New PT Requirements

Started by CAPSOC_0pur8ur, February 27, 2018, 03:25:28 AM

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CAPSOC_0pur8ur

Hey guys, just looking for you guy's thoughts on the new PT program. The initial reaction at my squadron was that they were really relaxed, but I'm curious to see if this is the general consensus or if y'all think they're on target? Also, what PT activities have been popular at you guys' squadrons? Looking for some new ideas to spice up our PT nights. (plz don't say volleyball lol)
"To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?" -Col John Boyd

TheSkyHornet

Quote from: CAPSOC_0pur8ur on February 27, 2018, 03:25:28 AM
Hey guys, just looking for you guy's thoughts on the new PT program. The initial reaction at my squadron was that they were really relaxed, but I'm curious to see if this is the general consensus or if y'all think they're on target? Also, what PT activities have been popular at you guys' squadrons? Looking for some new ideas to spice up our PT nights. (plz don't say volleyball lol)

I think you're in the majority of opinions on this.


Cadetter

We did our first run of the new PT program this month. Most of our cadets scored NI for PACER. For mile, almost everyone made HFZ (except for those who are very far from passing/scoring HFZ in mile regardless of the PT program used). I think that all cadets scored HFZ for curl-ups and sit-and-reach. More scored HFZ for push-ups than passed the old PT.

Capture the Flag (sometimes overused), flag football, relay races, ultimate frisbee, team circuits, soccer, volleyball, and lacrosse are fun, although obviously some are easier to orchestrate than others.
Wright Brothers Award, 2013
Billy Mitchell Award, 2016
Earhart Award, 2018

jeders

The standards are definitely geared less at churning out track stars and more at developing healthy exercise habits than the old system. That said, the PACER seems to be quite a bit more difficult for most cadets to pass than the old shuttle run.

As for what to do when you're not doing the PFT, we've done capture the flag, volleyball (I know, I know), ultimate frisbee, compass courses, 3-4 mile ruck marches, hide and seek, martial arts, nutrition classes, and many others that I'm already forgetting.
If you are confident in you abilities and experience, whether someone else is impressed is irrelevant. - Eclipse

Eclipse

It's also clearly a retention play, which, despite the rhetoric about watering down the program, some which may have come from
me, probably isn't a bad idea in the grande scheme,

"That Others May Zoom"

CAPSOC_0pur8ur

Yeah. Most of the cadets in our squadron run cross country and are on the wrestling team, so even the old PT standards were almost laughable. The new ones are basically a warmup. But I understand their reasoning, and if it will get new cadets in the door, or keep old ones in, I'm all for it. After all, just because CAP's standard is lower doesn't mean our personal standards must be.
"To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?" -Col John Boyd

LATORRECA

Are we still doing the 3 second push ups to point of failure?

arajca

We do them until the recording stops. Yes, my unit bought the official cd for the fitness program. The recording stops at 3 or 4 minutes, forget which off hand.

LATORRECA

For the pacer i download the recording to my phone. Is the crunches the same way with the arms cross on the chest or they are now with the hands down touching the strip band on the floor.

Carlos A

CAPSOC_0pur8ur

Quote from: LATORRECA on March 05, 2018, 12:08:15 AM
For the pacer i download the recording to my phone. Is the crunches the same way with the arms cross on the chest or they are now with the hands down touching the strip band on the floor.

Carlos A

Just check the regs... it's all in there
"To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?" -Col John Boyd

LATORRECA


Vegas1972

Quote from: CAPSOC_0pur8ur on March 05, 2018, 12:23:04 AM
Quote from: LATORRECA on March 05, 2018, 12:08:15 AM
For the pacer i download the recording to my phone. Is the crunches the same way with the arms cross on the chest or they are now with the hands down touching the strip band on the floor.

Carlos A

Just check the regs... it's all in there

It's with the hands down over the strip.
"Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.", Sgt. John M. Stryker.

LATORRECA

Quote from: Vegas1972 on March 05, 2018, 12:33:53 AM
Quote from: CAPSOC_0pur8ur on March 05, 2018, 12:23:04 AM
Quote from: LATORRECA on March 05, 2018, 12:08:15 AM
For the pacer i download the recording to my phone. Is the crunches the same way with the arms cross on the chest or they are now with the hands down touching the strip band on the floor.

Carlos A

Just check the regs... it's all in there

It's with the hands down over the strip.

Thank you gentlemen, I found it. Good for every 6 months and provide once a quarter and all.

Carlos A.

Noah Pluska

People at my squadron seem to be doing about just as they were before the new standards, that being said, in my opinion they are more directed at overall healthy physical activity as opposed to meeting specific numbers. I can see how this is a good, and a bad thing, but regardless: the standards are here to stay.
-C/SMSgt Noah Pluska
PCR-WA-051

BraveRifles19D

Had 2 of 11 pass the pacer the first time out. 2 just quit with 1 lap left.

The_CAP_Life_Chose_Me

At my squadron, on PT nights we often do what we like to call "HARDCORE PT!" which is where somebody (in my case it's our Cadet Medical Officer) plans a very hard PT course-race where we do stuff such as pulling cinderblocks, fireman carrying, burpees, etc, etc. Pretty much anything that you would imagine that would be too hard we do it. 

Also for games, I would suggest Nerf gun wars, water balloon fights, Capture the Flag, Squirrels, Hardcore Sharks and Minnows, freeze tag, relay races, and Frisbee Football.

(Since this is a game two cadets made in our squadron I am just going to give you the rules for it)
Hardcore Sharks and Minnows:
Just like normal sharks and minnows, except with a few new rules. If you get tagged by a shark, you do 5 push-ups. Once you do that, you sit down on the spot that you got tagged in and be seaweed. If you get tagged by seaweed, then the seaweed decides how many push-ups you do, with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 15. If you would like to do more push-ups, by all means, go for it.

C/SrA Cassie
C/SSgt Cassie

PA Guy



  Cadet Medical Officer?  ::) ::)

The_CAP_Life_Chose_Me

Quote from: PA Guy on March 08, 2018, 07:28:47 AM


  Cadet Medical Officer?  ::) ::)

Haha, yeah. I feel like he is just waiting for us to get hurt so he can finally have something to do.  ;) Nah, he's mainly just more dedicated than everyone on doing PT so he was picked to be in charge of it, also esp since he was the one I believe that asked and got our squadron to do it.  ;D
C/SSgt Cassie

Eclipse

Quote from: The_CAP_Life_Chose_Me on March 08, 2018, 03:13:48 AM
At my squadron, on PT nights we often do what we like to call "HARDCORE PT!" which is where somebody (in my case it's our Cadet Medical Officer) plans a very hard PT course-race where we do stuff such as pulling cinderblocks, fireman carrying, burpees, etc, etc. Pretty much anything that you would imagine that would be too hard we do it. 

Also for games, I would suggest Nerf gun wars, water balloon fights, Capture the Flag, Squirrels, Hardcore Sharks and Minnows, freeze tag, relay races, and Frisbee Football.

(Since this is a game two cadets made in our squadron I am just going to give you the rules for it)
Hardcore Sharks and Minnows:
Just like normal sharks and minnows, except with a few new rules. If you get tagged by a shark, you do 5 push-ups. Once you do that, you sit down on the spot that you got tagged in and be seaweed. If you get tagged by seaweed, then the seaweed decides how many push-ups you do, with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 15. If you would like to do more push-ups, by all means, go for it.

C/SrA Cassie

Cadet Cassie, you are new to CAP, so there's no foul in your not being aware of the issues in your post, however
with that said, you have essentially provided a treatise on what not to do for CAP cadet PT, whether
that angle being safety, appropriateness for situation, or just common sense.

This would be an excellent thing for you, and your parents to discuss with the Unit Commander directly,
perhaps involving the next echelon to insure it gets the proper attention.

In all seriousness, none of those activities should be continued, including the pushups during
a team challenge - that can morph into hazing quickly, especially with the lack of adult supervision
which would seem apparent from the above.

Further to this, the only individuals who may be appointed as "Medical Officers" are adult members who are
also MDs, there is no role or position which in any way even alludes to a "Cadet Medical Officer", and in fact,
while cadets are encouraged to be included, CAPP 60-50 makes a point to indicate that adult members
are the ones to be in charge of PT activities.

The pamphlet also stresses that PT activities must be "appropriate to training goals" (paraphrased as NHQ had rendered
the PDF in a way that makes it difficult to quote).

None of those "hardcore PT" activities are appropriate for adolescents, especially in a CAP environment.  Consider
for a second the ramifications of dropping a cinder block on a foot wearing athletic shoes, or a cadet being driven
into the ground face-first by another cadet who is both incapable of carrying the weight, not to mention improperly
trained on technique, in regards to the fireman's carry. Made worse by it being a "race".

This is an excellent learning opportunity for both you, other cadets in your unit, and most importantly your leadership.

"That Others May Zoom"

The_CAP_Life_Chose_Me

Quote from: Eclipse on March 08, 2018, 05:11:49 PM
Quote from: The_CAP_Life_Chose_Me on March 08, 2018, 03:13:48 AM
At my squadron, on PT nights we often do what we like to call "HARDCORE PT!" which is where somebody (in my case it's our Cadet Medical Officer) plans a very hard PT course-race where we do stuff such as pulling cinderblocks, fireman carrying, burpees, etc, etc. Pretty much anything that you would imagine that would be too hard we do it. 

Also for games, I would suggest Nerf gun wars, water balloon fights, Capture the Flag, Squirrels, Hardcore Sharks and Minnows, freeze tag, relay races, and Frisbee Football.

(Since this is a game two cadets made in our squadron I am just going to give you the rules for it)
Hardcore Sharks and Minnows:
Just like normal sharks and minnows, except with a few new rules. If you get tagged by a shark, you do 5 push-ups. Once you do that, you sit down on the spot that you got tagged in and be seaweed. If you get tagged by seaweed, then the seaweed decides how many push-ups you do, with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 15. If you would like to do more push-ups, by all means, go for it.

C/SrA Cassie

Cadet Cassie, you are new to CAP, so there's no foul in your not being aware of the issues in your post, however
with that said, you have essentially provided a treatise on what not to do for CAP cadet PT, whether
that angle being safety, appropriateness for situation, or just common sense.

This would be an excellent thing for you, and your parents to discuss with the Unit Commander directly,
perhaps involving the next echelon to insure it gets the proper attention.

In all seriousness, none of those activities should be continued, including the pushups during
a team challenge - that can morph into hazing quickly, especially with the lack of adult supervision
which would seem apparent from the above.

Further to this, the only individuals who may be appointed as "Medical Officers" are adult members who are
also MDs, there is no role or position which in any way even alludes to a "Cadet Medical Officer", and in fact,
while cadets are encouraged to be included, CAPP 60-50 makes a point to indicate that adult members
are the ones to be in charge of PT activities.

The pamphlet also stresses that PT activities must be "appropriate to training goals" (paraphrased as NHQ had rendered
the PDF in a way that makes it difficult to quote).

None of those "hardcore PT" activities are appropriate for adolescents, especially in a CAP environment.  Consider
for a second the ramifications of dropping a cinder block on a foot wearing athletic shoes, or a cadet being driven
into the ground face-first by another cadet who is both incapable of carrying the weight, not to mention improperly
trained on technique, in regards to the fireman's carry. Made worse by it being a "race".

This is an excellent learning opportunity for both you, other cadets in your unit, and most importantly your leadership.

Eclipse,

Thank you for this information. If this makes it any better the senior members go over what he propose we should do for Hardcore PT before we actually do it, including the (SM) Saftey/Medical Officer. And before we do any of the exercises we are all demonstrated each week on how to do it even if we all already know how to do it. And for the cinder blocks, we drag it with rope on the ground. Also, for the fireman carry, females fireman carry other females, and males fireman carry other males (and no one is allowed to carry someone that would be too heavy for them). And even though this is a race like an event it is more of team-building exercises and from all the time we have done it nobody has gotten injured or out of hand instead, they've all worked together. And on top of that, we have more than one SM supervising to make sure it doesn't get out of hand, and the Cadet Medical Officer goes above and beyond making sure that nobody gets hurt.

But I will report anything I find unsafe with this information you shared with me. I am actually glad you did share this with me I was unaware of some of the stuff you pointed out.

Thanks,

C/SrA Cassie
C/SSgt Cassie