i8 4 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



speed skaters, who, like the Homeric gods, " stride with winged 

 feet over the sea transmuted into solid ground." 



The racing posture of all the best skaters is practically the 

 same. The back is kept straight and horizontal, the arms folded 

 across the back except when spurting ; then they are swung from 

 side to side, keeping time to the stroke. Thighs are flexed to a 

 right angle, while the knees are kept in half flexion or almost 

 straight (Figs. 1 and 2). In a recent championship race five of 

 the best amateurs in the world were strung out in line, and their 

 rhythmical swing and stride were as if one brain was moving the 

 whole combination. The crouching position, while it does not 



interfere with respira- 

 tion, diminishes resist- 

 ance to the wind an im- 

 portant advantage and 

 also gives the best posi- 

 tion for using the pow- 

 erful muscles of the loins 

 and back. 



The stroke of all the 

 best men is practically 

 the same, and differs 

 from that of ordinary 

 skating both in its direc- 

 tion and in the way it is 

 taken. Its direction is 

 more forward and back- 

 ward than one from the 

 ordinary short skate, and 

 with the long, flat blade 

 the stroke is given by 

 the whole of the foot flat. 

 Any lifting of the heel 

 in striking out is impos- 

 sible on account of the 

 FIG. 3. DIAGRAM. length of skate - blade. 



This has an important 

 bearing on muscular development, as will be seen later. 



The muscles most used in speed skating will be seen by the 

 accompanying diagram, in which muscles are represented by the 

 heavy black lines. A stroke is made by extending the knee and 

 hip joints, and the erector spinee muscles (S) are brought into 

 strong action in straightening the back on the pelvis, which is 

 thereby made firm enough to resist the action of the muscles of 

 the lower limb. The powerful gluteal muscles (G), which in 

 standing keep the body in the upright position, contract strongly, 



