How do you make PT enjoyable?

SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 22:40:14 -0500

Going by the books gets old.... How do you use PT as a morale builder?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 4 at 2016 10:55 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 22:55:22 -0500

Combatives, shuttle races, crossfit-style workouts based on integrity, skip it. . .

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 5 at 2016 12:29 AM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 00:29:17 -0500

Competition will promote team building and you will enjoy pt

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 5 at 2016 2:30 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 02:30:17 -0500

Change it up a bit. We incorporate all kinds of physical fitness routines including Insanity, ruck marches, off post scenic runs where Soldiers can wear headphones, gym rotations, etc. It cancels the monotony of CD 1/2/3.

Response by PO2 Teall Haycock made Mar 5 at 2016 6:37 AM

PO2 Teall Haycock — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 06:37:28 -0500

Something that I discovered about a year ago will really expose my nerd side... But I absolutely enjoy listening to an audiobook while running! I was able to increase my morning run from 1 mile to 3-4 miles easily because I am completely distracted by the story I am listening to! I was able to read the Bible cover to cover as well as 14 other books last year, all while running around the neighborhood. It may not be for everybody, but this new discovery changed my life.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 5 at 2016 7:08 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 07:08:52 -0500

Variety, variety, variety. Competition like chief mentioned is always a good idea. If you have a command that is willing to listen draw up a PT plan that you think will be fun and give your PLT a good workout.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 5 at 2016 8:09 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 08:09:21 -0500

I take my PLT on a slow 4 mile run with wreck bags. As we run I leave it up to the PLT to make the executive decision to know when the 2 SMs caring the wreck bags are suffering and to take the weight from them.

Response by SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 5 at 2016 10:07 AM

SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 10:07:29 -0500

I am in AIT and I get motivated when my platoon sergeant does PT with us and pushes us to work harder. Also, being able to do PT in the gym once a week, and as a class where we can play soccer or volleyball helps too. It takes the monotony out of standard PT.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 5 at 2016 12:15 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 12:15:34 -0500

Stop doing PRT! Lol. Oh wait, we can't do thar.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 5 at 2016 1:09 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 13:09:50 -0500

My NCOs try to incorporate team building activities, not necessarily sports, but some competition based exercises. I find that sports and these team building exercises allow soldiers to get a good workout, during PT hours, and they may not even realize that they are working out, but having fun. I find that leaders that consistently do the same old PT and PRT workouts have trouble keeping soldier morale up during PT, and it is because they're bored of it.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Mar 5 at 2016 7:50 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 19:50:02 -0500

Flag Football Fridays. The team scored on has to do 20 push ups or sit ups. They do them quickly to get back to the game.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 5 at 2016 8:26 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 20:26:21 -0500

Whoever is leading PT for the day needs to be motivated and actually know what he or she is doing. If that means diverging from standard PRT drills, go for it!

The best workouts I've gotten at PT involved a ridiculously motivated, almost psycho PT leader. The best ones I've lead have been when I felt ridiculously motivated and almost psycho.

Response by SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 5 at 2016 11:05 PM

SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 23:05:30 -0500

Lift weights. Run. Lift weights. Lift weights. Ruck. Keep repeating that over and over.

I want my PT to be challenging and personalized, it's my hour and a half that the Army gives me to improve myself physically. I don't wake up at 4 in the morning so I can increase morale or build unit cohesion, I do it so I'll be a better soldier by physically training.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 7 at 2016 3:09 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 03:09:07 -0500

Nothing better than burpees to make pt enjoyable

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 7 at 2016 11:43 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 11:43:02 -0500

We usually make it a competition winning teams gets late work call or breakfast, etc etc

Response by MAJ Brad D'Angelo made Mar 7 at 2016 1:24 PM

MAJ Brad D'Angelo — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 13:24:44 -0500

Zonk

Response by TSgt Terry Hudson made Mar 7 at 2016 1:45 PM

TSgt Terry Hudson — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 13:45:49 -0500

PT IS THE DEVIL!!! LOL Jk, I'm a PTL, I tend to make it competition with teams. I split everyone up that way all the guys who tend to score high on there on the PFT is helping everyone else out.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 7 at 2016 8:34 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 20:34:17 -0500

1. Stop making "JUST" the SSG and below conduct PT. Where does it say that once you reach a certain rank you don't lead PT anymore. You're an NCO. It's your job to lead PT, do it.
2. Do the prep work. And incorporate more than the usual same old routine. And if you requires you to extend the time...do it. Or maybe start the PT session early if you can.
3. Competition helps too. Provide a prize of some sort.
4. Get the profiles involved. Not everyone likes being on profile and not ever person on profile is shamming, they legitimate injuries. Take the time to gather their profiles so you can see what they can and cannot do.

Response by SGT Philip Keys made Mar 7 at 2016 11:30 PM

SGT Philip Keys — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 23:30:23 -0500

Change it up, competition, ask the troops for some ideas, give them an easy PT day one in a while. You'll probably have some senior NCO frown at the easy day but people get tired even young soldiers. Let them work out on their own I'm sure there are still some gym rats that would love to work it on their own. Ask the troops see who wants some help/advice on improving their physical fitness level. Ask the guys/gals that are maxing their pt test to work with the folks that need some help.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 8 at 2016 6:46 AM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 06:46:29 -0500

Plenty of good responses. Let me add combining military skills with PT. For example:

Land navigation with running. Set out a compass course with markers visible at about 20 feet.

Buddy carry. 1st leg you carry your buddy, then he carries you on the second leg.

Stretcher race. 1 person in the stretcher, and 4 on the poles.

Your imagination (and a Risk Assessment) are the only limits.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 8 at 2016 8:11 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 08:11:28 -0500

I think most folks have said it, Variety. I had a Soldier ask me one day when I was 1SG how come I never Zonked the formation and I kept pushing the edge. The answer is simple, if I have to get up at 0500 to go do something I am going to make it worth my time. Doctrine tells us unit PRT is supposed to be a sustainment program. I think that is beyond stupid. If I want Soldiers to think they are warriors then I have to train them like I think they are warriors so they believe it. Push the edge. Convince them they can go the extra quarter mile, then show them they can really go the extra mile. Show them they can rep out one more, then show them they can dig deep and get 3 more reps. So how do you do that?
Competition and Variety. Don't train for the APFT. The APFT is the check on learning to see if you are living the correct lifestyle as a Soldier, it is not the event to train for. Like the difference between teaching Soldiers to shoot and teaching to qualify. Let your imagination be the limit. I had my Soldiers running Golf Courses, up mountains, and any other place I could. I never wanted to present the same view twice in a week. Make full body workouts. We would flip railroad ties, throw tires, lift ammo cans, sledge tires. Smoke them with their canteens. Combatives. Push trucks, pull trucks. If you can think about it, put it on paper and make it happen.
Squad on squad competition is great. especially when the Platoon leadership gets into it "yeah SSG Smith you talk good, but third squad drug your butt on that run...." Having Company leadership by in is great. I had Soldiers live to smoke me or out run me, and I made them work for it. The moment of pride on a Soldiers face when he is looking at me coming into the finish instead of me looking at him.

Response by SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 8 at 2016 8:47 AM

SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 08:47:17 -0500

One of the best things you can do is promote a healthy competitive competition. Do sports days or special challenge days. Pick a day a week where you all go to a trampoline park or something instead of running, have a Platoon capture the flag or even company depending on the size of your company. there is also a zoombie run app that you need to have an open space and your phone and it tells you how fast to go and has different challenges as well

Response by LCDR Steve Brown made Mar 8 at 2016 8:57 AM

LCDR Steve Brown — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 08:57:22 -0500

Use your fitness to do something you enjoy. Ride a mountain bike, go skiing, play tennis. There are plenty to choose from, but you'll be better at anything you do if you're fit. That will motivate you through those endless miles of running, innumerable push-ups or crunches. Also, don't forget to take a day off so you don't burn out.

Response by CPL Luke Saunders made Mar 8 at 2016 9:43 AM

CPL Luke Saunders — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 09:43:49 -0500

Do it drunk.

Response by MSgt Rosemary Connolly made Mar 8 at 2016 11:35 AM

MSgt Rosemary Connolly — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 11:35:02 -0500

plank to the cha cha slide. https://www.facebook.com/haley.mahoney.1/videos/ [login to see] 01191/

Haley Mahoney | Facebook

Want your abs to burn? Hold a plank to the cha cha slide Dan Baldwins one of many great ideas hahah and it's fun!

Response by SGT Eliyahu Rooff made Mar 8 at 2016 11:40 AM

SGT Eliyahu Rooff — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 11:40:35 -0500

Remind people that civilians spend lots of money to join a gym in order to do what they're getting paid to do. It won't make PT any more enjoyable, but it does put it in a new perspective.

Response by SGT Tim Fridley made Mar 8 at 2016 5:54 PM

SGT Tim Fridley — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 17:54:35 -0500

We broke up the same old by having intersquad/platoon flag or touch football games, wind sprints, basketball ect there are so many ways to build morale and teamwork and make PT fun just use your imagination we even played duck duck goose and dodgeball

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 8 at 2016 7:19 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 19:19:35 -0500

Obstacle courses, never seen soldiers happier to be soaked and coverd in mud. Make sure to get 1sg permission fist. Found that one out the hard way...

Response by SPC Byron Skinner made Mar 9 at 2016 12:04 AM

SPC Byron Skinner — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 00:04:00 -0500

Sp4 Byron Skinner. The services have gone anal on this PT bull shit. It could only make sense to an officers to teach soldiers how to run. There is way to much PT for 95% of the military personal. I will agree that combat arms soldiers need to be physically fit and while in garrison that was taken care of just by routine training. I know all of you like those cute little PT uniform especially guys in mixed gender units but I can see not purpose for them. If you are going to need to use your body strength you are going to be in full battle rattle and bullets and blast shock waves and fragmentation all around the adrenaline pumping. PT should as it was done in combat uniform to include you assigned weapon. We are in a situation now where our generals can do six minute miles, but can't win wars. I doubt if MacArthur, Patton, Trescot, Patch or Bradley etc. I doubt could even walk a mile let alone run one, but they won wars and had leadership and didn't have time for such nonsense. Another point the majority of soldiers in base hospitals are there for an injury sustained during PT. This cost money, takes soldiers from their jobs and in all to many cases causes a premature termination of their military careers. The Gal/Guy that pushes the button on a drone that kills a party planting IEDS and kills fie or six folks that want to kill US soldiers doesn't need to be pass an PT test. In short officers who can't win wars need to find something for soldiers to do to keep their moral up.

Response by LTC Timothy O'Neill made Mar 9 at 2016 8:54 AM

LTC Timothy O'Neill — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 08:54:14 -0500

I retired after Desert Storm, but first deployed in 1966--a long stretch. I've also studied the development of fitness training for soldiers beginning in the 1930's. Here's my take: the mechanics of fitness programs are generally specified by exercise physiologists, and focus on very definable outcomes affecting strength, endurance, agility, and flexibility. They try to motivate the body to rise to requirements. Unfortunately, they often fall short of motivating the mind, which is just as important.

In the 30's and into WWII, exercise programs were formal and repetitive (setting-up exercises, rifle drills, hikes, etc.), and so they were disliked. During WWII there was a revolution. A TM published in 1944 changed that, recognizing that variety, competition, and morale were essential factors. The basic "setting-up" exercises that had dominated the Army day for decades were combined with grass drills, log drills, guerrilla exercises, combatives, competitive activities (not just what we used to call "organized grab-ass", but specific activities with specific goals). Thanks to the dominance of the airborne philosophy, runs started to replace hikes.

I saw the APFT change several times during my service (and since--I stay current as a consultant to the Army). I'm still a soldier inside, but also a human factors engineer. This is what I've learned:

1. Avoid fads. Focus on what is effective and mission-specific, not what is fashionable.

2. Vary activities. It's important to limber up, but after the setting-up phase mix things people like (e.g., competitive activities) with things people hate on principle but accept because their purpose is obvious (ruck marches).

3. Never forget we're serving the needs of soldiers, not gym rats. Keep it real.

4. Heretical thought: accept risk of injury. It will happen anyway.

5. Stop agonizing over reflective belts and the color of socks. Neither affects combat outcomes.

Response by LTC John Regan made Mar 9 at 2016 1:26 PM

LTC John Regan — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 13:26:48 -0500

Mix it up and get away from the daily dozen. I used martial arts, yoga, and a few other things. Softball game that used pushups as penalties for errors, strikes, etc. Once we lined up half the battery on one side and half on the other - and had "chicken fights" charging across the field (that was a doozy.) I also have a five day combatives type program designed to fit into a PT schedule I can send you.

Response by CPL James Zielinski made Mar 10 at 2016 8:22 PM

CPL James Zielinski — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 20:22:54 -0500

For some people a little license is a good thing. Some of your soldiers are naturally going to be more fitness oriented than others. In one unit I was in, soldiers who consistently maxed out their PT scores were allowed to perform PT on their own oftentimes. At Ft Carson we would then get together and do things like run the Pike's Peak trail or other challenges that not everybody would be up to. I liked the extended runs personally, and especially since I was tall and running in the back of the formation with the yo-yo effect was always very difficult, not very productive (I found myself walking half of the time and sprinting the other half) and made people more prone to injury. Also, a half an hour or hour at the gym can be a lot more productive than an an hour of calisthenics with all the "smokin' and jokin'" that's built into regular sessions. Of coarse we always still participated in organized runs at Battalion level or up. More motivated soldiers will enjoy the chance to improve and enhance their fitness and not just match the least common denominator.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 12 at 2016 10:02 AM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 10:02:42 -0500

mind function , average 30% remains in mind as knowledge got by books, and 70 % to test the knowledge.

Response by TSgt Terry Hudson made Jan 1 at 2018 11:01 AM

TSgt Terry Hudson — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 11:01:30 -0500

Competition! When I was a PTL I made most of sessions team based. This helps foster teamwork, comradery and a lil morale. I also would make the lowest ranking team leaders to help build their leadership skills. No LT you cannot be a team lead.