Getting in shape

[Buck]

Lads, have been saying ill get in proper good shape for ages now, had a look about but i dont think you can beat military-type fitness for the levels you can reach. does anyone have any tips or programmes they find useful, bearing in mind my current fitness levels are really non-existent! had a look at that british army booklet mentioned above threads but couldnt download it properly for some reason, would someone be able to email it to me please? also, i am pretty unmotivated, despite wanting the ultimate goal very much! anyone any tips on self motivation? any help would be appreciated lads, cheers!

[DeV]

I can really recommend the couch to 5k programme, there is probably a link on IMO, if not search on Itunes

[fred the red]

+1 on the above Ive just completed it so if I can do it anyone can.

Might be an idea to get a training buddy for when you dont really feel motivated.

Heres a link to the couch to 5k http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Good luck

[Jungle]

I had to use a similar program a few years ago after a period of inactivity, it worked really well.

[Buck]

thanks for the help guys, really appreciate it

[WilcoOut]

has anyone got teh program that connect or an cosantoir set out for getting into shape for the cadet fitness test?

im fit as in im strong, weights being my exercise but i want to switch it up and get up to a decent cardio fitness level

can anyone point me to that program?

thanks alot!

[concussion]

The 1 Bde RDF website has An Cosantoir's 10k preparation program, divided into beginners, intermediate and advanced.

http://www.1bderdf.com/fitnesstests.htm

[DeV]

has anyone got teh program that connect or an cosantoir set out for getting into shape for the cadet fitness test?

Don't remember it being in Connect but here is one: http://www.military.ie/careers/fitness.htm

[CS Gass]

In order to avoid a new thread and maybe mis placing it in the wrong forum i'll post here. A good book I recently picked up for getting in shape is The official British Army Fitness guide, aspects of it were serialized in the guardian newspaper and I think were mentioned elsewhere on the site, the book however expands greatly on this, its 175 pages so quite a bit more than was previously published and whilst it doesnt include the 16 week army fitness programme featured in the Guardian, it does have 3 twelve week programmes in ascending difficulty with 4 week build up programmes for running and strength/flexibility work. This makes the book ideal for absolute starters whilst also providing enough detail and life to take you from modest fitness to your peak, its worth checking out if you can spare the EUR15.60 I paid in Hodge Figgis. The diagrams are fairly good too!

[Truck Driver]

Lads, have been saying ill get in proper good shape for ages now, had a look about but i dont think you can beat military-type fitness for the levels you can reach. does anyone have any tips or programmes they find useful, bearing in mind my current fitness levels are really non-existent! had a look at that british army booklet mentioned above threads but couldnt download it properly for some reason, would someone be able to email it to me please? also, i am pretty unmotivated, despite wanting the ultimate goal very much! anyone any tips on self motivation? any help would be appreciated lads, cheers!

Buck, PM me an e-mail address - thankfully, due to a sharp eyed board member, I
did download the booklets (x6) at the time they were available on the Guardian website

[Kontroller]

Soldiers don fake belly, breasts to better understand pregnant troops' exercise concerns


CAMP ZAMA, Japan – The Army is ordering its hardened combat veterans to wear fake breasts and empathy bellies so they can better understand how pregnant soldiers feel during physical training.

This week, 14 noncommissioned officers at Camp Zama took turns wearing the “pregnancy simulators” as they stretched, twisted and exercised during a three-day class that teaches them to serve as fitness instructors for pregnant soldiers and new mothers.

Army enlisted leaders all over the world are being ordered to take the Pregnancy Postpartum Physical Training Exercise Leaders Course, or PPPT, according to U.S. Army Medical Activity Japan health promotion educator Jana York.

Developed by the Army in 2008, the course includes aerobics classes, pool sessions and classroom studies on the physiology of pregnant women. The NCOs learn special exercises for pregnant women, who shouldn’t push themselves too hard or participate in high-impact activities such as snowboarding, bungee jumping or horse riding, York said.

During the training, each NCO must wear the pregnancy simulator for at least an hour.

“When they first come in, the males are typically timid and don’t feel they have the knowledge to teach female soldiers,” she said. “However, after three days their confidence rises.”

Sgt. Michael Braden, a helicopter crew chief who has served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, said he was less than enthusiastic about taking part.

“I didn’t want to do it,” said Braden, 29, of Everett, Wash.

The 78th Aviation Battalion mechanic said he was ordered to do the training even though he doesn’t have any female soldiers in his unit and doesn’t see himself as the right sort of person to run the aerobics classes that make up a large portion of the PPPT training.

Despite his misgivings, Braden strapped on the empathy belly and spent Tuesday morning learning low-impact aerobics moves like the “grapevine” and the “V-step.”

“This whole thing is pretty uncomfortable,” he said of the 25-pound pregnancy simulator. But, “body armor is a lot heavier.”

Braden said he didn’t know there was such a thing as physical training for pregnant soldiers before he started the course.

“I’ve learned that being pregnant is no excuse to avoid PT,” he said.

According to an Army fact sheet about the program, “moderate exercise promotes a more rapid recovery from the birth process and a faster return to required physical fitness levels.”

An Army study showed significant Army physical fitness test failures, height/weight failures, and increased injury and illness rates when active-duty soldiers who don’t take part in physical exercise during pregnancy return to their unit, according to the fact sheet.

The program, which is mandatory for pregnant soldiers, was set up to get them back to their units quickly after they give birth, according to Staff Sgt. Latoya Nieves-Gonzales, who is helping York train the NCOs at Camp Zama.

“Pregnant soldiers were trying to do [regular Army] physical training and they couldn’t do a lot of the exercises,” she said.

Soldiers have six months to meet the Army’s height and weight standards and pass a physical training test after they give birth, she said, adding that nine pregnant soldiers do PPPT training at Camp Zama each morning.

“In the last year, we have only had one soldier who didn’t meet those standards and she was already in the weight-reduction program before she got pregnant,” she said.

Female soldiers typically add 25-30 pounds during a pregnancy, said Nieves-Gonzales, who put on 20 pounds before the birth of her own son, Xavier, six years ago in Würzburg, Germany.

That was before PPPT training was mandatory.

“My unit said: ‘You can’t do PT with us so just sleep in,’ ” she said.

Still, soldiers used to mounting up with rucksacks and rifles were not too keen on the idea of strapping on a big belly and fake breasts.

“I’m not looking forward to wearing the pregnancy simulator,” said Sgt. Matthew Prout, a 26-year-old member of the 88th Military Police Detachment at Camp Zama.

The Army Combatives instructor said he was worried that the frontal weight would throw his balance off during aerobics routines.

“It gives me a better sense of what the pregnant woman is going through as she is going the exercises,” he said. “It will allow me to see both sides.”

It never occurred to Prout, when he joined the Army, that he’d learn to train pregnant soldiers, he said.

“My initial view of the Army was just kind of – we train, we fight,” he said. “But my eyes have been opened up to the family aspects of the Army as opposed to just the single soldier view.”

Prout, who is single, said he hoped the PPPT training would help him relate to his future wife when she gets pregnant.

“A lot of people when their wives get pregnant just say, ‘good luck,’ but I will be able to be there step by step,” he said.

http://www.stripes.com/news/army/sol...cerns-1.168786