Jim Jeffries "drying out" before the Jack Johnson fight

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You replied something that didn't make pertain to the topic so I was hoping I'd get a satisfactory response.

 

Everything I said in the other post is true. It’s irrelevant if some boxer ran sprints in 1920 and another chopped wood in 2018. I’m talking about trends. You aren’t contributing to discussing trends.

 

No it's not. You said:

False.

This is false as well. Boxers have always done HIIT.

 

People weren't big on drinking water back then because it could kill you. Water wasn't chlorinated. People drank water out of streams and wells. A bad bacteria could make you violently ill or kill you. Especially if you were in a freaking desert in Reno.

That's why many people back then drank beer, because the brewing process killed most of the harmful bacteria.

By "drying out," they very well could've meant they stopped drinking alcohol the closer it got to the fight. (Since that's what the term 'drying out' meant at the turn of the 20th century - going alcohol-free.)

 

In the early seventies I bought every new and old training for boxing book out there and many of the older ones talked of the supposed benefits of drying out and its effects on speed, endurance, etc. The writs included what some physician's of the day thought the explanation for these was but I don't recall the wordage now. One time only and by accident I dried out for a tournament where the weigh in was a day in advance, my father and brother had to pretty much carry me to and from the weigh in as after hard work outs in plastic suits it was then about 14 hours without water. I was astonished at my speed and endurance of the next fight, both which I never saw again and didn't quite know how to handle. The keys here are it may have been coincidental and the weigh in wasn't the day of the fights. Just my two cents.

 

I really think this is a case of people today misinterpreting what the term drying out meant back in 1910.

"Drying out" literally meant to stop drinking alcohol. It didn't mean to stop drinking water. (People didn't drink a lot of water.) It didn't mean to starve yourself to make weight. The definition of drying out was to stop drinking alcohol.

People drank alcohol routinely because it was the SAFEST thing to drink - safer than water.

You "wet your whistle" - which meant to drink alcohol - and you "dried out" - when you stopped drinking alcohol.

And "drying out" - or not drinking alcohol - would certainly help with your speed and timing and balance and reflexes, considering that's what you LOSE when you drink alcohol. (LOL)

The doctors back then weren't crazy to recommend you "dry out" before a fight ... if people understand what the term "dry out" meant.

 

They probably rehydrated at some point before the fight but to put yourself through that as a heavyweight is still very stupid.
But i guess that they didn't know any better back then and had all kinds of superstitions.

Even George Foreman in his first career used to dry out. That's why he said he thinks he was drugged inZaire because his trainer had him dry out and when he was finally allowed to drink, the water tasted funny.

 

Very good. These are the reasons I keep reading this forum.

 

Feel free to post them.

You improve speed and reflexes by not drinking "ALCOHOL". Not water. Right?

That's what "Drying Out" meant. (And still does in some dictionaries, if you look it up.) To stop drinking alcohol.

Doctors weren't morons back then. They knew humans needed to consume liquids. They also knew alcohol had side effects, like slowing your speed and reflexes. Water didn't slow your reflexes or speed, it could just kill you if it wasn't clean.

 

No it was water being referred too, alcohol never being never being mentioned or implied in any of the old training books I once owned including Fleishers.

 

Dubble, from Fleishers book on none of the old training for boxing books mentioned or implied alcohol in any manner, if you have found one that uses the term with what your saying please post the sentence.

 

Unforgiven, agreed, in the early seventies I owned pretty much all that were still available and they all were talking about water when using the term drying out.

 

George Foreman fought in the 1970s. There was chlorinated water in the 1970s.

We're talking about 1910. In the freaking desert in Reno.

For example, John L. Sullivan fought closer to Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries than George Foreman did. Sullivan's training regime for Charlie Mitchell, for example.

"During the first week I am passed through a course of physics by which the stomach is brought into proper condition. During this time I get up every morning at 7 o'clock, walk a mile and breakfast at 8. My bill for fare throughout the training is a simple one. I avoid all greasy or heating foods. My meats are cooked rare and I am prohibited from eating anything rich or sweet. The bread is either toasted or stale. In place of tea or coffee with every meal I am allowed ale or porter. After breakfast I take a cold shower bath, followed by a brisk rubbing of every part of the body with coarse towels. After resting an hour I walk 12 miles, six out and six back, coming in on the last half mile at a high brisk run. This is followed by knocking with dumb bells for about an hour. They weigh a pound and a half and the excercise affects the muscles of the arm. After dinner the excercises of the morning are repeated and supper is followed by another jaunt of 12 miles, more dumb bell knocking, a cold water sponge bath, a thorough rubbing and finally about 9 o'clock to bed. This is kept every day until the day of the meeting. I will be relieved of about thirty pounds of superfluous flesh and ought to weigh 185 pounds when I step into the ring."

Ale and Porter is BEER. Coffee, tea, Ale and Porter. Those were what he drank. All those drinks are basically COOKED/heated/boiled so he wouldn't get sick.

No mention of WATER anywhere, except for washing. Because drinking water at the turn of the 20th century was dangerous. Because water purification wasn't common at all.

And "drying out" literally means not drinking alcohol.

That's the definition. Look it up.

 

Paddy Ryan (still a closer contemporary of Jeffries than George Foreman), who lost the title to Sullivan.

"My first object will be to thoroughly purify my system, which will occupy probably a week. Then I will start in on schedule time. At 5:30 every morning I will arise, and after taking a little old sherry and a crust of stale bread I will saunter along the road for three miles just to get up an appetite. Breakfast will be ready upon returning, the principle food being either muttonchops or beefsteak, medium cooked, with just enough salt upon it to make it palatable, in addition to dry toast and a cup of tea, with neither sugar nor milk. A rest is taken after breakfast for 3/4 of an hour, then the hard work of the day commences. Encased in heavy flannels and with a heavy pair of walking shoes I start on a ten mile tramp; five miles and return. The pace must be a severe one, and the last half mile of the distance is accomplished on a fast run. I then jump into bed with heavy coverings and remain there until prespiration ceases. I will then be subjected to a good hard rubbing and afterward take a bath in luke warm water. Being rubbed perfectly dry I don a suit of light clothes and journey quietly around til dinner time, which is set promptly at 12:30pm. The meal consists of roast beef, and sometimes boiled leg of mutton is allowed, vegetables once in a while are included, in addition to dry toast and a bottle of Bass or Scotch ale. After dinner a row is indulged in for about 3/4 of an hour, and then a set for 1/2 hour additional. Dumb-bells, weighing 2 1/2 pounds each, are fondled with for some time. Particular care is taken to keep the limbs always in motion. Supper consists of a couple of boiled eggs, some toast and a cup of tea. A walk around is afterward taken until time arrives for retiring, which is between 9 and 9:30pm. The last effort of the day is take up the dumb bells, rattle them hard until you fairly drop into bed a very tired man."

TEA and ALE (or sherry) was all he drank during training.

Water for washing. Because water could make you sick.