The Army Training System - AskTOP

will be enforced. Next, they shouldcoordinate closely with medical personnelto develop programs that fit thecapabilities of soldiers with medicallimitations. Each soldier should thenbegin an individualized program basedon his needs.MFTs know how to assess CR endurance,muscular strength andendurance, flexibility, and bodycomposition. They can also developthorough, tailor-made programs forall of a unit’s special population.APFT FailuresAlthough it is not the heart of theArmy’s physical fitness program, theAPFT is the primary instrument forevaluating the fitness level of eachsoldier. It is structured to assess themuscular endurance of specific musclegroups and the functional capacity ofthe CR system.Soldiers with reasonable levels ofoverall physical fitness should easilypass the APFT. Those whose fitnesslevels are substandard will fail. Soldierswho fail the APFT must receivespecial attention. Leaders should analyzetheir weaknesses and design programsto overcome them. For example,if the soldier is overweight,nutrition and dietary counseling maybe needed along with a special exerciseprogram. DA Pam 350-22 outlinesseveral ways to improve a soldier’sperformance on each of the APFTevents.When trying to improve APFT performances,leaders must ensure thatsoldiers are not overloaded to the pointwhere the fitness training becomescounterproductive. They should useability groups for their running programand, in addition to a total-bodystrength-training program, should includeexercises designed for push-upand sit-up improvement. When dealingwith special populations, two veryimportant principles are overload andrecovery. The quality, not just thequantity, of the workout should beemphasized. Two-a-day sessions, unlessdesigned extremely well, can becounter-productive. More PT is notalways better.Overweight SoldiersDesigners of weight loss and physicaltraining programs for overweightsoldiers should remember this: eventhough exercise is the key to sensibleweight loss, reducing the number ofcalories consumed is equally important.A combination of both actions isbest.The type of exercise the soldier doesaffects the amount and nature of theweight loss. Both running and walkingburn about 100 calories per mile. Onepound of fat contains 3,500 calories.Thus, burning one pound of fat throughexercise alone requires a great deal ofrunning or walking. On the other hand,weight lost through dieting alone includesthe loss of useful muscle tissue.Those who participate in an exerciseprogram that emphasizes the developmentof strength and muscular endurance,however, can actually increasetheir muscle mass while losing bodyfat. These facts help explain whyexercise and good dietary practicesmust be combined.Unit MFTs can help a soldier determinethe specific caloric requirementhe needs to safely and successfully loseexcess fat. They can devise a sound,individualized plan to arrive at thatreduced caloric intake. Likewise, unitMFTs can also develop training programswhich will lead to fat losswithout the loss of useful muscle tissue.Generally, overweight soldiers shouldstrive to reduce their fat weight by twopounds per week. When a soldier losesweight, either by diet or exercise orboth, a large initial weight loss is notunusual. This may be due to water lossassociated with the using up of thebody’s carbohydrate stores. Althoughthese losses may be encouraging to the1-12