Military Review English Edition September-October 2014 | Page 19
PHYSICAL READINESS TRAINING
General physical skills
Definitions
Cardiovascular/
respiratory endurance
The ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen.
Stamina
The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.
Strength
The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force.
Flexibility
The ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
Power
The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply
maximum force in minimum time.
Speed
The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
Coordination
The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular
distinct movement.
Agility
The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
Balance
The ability to control the placement of the body’s center of gravity in relation
to its support base.
Accuracy
The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.
Skills and definitions reproduced from Greg Glassman and staff, CrossFit Training Guide, 2010.
Table. Ten general physical skills as used by Glassman
• Type IIa fibers have a much lower level of aerobic
endurance but perform well anaerobically and generate
higher levels of peak power.
Type IIx fibers are activated predominantly for
highly explosive, short- duration activities.
In addition, training the metabolic pathways that
deliver adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which fuels the
muscles, is essential for maximizing athletic potential
for tasks of different duration:
The ATP-phosphocreatine system delivers
immediate but short-term (≤ 10 seconds) energy for
explosive movements.
The glycolytic system delivers energy more slowly
but in a more sustained fashion, energizing movements
up to two minutes.
The oxidative system delivers the slowest but
most sustained energy. This system can fuel exercise for
hours when trained properly.
Glassman has adopted a taxonomy with 10 general fitness domains, based on the work of coaches Jim
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MILITARY REVIEW September-October 2014
Cawley and Bruce Evans, in which physical skills and
training adaptation can be defined and measured.
These ten skills are shown in the table.
In the PRT taxonomy used by FM 7-22, the overlapping components of training are “strength, endurance, and mobility.”9 Qualitative performance factors
for mobility are agility, balance, coordination, flexibility, posture, stability, speed, and power. The doctrine
further develops the components as muscular strength
and muscular endurance; anaerobic endurance and
aerobic endurance; and the performance factors of
mobility—agility, balance, coordination, flexibility,
posture, stability, speed, and power. This taxonomy
bears some similarity to Glassman’s, but since the
nature of the model is qualitative, rather than quantitative, it provides little practical means for measurement. Glassman’s model facilitates quantifying athletic
performance.
The idea of modal domains includes types of
training most likely to result in desired physical
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