance of its muscular tissue for an extra amount of work.
A muscle, the functional activity of which, as in the case of the heart, is so intimately related to the action of all the other muscles of the body, also shares in the main the fate of the latter. It is exercised and strengthened the same as, if not more than, the other muscles by carefully systematized work, and becomes soft and degenerates through lack of exercise the same as they do. A certain amount of hypertrophy of the heart, as long as this is in proportion to the increased growth of the rest of the muscles, is not a disadvantage, but rather an expected and quite necessary gain. While no two hearts are exactly alike, the greatest possible difference is found between the heart of an athlete and that of an office clerk, yet both may be normal in their relations to the whole body. A strong heart is one of the essential conditions which determines beforehand the amount of work which a man is capable of performing. General weakness of the heart-muscle, distinct lesions or valvular troubles limit the amount of work a man is capable of doing from the beginning. The muscles of the heart must be trained through graded, systematic efforts just the same as other muscles, if a higher degree of working efficiency is expected. Since, however, the two cannot very well be trained separately, no special gymnastics for the heart are necessary, at least not under normal conditions, with which alone we are here concerned.
An untrained and unprepared cardiac muscle must surely give out on sudden demand being made on it for an unusual amount of work, and permanent injury is liable to be the result. Any muscle, in a state of fatigue, can easily be stretched beyond its normal resting limit and thereby loses much of its tone and elasticity.
It must, of course, be quite apparent that the muscles of the heart, when weakened by hunger, starvation or fever, must become prematurely fatigued, consequently this organ is much more liable to be over-distended in this condition when an unusually large quantity of blood is poured into its cavities, as is done during hard work. An over-distended heart will not admit of perfect closure of its valves, and to the inefficiency of the heart muscle there is added the insufficiency of its valves. This sort of inefficiency is, as a rule, very serious, and leaves permanent after effects which forever after disable a person from exerting his utmost powers without producing heart failure. Cases of rupture of the heart and of its valves have been observed everywhere, especially in connection with athletics. In a post-mortem which I had the opportunity of making on a young cadet aged 18 years, who was a very determined and enthusiastic high and broad jumper, a pole vaulter and hurdle jumper, the aortic valves were all gone, except a few narrow thickened shreds near the ring, where they were attached; the mitral valves also had nearly disappeared; this was the result of going into competition without previous training for the event.
Over-distension of the muscular walls of the heart with all its disastrous consequences may also be produced by heavy lifting. Heavy lifting results, as a rule, in over-distension of the right ventricle on account of the action of the lungs being suspended and their capillaries being compressed, thus preventing the flow of blood through them and thus from the right to the left side of the heart, consequently the right side must be distended with blood. The same condition exists during forced diving and for the same reasons.
There are certain conditions of the heart that would exclude its owner right from the start from any course of training whatsoever. If, for instance, it should be found that a slight amount of exercise would cause the heart to beat out of all proportion to such exercise, the chances are that, in spite of the appearances of perfect symmetry and health, there exists some malproportion as regards the size of the heart when compared to the blood-vessels to be supplied. At last there is the irritable heart, which reacts abnormally not only upon exercise, but also upon psychical emotions. All such cases are to be excluded from both the military and naval services.
Motor Nerves.—The seat of the will, in obedience to which all voluntary muscles may be caused to contract, is in the gray matter of the brain. From the cells composing this gray matter fibers originate and travel through the brain and spinal cord into peripheral nerve-cords, and finally terminate in muscular fiber. An act of the will, whatever that may be, means a certain amount of work done by these brain cells and, therefore, presupposes the loss of a corresponding amount of stored-up energy in the brain; increased combustion and metamorphosis accompany brain work, just the same as they do muscular work. The nerve-fibers, simply conducting the various impulses from the brain to the muscles, seem to play a merely passive role in the process.
The strength of the ensuing muscular contraction is directly dependent upon the strength of the stimulus generated in brain cells. It does but seem as if the muscle of its own accord produced the required strength for its contraction to overcome resistance. Sometimes we rather underestimate the amount of stimulus required for lifting a certain weight. The first contraction of the muscles is, then, not equal to the task and now a stronger stimulus is sent to the muscles and so on until the contraction produced is equal to the resistance to be overcome. An act of the will producing muscular contraction, in other words, a motor-impulse, is a product of work done by brain-cells and directly determines the strength of the muscular contraction that follows. The greater and the more intense the process of combustion going on in brain-cells is and the longer in duration, the stronger and longer also will be the muscular contractions that follow it. Both the energy stored up in muscle, as well as that stored up in brain-cells, is supplied from the blood; the blood also removes the products of wear and waste in rushing through these tissues. Inasmuch as it takes time to restore the lost nerve energy, it is not difficult to imagine certain conditions and circumstances which would tend to completely exhaust it, and then muscular work would cease purely and simply on account of the absence of motor-impulses. Thus we see that fatigue of the brain and spinal cord may occur quite independently from fatigue of the muscles.
We know that during muscular contraction the blood-vessels in the muscle become dilated, and thus more blood flows through them than during a state of rest. The same increased circulation is met with in the brain during its activity. Energy is used up very rapidly and the waste-products are quickly removed. Like muscle, the brain cannot appropriate new materials from the blood to take the place of those that had been expended during a state of activity. Now, while a fatigued muscle will recover after a certain amount of rest, a fatigued brain needs sleep for its recovery. The increased blood-flow through the brain, when in a state of intense activity, as well as through the muscle during its work, is chiefly intended to aid in the processes of combustion by furnishing the necessary oxygen and in removing the products of such combustion, but repair of brain energy can only take place during a state of rest, just the same as we have found to be the case with muscle energy. "During sleep we find the brain plentifully supplied with rich arterial blood; the better this supply the profounder also will be the sleep, and the more thorough, consequently, will be the repair of the lost energy." (L.) "Indeed, the drowsiness temporarily produced by over-indulgence in alcoholic liquors, finds its explanation in the arterial congestion of the brain which it produces." (L.) Overwork, forced marches, hard mountain-climbing produce the contrary conditions. The overworked muscles, with their dilated blood-vessels, require and hold within their meshes a greater quantity of blood than usual, and the likewise fatigued brain consequently cannot get its proper share, and for this reason sleep is either impossible or superficial or comes on later, that is, after the muscles have already returned to their normal condition and we wake up feeling perfectly rested so far as our muscles are concerned, but such sleep has not proved as refreshing as normal sleep usually does. In fact, the influence of a sleepless night upon our feelings is well within the experience of every one of us, and would go far in showing the great importance and necessity for a thorough and complete restoration of our lost energies and the direct dependence of their restoration on sound sleep.
If this condition recurs frequently, or if other conditions are combined to still more disturb and impair the normal process of nutrition of the brain substance, maximal muscular contractions and feats of endurance become absolutely impossible; forced marches are things of the past, and a condition, known as neurasthenia, the natural result. Neurasthenia, then, is the direct consequence of a disturbance of the proper balance to be maintained between supply of nutriment to the brain and demand of work done by its cells. The organ which produces the will has lost its very source of strength. The motor or voluntary impulses which are able to force into activity even fatigued muscles are themselves devoid of those substances upon the presence of which depend their auto-productive and creative energies. The condition known as endurance depends not so much on muscular power as it does upon a strong will, and this again finds its fons et origo in a well-nourished brain. A lack of endurance also constitutes one of the cardinal symptoms of all neurasthenics. Among the more general causes which are productive of neurasthenia, besides actual hunger and a starvation diet, the principal ones are alcoholic and sexual excesses. These may be the causes that destroy the endurance needed just at the most decisive moment; through over-indulgence in such excesses, the benefits of a long process of careful training may be lost in a single night. If this happens among a number of soldiers just proceeding on an arduous campaign, these will be found unequal to their comrades, and the dangers of hot, forced marches will make as heavy inroads among them as they do among those entirely untrained and unprepared. It is not muscular strength that was lost in such a short time, but it is nervous energy or brain energy—the motor power has been destroyed and wasted. The muscles become prematurely exhausted, the heart muscles included, because that which gives them their endurance has been taken away. It is for this reason that athletes, while preparing for a decisive game or race, in both of which success depends upon every man's doing his duty to the very best of his ability, give their word of honor not to use either alcohol or tobacco nor indulge in sexual excesses during the period of training.
The training of a whole army corps is, however, not as easily protected against dangers such as these, and since a few may, nevertheless, endanger the success of a large body of troops, since the rapidity of their united advance is not that of the favored few, but that of the slowest among them, means to that end must be taken and attempts at corruption from that quarter guarded against with special vigilance.
As has already been mentioned, besides want of sleep, alcoholic and sexual excesses, hunger, of course, is the most direct cause of a want of nerve energy and endurance.
Any cause preventing the proper and timely supply of those substances in which our energies are stored up after they have been exhausted, must tend to make further work impossible without the very structure and vitality of the organs themselves becoming seriously attacked. At first this attack will be felt in those organs that are directly engaged in the work, but afterwards the entire organism will be drawn upon and a general loss in weight will be the result.
To what extent and how profoundly hunger influences the activity of the brain may be seen in the expressions of impatience and irritability with regard to more or less all things shown by some people before meals, as compared to the more benevolent placidity which characterizes the same individuals after they have had their meals. This feature undoubtedly shows part of the animal nature of man. We know that every wild animal is particularly wild when attacked or in danger on an empty stomach, and it may be considered good and sound advice, if one man has an important favor to ask of another, that such request had better be made of him after meals than before, even under ordinary circumstances of life.
While this condition of temporary neurasthenia is quickly gotten over, continued starvation finally leads to real neurasthenia which is of longer duration. The will power is gone simply because the fuel has been used up. In this respect the human body may safely be compared to a machine that is insufficiently supplied with fuel, and, consequently, stops. Every well-informed husbandman knows from experience that the amount of work to be gotten out of his farm hands depends, among other things, largely on the quality and quantity of the food which they are supplied with, and every commander of troops should know and realize that the success of those troops, the endurance of long and fatiguing marches, the rapidity of his advance, will be in direct proportion to the quantity and quality of the rations that are supplied to his men.
Those of us who have had opportunities of watching men in training for either foot-ball or a boat-race know from experience that there comes a time when a few of their number begin to complain of lack of sleep at night, of drowsiness and general apathy during the day, and a general lack of endurance, both mental and physical. This is the condition known as "overtraining" and the result of a disturbance of the normal balance between supply and demand. It may be that the normal limits of their capacity for training have been reached, if not surpassed, or the condition may also have been produced from lack of sleep, insufficient food, an inter-current attack of indigestion, etc. In many cases it is due to neither of these causes, but rather an indication that the maximum limit of the weight and strength capacity of the particular number of individuals concerned has been reached and their condition simply stands as the outward expression of this fact. Their nervous and muscular organizations refuse being developed to any higher degree of functional ability or efficiency. It is well known that there exists a natural limit in both directions for every individual, and every attempt to develop him beyond that limit leads and must lead to neurasthenia. This natural limit differs with every individual; it also differs at different periods of life for the same individual. As a general rule, it may be said that after middle life the normal period of repair of used-up energy begins to be lengthened or takes a longer time for its accomplishment, and, on the other hand, the energy itself, both muscular and nervous, is more quickly expended and used up than was the case during previous years, and consequently neurasthenia becomes more frequent in later life. The important bearing which these facts must have on training is self-evident. Consider for a moment the variegated composition of our army, navy and militia, as to the ages represented by the different men, not talking of the difference in their nationality. In the armies and navies of Europe we find that the age limit of the rank and file is limited to from 20-23 years, and forms a tolerably uniform factor in the problem. Much greater care and circumspection are necessary in the training of such a composite body of men as compose our military establishments than in Europe. Individualization is much more often called into requisition in the United States army than in the armies of Europe; a classification according to age previous to a course of training is almost as necessary as the required physical examination before enlistment.
It is a fact, admitted and accepted by the most experienced trainers, that a period of six weeks of training, provided such training has been graded and systematic, will result in developing the men to the utmost limits of their capacity. Every attempt to maintain this maximum condition of training for a longer period has invariably failed. Instead of obtaining a further increase in weight and endurance after the period of six weeks, the very contrary occurs, namely, loss of weight and especially loss of endurance, showing the nervous factor in the equation. In other words, after the period of six weeks we must expect the condition of overtraining to become general, if not a short period of rest follows the training.
Whenever the state of overtraining comes on prematurely in certain individuals, it may generally be known by the particular individuals not having gained the usual and customary amount of weight during the training period so far as it has advanced. It has been found in the beginning of training, generally during the first week, that a slight loss in weight occurs. This loss is followed, normally, by a steady and continued gain until the fourth week, from which time on the weight becomes steady and the maximum strength capacity of the individual is reached. Many a game of foot-ball, many a boat-race, has been lost owing to the fact that the team or crew was over-trained and not because their work was inferior; it is one of the most difficult tasks to convince an enthusiastic trainer that his men are in a condition of overtraining and need rest. Mere argument and advice will rarely suffice, and unless the medical officer has the necessary authority to enforce his suggestions, the resulting disaster becomes inevitable and may be foretold. Dr. Leitenstorfer speaks of having seen whole battalions in this condition of overtraining. Those who show earlier symptoms of overtraining do not possess the capacity necessary for the event, whatever that may be, and should be promptly excluded if their health is to be respected and the success of the remainder to be assured. The usual and most common signs of neurasthenia are well known in the over-trained and are easily recognized: their character seems entirely changed, they have become extremely irritable and explosive in their expressions and demeanor; they are disheartened themselves because they realize their state of health, though unwilling to admit it; they have lost their former endurance and are quickly fatigued; continued training in such cases is not only useless, but generally results in permanent and serious injury.
Now in this condition of overtraining, the anatomical or histological integrity of brain and spinal cord is not necessarily impaired, the trouble being merely functional and temporary. The machine does not work properly on account of inadequate supply of fuel. Still, a still further abuse of these structures through continued and impossible demands on the muscles for work, may also finally lead to real structural changes and cause permanent disease of these organs. It sometimes happens that temporary paralysis is caused by excessive work of certain groups of muscles, even during the period of training. A case of this kind occurred at the Naval Academy during training for foot-ball, in which one whole arm was paralyzed twice within five weeks. The arm was paralyzed for three days the first time it occurred, but the second time it occurred it remained in this state for two weeks. It is well known that the persistent and more or less systematic abuse of the muscles, especially by professional strong men and athletes, is bound to be followed by disease of the spinal cord. Besides the usual neurasthenic symptoms, the final outcome is the disease known as " progressive spinal muscular atrophy," which is followed by general marasmus and degeneration of the cord.
Leitenstorfer cites the case of a professional strong man who exhibited himself for some time and was able to swing a pair of dumb-bells weighing 120 pounds each, while his body was supported by his head and heels resting on the edges of two chairs. After a period of two years of such exhibitions, progressive spinal muscular atrophy declared itself.
Fatigue.—A study of the physiology of exercise shows clearly that muscular work is dependent on the simultaneous co-operation of at least four different organs or tissues, namely, nervous tissue, heart, lungs and muscle, and that muscular work must come to an end as soon as either one of these four factors gives out. Heart and lungs influence muscular work, of course, but indirectly; breathlessness and palpitation of the heart prove by no means that the working organs proper, muscle and brain, are exhausted or even fatigued, for these are able to continue their work just as soon as heart and lungs have recovered. Fatigue proper we call that condition of things in which muscle and nerve tissue cease to function normally. A very concise separation of muscular and nervous fatigue is not always easy, and often impossible. It is nevertheless interesting to know which of the two gives out the quickest in certain exercises, the muscle or the nerve, the will or the flesh, and the exhaustion of which of these two is the most essential.
It is a physiological fact that no electrical current, no matter how strong it may be, is able to produce so powerful a contraction of a muscle as is the motor impulse generated in the brain and conveyed to the muscle through the agency of its motor nerve. It is, furthermore, well known that after these voluntary impulses for a muscle have ceased to prove effective, the same muscle may still be caused to give strong contractions by the application to it of electrical stimulation. It is clear, therefore, that the muscle was not exhausted, but was still in possession of a certain amount of energy available for producing work; the muscle would have continued to contract had the nervous impulse been strong enough to effect such contraction.
We see, then, that at least one of the causes of muscular fatigue seems to lie deeper and far beyond the mere muscular organ apparently concerned; its own strength is of no avail when the impulses it receives from the brain are not sufficiently strong to excite it to action. No doubt, muscle can be fatigued, but its fatigue occurs long after fatigue has become manifest in nerve tissue. It is the brain that limits muscular work, and fatigue finds its last cause in the exhaustion of those of the cells of the cortex from which motor impulses originate and are sent out. Some of us also may have witnessed the feats of strength that are done under the influence of an over-excited brain. The dementia and paralysis which follow certain maniacal excitements are examples which show the power and the sway which the brain holds over the muscles. A classification of the different forms of fatigue, although perhaps difficult in some cases, seems nevertheless desirable, and we therefore welcome the attempt made by Leitenstorfer, who makes five different groups of fatigue:
- Muscle fatigue.
- Lung fatigue.
- Heart fatigue.
- Nerve fatigue or true fatigue.
- Neurasthenia, or the condition of overtraining, being a more or less abnormal condition and of some duration.
The term exhaustion, according to the same author, ought to apply only to the "highest degree of nerve fatigue affecting the central nervous system and involving the subsequent giving out of all the factors involved in the production of muscular work, including the heart's action." In a medical sense, and according to this definition of exhaustion, it would be "wrong to report a battalion having arrived completely exhausted, say after storming a height and arriving on top covered with dust and perspiration and somewhat out of breath "; nor would that term apply to a boat's crew after a long and fatiguing pull against wind and current when, in a very short time, both the battalion and the boat's crew, after some rest and without taking any nourishment, each in turn is able to continue on their respective duties. The condition in which the soldiers arrived was simply one of an acute temporary fatigue of heart and lung; the same is true of the boat's crew. In either, the muscular and nervous factors, though functioning badly, were by no means exhausted to such an extent as to require nourishment and sleep.
In further illustration of the above classification of fatigue, we will quote some of the examples given by Leitenstorfer in his work:
1. Muscle fatigue.—"This occurs in its purest form in heavy lifting, knee-bending, pulling up on the horizontal bar, whenever these are continued until the muscles engaged in the work give out entirely. Here the muscles are quickly used up, while pulse and respiration, though increased in number, would still support further muscular work. A short period of rest for the muscles involved removes this form of fatigue. In case such exercise is pushed to extremes, however, the muscles will swell up and become painful and then the sensations of fatigue in the muscles continue for days."
"During the tetanic contractions of muscles, or whenever certain groups of muscles are expected to keep rigid for some time, muscle fatigue comes on so much more rapidly for the reason that, in the contracted muscles, the circulation is for the time being almost entirely interrupted, the blood-vessels being contracted or compressed and carbon dioxide and the other products of wear and waste cannot be washed away nor fresh oxygen be carried to the muscles. This is also well shown in the act of holding a heavy weight out at arm's length and at right angles to the long axis of the body. In spite of the best efforts of the will, the weight held in the hand will sink until the arm is alongside of the body. Will power in this case was not exhausted, for a short period of rest of the arm muscles suffices to enable the same muscles to do the same work over again. The act, often repeated, would, however, finally involve the nerve centers in the brain and spinal cord which, after awhile, must share the fatigue in common with the muscular structures involved in the exercise."
2. Heart fatigue.—"Acute cardiac insufficiency puts a stop to muscular work in the case of a sprinter or a dancer, not because the particular group of muscles engaged in the work is exhausted, but because with a superficial pulse of 180-200 p. m., the heart contracting imperfectly and the blood-vessels being incompletely distended, the muscles do not receive a sufficient blood supply, and, consequently, of the necessary oxygen. A short period of rest will also suffice to remove this form of fatigue."
3. Lung fatigue "in its purest form is rare and can occur only in a person whose heart is in the best possible state of training, thus permitting the lung alone to put a stop to muscular work. As a more general thing we will find that heart and lung give out together, and this occurs when the trained soldier rapidly storms a height, over rising ground, fully equipped for war, during the hot season of the year. This form of fatigue also will be overcome by a short period of rest."
4. Nerve fatigue or true fatigue.—"This form of fatigue is not the result of short maximal muscular efforts, but rather of long continued average work or a large sum of often-repeated maximal muscular exertions, for instance, long marches, mountain climbing, prolonged gymnastic exercises, heavy labor. The fatigue thus incurred cannot be removed simply by a short period of rest; rest under such circumstances must be supplemented by food and drink and sleep."
"Complete general exhaustion differs only in degree from this form of fatigue. A single day or night is often not sufficient for its removal, especially when sleep is not prompt in coming on and not profound while it lasts. Perhaps several days and nights are necessary to completely overcome the state of general exhaustion, but finally recovery will take place, providing the men were well trained and under otherwise normal conditions and the proper amount of nourishment and rest were secured."
5. Overtraining, or "the neurasthenia following fatigue from overwork. This condition is often the result of injudicious training. Inasmuch as it is neurasthenic in character, it belongs to the form known as true fatigue, depending, as it does, upon the exhaustion of certain nerve centers. In its relation to other forms of fatigue which it resembles in some respects, it is of longer duration, though not incurable. This form of fatigue is caused not by short maximal muscular efforts, nor by a large number of average muscular exertions, nor by work, of an exhaustive nature continued for days, but by work that is continued and constantly increased for weeks in succession far beyond the natural limit set by a given amount of nourishment and a given period of rest for recuperation."
6. Over-exertion "resembles more nearly an actual injury done to one or more of the organs engaged in doing or assisting in doing certain work. It may be produced by sudden maximal efforts as well as by continued efforts at work. Heavy lifting or forced diving, giving rise, as they do, to an undue over-distension of the cardiac walls, especially of the right side, may produce it at once. Into this category also belong the partial or total paralysis of certain nerves supplying definite groups of muscles. Pain in the joints and along tendons, caused by their swelling from continued marching, is also often due to overexertion. Raw recruits often experience a painfulness in the joints, tendons, even bones of feet and legs, while in training. While the significance of such an occurrence is not very great, these accidents should be avoided for the reason that they are apt to cause an interruption in the training. Cramps are due to over-exertion of single muscles."
Practical Problems.—Having briefly summed up in the preceding pages the most important points with regard to the physiology of exercise, we are now prepared to approach the more practical problems involved in the training of the soldier.
We can scarcely make the simplest movement without calling into requisition the action of several muscles at the same time. Even in trying to exercise, for example, a single flexor muscle of one of the fingers, we must exercise at least its natural antagonist, the corresponding extensor muscle also. This double influence must be kept in mind, and is peculiar to every muscular exertion. Just as in tacking a ship and hauling on the yards, both braces are held taut, so also have we, in every muscular performance, two kinds of muscles coming into play, namely, those that do the actual work and those that would naturally antagonize their action. This sort of muscular action is well illustrated in all balancing exercises.
It is therefore difficult, if not impossible, to develop one single muscle by a certain exercise; on the contrary, the most insignificant movement involves the concerted action of an entire group. It is also sheer nonsense to try and enumerate the names of all the muscles involved in a certain muscular act, for most every act of any account would require the enumeration of all the muscles of the skeleton, and a perfect rest of all the muscles can be found only in the " horizontal position of the body, with semi-flexed extremities, the body resting on a soft, elastic couch." We will now pass in review of the principal muscles engaged during the more natural movements required of the soldier and man-of-war's man.
1. Position of attention.—Standing in due military form is not a position of equilibrium of the bones of the skeleton. The position, on the contrary, is only maintained through the action of the extensor muscles of the back and those of the hip and knee joints, together with their antagonistic flexors. The action of these muscles is required for the purpose of balancing the body in its upright position, and, consequently, they must perform a certain amount of work to maintain this position. It is of some importance to know that, in standing in this position the knees, though straight, are not necessarily to be pressed back ad maximum. In such a position as this the soldier is enabled, by practice, to assume an attitude at least approaching that of equilibrium from his hip joints up. Notwithstanding this, however, even under these circumstances the point of gravity falling somewhat in front of the line connecting the two hip joints, on account of the chest being pressed forward, work is done by the muscles of the back, of the buttocks and those of the back of the thighs and legs, the mere tonus of the muscles would not be sufficient in keeping the man from falling in a forward direction. Sideward motions are controlled by the tone of the muscles alone. In cases of sudden fainting fits, where men are utterly overcome by fatigue, during which all the skeletal muscles are as if suddenly paralyzed, consequently unable to act so as to maintain the skeleton in the upright posture, the body falls forward. This I have seen illustrated in men who underwent punishment and who were obliged to stand on the deck of a ship, keeping their hammocks on their shoulders during an entire watch of four hours; they would fall straight forward, like a rod, in an unconscious state.
In adjusting a fine chemical balance there comes a time when both scales will be at rest and the tongue in the center and on top of the horizontal bar points straight upwards and is perfectly immovable, so that its tip would produce nothing more than a fine point on a piece of smoked paper held in suspension over it. Leitenstorfer, applying the method of Vierordt, studied the capacity for balancing on the part of a number of soldiers in different positions by suspending a piece of smoked paper over the points of their helmets. In this manner he produced a large number of cephalo-grams very interesting indeed, and showing that such a perfect balance as may be produced with a scale cannot be approached even by the best trained soldier. A study of these cephalo-grams would show above all that the excursions which the swaying of the body produces on the smoked paper are more extensive in the antero-posterior or sagittal directions than in a lateral one, these being in a proportion of 3 to 1; they show, next, that these excursions increase in extent from minute to minute or the longer a soldier is kept in a definite position, and, furthermore, that the excursions are smaller or least extensive in the best trained soldiers. The excursions are smallest in the sitting position, on account of the pendulum being so much shorter; they are larger in standing at "parade rest," still larger in the "position of attention," larger still in the same position with knees well pressed backward, smaller in the position assumed when shooting, on account of the basis of support being larger than in standing, and largest of all in the position of "knees bent," simply because in this position the basis of support is only two-thirds of what it is during standing.
Every soldier has learned from practice that a march of ten or twelve miles does not prove as fatiguing as will a parade of two hours' duration, and the privilege of stepping out after a long parade is welcomed as a great relief.
2. Position of "parade rest" or the "position hanchee" of the French, is also fatiguing, but less so on account of the work required of the muscles in maintaining the position than on account of the painful sensations of pressure exerted on hip, knee and ankle joints of the one side. In this position fatigue comes on sooner than in the position of attention, because in the latter the weight is evenly distributed between the two sides of the body, while in the former the weight of the entire body rests on one leg only.
3. Walking.—In walking the upper part of the body is slightly inclined forward, and consequently also the point of gravity. In order to prevent the body from falling one leg is swung forward. Since the hip joints stand slightly lower whenever the body is inclined forward, the leg while swinging to the front must be slightly shortened in order to pass over the ground without touching. In the meantime the rear leg is lengthened because the foot is lowered for the purpose of shoving the body forward, whereupon the rear leg is brought forward, swinging by the other like a pendulum and in a slightly flexed condition.
In Germany two kinds of military walking or marching are distinguished. The one implies a well measured, somewhat rigid step, the foot striking the ground sharply and flatly with the entire sole, body and head erect and kept well balanced; in the other the foot is not brought down on the ground with such force nor strikes it flatly. The first form of step is used on parade, and is therefore also sometimes called the "parade step."
The parade step, when practiced slowly and emphasizing, as it were, every detail necessary for its smooth and complete performance from beginning to end, has become one of the most valued means for the development of all the step-muscles, as well as the muscles that balance the spinal column and head.
The reason why this form of step is not used in ordinary distance-marching of a battalion, but only as a parade step and as a means for developing the entire step-musculature, is because it is too fatiguing on account of all the muscles of the trunk and legs being in a state of rigid contraction during its performance. During long marches, therefore, and in order to spare the soldiers all unnecessary expenditure of energy, the easiest form of step, that which requires the least expenditure of energy for its performance without, however, allowing the body to become crooked, is allowed.
As regards the keeping of the chest well out and the body erect and slightly inclined forward, which is the rule both in the position of attention as well as in walking or marching and running, I was able to produce much better results by explaining to the men that this particular position was insisted upon not alone because it looks well, but for the more important reason that by maintaining this position all the internal organs, such as the heart and lungs, are in the most favorable position for the performance of their respective functions; the lungs, by being free from the least compression, can expand more freely, and the heart, for the same reason, has the fullest play in all its movements, while the stomach and intestines are well supported by a moderately contracted abdominal wall, the contractions of which co-operating well with those of the diaphragm.
There are six groups of muscles that are more especially engaged in marching, and the proper and efficient development of which is of the greatest possible importance to the soldier: (1) The psoas and iliacus, which elevate the thigh; (2) the quadriceps extends the leg upon the thigh, throwing the foot forward, and when the foot is fixed upon the ground it raises the entire body weight by straightening the leg bent at the knee; (3) the various extensors of the foot and toes, situated on the front and outer side of the leg, elevating the foot and guiding it over the ground; (4) the very strong bundle of muscles about the seat which extend the thigh and pull it backward; (5) the muscles situated at the back part of the thigh which bend the leg upon the thigh and enable the foot to take hold of and grasp the ground; (6) the muscles of the calf which elevate the heel of the foot and advance the body forward.
Upon the proper and efficient development of the above six groups of muscles depends the success of the modern infantry soldier, and with him of the entire army. The Field Marshal of Saxony places the whole secret of modern warfare in the legs, and with good reasons, for by far the greatest and most important part of the work required of the soldier consists in marching.
In accordance with the importance of these muscles to the soldier, and in order that they be developed to the highest degree of efficiency, the most thorough and painstaking leg-gymnastic has been evolved and is practiced in the German army. This practice consists chiefly in slowly but thoroughly going through the different movements which together make up the parade step, and some of you may have seen German recruits going through the maneuver while passing some of their parade grounds. In order to realize the full value of this practice as a gymnastic exercise, I should advise you to practice it on yourselves, systematically emphasizing every and all the separate movements of the dismembered step.
Running.—This differs from walking, not only in the increased rapidity and length of the steps taken, but in that the step is converted into a jump. While in walking one foot always touches the ground, in running there occurs a short period during which both feet are off the ground, as in jumping, and the body is thrust forward through the rapid forward extension of the rear leg.
The muscles which are engaged in running are the same as those that are engaged in walking or marching. During running the point of gravity is put much further forward than during walking, and hence the rapidity with which one foot is put in front of the other to keep the body from falling in that direction. Picture to yourselves a soldier loaded down with 50 pounds of equipment taking 170 steps in a minute, each step of the length of one meter, and you will realize in some measure the amount of work his leg muscles are required to perform.
The Germans also distinguish a so-called "jump step" in running. Just as the parade step or rigid step is derived from the ordinary walking step, is a " higher powered " step, just so is the jump step a higher grade of step used in running, of no practical value in itself but of very great value as a gymnastic exercise, and presupposing in the performer already a high degree of strength and elasticity. The jump step is in fact the parade step used in running. While in ordinary running the entire sole of the foot is put to the ground, when using the jump step only the two anterior thirds of the sole of the foot are used, both in supporting the weight of the advancing body as well as in thrusting the latter forward. This maneuver puts extraordinary requirements on the muscles thus engaged.
Jumping.—The same six groups of muscles enumerated above that are chiefly concerned in walking and running, are also the principal ones concerned in jumping. In the jump the discharge of the strength resident in these muscles takes place like a sudden explosion. The hip joint, knee joint and ankle joint being acutely flexed, and suddenly extended by the contraction of the extensor muscles, the body is hurled forward and upward. Before clearing the obstacle, the legs are again drawn up by the flexor muscles and held in this position until just before reaching the ground on the other side, when they are extended once more, in which condition they reach the ground, the weight of the body descending upon the lower extremities as if on a spring. While then a successful high-jump depends upon the quick and powerful contraction of the extensor muscles of the lower extremities, it must not be forgotten that the equally sudden and powerful flexion of the thighs upon the abdomen, and the legs upon the thighs, their closest possible approach to the body until the knees almost touch the shoulder and the heels the buttocks, is an important element in its execution. A much higher obstacle is cleared with the same expenditure of force and elevation of body when the legs are well drawn up than when they are not, the difference ranging from ten to fifteen inches. In the standing broad-jump we do not get this advantage, and this is, therefore, a more accurate measure for the power with which the jumper can throw himself from the ground than is the high jump. In the running high- and broad-jumps, proper co-ordination and an accurate eye as regards the point from which to jump off, to be acquired only by experience, are also quite essential.
Riding.—At first sight, riding on horseback would seem to imply but a very small amount of muscular work on the part of the rider. Indeed, it must be admitted, if there is any benefit derived through horseback riding, when considered as merely an amusement, the horse certainly deserves to get the lion's share of it, and gets it, too. While the horse is doing a more or less large amount of active muscular work according to its charge, its rider, on the other hand, is rather in a blissful state of being exercised, and in this way seems to derive by simple contact a certain amount of benefit from the more active exercise which the horse takes, in the same way that a parasitic animal derives the benefit from foods which his host must digest but without himself expending hardly any nerve force and very little muscular force.
It is, however, somewhat different when we come to study horseback riding as an accomplishment of the soldier. The more or less solid connection between rider and horse is formed by the seat of the former and the back or saddle of the latter. The connection may be likened to a ginglymoid joint, in which the thighs of the rider act the part of the lateral ligaments, allowing only a backward and forward movement. While, then, the seat and the inner surfaces of the thighs are closely attached to the body of the horse, the spinal column and legs must, in all the movements, be so balanced that they remain vertically to the point of gravity of the horse, unless other positions become necessary for the purpose of either aiding or preventing certain movements of the horse. The muscles that are engaged in riding, therefore, are those that keep the head and body erect from the hips up, and this is done by the back and neck extensor muscles, and those that keep the inner surfaces of the thighs in close touch with the sides of the body of the horse, which is done by the adductors and the seat muscles. These muscles, when properly managed, form powerful aids in driving the horse forward. Inasmuch as even those of the muscles, by which the legs are kept in touch with the horse, are controlled by muscles having their origin in the hip or thigh, the musculature concerned in the act of horseback riding may briefly be said to be located in the seat and the thighs.
The soreness and stiffness experienced in the beginning of the exercise also is found to be confined to these regions and the back, especially the lumbar region. The amount of work done by the muscles of the legs is reduced to a minimum, because the movement of the feet in the stirrups is, comparatively speaking, slight, and consists only in an up-and-down motion requiring but little force. This may be seen in professional riders, in whom there exists a disproportionate development between thighs and legs, as may be ascertained by measurements. This disproportion also is soon developed in cavalry recruits.
A good horseman, in fact, depends not so much upon the amount of strength of his muscles as he does upon the development in his seat and thighs of a certain muscle sense or " horse sense," by means of which he feels the movements which his horse makes or is about to make, so as to enable him to give timely aid to his horse in favorable movements or prevent any that are not favorable to the accomplishment of his own purposes. Good horsemanship, indeed, consists in this very co-ordination, acquired either by experience or inheritance, this working together between horse and rider for a common purpose and to the desired end.
Horseback riding, even for the most accomplished rider, means the performance by the rider of a definite amount of muscular work, and must, consequently, in the end lead to a corresponding degree or form of fatigue. Aside from the consequences resulting from the active work of the muscles directly engaged in balancing, etc., those of the muscles and internal organs that receive a merely passive form of exercise, a shaking up and jolting, will in time give rise to an increase in temperature and to an increase in the frequency of the heart’s beats and the number of respirations. Still, riding alone does not lead up to even temporary heart and lung insufficiency, as is the case in running and other similar exercises. This only occurs sometimes on the turf during racing.
Swimming.—By virtue of our ability to retain a certain volume of air within our lungs, the specific gravity of our bodies is somewhat lighter than that of the water, so that we are enabled to float in it. In order to move about in the water or propel our bodies, certain muscular movements are necessary. In the forward movement the extensors of the legs are principally engaged, very much after the same manner as in the jump. The legs are drawn up close to the body, the thighs forcibly abducted, the legs extended and quickly brought together, feet describing a semicircle during the maneuver. The body slides forward owing to the pressure exerted by the inner surfaces of the legs upon the cone of water included between them. During this movement the arms must be extended in the forward direction, the fingers of both hands touch each other to facilitate the movement. Next follows the drawing up of the thighs close to the body by a contraction of the psoas and the iliacus, and this is counteracted by the simultaneous movement of the arms and hands backward and downward, effected by the muscles of the shoulder plate and the broad back muscle or lat dorsi. The pectoral muscles attract the arms again toward the sides of the body, and the extensors of the arms throw the hands forward. In the meantime the back muscles keep the back hollow and the head well out of water. The respiratory muscles keep up a vigorous movement of the thorax, in which they are supported by the lateral movements of the arms.
The suddenly increased frequency in the number of respiratory movements made on the part of the lungs, which are needed to satisfy the suddenly increased want of oxygen in the blood, is proof of the large number of muscles that must be employed in the act of swimming. We have here, indeed, all the muscles of the trunk and extremities engaged simultaneously, and not only mere groups of them. And there is no difference either in the degree of their contraction between any of them nor in the amount of work which they are doing; all the muscles are engaged in working to their best possible ability. It is this that makes swimming one of the best general exercises there is. Swimming, therefore, makes the greatest possible demands on the functions of heart and lungs, and presupposes that both are strong and sound; on the other hand, when carefully taught, swimming is one of the best gymnastic exercises for both of these organs. the exercises being merely a means to attain a certain well-conceived end.
Vigorous swimming, particularly against current and wind, is very apt to bring on pulmonary and cardiac insufficiency before the fatigue of the muscles engaged in the exercise is a complete one. This double insufficiency would occur still sooner were it not counteracted to a certain extent by the temperature of the water surrounding the body and which has a cooling effect. By filling our lungs well with air, we are able to float on the surface of the water and rest when fatigued.
Diving or swimming under water is one of the severest tests on the heart, especially its right or venous side, for besides the large amount of air already taken into the lungs immediately before diving, which distends it and compresses its capillaries at the same time, thus offering a great impediment to the circulation of the blood through the lung, we must, in addition, take into account the pressure upon the thorax which the column of water, resting above the body, exerts on the outer surface of the chest walls. Thus we find that diving, just as much as the lifting of heavy weights, is one of the few exercises which may easily cause over-distension of the heart muscle. Persons having had rheumatism or suffered from some infectious fever, or who have indulged excessively in the use of alcohol and tobacco, must take such exercise with caution.
While walking, running, jumping, dancing, riding and swimming form the natural and, at the same time, simple bodily movements, the remaining movements of the soldier, such as climbing, pole-vaulting, fencing, all apparatus work, calisthenics, bicycle riding, skating, etc., are the combined body movements in which upper and lower extremities are engaged more or less simultaneously, and form mutual support and aid to one another. In such combined movements we find, in the first place, that they engage a greater number of muscles at one time than is the case with the simple and more natural movements. Thus, in climbing, we have the muscles of the shoulder plate and of the arm strongly supported by the muscles of the inner side of the thighs and legs. In pole-vaulting, although most of the work being undoubtedly done by the arm muscles, those of the lower extremities come into play in jumping off the ground. In bilateral fencing we find pretty nearly all the muscles of the body and the extremities engaged, although in exclusively right-handed fencing it often occurs that we get a unilateral hypertrophy of the respective arm muscles, and, on rare occasions, also, curvature of the spine occurs.
Bicycling is more nearly a natural exercise in spite of its being performed on a machine. It is but a modified walking, and exercises more especially the step-musculature with this difference, that the muscles of the seat remain rather inactive as compared to the muscles of the thighs and those of the legs. For the development of the calf-muscles, bicycling and mountain-climbing are about equally good. Bicycling, it must be remembered, puts very heavy demands on heart and lungs on account of the tendency of some of the riders to get over the ground as fast as possible, as is done in scorching.
Wrestling, like swimming, engages all the muscles of the trunk and of the extremities, but while in swimming the resistance offered to muscular action and to be overcome is uniform, that which is required during wrestling is irregular and not always easy to foretell; it trains the eye to quickness in action. The same is true for bayonet exercise. There are, besides, a number of these combined movements as distinguished from the natural movements, many of which are done in the gymnasium. From a study, however, of the anatomy and physiology of the natural movements described in the foregoing pages, their intent and purpose may easily be inferred. The same is true of the few exercises that are comprised in what is known as the setting-up drill, and to which, as a general thing, much more importance is attached than it deserves.
The classification of these free movements, as well as those done on the different apparatuses in the gymnasium, must be left to the judgment of the instructor or trainer and the purposes he has in view in applying them to the individuals under his care and in his training. It should always be kept in mind that there must be a definite aim as regards every individual’s development, the exercises being merely a means to attain a certain well-conceived end.
The Personnel to Be Trained.— All military training naturally divides itself (1) into the training of the individual soldier and (2) into that of a large body of men as a whole. The object of the former is to train the man, develop his individual physique, loosen his joints, strengthen his muscles, raise the standard of his health and endow him with endurance in walking, running, jumping, etc.; the object of the latter consists in the employment of such means as are best calculated to still further develop the qualities acquired in the former and assure their continuance and maintenance. The principal exercise employed to attain this end consists in marching, which shall be brought up gradually to approach the conditions that obtain in an actual campaign and resembling in all its details those of war.
It is of fundamental importance that the military trainer should, first of all, know the personnel which it is his duty to train, and for the purpose of obtaining that much desired knowledge, a thorough examination must precede the training itself. At Annapolis, the instructor of gymnastics, acting as recorder, had the advantage of being always present when these preliminary examinations were made, and consequently knew as well as the director himself what were the good as well as bad points about the physiques of the different individuals who were about to begin training.
The first impressions of a new class upon both the director and instructor, although they had already passed the Medical Board, were often not exactly encouraging, and if this was the case with cadets, how much more so must this be the case with recruits. The ideal of symmetrical physical perfection, which is gradually formed in the mind of an experienced trainer as the result of years of experience, is so rarely reached by even a single individual out of many that annually present themselves, that it appears to him more and more evident from year to year, and as his experience increases, that without individualizing, his task would be a hopeless one. For even among an apparently well-selected class of people, round shoulders, slight spinal curvatures from faulty positions during childhood, with unsymmetrical hips and shoulders, drooping heads and bow-legs, deficient development of the back and arm muscles, may all have their representatives in even so small a number as one hundred. Fortunately, though, as long as heart and lungs are perfectly sound, these are, nevertheless, attended with results often quite remarkable in the hands of judicious and careful trainers who know the importance of individualization and have experienced the great advantages of the use of special exercises. Training, perhaps more than anything else, requires patience, for many of the most uncomplimentary, even intemperate, remarks made by onlookers often concern men of the greatest promise, and those who turn out in the end the very best subjects not only as regards endurance in drills but also on parade.
Almost the first criticism that will be made, not only by the public, but by officers as well, when watching a military drill or parade, is sure to be with regard to the symmetrical carriage of one or two persons in the ranks. It is no doubt a great desideratum that every officer and man in the ranks should learn to so control his anatomy as to form a homogeneous link in the chain of his bataillon; that he should be ever conscious of the fact that he is one of the wheels of this great, living machine, and that he alone would be all-sufficient to destroy the beautiful symmetry of a parade, or that upon him alone might depend the success or failure of an assault. Indeed, a knowledge of the importance of concerted action on the part of every man within the ranks is looked upon as one of the pedagogical results of any and all the drills 1n wh1ch many men are engaged at a time. A parade, however, should never be looked upon as the end in the education of the soldier, but only as one of the means to that end.
The chief qualifications that determine the military fitness of a man are height, weight, lung capacity, strength, chest circumference, and their mutual relations to one another. These, together with a pair of good lungs and a sound mind, are necessities. Whenever the material to choose from happens to be unusually large, other points of a less essential nature may be taken into account. But much greater care and attention of course must be exercised in the physical, examination of cadets than is done in the examination of recruits, for obvious reasons.
With the view of establishing a series of more reliable and trustworthy standards, and giving greater definiteness, as it were, to the extent and amount of certain recognized normal and, therefore, allowable deviations, an attempt was made a few years ago to work out the averages with their normal deviations in certain dimensions, such as height, weight, circumference of chest, etc., from a large number of measurements that had been recorded during a previous period of thirty years, and arrange these data according to age. The measurements from which these calculations were made having been originally taken from normal subjects, that is, cadets who had passed the Board of Medical Examiners, it ought naturally to follow that the deviations calculated from an average standard previously established for certain dimensions must also be within strictly normal limits. This, indeed, was found to be true, and the tables which were published in the report of the Surgeon General to the Secretary of the Navy for 1893 have since been in constant use at the Naval Academy as aids in the examination of cadets.
In a general way, however, it is perfectly true and in accordance with our own experience, when Leitenstorfer states that "in spite of such attempts having been made, the physical fitness of the soldier cannot be expressed by any mathematical formula." The eye, experienced in training as well as examining men, may often be relied on when numbers fail to do so. No amount of experience, on the other hand, will absolutely always insure against failure in regard to individual cases.
Military training in general.—The training of men for military purposes and achievements while differing in many ways from that employed for the various sports and athletic events, has also, on the other hand, many features in common with it. The aims and ends of all training must include a higher standard of health, greater endurance, more will power and an ultimate increase in weight. All these may be attained by means of well systematized muscular exercises.
By measuring a large number of professional foot-ball men, runners, oarsmen, infantrymen, cavalrymen and sailors and averaging their measurements in different dimensions, we would undoubtedly arrive at certain figures corresponding approximately to what might be called (but is not) a type for each of these classes of men. Yet these figures at best would only represent anatomical facts, and, as such, tell us nothing with regard to the physiological functions which each type represents. I can conceive of the possibility of the measurements of two or even three out of the above number of types approaching each other so closely that, so far as measurements alone are concerned, they might all be placed into one and the same class or type. One group of measurements out of these three might represent a typical foot-ball player, the second an infantryman and the third an oarsman. These three are chosen as instances because they happen to present much the same development as regards the muscles of their backs and legs, consequently would be most likely to be placed into the same class from measurements alone and without taking into account their previous history. Yet it is not to be expected that the one could be substituted by either of the other two so far as his skill and his special accomplishments are concerned, and the training for which has given him his physique, without material detriment or danger to the success of the game, race or maneuver. This would show that we may arrive at the same ends, so far as muscular development alone is concerned, in many different ways and by more than one method of training; it also shows that a well-developed foot-ball player is not necessarily a good soldier, nor a thoroughly trained soldier a perfect oarsman, in spite of the muscular development of each being much the same. All three have been trained for different purposes and are consequently physiologically, if not anatomically, different.
We know, furthermore, that the period of training for any of the sports must never be extended over a time of six to eight weeks on the average if we wish to avoid the consequences of overtraining. The period of training a soldier is extended over a much longer space of time. The various branches peculiar to the calling of the soldier or man-of-war's man require as much training and leave as sure an imprint on their anatomy and physiology as do the most complicated muscular movements. An essential difference in the training of a soldier as compared to that of a man-of-war's man is, moreover, to be found in the period of life at which each begins to learn his calling. A sailor begins young, and before his period of normal growth and development is completed; while the soldier does not generally enlist before he is twenty, an age at which growth, in height at least, is nearly at an end. Both need, therefore, different treatment, not only as compared with each other, but also as compared with athletes generally. This fact, however, remains true for all, namely: The highest degree of efficiency within the limits of a man's capacity having been reached, it cannot be long maintained, either with or without detriment to his health, and a period of comparative rest must follow, and is quite imperative after the period of training. Nor does the training of a soldier or sailor mean that he should constantly be kept at the highest point of physical endurance and efficiency. This sort of training is to be undertaken only periodically and, in Europe, generally precedes the great annual fall maneuvers.
While it is perfectly true, and must be admitted, that in adults, the period of training being over, the former condition of bodily physique returns in about the same period which was spent in training, it is equally true and quite significant that a certain permanent and lasting addition accrues to the organism as regards height, weight, lung capacity and muscular strength over and above the normal in persons who had not reached the adult stage of their normal physiological development, or about 21 years of age, when undergoing training.
And, even in adults, long after the condition of their highest physical efficiency and endurance has passed off and their former natural physique has returned, certain permanent gains can be noted which, according to Leitenstorfer, are as follows:
- "An acquired freedom in the articulations."
- "An increase in muscular development which, under the influence of a moderate amount of exercise, may be maintained for years."
- "Increased co-ordination of muscles; a certain muscle memory has been created, by means of which all the movements are quickly recalled, even after years. Ex., the mere sight of a musket will cause the veteran to go through all the movements which its contact with his hands seems to suggest."
- "A larger lung capacity and a stronger heart with freer circulation."
- "Moral strength from consciousness of power. In other words, the normal standard of his health and strength has been raised far above the former average, he lives on a higher plane and has acquired more tone throughout his entire organization, which is ready at any moment to be again trained, in a short time, to the highest possible degree of efficiency and endurance."
Individual Training.—For the best of reasons, Leitenstorfer insists that "it is not, and must not be, the object of individual training to at once fit the soldier for enduring long and exhaustive marches, such as he is expected to perform in the end and to endure without danger to his health or the condition of his training." In this respect the training of the soldier is different from that which is employed for the runner, football player or oarsman. These are trained for an event which is soon over, while the soldier must be carefully trained for a career which may last for years. To start with, the most careful and gradual development of the entire step-musculature is to be aimed at, and this object can be attained only by a precise analysis of the step itself and by emphasizing every movement necessary to complete it. The soldier must be taught to walk and step out vigorously, get over the ground at the rate of 80 centimeters per step, endure such walking for days and over great distances, his body being heavily laden, and arrive in the field still fresh enough to go into battle. There is no calling, no athletic sport, which puts such heavy requirements on the step-muscles as are demanded from the soldier taking to the field. In view of such demands and requirements, we must find it most logical that the step-musculature of the recruit should receive the greatest possible attention from the very beginning. There is but one disadvantage, and a serious one, in this method of exclusively training the step muscles without having due regard to the other parts of the body. Such training must result, and generally always does result, in the asymmetrical development of the body as a whole, and direct measurements have proved this to be the case. It is found that the muscles of the back and legs are developed at the expense of the muscles of the arms and upper parts of the body.
While, then, says Leitenstorfer, "the systematic exercise or practice of the different and distinct movements of the dismembered step has proved itself to be the most valuable gymnastics for the development of the step-musculature, it must be supplemented by exercises which tend to develop the arms and the upper part of the body, and should not be too rapid." The soldier needs good muscular development of his arms, his shoulders and his neck for the purpose of an erect, strong and enduring carriage for climbing fences and other obstacles as well as for shooting.
Those who have had experience in examining and measuring recruits will no doubt agree in that there exists a greater difference or discrepancy between the strength of the arms of different persons than between their legs. We have even found it one of the most difficult undertakings to develop the muscles of the arms of different individuals and the upper parts of their bodies, in order to correct faulty carriage, naturally resulting from such weakness. These muscles seem, at least, to respond less promptly to the influence of exercise than do those of the lower back and lower extremities.
The soldier who is supposed and expected to carry a heavy knapsack on his back, with leather straps over his shoulders, needs good muscular cushions to keep those things from pressing upon the chest-walls, thus impeding his respiration and chafing the bones, at the same time allow the free and unhampered movements of his arms.
All this proves the necessity and importance of attending to individual faults in recruits. A company of recruits may, not inaptly, be compared to a chain in which every link possesses a different degree of tensile strength. While it is impossible to so train and develop every recruit that each one shall be the exact equal of his fellow in both endurance and strength, as can approximately be done with the chain, this must, nevertheless, be our aim; for it has been said, and truly so, by experienced generals, that the rapidity of the advance of an army is not the rapidity of the swiftest, not even that of the average, but that of the slowest ; just as the strength of the chain is not that of its strongest, but only that of its weakest links. It is of great importance to advance the whole army, every man being of consequence, especially so in modern warfare.
In the light of facts such as these, is must seem clearly absurd and contrary to the end in view, to train five or ten per cent of a battalion to do athletic feats, while the remaining ones look on and applaud, and it should never be forgotten that the highest aim of individual training of soldiers is to produce as nearly as is in our power and as our means will allow that much desired homogeneity as regards endurance, in the ranks and out of them, which will enable the commander of troops to arrive in the field of battle with his entire army, and not leave the greater portion behind on the field, exhausted and broken down, thus inviting sure defeat.
I cannot do better for the purpose of showing the startling inequalities in many respects that exist among recruits of even the same age, than reproduce a table from Leitenstorfer. Measuring a battalion of men, he found the following results, which are exhibited in the succeeding table:
Dimensions | Limits | Differences | Measurements of | Average of Batallion | ||
Strongest | Weakest | |||||
Height | 177 | 157 | 20 cm | 173 | 165 | 162 |
Chest circumference | 95-103 | 78-85 | 17 cm | 95-103 | 80-86 | 84-91 |
Weight | 81 | 50.5 | 30.5 kg | 81 | 55 | 61.5 |
Upper arm | 30 | 24 | 6 cm | 30 | 24 | 26.5 |
Thigh | 53 | 45 | 8 cm | 53 | 46 | 49 |
Leg | 38 | 31 | 7 cm | 38 | 31 | 34.5 |
If such discrepancies, as are exhibited in this table, are found among men of the same age, what are we to expect to find among recruits in whom even age is not only not a uniform factor, but the most variable of all factors, such as we find them in our army, navy and militia. In the face of such difficulties as these the task of the training officer seems indeed almost hopeless. We must also, in view of the fact that all recruits must sooner or later form a homogeneous whole, clearly see how useless it would be to train a few for the performance of feats of strength and neglect the rest. A high average working capacity of the battalion must be the constant aim held in view, and to attain this end the weakest among the men are just the ones that require not only the greatest attention, but also the very best experience and judgment. All those, therefore, who are from absolute lack of natural endowments entirely unfitted to benefit from or endure the necessary training with its hardships must be early discovered and promptly excluded, lest they shall become a useless burden on the bataillon and dead ballast on its hands.
All these things require the experience and skill as well as personal devotion of the expert military trainer. A high average working capacity of the battalion as an entirety, a high degree of uniformity in strength and endurance among the individual soldiers so as to approach almost the ideal condition of homogeneity, a perfect machine, equally strong in all its parts and without a single flaw; these are the objects of individual training.
D1et And Nutr1t1on.—The human body consists, on the average, of 59 parts of water, 9 parts of albuminous substances, 6 parts of glue, 21 parts of fat, 5 parts of mineral matters and 1 part made up of extractive matter (creatin, creatinine) and carbohydrates (glycogen and sugar).
During the life of the organism the relative quantities undergo a constant change and readjustment in accordance with the requirements of its daily needs. No thought can be launched into the world, not a single finger can be raised, except through the agency of the fine fabric of brain and muscle substance. But accompanying the performance of both mental and muscular work there goes hand in hand a substantial loss of matter, which loss must be made good so that the disturbed balance may be restored. The craving, known as hunger, is but the outward expression of something needed inside, and the various forms of fatigue are nothing more nor less than so many different kinds of hunger located and felt in those tissues that need nourishment most, and consequently cry for it the loudest in the only way they can. It will be seen, therefore, that the relation which exists between any kind of training and nourishment is both intimate and important Careful weighing has always resulted in showing that there occurs a loss in weight in the beginning of training for any of the athletic sports, but this initial loss is followed just as quickly and surely by a more steady and, finally, permanent gain. Thus the average gain in weight of twenty-five naval cadets in training for foot-ball within the period of two months amounted to 3.28 kilos. Out of this number, two showed no gain at all, one lost one kilo, the lowest gain was two kilos, the highest six kilos. According to Leitenstorfer, the increase in weight of recruits after three months of training was on the average 3.27 kilos, or almost exactly the same as was found in the cadets.
The initial loss and the subsequent gain in weight may always be observed during the training of recruits in which the diet is sufficient and can be controlled. The loss of weight is, very naturally, always greater in the well nourished and fat people, less great in the thin and poorly nourished ones. In order that the gain in weight shall be normal, attention must be paid to the quantity as well as quality of the food. Whenever recruits are undergoing hard training and perform an unusual amount of muscular work, their rations must be adapted to their needs, or a loss in weight, instead of a gain, is always sure to follow. It has been repeatedly shown in Germany, whenever soldiers were maneuvering, the maneuvers approaching the conditions of war, on a peace ration, that they all lost weight, and consequently also the benefits of the training, which it, nevertheless, was the intention they should receive. Such loss has been known to reach an average of 2.78 kilos (L.).
We must agree with Leitenstorfer, who remarks, " Since the war ration for the army is, by regulation, a higher one than that allowed on a peace footing, it stands to reason that no one has any right to exact the unusual requirements of war maneuvers from soldiers who has not also, at the same time, the necessary authority to increase the soldier's rations." That the living organism in all its various functions can be improved by the judicious exercise of such functions under the strict observance of the laws of physiology, lies at the bottom of all training, mental as well as physical. But increased work demanded from either requires increased supply of fuel, if not the machine itself is to be worn out and ruined.
As a general rule, and for purposes of training, that diet is the ideal one which nourishes the body without burdening the stomach; in other words, a diet which supplies the necessary amount of albumen, fat and carbohydrates in the form which is most easily digested and assimilated. The growing muscles need albumen, and since during muscular work the fats and carbohydrates are being burned up, it becomes necessary in the first place to increase the amount of fat in the food. An increase in the amount of carbohydrates is not so necessary, because all the rations contain a superabundance of those foods that contain them. The most frequent errors and the most serious mistakes in the composition of rations occur with regard to the quantities of fat which is allowed, and which, in most of them, is much below what it ought to be.
The most valuable albuminous diet for growing muscle is fresh meat, especially fat beef. The vegetable foods that contain a large percentage amount of albumen, vegetable albumen, are not so easily digested; besides, they contain a large surplus of carbohydrates and are consequently too voluminous a diet for the purpose of supplying the soldier with albuminous food in this form. Fat beef, then, is the most valued albuminous food for men undergoing training.
During muscular work the muscle is not itself consumed as long as there is at hand a sufficient supply of fats and carbohydrates. An increased quantity of fat must be taken by those who are expected to do an increased and increasing amount of muscular work. Fat is the best fuel, and its presence protects the growing muscle from being itself consumed. Both fats and carbohydrates must, of course, be given in a mixed form. In case the meat happens to be too lean, the necessary fat must be added in the form of bacon or butter. No form of fat, however, is so easily digested, and consequently so little of a burden for the digestive organs, as is the fatty meat from our domestic animals.
It is evident, from what has been said, that an officer in command of a number of men is not doing his whole duty when he is satisfied to merely fill the stomachs of his men; he must also look after the quality of the food which they consume.
Another point of great importance is the quantity of water which is taken by men in training. Water must not only be pure and wholesome, but a certain quantity of it is absolutely necessary to a perfect diet. But the percentage composition of all foodstuffs shows that they all contain a not inconsiderable amount of water, and therefore it would not seem necessary that much water need be drank in addition to that which the food already contains. Indeed, it may be urged as one of the objections to the common ration of the soldier and man-of-war's man that it is too sloppy, too wet. Soups and similar slops, while no serious objections under ordinary conditions, during training are to be reduced on account of their occupying too long a time for their absorption, and thus form an unnecessary burden or ballast.
It has long been known that horses fed on moist grass, clover or oats, sweat on making the least exertion and have but little endurance. A large quantity of water taken with meals dilutes the food material as well as the gastric juice; digestion is much delayed and the absorption of the digested food is much retarded; the stomach is distended and unnecessarily burdened with ballast; the tissues themselves become too moist, if not altogether cedematous, and the combustion of fats and carbohydrates remains incomplete, while the deposition of adipose tissue is favored.
Besides the proper quantity and quality of a diet, we must have a frequent and wholesome change. The most hungry stomach will refuse to be satisfied at times with the same food for all time. An exhausted soldier will often, even in a state of hunger, refuse the proffered food, preferring to go to sleep without taking the much needed nourishment and suffer the consequences, if there is an unwholesome sameness about the bill of fare.
The temptation of consuming too large a portion of the daily ration at one meal is also to be guarded against, and a more judicious division very desirable. As regards coffee for breakfast in the morning, it is undoubtedly a most desirable adjuvant. But it must be coffee, and not one of the numerous substitutes of coffee. Then, again, it must be remembered that coffee is only a nerve-stimulant and not a food. Coffee simply stimulates the motor nerves and cannot take the place of any other part of a perfect diet. In order to give the coffee or the tea the significance of a nourishing meal, we must add milk and sugar to it and eat bread and butter with it, with perhaps some bacon.
Alcohol.—We have seen in the foregoing when water is taken in too great quantity during training its use is anything but useful. It retards the effects of training and, in the fully trained, lessens muscular tension, overburdens the heart by increasing blood pressure, overtaxes the activities of the lungs, the sweat glands and the kidneys, consequently depresses the working capacities and the endurance of the men.
A still greater danger, however, arises from indulgence in alcoholic beverages. These affect the men in training, not only as water does, by unnecessarily increasing their ballast and retarding their digestion, but by a direct destructive action upon their energies and endurance. The question of the effects of alcohol and its derivatives on human organization has of late years been extensively studied in all parts of the civilized world, and is rapidly approaching the condition of final settlement among scientific physiologists. Physiologists are agreed that alcohol directly attacks the substance of the brain cells, and after a brief period of stimulating them to abnormal activity, finally paralyzes them completely. The prolonged influence of alcohol destroys these substances not only temporarily, but attacks their structure upon the integrity of which their continued activity depends. Experiments have established the further fact that alcohol is not a food, and cannot take the place of one. Moreover, the idea held formerly that its presence in the blood would retard the combustion of nitrogenous material, has also been entirely disproved, and it was found that instead of retarding it, it causes an increased combustion of these substances. Practical experiments made with alcohol on large bodies of men who had to endure long and fatiguing marches during the war of the rebellion have also conclusively shown that it is disadvantageous. We know of its disastrous effects in hot climates, and of the dangers of its use in the polar regions. Therefore, alcohol is not entitled to form any part of the rations of men in training, especially of soldiers.
Mental Training.—An experience of five years at the Naval Academy, where I was given charge of physical training, has taught me among other things the great value and influence which the mind exercises over muscular work. There is, in my opinion, no system of exercises, no code of law, physiological or municipal, no regulation or discipline, that does not need to possess elasticity sufficient for an occasional and timely relaxation, a special interpretation and application to suit the present and ever changing condition of men's minds, if otherwise we would depend on the best quality of their work. In superintending the exercises of the cadets and sometimes noticing how mechanically these were gone through with, and how far off their minds apparently were from the work, it was perfectly surprising to note the difference in the performance of the exercises that immediately followed a short rest, a few encouraging words, an earnest and well intended appeal to their manliness and an explanation as to the higher purposes, meaning and significance of the work in which they were engaged.
I am firmly convinced that the difference in the effects on the human organism to be obtained through muscular work from the different systems of gymnastics, is at least as much due to the personal influence of the individual instructor over the minds of his men, as it is due to the special inherent virtues of the particular system employed and as compared with another.
Different minds need also different treatment, and the experienced trainer, in order to obtain the same results in all cases, modifies his treatment to suit the natural requirements of the individual. The mental discrepancies which exist among a lot of men are at least as great as the physical ones are, and since, as we have seen, muscular work is directly dependent on the condition of the mind, treatment of the latter should engage as much the attention of the trainer as does the development of the body.
There is, for example, the city boy, up to all sorts of pranks and always bent on mischief, trying to get everybody into trouble except himself; alongside of him we find the good natured but slow, if not stupid, country lad, still laboring under the depressing influence of the newness of his surroundings, and falling an easy prey to the pranks of the former. These must not any more be treated alike than they can be pressed into the same mould, at least not for the purpose of producing the best results of individual training. The sailor boy who, as a general rule, begins his training from four to six years earlier in life than the soldier, requires in this respect also much more careful training than does the soldier.
But over and above the merely temporary mood, the mere frame of his mind, stands the soldier's natural mental endowment, his intelligence and inherited mental capacity. This also must be trained and cultivated. Both soldier and sailor must be educated in order that they may become intelligent machines, and whenever a time should come when the necessary word of command is missing, that they shall go on working in the way they should without any command. The better the education, the better also will be the results of individual training. Moreover, while it must be freely admitted that in a military organization and for purposes of military discipline, it is absolutely necessary that a man should learn to subordinate his own will to that of his superior, his superior or trainer should remember that the man's self respect is not to be crushed out of him during his training, but must be carefully preserved and developed.
Thus it will be seen that the successful training of the individual soldier implies a certain amount of intelligent instruction, and forms in its entirety a most difficult and responsible sort of problem. Caeteris paribus, we may sum up by saying that the best soldier will be the one who has received the best mental training; and the best instructor the one who has the highest conception and the profoundest and broadest knowledge of his duty and his calling, coupled with the ability of communicating both to his men. The greatest and most successful commander of troops will be he who has himself acquired the most thorough knowledge and appreciation of the principles involved in training his men, and is thereby enabled to constantly keep in the closest possible touch with the needs and requirements of the ever changing conditions of his troops during the great maneuvers of an actual campaign. A maneuver of so large a body of men as a commander is responsible for handling at these times, is an experiment in which every detail concerning the care of men must receive the greatest and promptest attention by the commander himself, in order that it shall be successful, because nothing can be done without his order, hence, also, his responsibility.
Training of the Troops.—The recruit having been gradually and systematically developed, understanding the use of arms, having, moreover, been thoroughly drilled in all the movements of the company, battalion and the regiment; in other words, having received all the constitutional benefits and advantages to be derived from individual training, he is now ready and prepared to join larger bodies of troops. The training of the troop, as distinguished from individual training, consists, according to Leitenstorfer, "in the systematic and gradual increase in the efficiency for marching and in the maintenance of a high average ability and endurance."
Though we must accept it as a fact that the highest possible physical efficiency and endurance which a man is capable of reaching through individual training cannot be maintained for any desired length of time, either with or without danger to his health, it is nevertheless one of the outcomes of individual training that the soldier is kept in such a condition of physical perfection, so as to enable the commander to force his troops up to the point by a short period of training whenever the exigencies require this to be done. The recruit, moreover, cannot be considered ripe for troop training until he has successfully completed his individual training and passed through the various company, battalion and regimental drills.
The period of troop training should never be extended over three weeks, since experience has shown that such efficiency and endurance, as is the aim of this training, cannot be maintained beyond this period without the troops passing into the condition of overtraining with its attendant dangers.
In the German and other European armies this begins in the fall of the year and ends with the great maneuvers, which, as we all know, approach in severity and in their demands upon the endurance of the soldiers the conditions of war as nearly as these can be anticipated and reproduced.
The greatest danger that threatens the maneuvering of large bodies of men of course is heat-stroke, but since the discussion of this would lead us too far, it is perhaps just as well to leave this subject for a future occasion.
Troop training must be regarded as the finishing touch upon a soldier's training, and a short period of rest, generally two weeks, should always follow.
Have we anything in this country that would approach such training? Is it desirable that we should? Are the requirements and conditions which we have to meet sufficiently different from those prevailing in other countries that we can afford to dispense with the complete and thoroughly efficient training of our soldiers and men-of-war's men and militiamen? Is there anything we could substitute for such training? These are some of the questions which we must ask ourselves, and I know of none in relation to the personnel of our military establishments that are of such real importance whenever the efficiency of the service is urged and made a prominent feature in the argument.
It is not for me to suggest reforms with regard to the technical training of our soldiers and men-of-war's men, and far be it from me to lose myself in vain and useless criticisms of existing conditions of things, but from a point of view of training and developing the physique and endurance of those whom we look upon as the bulwarks of our defense, much as yet may be learned from an examination into the methods employed by other nations.
[*] Written for the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States.
[*] Das Militärische Training, etc., von Dr. Leitenstorfer, Oberstabarzt I. Klasse u. Regimentsarzt im K. B. Infanterie-Regiment König Wilhelm von Würtemberg. Stuttgart, 1897.