Military Review English Edition September-October 2014 | Page 17

PHYSICAL READINESS TRAINING

phases mean very little to platoon-level leaders who
plan and administer PRT sessions. The cycle is rarely
executed to time standards even at the brigade level,
and leader turnover throughout the process makes
execution of similarly phased PRT impractical.
The Master Fitness Trainer Course (reconstituted
in the last two years to teach PRT per FM 7-22) holds a
great deal of potential. This four-week course develops
PRT trainers at the noncommissioned officer (NCO)
and junior officer level who then return to their units
as PRT experts.5 However, the course needs to be more
fully de veloped and given a much higher degree of emphasis and prestige to effect real change.
Most important, FM 7-22 and Army PRT programs have yet to empower and inspire soldiers with
effective ways to become fit. Much of PRT’s unpopularity among soldiers comes from
its exercise movements, which
could be perceived as random
or even silly by those who do
not grasp their purpose. Lateral,
medial, and bent-leg raises; single
leg tucks; windmills; and halfsquat laterals all could appear to
20-year-old men to be akin to the
exercise videos their mothers did
on Saturday. Soldiers see little
carryover between these functional movements and real-life
combat operations. That does not
mean that such functional movements are not important; in fact,
functional movements are very
important.

Developing common understanding will enable pursuit of common goals.
What is fitness? Fitness definitions and taxonomies
abound, but many (including dictionary definitions)
are inadequate because they do not describe qualities that are easily measured. CrossFit founder Greg
Glassman uses a definition that is quantifiable and
appropriate for all applications of physical fitness.6
(CrossFit is strength and conditioning program that has
gained popularity among soldiers and athletes.) Fitness,
Glassman asserts, is the ability to produce power across
two broad domains: a time domain and a modal domain (sometimes called modalities).
Power is a quantifiable biomechanical phenomenon.
It is defined as the rate at which work is performed.7
Power can be expressed algebraically as

To improve the implementation of the Army’s PRT, soldiers
need to master a common lexicon
and a basic level of physiological understanding. This paper
attempts to begin a discussion
that will lead to establishing
definitions of commonly bandied
but poorly understood concepts
of physiology, biomechanics,
and sports technique principles.

Photo By Clifford Kyle Jones, NCO Journal

Discussion

Proper running form is among the lessons in the Master Fitness Trainer Course at Fort
Jackson, S.C., 29 January 2013.

MILITARY REVIEW  September-October 2014

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