PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND ENDURANCE. 667 



Concerning the particular matter of weakness in the knees and in 

 stair-climbing, Professor Schroeder made this comment : 



"The men frequently mentioned weakness in the legs, and you will observe, 

 or at least it seems to me, that stair-climbing calls for just that type of inter- 

 mittent, intensive exertion used in the calisthenics and gymnasium work 

 which I have described. 



"No tests in the nature of quantitative endurance or strength tests were 

 apphed in the college gj^mnasium during the period of the experiment, and 

 no effort was made to play the men on low diet against others for the purpose 

 of seeing what they could do." 



Comments concerning physical condition and performance might 

 have been multiplied almost endlessly. The subjects were not encour- 

 aged to discuss at length conditions and impressions of this nature 

 until at the end and after the experiment, for we recognized fully that 

 subjective impressions of one's physical activity are often very mis- 

 leading and inaccurate, particularly in judging the fineness and ade- 

 quacy of muscular performance. The feeling of ease and success iSj 

 however, a most important matter. Any alteration in dietetic habits 

 naturally tends to make an individual more or less introspective. 

 Perhaps the majority of the men when they began the experiment had 

 the general notion that they ate too much. It is only surmised that on 

 this basis some might expect to be more efficient on the reduced diet. 

 On the other hand, one of the most competent subjects remarked in 

 an interview: "I think that during the diet we were rather 'scouting 

 for trouble'." There is no doubt but that among themselves the men 

 frequently discussed and compared notes on their individual condi- 

 tions. Under the circumstances, with the men living together and 

 eating at the same table, this could not well be avoided. 



Notwithstanding these limiting conditions, which are of course not 

 peculiar to this experiment alone and which make it impossible to 

 evaluate accurately their subjective evidence, the comments from 

 both men and instructors are so uniform and there are so few clear 

 contradictions that the following conclusions regarding physical con- 

 dition and activity seem tenable. Associated with the prolonged 

 period of reduced diet the individuals studied frequently experienced: 



(1) Feelings of general weakness and tiredness, a condition com- 

 monly expressed in college slang as lack of ''pep" or drive, when it 

 seemed to require more energy to accomplish a given amount of work 

 and it was necessary to urge oneself harder. 



(2) Weakness of the legs and accompanying unpleasant sensations 

 of fatigue, particularly in stair-climbing.^ 



^Concerning the prominence of statements about weakness and fatigue in stair-climbing, there 

 is one circumstance in the arrangement of the experiment which is of considerable importance. 

 The respiration laboratory was located on the fourth floor. Here also arrangements were made 

 for the collection of urine and feces. This rather unfortunate location necessitated for many 

 of the men that they make a trip up and down three flights of stairs for every urination and 

 many defecations, for all the Springfield experiments, to lee notices posted on the laboratory 

 bulletin board, make appointments, etc. This probably increased the necessary amount of 

 Btair-climbing during the months of the low-diet experiment. 



