Posted on Oct 4, 2019
How would anyone else go about convincing or motivating soldiers to do PT in the morning?
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Do to most of my unit being deployed. I fell into a squad leader position. After morning formation we get released to do morning PT. Everyone in my squad just goes back to their barracks to sleep or do whatever they want. I end up with 3 soldiers who actually do PT in the morning. Do to my rank as a pv2 I cant tell or make them stay. How would anyone else go about this to convince/motivate the other soldiers to do PT in the morning?
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 3
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You don't. Motivation is a lie. Instead, you rely on discipline. Discipline is habits repeated over and over again. Down the road you will be getting promoted over your peers who skipped out on PT. You can't force people to do better for themselves, but you can reap the consequences of your actions.
Continue to do PT. Even when you leave the Army your daily fitness will pay dividends in your mental and physical health and save you incredible amounts of money in health care costs over your life time.
Trust me on this, they're the only ones losing out here.
Continue to do PT. Even when you leave the Army your daily fitness will pay dividends in your mental and physical health and save you incredible amounts of money in health care costs over your life time.
Trust me on this, they're the only ones losing out here.
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SGT (Join to see)
Thank you SFC. I have goals I want to meet and will not let anyone stand in my way. So I will continue to do PT with or without them. But when my higher ups only see me in the morning I get the backlash of them not being there. It's not like I told the other guys to do what they want. Do you think the backlash of my chain of command affect me? One of my NCO's blames me for not getting them motivated.
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SFC (Join to see)
SGT (Join to see) they're intentionally placing you in a difficult predicament to groom you for future leadership. When you're a senior leader, you realize that no one really outrank anyone and you can't make anyone do anything. So you have to learn how to move a team that doesn't want to be moved when it doesn't want to move. You've been given an impossible predicament to see how you react and perform. You believe you can't force them to do PT, no one believes in false motivation, and you are still responsible for their actions since you are the leader.
Stand up and lead them, take charge of your squad, take care of their issues, help solve their problems, guide them towards promotion and self development and learn what you don't know, then they'll follow you. Also, expect the best out of them. Tell them they are going to stay, if you want to be their leader. Or, if you're just waiting for the next leader to show up, just do your PT, take the 5 minutes of butt chewing and move on.
Stand up and lead them, take charge of your squad, take care of their issues, help solve their problems, guide them towards promotion and self development and learn what you don't know, then they'll follow you. Also, expect the best out of them. Tell them they are going to stay, if you want to be their leader. Or, if you're just waiting for the next leader to show up, just do your PT, take the 5 minutes of butt chewing and move on.
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SSgt (Join to see)
SFC (Join to see) I agree, sir. If I may, SGT (Join to see) you may also keep track of who is showing up to PT with the squad, and who is not. Not sure how this is handled, but those that show up should have a brighter light shining on them, and the ones that decide to ditch squad activities would have a darker light. When you boil it down, it can be looked at as squad/unit cohesiveness.
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SGT (Join to see)
Thank you SFC for the advice. I will try everything I can to make myself and them better soldiers.
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Track who does PT with you and who doesn't. If the do not's fail a PT test, then show your log to him for consideration of a chapter. It is a bitch when you are that low on the totem pole. PT is an individual responsibility, but is conducted by the leadership.
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Talk with your NCOs about changing what you do for PT into something more worthwhile and fun. That does not mean flag football or sports, but Soldiers duck out of PT because it is conducted like work instead of being interesting and fun. Draw up some more interesting PT plans to share with your NCOs, show your interest in the welfare of the Team as well as knowledge on the topic. Ask your squad what they would rather do for PT, then use their input to design better workouts.
I haven't met many people who [honestly] like PRT. Try the Upper Body Round Robin as a suggestion, gives a hell of a workout and applies to Army stuff (it's the what ACFT is based off of - or what the ACFT ripped off).
Yes you don't have the power to force anything, but you can be the example and provide input and assistance to those that do.....though if your squad leaders are just letting this happen I have questions for them...
Remember, PT does not make a Soldier - PT makes a Soldier better.
I haven't met many people who [honestly] like PRT. Try the Upper Body Round Robin as a suggestion, gives a hell of a workout and applies to Army stuff (it's the what ACFT is based off of - or what the ACFT ripped off).
Yes you don't have the power to force anything, but you can be the example and provide input and assistance to those that do.....though if your squad leaders are just letting this happen I have questions for them...
Remember, PT does not make a Soldier - PT makes a Soldier better.
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