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Home » Fitness » Want to fix military fitness? Start with a four-letter word – Military Times

The military is faced with a fitness dilemma.

Rather than another article warning of impending doom, I wanted to offer a relatively simple solution, or at least the start of one. The root of the fitness problem might not be physical, but rather psychological. And change starts with a four-letter word.

DONT SUGARCOAT IT

For years, the military has looked to improve performance processes based on the corporate world, which is not inherently a bad thing. But along with these processes has come the business vernacular, which I believe is not such a good thing.

This terminology and way of thinking overly sanitizes the purpose of the military namely, to kill the enemy.

Some readers will digest the word kill without flinching, but it likely will make the majority uncomfortable, and understandably so. Most would agree that the words neutralize or destroy sound much more palatable than kill. But if the mission of the armed services is to fight and win our nation's wars, killing the enemy is definitely the implied task.

So, how are killing and fitness related?

THE KILL CONCEPT

Tim Kennedy, a Special Forces sergeant first class with the Texas Army National Guard and retired pro mixed martial arts fighter, may have said it best: Every time you train, train with the motivation and purpose that you will be the hardest person someone ever tries to kill.

By using the term kill, we ramp up the seriousness and the reality of what service members must be prepared to do. Instead of physical training being focused on the nebulous concept of fitness, it should be linked directly to one of two outcomes: making a service member harder to kill, or making a service member better at killing.

Adding this kill concept creates a powerful shift in mindset. Goodbye PT leader, hello modern-day Doctore, the title given to trainers of Roman gladiators.

Even if the odds of kill-or-be-killed scenarios are low, why not prepare for the worst-case scenario? Theres historical precedent here: British military leaders at the outset of World War I knew that bayonet encounters would be rare, but they still championed bayonet training for its physical and psychological effects on a population preparing for what was, at the time, the largest battle the nation had ever seen.

Decide who you are going to be. Are you going to be the victim or the survivor? Are you going to be the hardest person someone ever tries to kill?

My bet is that second workout is going to be significantly more productive than the first. Now, imagine if you multiplied that effect across the military.

Link:
Want to fix military fitness? Start with a four-letter word - Military Times

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Home » Fitness » Want to fix military fitness? Start with a four-letter word – Military Times