"You might read all the literature ever printed, and listen to all the lectures ever prepared, and watch the world's greatest athletes and all of this would not do you a great deal of good so far as making yourself proficient is concerned.

THE ACTUAL WORK IS WHAT COUNTS. In order to develop your muscles to a degree that will be helpful, the student must take up the work systematically. He must not hope to make progress too rapidly, but if the practice is carried on with regularity, and an earnest and determined effort is made, nothing in the world will prevent a normal man or boy from becoming a splendid athlete.

The importance of enthusiastic application cannot be over-estimated. Do not read the lessons and expect that to make you an athlete. It won't. Study the exercises and then prepare to give regular time to the work EVERY DAY."

~ Farmer Burns
Lessons in Wrestling and Physical Culture
1912

"For this fight Jeffries ran some 14 miles in the morning, alternating between a jog and a 100-yard sprint, without stopping to walk or rest and finishing the run within two hours. In the afternoon, he played three games of handball, punched the bag for 20 or 25 minutes straight, and skipped rope 1,500 to 2,500 times.

He would then box from 12 to 16 rounds, and 'wrestle around' or toss an 18-pound medicine ball."