MSL 101 L08 Health and Fitness
MSL 101 L08 Health and Fitness
MSL 101 L08 Health and Fitness
2
Personal Development Track
1 Components of Fitness
2 Principles of Exercise
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To every man there comes in his lifetime that special
moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder
and asked to do a very special thing—unique to him
and his talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds him
unprepared or unqualified for that work.
Sir Winston Churchill
Health and Fitness ■ 77
Introduction
Have you ever noticed during sports competition that the individual or team that tires
first often loses? It’s the same for Soldiers. Your ability to cope with battlefield challenges
depends greatly on your level of physical fitness. Physical fitness not only determines
how well you perform in combat, but also enhances your overall quality of life,
improves your productivity, and brings about positive physical and mental changes.
As an officer, how important is your level of physical fitness? How does your fitness
affect your unit’s combat readiness?
You’re probably tired of hearing how important it is to be in great shape as an
officer, but it’s a basic truth. You don’t have to be the best at everything, but you
definitely need to be one of the most physically fit Soldiers in your platoon.
Morale improves when your Soldiers are constantly trying to beat you in a run or
in an individual event like pull-ups or the rope climb. When that happened to me
as a platoon leader that meant instant respect. My Soldiers all knew I could run or
road march to the end with any of them. You can’t motivate Soldiers in a road
march if you are visibly in bad shape. It’s a sad [sight] when a lieutenant can’t
lead his Soldiers physically. Ask yourself: How can you lead or motivate your
Soldiers if you’re not at the head of the formation? When it comes to the combat
environment, physical fitness is crucial. If you allow your Soldiers to deploy in
poor condition, you have failed them. Being physically fit out here [in
Afghanistan] will help your Soldiers bear some of the rigors of a combat tour: less
sleep, very random and increasingly changing rest patterns, extreme heat, heavy
weights, and less than standard nutrition, to name a few. Staying in shape in a
combat environment can be a tough task, because you may lack the time or
facilities to exercise as you may have been able to in garrison. However, solid
cardiovascular fitness will make a significant difference in higher elevations, and
upper body and leg strength may prevent exhaustion from heavy gear in hot
weather (3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (L), 2005).
ILT Eliel Pimentel
78 ■ SECTION 2
Components of Fitness
Your physical fitness is your ability to perform physical work, training, and other activities
throughout your daily work schedule. Physical fitness is multidimensional, and—based on
your goals—some components will be more valuable than others.
Five key components define your physical fitness:
Improving the first three of these components will improve your body composition by
decreasing your body fat. Excessive body fat detracts from the other fitness measures,
reduces your physical and mental performance, detracts from your appearance, and
increases overall health risks. One measurement of body fat is as a percentage of your
total weight. The Army’s maximum allowable percentages of body fat, by age and gender,
are listed in Figure 2.1.
Besides your physical fitness, you should also work to improve your motor fitness. Motor
fitness—speed, agility, muscle power, eye-hand coordination, and eye-foot coordination—
directly affect a Soldier’s performance on the battlefield. Appropriate training will improve
these elements up to each Soldier’s individual potential.
The goal of the Army’s fitness program is to improve physical and motor fitness through
sound, progressive, mission-specific physical training at both the individual and unit levels.
Principles of Exercise
Practicing the basic exercise principles is crucial for you to develop an effective fitness-
P-R-O-V-R-B-S
training program. The principles of exercise apply to everyone at all levels of physical
the basic exercise training, from the Olympic champion to the weekend golfer. They apply especially to fitness
principles—Progression, training for military personnel because having standard fitness principles across the
Regularity, Overload, organization saves time, energy, resources—and prevents injury.
Variety, Recovery,
Balance, and Specificity You can easily remember the basic principles of exercise if you recall the P-R-O-V-R-
B-S acronym:
Health and Fitness ■ 79
Intensity
Intensity is how hard you work out. You can measure intensity by something called RPE
(Rating of Perceived Exertion), which is a psychological scale and reflects how hard the Rating of Perceived
workout feels to you. Exertion–Two RPE scales
The most commonly used indicator of your workout intensity is your heart rate. Ideally, are in common use. The
scales are either 6 to 20
you should stay within a productive heart-rate zone. You can use your age to find your or 0 to 10. Although
Target Heart Rate (THR). the RPE scale of 6–20
does not measure heart
Finding Your THR rate, it theoretically
correlates (for example:
• Your maximum heart rate (MHR) is approximately 220 minus your age 6560 heartbeats per
• Your lowest target heart rate is equal to MHR 3 .60 minute, or bpm; 7 5
70bpm; 20 5 200bpm).
• Your highest target heart rate is equal to MHR 3 .85. Your RPE on the 6-20
scale should be between
12 and 16.
80 ■ SECTION 2
Your THR zone is between the lowest and highest THR calculated above. As you begin
your exercise routine, your heart rate should be on the lower end of your THR zone.
How Do You Take Your Exercising above the zone increases your risk of injury and reduces your ability to perform
Pulse? optimally.
The first step is to find
Easy Versus Hard
your pulse. If you are
right-handed, use the Exercise in moderation. Never exercise a particular muscle group hard (at a high intensity
pads of your index, or for a long time) two days in a row. You should always follow a hard workout with a
middle, and ring fingers light day or a day off. For the best development, more is not always better.
to find the pulse on your
left wrist. Do the reverse
if you are left-handed or Time
wearing a watch on your
left wrist. Move your Like intensity, the time you spend exercising depends on the type of exercise you are doing.
fingers to just below the At least 20 to 30 continuous minutes of intense exercise will improve cardiorespiratory
base of your thumb on endurance. For muscular endurance and strength, exercise time equals the number of
your wrist and press
down with your finger repetitions you do. For the average person, eight to 12 repetitions with enough resistance
pads until you feel the to cause muscle failure will improve both muscular endurance and strength. As you progress,
throb of your pulse. you will make better strength gains by doing two or three sets of each resistance exercise.
Time your pulse for 10 Use flexibility exercises or stretches for varying times, depending on the objective of
seconds with the first the session. While warming-up before a run, for example, hold each stretch for 10 to 15
beat counted as zero
rather than one. Then
seconds. To improve flexibility, stretch during your cool-down as well, holding each stretch
multiply this number by for 30 to 60 seconds. If flexibility improvement is your goal, devote at least one session
six to find the number of per week to developing that component.
“heartbeats per minute
(bpm).” When you
measure your heartbeats
Type
per minute during a Type refers to the kind of exercise you perform. When choosing the type, consider the
workout, you want the
rate to be within your principle of specificity. Some people overemphasize cross training and you should avoid
target heart zone. this pitfall. For example, to improve your level of CR fitness (the major fitness component
in the two-mile run), do CR types of exercises. The basic rule is that to improve
performance, you must practice the particular exercise, activity, or skill you want to improve.
For example, to be good at push-ups, you must do push-ups. No other exercise will improve
push-up performance as effectively.
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Critical Thinking
Describe a stressful physical event you have experienced (in training, sports,
work, or school). How might improved physical fitness have helped you?
Health and Fitness ■ 81
R Rest—Rest the injured area. Use a sling, cane, brace, or crutch as necessary to
take your weight and decrease activity off the affected body part. Keep the joint
or muscle as inactive as possible.
I Ice—Apply ice to the injured area for five to 15 minutes. Wrap several handfuls
of crushed ice in a towel and hold it on and around the injured area. Many people
instinctively try to soak an injury in warm water, and while this increases blood
flow to the injury, it does not ease the inflammation and swelling.
C Compression—Wrap an elastic bandage around the ice to compress the injured area
lightly—but not enough to cut off circulation to the injured area. After the cold
compress, wrap the affected area lightly in an elastic bandage or use a flexible brace.
Don’t wrap any injury too tightly, as this will cut off good circulation to the injury.
E Elevation—Raise the affected area slightly to reduce swelling and inflammation.
In addition to P-R-I-C-E, you can talk to your doctor about using anti-inflammatory
medication as needed, such as aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen. You should check to
see if you have allergies to these drugs before use. Under no circumstances should you take
them while drinking alcohol.
Smart Training
You live in your skin and know how your body feels and works best. That is why you should
take responsibility for managing your own fitness-training program. Knowing your limits
and capabilities is key to setting goals for physical fitness improvement.
Smart training means observing some well-recognized guidelines:
of the pyramid debuted in 2005 and shows the types of foods and the proportions that
most healthy people should eat.
In addition, USDA has an interactive website to help you track your diet. Visit
www.MyPyramid.gov, where you can personalize your diet by age, gender, and general
fitness level.
A healthy diet has the right kinds of foods in the right amounts. Look at the Food
Pyramid in Figure 2.2. The person walking up the steps on the left represents the need for
daily physical activity and different individuals’ different nutrition needs. The different
widths of the food group bands indicate the need for proportion—how much you should
choose from each group.
The six color bands symbolize the food you need daily from each group for good health.
• Orange (grains): USDA recommends you eat at least three ounces of whole-grain
bread, cereal, crackers, rice, or pasta every day. Half your grains should be whole.
To make sure you’re eating whole grains, look for the word “whole” before the grain
name on the list of ingredients.
• Green (vegetables): You should vary vegetable servings, eating more dark green
vegetables, orange vegetables, and dried beans and peas.
• Red (fruits): Eat a variety of fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit, but go easy on
fruit juices, which may contain empty calories in the form of added sugars and
sweeteners.
• Yellow (oils and fats): Most of your fats should come from fish, nuts, and vegetable
oils. Limit your consumption of solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening,
and lard. Instead, when possible, consume foods with omega fish oils, which help
maintain your cardiovascular health.
• Blue (milk, an important source of calcium): Choose low-fat or fat-free milk. If
you don’t or can’t drink milk, choose lactose-free products or other sources of
calcium, such as hard cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss, or parmesan), cottage
cheese, and low-fat or fat-free yogurt (including frozen yogurt).
• Purple (meat, beans, and eggs): You may notice that this band, like the yellow
band for oils, is thinner than the others. This visually reminds you to “Go lean on
protein.” Choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry that are baked, broiled, or grilled
rather than fried. Vary your choices, including more fish, beans, peas, nuts, and
seeds. If meat typically covers most of your plate, take another look at the Food
Pyramid.
Substances to Avoid
Proper health and fitness reflect a mature decision you make to set a good example for
your unit. Moreover, it’s a wise lifestyle choice that will help you live a longer, more
productive life. As an officer in training, you should avoid substances that detract from
your physical performance and even harm your health (drugs, tobacco, alcohol, etc.).
Alcohol
Many people in our society have traditionally believed that alcohol—wine, beer, or hard
liquor—relaxes you, increases your self-confidence, and alters your perception of stress
or fatigue. It’s true that for most people, light consumption of alcoholic beverages can be
a pleasant social diversion. But habitual, heavy drinking or binge drinking can cause severe
dehydration, decreased performance, dependence, and harm to your metabolism.
The Army expects you to exercise your judgment and drink responsibly, which includes
obeying all laws regarding driving and the legal drinking age, if you choose to drink at all.
And never drink to “quench your thirst” before, during, or after a workout.
Tobacco
Cigarettes, cigars, and “smokeless” tobaccos contain a whole gamut of cancer-causing
chemicals that provide no positive health effects. Some maintain that the “buzz” from
tobacco leads to improved performance and reaction times, but no medical evidence
supports this position. In the interest of good physical fitness, it is better if you don’t smoke
at all. If you do smoke, however, limit your intake and avoid smoking before, during, and
after workouts. Smoking increases your heart rate and blood pressure.
Controlled Substances
Controlled substances are those strictly regulated by the government and may require
medical prescription. You should use such substances only under medical supervision.
Other drugs such as amphetamines, narcotics, steroids, and other so-called “performance You can find the Army’s
enhancing drugs” are illegal and banned by the military. These drugs change performance health-promotion and
wellness website at
by increasing central nervous system arousal. They increase your heart rate and blood www.hooah4health.com.
pressure and they may cause dizziness, nausea, irritability, insomnia—even death. No
one interested in good physical fitness consumes these substances; they can only detract
from your performance in both the short and long term. The Army forbids their use.
84 ■ SECTION 2
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CONCLUSION
Health and fitness are integral parts of military life. They are critical for readiness
and important to the well-being of the individual Soldier. Although not a cure-all,
a properly planned fitness program yields many physical and mental benefits.
Effective physical training can improve your body composition (decrease body fat
and increase lean body weight), ability to work, mental alertness, self-confidence,
and general well-being. Exercise also decreases metabolic and mental health risks,
such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, anxiety, depression,
and much more.
With assistance from your ROTC instructors, you now should be able to apply
the Army’s general physical fitness principles to create a self-directed physical
training program that meets your needs and fulfills your personal and
professional goals.
Learning Assessment
1. What are the components of physical fitness?
2. Describe the principles of physical fitness as expressed by the acronym
P-R-O-V-R-B-S.
3. Explain the key factors of physical fitness training (FITT).
4. Explain how you can apply the USDA Food Pyramid to make improvements in
your diet.
Key Words
P-R-O-V-R-B-S
FITT
P-R-I-C-E
Food Pyramid
Health and Fitness ■ 85
References
3rd Brigade, 25 Infantry Division (L). May 2005. Operation Enduring Freedom: Afghan Leader
Book, April 2004–May 2005. Retrieved 9 August 2005 from http://rotc.blackboard.com/
courses/1/CCR/content/_488714_1/Operation_Enduring_Freedom_Leader_Book_Apr_
04___May_05.pdf
AR 40-501, Standards of Medical Fitness. 14 December 2007.
AR 350-15, Army Physical Fitness Program. November 1989.
AR 600-9, The Army Weight Control Program. 27 November 2006.
DA PAM 350-18, US Military Academy Cadet Army Orientation Training. 28 May 1974.
Field Manual 7-1, Battle Focused Training. 15 September 2003.
Field Manual 21-18, Foot Marches. 1 June 1990.
Field Manual 21-20, Physical Fitness Training. Change 1. 1 October 1998.