T is for Training

The first attempts at applying an organised, scientific training regime originate with a professional endurance walker. Captain Barclay from Stonehaven, published 'Training for Pedestrianism and Boxing' in 1816, and rowing coaches adapted this to 'pulling'. It could involve such horrors as 'emetics' (laxatives), to ‘induced sweating’, which meant drinking hot distilled cider after a fast run, and then dangerously overheating in heavy clothing, under 8 blankets on an insulating feather mattress. Smoking was even permissible 'between seasons'! For 'amateurs', who were generally richer sportsmen in the 1840s, they trained on a meat-heavy diet, dry bread and restricted liquid intake for several months, or for 'professional' working class competitors, for a few weeks before a race.  

The thinking was well-intentioned but frequently contradictory; if captains selected men with the 'correct' physique beforehand, (strong lungs and thighs), anything extra was 'dead weight'. 1860s regimes included 2-4 miles of brisk walking, 30 minutes' easy rowing' and an hour's‘ water work', increasing from 35 strokes to 'racing gait' before a race. One sculler took 3 weeks' preparation for a 1-mile race, increasing his daily distance up to 10 miles. 'A crew of mechanics' already possessed toughened hands, and avoided blisters; 'Clerks, tape-measurers, etc generally require two weeks' more of training than men who have always been used to heavy lifting'. While true, it illustrates the 'privilege divide' between 'amateur' and 'professional' competitors.  

Although physiology was in its infancy, coaches did emphasise regularity of repetition, and dumbbells and parallel bar work 'to develop the chest'. Muscle was just extra cargo; strength was the main aim. 'Rowing machines' (which usually meant farming equipment) and 'chest machines' are occasionally mentioned in private schools from the early 1850s, even if they didn't have any boats. The Clutha (Regatta Club) premises of 1854 included a gymnasium (and reading room), as did the later Paisley Trades ARC in 1889. They boasted 'dumbbells, clubs, [boxing] gloves, with open-air horizontal bars', baths and dressing rooms. Suitable fitness facilities were made available to artisans, possibly making competitions fairer. Glasgow Trades Club launched three clinker-built jollyboats for training new members in 1889; a considerable investment in their amateur sport.