Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1917 — Here Are Simple Tests by Which to Tell Whether You Are Physically Fit. [ARTICLE]

Here Are Simple Tests by Which to Tell Whether You Are Physically Fit.

--<» the last nnalys’s.'the coTtdtttojj Of the fibers of a man’s heart determines his physical fitness. Or, stated in an-, other way, a man is not physically fit unless his heart fibers will stand certain -tests. These tests have recently been , reduced to such simplicity by French army surgeons that they may be applied by ahy intelligent person; and they offer an excellent hygienic suggestion for persons in civil life for determining their physical condition. —The tests as described in the bulletin -of the Fretrctr academy are made as follows : 'Jbe fir -St test coftSlatS_ln: having the subject, after the jhilse rate at. rest in the standing .position has been determined in the usual manner, execute running steps on one spot, with the thighs, at the rate of two -steps a second. At the end of one minute the subject stops and remains standing, while the pulse is counted for fifteen seconds in each minute, and continuing the count until the pulse rate has returned to formal, or nearly so. If the jml.se rate has returned to normal by the end of the second minute. the subject is considered fit for any kind of hard physical exertion. If, at the end of the second minute, the ptlJSe rate is fiver thirty in- the fifteen seconds —that is, 120 beats per minute Instead of about seventy-five or eighty, It is a sign of slight weakness of the heart. Such a condition, however, may.be corrected by proper treatment, and treatment should be undertaken at once. In the second test the subject, while standing, raises a ten-pound weight over the head, then brings it down between the legs with the body bent forward, repeating this for one minute at the rate of one cycle in two seconds, or one second for each upward and each downward movement. The pulse rate is then tested as in the first exercise. This second test Js considered somewhat more exacting than the first; but either is adequate for practical purposes.