Fit to Fight: The New Face of Military Training

As one might expect, an overweight citizen population is translating into a plethora of overweight and unfit military recruits. In fact, this phenomenon has become one of the most pressing issues the military is facing.
The Army is responding to this problem by overhauling the current training regimen, replacing mainstays such as sit-ups and long runs, with more task-specific calisthenics, as well as widely popular mind/body staples like yoga and pilates.

A group of retired Generals released a report called "Too Fat to Fight". Here's some of what they found...

• Between 1995 and 2008, the proportion of potential recruits who failed their physicals each year because they were overweight rose nearly 70%.
• The Army is finding that many of the recruits who reach basic training have less strength and endurance than privates past.
• The percentage of male recruits who failed the most basic fitness test at one training center rose to more than one in five in 2006, up from just 4 percent in 2000. These percentages were higher for women.
• One training center in 2002, 3 recruits suffered stress fractures of the pubic bone, but last year the number rose to 39.

General Mark Hurtling says this of the discouraging trends;

It is the legacy of junk food and video games, compounded by a reduction in gym classes in many high schools... As a result, it is harder for recruits to reach Army fitness standards, and more are getting injured along the way 

The new regimen - 10 years in the making - was created by Stephen Van Camp and Frank Palkoska. The 400+ page manual focuses on the demands of the military and incorporates exercises to mimic those demands. Some of the concepts of the program include;

• More stretching
• More exercises for the abdomen and lower back (in place of sit-ups)
• More agility and balance training.
• Increases in difficulty are more gradual.
• Based on a multi-week course of linked exercises, rather than offering discrete drills.

On the dietary end of things, General Hertling is overseeing a makeover of the mess halls at its training bases. At Fort Jackson, there are more green leafy vegetables, less fried food, and milk instead of soda.

A Step in the Right Direction

These changes to the fitness programs were badly needed, regardless of the weight of the recruits. The number one cause of disability in the Army is lower back pain, and the fitness programming has to address this.There are certain elements to a program that make it ultimately more effective, and for the most part the new generation of exercise prescription should help address the military needs from both an injury prevention standpoint, as well as an efficiency and carry-over effect.
The most effective program is one where individual needs can be addressed. A system needs to be developed whereby the following areas are addressed;

• Mobility
• Strength
• Endurance
• Power
• Agility
• Balance
• Cardiorespiratory strength

The above can be achieved through a well-periodized program (differing intensities), done in such a way that there is specificity (applicable to the task), variety and adequate recovery. Nutritional intake also needs to reflect the needs of weight management, as well as a recovery aid.