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Physical Training

A soldier’s level of physical fitness has a direct impact on his combat readiness. Physical training ensures that each soldier maintains the physical ability and stamina needed to do his mission. Other objectives are to promote unit cohesiveness and discipline. These are met by combining individual testing, formation, running, athletic competition, weight control, proper diet, teamwork drills, and freedom from drug and alcohol abuse. Mental fitness and toughness come from experience and success. Good physical conditioning increases unit's chances of success.

Physical training programs are designed to include the elements of overload, progression, balance, variety, and regularity.

The Army’s physical fitness training program extends to all branches of the total Army. This includes the USAR and ARNG and encompasses all ages, ranks and both sexes. Its purpose is to physically condition all soldiers throughout their careers beginning with IET. It also includes soldiers with limiting physical profiles who must also participate in physical fitness training.

Commanders and leaders must ensure that all soldiers in their units maintain the highest level of physical fitness.

Leadership Responsibilities

Effective leadership is critical to the success of a good physical training program. Leaders, especially senior leaders, must understand and practice the new Army doctrine of physical fitness. They must be visible and active participants in physical training programs. A poorly designed and executed physical fitness program hurts morale. Leaders should regularly measure the physical fitness level of every soldier to evaluate his progress and determine the success of the unit’s program. Commanders must ensure that the time allotted for physical fitness training is used effectively. Since the commander is responsible for physical training, programs must be based on his own training objectives.

Components of Physical Fitness

The components of physical fitness are as follows:

Cardio-respiratory endurance - the efficiency with which the body delivers oxygen and nutrients needed for muscular activity and transports waste products from the cells;

Muscular strength - the greatest amount of muscle’s force or muscle group can exert in a single effort;

Muscular endurance - the ability of a muscle or muscle group to perform repeated movements with a sub-maximal force for extended periods of times;

Flexibility - the ability to move the joints (for example, elbow, knee) or any group of joints through the entire or normal range of motion;

Body composition - the amount of body fat a soldier has in comparison to his total body mass;

Principles of Exercise

Adherence to basic exercise principles is important for developing an effective program. These basic principles of exercise must be followed:

Regularity;

To achieve a training effect, a person should strive to exercise each of the first four fitness components at least three times a week. Regularity is also important in resting, sleeping, and following a good diet.

Progression;

The intensity (how hard) and/or duration of exercise must gradually increase to improve the level of fitness.

Balance;

To be effective, a program should include activities that address all the fitness components

Variety;

Providing a variety of activities reduces boredom and increases motivation and progress.

Specificity;

Training must be geared toward specific goals.

Recovery;

A hard day of training for a given component of fitness should be followed by an easier training day or rest day for that component and/or muscle group(s) to help permit recovery.

Overload;

The work load of each exercise session must exceed the normal demands placed on the body in order to bring about a training effect.

FITT Factors

Certain factors must be part of any physical fitness training program for it to be successful. These factors are frequency, intensity, time, and type.

Army Regulation specifies that vigorous physical fitness training be conducted 3 to 5 times per week. For optimal results, commanders must strive to conduct 5 days of physical training per week.

With some planning, a training program for the average soldier can be developed which provides fairly equal emphasis on all the components of physical fitness. The following training program serves as an example. In the first week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are devoted to CR fitness, and Tuesday and Thursday are devoted to muscle endurance and strength. During the second week, the training days are flip-flopped: muscle endurance and strength are trained on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and CR fitness is trained on Tuesday and Thursday. Stretching exercises are done in every training session to enhance flexibility. Depending on the time available for each session and the way training sessions are conducted, all components of fitness can be developed using a three-day-per-week schedule. However, a five-day-per-week program is much better than three per week. The intensity should vary with the type of exercise being done. Exercise for CR development must be strenuous enough to elevate the heart rate to between 60 and 90 percent of the heart rate reserve. When determining intensity in a strength-training program, it is easier to refer to a “repetition maximum”. For example, a 10 RM is the maximum weight that can be correctly lifted 10 times. Like intensity, the time spent exercising depends on the type of exercise being done. At least 20 to 30 continuous minutes of intense exercise must be used in order to improve cardio-respiratory endurance. For muscular endurance and strength, exercise time equates to the number of repetitions done. For the average soldier, 8 to 12 repetitions with enough resistance improve both muscular endurance and strength. Type refers to the kind of exercise performed. When choosing the type, the commander should consider the principle of specificity. For example, to improve his soldiers’ levels of CR fitness (the major fitness component in the 2-mile run), he should have them to do CR types of exercises.

Warm-up and Cool-Down

One must prepare the body before taking part in organized PT, unit sports competition, or vigorous physical activity. A warm-up may help prevent injuries and maximize performance. The warm-up increases the body’s internal temperature and the heart rate. The chance of getting injured decreases when the heart, muscles, ligaments, and tendons are properly prepared for exertion. A warm-up should include some running-in-place or slow jogging, stretching, and calisthenics. It should last five to seven minutes. Soldiers should cool down properly after each exercise period, regardless of the type of workout. The cool-down serves to gradually slow the heart rate and helps prevent pooling of the blood in the legs and feet.

Types of Fitness Programs

The Army has too many types of units with different missions to have one single fitness program for everyone. They are classified as unit, individual, and special programs.