The Army Training System - AskTOP

such training may not improve runningability. To prepare a soldier forthe APFT 2-mile run, there is no substitutefor running.SWIMMINGSwimming is a good alternative torunning. Some advantages of swimminginclude the following:o Involvement of all the major musclegroups.o Body position that enhances theblood’s return to the heart.o Partial support of body weight bythe water, which minimizes lowerbody stress in overweight soldiers.Swimming may be used to improveone’s CR fitness level and to maintainand improve CR fitness during recoveryfrom an injury. It is used tosupplement running and develop upperbody endurance and limited strength.The swimmer should start slowly witha restful stroke. After five minutes, heshould stop to check his pulse, compareit with his THR and, if needed,adjust the intensity.Compared with all the other modesof aerobic exercise presented in thismanual (e.g., running, walking, cycling,cross-country skiing, ropejumping, etc.) in swimming alone,one’s THR should be lower than whiledoing the other forms of aerobic exercise.This is because, in swimming, theheart does not beat as fast as whendoing the other types of exercise at thesame work rate. Thus, in order toeffectively train the CR system duringswimming, a soldier should set hisTHR about 10 bpm lower than whilerunning. For example, a soldier whoseTHR while running is 150 bpm shouldhave a THR of about 140 bpm whileswimming. By modifying their THRsin this manner while swimming, soldierswill help to ensure that they areworking at the proper intensity.Non-swimmers can run in waist-tochest-deep water, tread water, and dopool-side kicking for an excellentaerobic workout. They can also docalisthenics in the water. Togetherthese activities combine walking andrunning with moderate resistance workfor the upper body.For injured soldiers, swimming andaerobic water-training are excellentfor improving CR fitness without placingundue stress on injured weightbearingparts of the body.CYCLINGCycling is an excellent exercise fordeveloping CR fitness. Soldiers canbicycle outdoors or on a stationarycycling machine indoors. Road cyclingshould be intense enough to allow thesoldier to reach and maintain THR atleast 30 minutes.Soldiers can alter the cycling intensityby changing gears, adding hill Cycling should bework, and increasing velocity. Dis- intense enough to let thetance can also be increased to enhance soldier reach andCR fitness, but the distance covered is maintain THR at leastnot as important as the amount of time 30 minutes.spent training at THR. The intensityof a workout can be increased by increasingthe resistance against the wheelor increasing the pedaling cadence(number of RPM), For interval training,the soldier can vary the speed andresistance and use periods of active For swimming, a soldierrecovery at low speed and/or low should set his THR atresistance.about 10 beats perminute lower then whenWALKINGrunning.Walking is another way to developcardiorespiratory fitness. It is enjoyable,requires no equipment, and causesfew injuries. However, unless walkingis done for a long time at the correctintensity, it will not produce any significantCR conditioning.Sedentary soldiers with a low degreeof fitness should begin slowly with 12minutes of walking at a comfortablepace. The heart rate should be monitoredto determine the intensity. Thesoldier should walk at least four timesa week and add two minutes each week2-14