Professor Louis C. Schroeder had immediate charge of the gymnasium work of the men. On the occasion when he came to interview one of the authors, he stated that he had some definite ideas about the men and their physical condition during the diet experiment. These he gave without being questioned.

"The program in gymnasium work consists of an hour and a half each day for 5 days of the week. They spend about 7 minutes in marching, 20 minutes in vigorous calisthenics, 30 minutes in apparatus work, 20 minutes in gymnastic dancing, and about 10 minutes in a game. In the calisthenic work the men simply did not have the endurance; they would work quite well for about 5 minutes and after that could not keep up with the other men in the class. With the apparatus work they did not have the strength to do what Is here (at Springfield) considered the ordinary senior apparatus work; strength was lacking. What was true of the calisthenic work was also true of the gymnastic dancing, which was more vigorous than the calisthenics.

In the apparatus exercises on parallel bars, in which there was considerable support work, as, for example, in doing shoulder stand, the men on diet did not have the motor control or the strength that was demonstrated by the others or had been previously shown by themselves; they did not come up to expectations. I am not saying they would make a poor showing in all gymnastics and athletic work. In our calisthenics here at Springfield the efforts demanded are what you might call of an explosive type - quick and intense; they do not require the same qualities, perhaps, as the running of a long distance race, but might be better likened to the sprint at the finish. Any particular explosive calisthenic exercise might be repeated 20 or 30 times successively and in this sense, they test endurance".

When asked about the application of such a dietetic regime to the life of the soldier Professor Schroeder said:

" In long rhythmic marching, when the men would gradually work into it, I have no way of judging whether the individuals on such a diet could stand up to the game with their fellows or would be better or poorer. But in circumstances requiring intense, extreme exertion, the gymnasium experience would indicate that this sort of a food reduction, at least in the degree here employed, would place the soldier in a very precarious condition".

Professor Schroeder made the following comments concerning Pea-body, who served as his assistant during the winter and conducted the army work class in calisthenics and games 1 hour per day:

"The standing of the cross-country teams with which we contested this year can not be stated surely. I do not know if they were better, poorer, or of average ability. Considering the large number of college men who are now in Government service, some might assume that the teams would not be up to standard. Nevertheless, we were all enthusiastic over the remarkable physical ability and endurance which Peabody showed in these races. In the gymnasium, however, he was not able to perform up to his standard on the apparatus. In the rapid calisthenics he showed more energy and endurance than wiy other man in Squad A.; there is no question about it. I am not ready to admit that he did as well as usual".

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 intermittent, 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 applied in the college gymnasium 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 encouraged 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 misleading and inaccurate, particularly in judging the fineness and adequacy of muscular performance. The feeling of ease and success is, 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 conditions. 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 condition 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 commonly 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.1

1Concerning 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 see notices posted on the laboratory bulletin board, make appointments, etc. This probably increased the necessary amount of stair-climbing during the months of the low-diet experiment.

(3) Subnormal gymnasium and athletic performance, as shown by inability to continue the rapid calisthenics or to do the heavy apparatus work for the prescribed time and with the usual subjective satisfaction, and generally to produce effectively sudden bursts of energy.

These feelings or experiences were not homogeneously distributed throughout the whole period of 4 months, during which the reduced-diet experiment lasted. The adverse criticisms apply for the most part to the periods of low diet intake, i.e., during the periods of transition. During the 2 or 3 weeks prior to the Christmas vacation, a period we have selected as one of our maintenance periods, and again during a similar maintenance period near the end of the experiment, unfavorable comments were rare. The men said that they could get on indefinitely at that level and that their working ability was sensibly normal.