| DEVELOP
A TRAINING SCHEDULE
The next step was to develop a fitness training schedule
(shown at Figure 10-4). It lists the daily activities and their intensity and
duration.
CONDUCT
AND EVALUATE TRAINING
Conducting and evaluating training is the final
phase of the training process. This phase includes the evaluation of performance,
assessment of capabilities, and feedback portions of the training management cycle.
These portions of the cycle must be simultaneous and continuous. To be effective,
the
evaluation process must address why weaknesses exist, and it must identify corrective
actions to be taken. Evaluations should address the following:
• Assessment
of proficiency in mission-essential tasks.
• Status of training goals and
objectives.
• Status of training in critical individual and collective
tasks.
• Shortfalls in training.
• Recommendations for next training
cycle (key in on correcting weaknesses).
• Results of educational programs. Using
the Principles of Exercise
As CPT Jones developed his program, he made
sure he used the seven principles of exercise. He justified his program as follows:
•
Balance. This program is balanced because all the fitness components are addressed.
The emphasis is on building muscular endurance and strength in the skeletal muscular
system because of the many lifting tasks the unit must do. The program also trains
cardiorespiratory endurance and flexibility, and warmup and cool-down periods
are included in every workout.
• Specificity. The unit’s fitness goals
are met. The sandbag lifting and weight training programs help develop muscular
endurance and strength. The movements should, when possible, stress muscle groups
used in their job-related lifting tasks. Developmental stretching should help
reduce work-related back injuries. The different types of training in running
will help ensure that soldiers reach a satisfactory level of CR fitness and help
each soldier score at least 70 points on the APFT’s 2-mile run. Soldiers do push-ups
and sit-ups at least two or three times a week to improve the unit’s performance
in these events. The competitive fitness activities will help foster teamwork
and cohesion, both of which are essential to each section’s functions.
•
Overload. Soldiers reach overload in the weight circuit by doing each exercise
with an 8- to 12-RM lift for a set time and/or until they reach temporary muscle
failure. For the cardiorespiratory workout, THR is calculated initially using
70 percent of the HRR. They do push-ups and sit-ups in multiple, timed sets with
short recovery periods to ensure that muscle failure is reached. They also do
PREs to muscle failure.
• Progression. To help soldiers reach adequate
overload as they improve, the program is made gradually more difficult. Soldiers
progress in their CR workout by increasing the time they spend at THR up to 30
to 45 minutes per session and by maintaining THR. They progress on the weight
training circuit individually. When a soldier can do an exercise for a set time
without reaching muscle failure, the weight is increased so that the soldier reaches
muscle failure between the 8th and 12th repetition again. Progression in push-ups
and sit-ups involves slowly increasing the duration of the work intervals.
•
Variety. There are many different activities for variety. For strength and muscular
endurance training the soldiers use weight circuits, sandbag circuits, and Pres.
Ability group runs, intervals, Par courses, Fartlek running, and guerrilla drills
are all used for CR training. Varied stretching techniques, including static,
partner-assisted, and contract-relax, are used for developmental stretching.
•
Regularity. Each component of fitness is worked regularly. Soldiers will spend
at least two to three days a week working each of the major fitness components.
They will also do push-ups and sit-ups regularly to help reach their peak performance
on the APFT.
• Recovery. The muscular and cardiorespiratory systems are
stressed in alternate workouts. This allows one system to recover on the day the
other is working hard. Conclusion
CPT Jones’s step-by-step process of developing a sound PT program for his unit
is an example of what each commander should do in developing his own unit program.
Good physical training takes no more time to plan and execute than does poor training.
When commanders use a systematic approach to develop training, the planning process
bears sound results and the training will succeed. |
|
