Health and Fitness in the Indian Army

[Singh]

@abingdonboy How did you get these pics ?

 

[abingdonboy]

@abingdonboy How did you get these pics ?

@Singh


From a freind.

 

[Snuggy321]

How's this for physuque!


IN MARCOs in 1980s:

Wow, they look like rambo! I have no doubt in the physical capabilities of our SFs. But again, the regular troops have some issues regarding this, especiall the navy which has some substandard PF requirements if we are already talking about MARCOs

 

[abingdonboy]

Wow, they look like rambo! I have no doubt in the physical capabilities of our SFs. But again, the regular troops have some issues regarding this, especiall the navy which has some substandard PF requirements if we are already talking about MARCOs

You're right. It is a mindset change that needs to happen. I guess it goes back to the past where PT wasn't too much of a concern but these days when troops are lugging more and more personal gear it is a must. There needs to be given more attention to muscle building and adding upper body strength. I am sure many of the IA/IN/IAF guys are good at long distance running but their upper body strenght is seriously lacking.


I had seen a documentary on the BBC about the Abrams tanks and the daily routine of the tank crew (so not infantry guys) including a hell of a lot of body building and PTs. It was really impressive to see that these tank crews were all in such great shape and all had bulging arms and the like. India needs to aim for this.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Join Indian Army those who question health and that..

You will get idea about parts..

 

[Rage]

You're right. It is a mindset change that needs to happen. I guess it goes back to the past where PT wasn't too much of a concern but these days when troops are lugging more and more personal gear it is a must. There needs to be given more attention to muscle building and adding upper body strength. I am sure many of the IA/IN/IAF guys are good at long distance running but their upper body strenght is seriously lacking.


I had seen a documentary on the BBC about the Abrams tanks and the daily routine of the tank crew (so not infantry guys) including a hell of a lot of body building and PTs. It was really impressive to see that these tank crews were all in such great shape and all had bulging arms and the like. India needs to aim for this.

What they need is core strength. Upper body strength will help you displace objects; lower body strength will help you displace yourself.

But if you want true agility, tenacity, ergonomy, flexibility and mobility, as well as the effective strength that comes about through true neuromuscular coordination- that ideal combination required of a soldier- rather than of say a bodybuilder or Olympic gymnast, then what you want is core strength.

Try doing this and you'll see what I mean :

 

[Snuggy321]

What they need is core strength. Upper body strength will help you displace objects; lower body strength will help you displace yourself.

But if you want true agility, tenacity, ergonomy, flexibility and mobility, as well as the effective strength that comes about through true neuromuscular coordination- that ideal combination required of a soldier- rather than of say a bodybuilder or Olympic gymnast, then what you want is core strength.

Try doing this and you'll see what I mean :

Try doing what? I cant see it

The PFT of the Army shows that the army pays too little attention towards upperbody strength. Pull ups alone wont do the job. And as I pointed out earlier, the minimum requirement of the navy of 10 push ups is simply ridiculous

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

From my experience, Its not easy to put Gym in Solider routine coz there is lot of other task to do..

But Army does provide Gym to Units for soldiers and Officers, It depends on the man afterwards he wish to do so or not, Same applies for all armies..

Though its not every where..

 

[Rage]

Try doing what? I cant see it

The PFT of the Army shows that the army pays too little attention towards upperbody strength. Pull ups alone wont do the job. And as I pointed out earlier, the minimum requirement of the navy of 10 push ups is simply ridiculous

Those are recruitment selection criteria. They are the bare minimum required for a candidate (with other considerations- medical, physiological and mental) to qualify for the Final Enrollment Medical Examination- which is itself a more rigorous test of physical 'fitness'. It is not indicative of the upper body strength of Naval personnel per se, which itself improves through the course of the activities and conditioning they undergo.

Besides, it is prudent to note that the three Part-A requirements of the PFT: 1M run in 7min, 20 sit-upsx1 and 10 chest push-upsx1 are to be completed in quick succession not in run-of-the-mill as you like it when you do it fashion.

That said, my comment applies more to health & conditioning of Army personnel, per se not Armed Forces or Army recruits. I'd like to see us move toward more core-focused physical fitness programs, as they do with the U.S. marines. And baby-steps toward that are already evident at physical fitness programs at the IMA and NDA.

The picture I wanted to show is this.

View image: 428233 10150508470412676 22565487675 9013325 193

P.S. I don't know if this means anything to you, but the Indian Navy's recruitment PFT is not untypical when it comes to benchmark PRT's for recruits. The Royal Canadian Navy, for example, had a PRT of 1.4M in 12 min, 19 push-upsx1 and 19 sit-upsx1 (non-time bound, non-successive) before they did away with it altogether in 2006 (they still had a non-qualification inconsequential test to gauge the fitness of recruits) and augmented their training. Closer to home, the Pakistan Navy's PRT is: 1M run in 7.5min, 15 push-ups in 2min, 15 sit-ups in 2min and 3 chin-ups in 2 min. One reason why the pre-qualification standards for the Army and Navy may be so mediocre is because of the limited nutrition, relative paucity of exercise facilities available among the general (applying) populace. That can be remedied once in the Armed forces. The real physical fitness comes through the training, diet, regimen and discipline in the Armed forces. And I believe that is what we need to focus on.

 

[SPIEZ]

Nice read for those who want to join the army
How to Pass the US Army Physical Fitness Test

Any such sites for Indian counterparts???

 

[jayphilip]

Than goes to frequent perform ( Common responsibilities ) than at after mid-day there is langar meals, After meals rest at night there is container football, Those who have night-shifts goes for perform again