best to spurt, or should one pace himself? Should the performer
put forth all possible energy right at the start in an explosive effort
and continue the drive until fatigue enforces rest; or should he
operate at “three-quarter” capacity while maintaining some energy
reserves for emergencies or for longer continuous work?

The spurter always is in competition with his own upward curve
of improvement. As long as he spurts he has a chance of raising
his place on that curve. But fatigue causes him to stop and rest.
On the other hand, the pacer may misjudge his capacity and thus
penalize his chances of improvement. In fact, only the wise, con-
sistent, and experienced athlete or worker can prevent lowering
his ability when he is not making effort to improve it. ‘Tests made
in many activities such as typing, ticket selling, changing money,
and other skills indicate that the spurter, or fast worker, accom-
plishes more in the end than does the pacer, or slow worker.

The spurter will run out of his endurance on the fatigue curve
base line of condition before the pacer. That is the reason the
spurter must rest more frequently and then produce more than
the pacer before decline sets in again. The pacer declines less per-
ceptibly in production but just as surely. In the process of physical
development the spurter may fall behind in the earlier days, but
by employment of maximum effort he heightens his line of train-
ing, lengthens his line of condition, and performs his best always
within the limits of his fatigue curve. The spurter, by going all
out, always has the chance of full development while the pacer
is playing a game within himself in guessing his limits and may
possibly curtail his development.

Training, conditioning, and application play the greatest part
in determining whether or not one reaches a high stage of Physical

Fitness. The athlete with a high degree of ability but who does

not develop endurance and emotional drive will lose some or
most of his ability in time. One with a short vertical line repre-
senting lesser ability, but with a long horizontal line denoting
endurance, and a fine graph of application will increase his ability.
The type of athlete who possesses ability and endurance, but who
lacks the emotional drive to apply himself soon finds the up and
base lines of training and conditioning becoming shorter, and
has less on which to work even when he desires to do so. Physical
Fitness may be developed only when one tries to lengthen every
line of his fatigue curve; when he gives equal emphasis to the

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