I am MAJ Damon Wells, a Field Artillery officer currently attending the Army's Command and General Staff College. I won't go too deep here; if you want more info, I'll be happy to respond.
My primary interest for this blog is to open topics for discussion, comments, feedback, etc. from military service members with relevant combat experience. While any responses and topics are welcome, my main interest is to get discussion going pertaining to athleticism and strength applied during tactical operations. The end state is to have a resource for myself and peers (and anyone else) to draw on for specific training modalities for the Soldiers, Marine, Sailor, Airmen, etc.
My first topic is easy and has already been written by a friend of mine (nice!). In "Why does the Army want me weak?", MAJ Ryan Long address some common fallacies that are perpetuated throughout the armed services. Mainly, that we have to run frequently to get "in shape" for combat operations. Ryan does a great job of documenting his progress on a pure strength (very little cardio) routine in preparation for a powerlifting contest, followed by a "crash" 30 day preparation for the APFT. The end result was that he achieved one of the highest scores in his career with minimal training.
I'll break this ice. I can't understand why this is dug in the military so badly. Anybody with half a brain can see that a strong 210 pound soldier/airman/sailor/marine is going to be more help on a battlefield than the stick thin image they keep trying to shove down our throats now. I think the Marines are the only branch headed in the right direction with the "Combat PT test" or what have you. Strength and GPP are what we need in the Military. Not 150 pound adults that look like adolescents.
ReplyDeleteI agree with MAJ Long wholeheartedly but things won't change without a paradigm shift. There are units like mine where the standard isn't the standard. Our APFT "Standard" is a 250 or above; the chain wants it to be a 270 but the fact is the majority of the Battalion can't achieve that.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting is that I was looked upon more favorably as a 155lb skin and bones runner than I am now as a 225lb powerlifter. I'm one of the strongest soldiers in the unit but because I can't hold an 8 minute pace for 5+ miles I'm considered sub standard.
What I learned in Iraq was that performing in 60+ pounds of gear requires significant strength, and the soldiers without it were the first to drop from fatigue. It's a scary feeling when you know full well that 2/3 of the soldiers in your platoon are incapable of moving your body if you go down in full kit.
Until the APFT is changed things will remain as they are. I'll paraphrase Mark Rippetoe here; when there's a test, people train for that test. If the test is a two mile run, pushups and situps, that's what we will train for. Not one time in four combat tours have I ever had to do situps, pushups, or run two miles or more in full kit. I'm in the best shape of my life and it's because of STRENGTH TRAINING, not military pt.
Some commentary from MAJ Long (the author of the article)....
ReplyDeleteWe should be doing 'cardio' because we need to be good at rucking all day long and because we need to be able to sprint, crawl, jump, climb at high intensity for short periods of time in a fire fight. So what do we do? We go for a ruck or a run or worse we bastardize the process and go for a ruck run, the ultimate in accomplishing nothing but injury. I want a soldier who can run 400 meters in 70 seconds, ruck 12 miles with 60 lbs in 3 hours without running, or run 2 miles in 16 minutes. Going lighter (wearing shorts and t-shirt) and going faster (13 minute 2 mile run) does not necessarily accomplish this unless the soldier posses the requisite strength to carry a minimal combat load, or his wounded battle buddy.
But since the only cardio assessment tool is the 2 mile run all our training focuses on that, light and fast. Like has been said, we need to develop either assessment tools that are so similar to the mechanical and bioenergetic demands of combat that training for the assessment can't steer you wrong, or we need assessment tools that are so varied that you can't possibly excel at one without degrading your performance on another.
MAJ Wells is familiar with one assessment tool we make our cadets use here at USMA, the Cadet Fitness Challenge. The CFC consists of 7 events: a high-intensity cardio event lasting 60-90 seconds, a low-intensity cardio event lasting 18-24 minutes, lower body strength consisting of max rep squats at 225lbs and ankles to the bar, upper body strength consisting cadence pull ups and max reps bench press at 175lbs or 1RM bench press, and then lastly flexibility as measured by the sit and reach. The test isn't perfect but it is a whole lot more accurate a measure of combat related fitness than the CFC, in my opinion. Substitute the squat with the deadlift and you simplify the test even more. Of course the Army would like to sub pushups for the bench press to reduce the equipment needs, but we've seen how effective that has been.
I have had cadets who can score 290 on the APFT but can't score 30% on the CFC and can't pass an obstacle course test. Sounds like cadets (and soldiers) can effectively train for the APFT without necessarily preparing for combat. Isn't that the point? The new TC 3-22.20 is actually called "Army Physical Readiness Training", not Physical "Fitness". (I hate the word fitness, had to add the scare quotes) Unfortunately the TC still fails to incorporate actual strength training into the plan, simply muscular endurance. Again, light and fast at the expense of strength.
In my opinion the justification for the APFT that we need an assessment with very little to no equipment is poor. In garrison we have plenty of access to equipment to conduct assessments like the CFC, and acquiring more equipment is a reasonable training expense. To argue that we need to be able to replicate this assessment in a combat zone is laughable. If you have so much time on your hands in combat that you can conduct APFTs then you need to find more work! The APFT is supposed to assess fitness for combat. If you're already in combat then it stands to reason that every day is an assessment of your fitness related combat preparedness.
If I were planning Army PT, I would be very concerned about "teaching to the test". Army PT is unloaded running, push-ups and situps. Non of these is genuinely a useful military exercise.
ReplyDeleteBetter to have a defined-load route match instead of a run, leopard crawl with a loaded rucksack and weapon instead of a pushup test, and something like move 100 rounds of artillary ammo or a stretcher carry instead of a situp test. All these are actual, relatively normal deployed activities.
For PT, every man in a unit should be able to carry every other man in a unit. The solution when someone is weak is not to crash-diet the strong.
Oh, btw, Army fitness is getting a lot of airplay.
ReplyDeleteCheck out http://roissy.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/americas-future-soldiers-are-unfit-for-duty/
Great article MAJ Long! Us UVA XFit guys learned a lot from you back in Cville and it's great to have you fighting the good fight on this Army PT issue.
ReplyDeleteHeading to Ranger School on Sunday. Gonna get so 90's small :( We had to do a lot of running in IBOLC but I tried to balance it out with heavy lifts and short metcons during my free time in the gym. We'll see how my body holds up... I'll check back in on the other side.
v/r
Dave Lewis
2LT, IN
Thanks Dave. Good luck at Ranger School.
ReplyDelete