The Army Training System - AskTOP

Unit olympicsincorporate athleticevents that represent allfive fitness components.Unit OlympicsThe unit olympics is a multifacetedevent that can be tailored to any unit toprovide athletic participation for allsoldiers. The objective is to incorporateinto a team-level competitionathletic. events that represent all fivefitness components. The competitioncan be within a unit or between competingunits. When conducted with enthusiasm,it promotes team spirit andprovides a good workout. It is a gooddiversion from the regular PT session.A unit olympics, if well promotedfrom the top and well staged by theproject NCO or officer, can be a goodprecursor to an SDT or the EIB test.TYPES OF EVENTSThe olympics should include eventsthat challenge the soldiers’ muscularstrength and endurance, aerobic endurance,flexibility, agility, speed, andrelated sports skills.Events can be held for both individualsand teams, and they should bedesigned so that both male and femalesoldiers can take part. Each soldiershould be required to do a minimumnumber of events. Teams should weara distinctively marked item such as aT-shirt or arm band. This adds characterto the event and sets teams apartfrom each other. A warm-up shouldprecede and a cool-down should followthe events.The following are examples of athleticevents that could be included in aunit olympics:Push-Up DerbyThis is a timed event using fourmemberteams. The objective is for theteam to do as many correct push-ups aspossible within a four-minute timelimit. Only one team member doespush-ups at a time. The four teammembers may rotate as often as desired,Sandbag RelayThis event uses four-man teams fora running relay around a quarter-miletrack carrying sandbags. One playerfrom each team lines up at the startingline with a full sandbag in each hand.He hands the sandbags off to a teammatewhen he finishes his part of therace. This continues until the last teamplayer crosses the finish line. Placingsare determined by the teams’ order offinish.Team FlexibilityIn this event, if teams are numericallyequal, all members of each teamshould participate. If not, as manyteam members should participate aspossible. Each team’s anchor personplaces his foot against a wall or a curb.He stretches his other foot as far awayas possible as in doing a split. The nextteam member puts one foot against theanchor man’s extended foot and does asplit-stretch. This goes on until allteam members are stretched. Theycover as much distance as possiblekeeping in contact with each other.The team that stretches farthest fromthe start point without a break in theirchain is the winner.Medicine-Ball ThrowThis event uses four-member teams.The teams begin by throwing the ballfrom the same starting line. When itlands, the ball is marked for each teamthrower, and the next team playerthrows from this spot. This is repeateduntil all the team’s players have thrown.The team whose combined throwscover the most distance is the winner.Job-Related EventsThe organizer should use his imaginationwhen planning activities. Hemay incorporate soldier skills requiredof an MOS. For instance, he could9-17