thedrifter
09-04-08, 05:41 AM
Marines find new way to measure their health, fitness
By Kurt Schauppner / The Desert Trail Wednesday, September 3, 2008 4:24 PM PDT
MCAGCC — Marines here got a look last week at a new combat fitness test which simulates the skills they’ll need in combat situations, from from accurately tossing hand grenades to dragging and carrying wounded comrades out of harm’s way.
The new fitness test, which will be initiated on Wednesday, Oct. 1, is the subject of a road show from Headquarters Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., which made a stop at the movie theater and nearby Victory Field at the Combat Center on Thursday, Aug. 28.
Running, lifting and maneuvering
The new fitness test begins with an 800-meter run, just under a half-mile. This is followed by a strength test in which Marines lift a 30-pound ammunition can over their heads as often as they can in two minutes.
This is followed by “maneuver under fire” exercise which includes crawling, slalom running, dragging and then carrying a “wounded” Marine, carrying two 30-pound cans of ammunition and attempting to throw a hand-grenade at a specific target area.
Col. Brian McGuire of the Training and Education Command in Quantico, led a presentation on the new fitness test, which was held at the Combat Center’s movie theatre.
The presentation also included words from Lynda Rummell, from Semper Fit, on recourses available at the Combat Center for Marines preparing for the new fitness test, and Sgt. Patrick Kaiser from the Martial Arts Center for Excellence, who later supervised a demonstration of parts of the new fitness test.
“Marine Corps PT (physical training) is not broken,” McGuire told those in attendance. “There is no evidence that we are falling short of the
physical demands required in combat.”
The new combat fitness test, he reported, is merely an enhancement to the Marine Corps’ physical fitness training.
“Even though we are in a combat environment we are not going to relax our recruiting requirements,” he said. “One of the top two or three reasons I joined the Marines Corps was because of the top physical requirements.”
The new fitness test and new physical training guidelines, he said, were created with help from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association.
“Short, more intense workouts have more benefits,” he said. “It’s no longer the holy grail of fitness, the 3-, 4-, 5-mile run.”
Part of the goal of the new training guidelines, he said, is to train movements, not muscles.
Rummell, in her presentation, told Marines about the wide variety of exercise equipment available to them from the East Gym at the Combat Center.
“So you guys can step out of the weight room and get more creative,” she said. “We want prehab. Prehab is prevention of injuries.”
Resources, she said, also include information about nutrition provided by a nutritionist who works in the East Gym.
“This is our goal, to get every “Marine combat fit,”
Kaiser said.
That fitness, Kaiser said, is through a combination of mental, physical and character discipline.
Using the proper techniques, he said, “I can have the smallest Marine in here throw the largest Marine.”
Participants in the Sergeants Course aboard the base demonstrated parts of the new fitness test for Marines.
One of them was Sgt. Michael Torres, who has been in the Marine Corps for four years and served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007.
“It doesn’t look challenging but it is,” he said of the new fitness test.
“You really need to give 110 percent.”
Ellie
By Kurt Schauppner / The Desert Trail Wednesday, September 3, 2008 4:24 PM PDT
MCAGCC — Marines here got a look last week at a new combat fitness test which simulates the skills they’ll need in combat situations, from from accurately tossing hand grenades to dragging and carrying wounded comrades out of harm’s way.
The new fitness test, which will be initiated on Wednesday, Oct. 1, is the subject of a road show from Headquarters Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., which made a stop at the movie theater and nearby Victory Field at the Combat Center on Thursday, Aug. 28.
Running, lifting and maneuvering
The new fitness test begins with an 800-meter run, just under a half-mile. This is followed by a strength test in which Marines lift a 30-pound ammunition can over their heads as often as they can in two minutes.
This is followed by “maneuver under fire” exercise which includes crawling, slalom running, dragging and then carrying a “wounded” Marine, carrying two 30-pound cans of ammunition and attempting to throw a hand-grenade at a specific target area.
Col. Brian McGuire of the Training and Education Command in Quantico, led a presentation on the new fitness test, which was held at the Combat Center’s movie theatre.
The presentation also included words from Lynda Rummell, from Semper Fit, on recourses available at the Combat Center for Marines preparing for the new fitness test, and Sgt. Patrick Kaiser from the Martial Arts Center for Excellence, who later supervised a demonstration of parts of the new fitness test.
“Marine Corps PT (physical training) is not broken,” McGuire told those in attendance. “There is no evidence that we are falling short of the
physical demands required in combat.”
The new combat fitness test, he reported, is merely an enhancement to the Marine Corps’ physical fitness training.
“Even though we are in a combat environment we are not going to relax our recruiting requirements,” he said. “One of the top two or three reasons I joined the Marines Corps was because of the top physical requirements.”
The new fitness test and new physical training guidelines, he said, were created with help from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association.
“Short, more intense workouts have more benefits,” he said. “It’s no longer the holy grail of fitness, the 3-, 4-, 5-mile run.”
Part of the goal of the new training guidelines, he said, is to train movements, not muscles.
Rummell, in her presentation, told Marines about the wide variety of exercise equipment available to them from the East Gym at the Combat Center.
“So you guys can step out of the weight room and get more creative,” she said. “We want prehab. Prehab is prevention of injuries.”
Resources, she said, also include information about nutrition provided by a nutritionist who works in the East Gym.
“This is our goal, to get every “Marine combat fit,”
Kaiser said.
That fitness, Kaiser said, is through a combination of mental, physical and character discipline.
Using the proper techniques, he said, “I can have the smallest Marine in here throw the largest Marine.”
Participants in the Sergeants Course aboard the base demonstrated parts of the new fitness test for Marines.
One of them was Sgt. Michael Torres, who has been in the Marine Corps for four years and served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007.
“It doesn’t look challenging but it is,” he said of the new fitness test.
“You really need to give 110 percent.”
Ellie