Is The British Army’s Method of Conducting Physical Training in Mass Groups Fit for Purpose.
With group sessions ranging from 20 soldiers up to 300 soldiers, is the British Army’s method of conducting physical training in mass groups fit for purpose.
This article is going to assess the current methods of delivering physical training (PT) within the British Army and explore systems that could be introduced to improve this delivery. This will be a topic relevant to current Royal Army Physical Training Corps Instructors (RAPTCIs), All Arms Physical Training Instructors (AAPTIs), Commanding Officers (CO’s) and Head Quarters Royal Army Physical Training Corps (HQ RAPTC) and finally, any researchers interested in military physical training. Although at times this article may be perceived as a negative portrayal of the current methods, this is not the case and all information in the descriptions is factual from Units across the Army. This aim of this article is to spark the thoughts on how we can look to deliver PT more efficiently and effectively.
First things first, let’s look at the current situation around the delivery of physical training within many Army Units. Currently PT is delivered in groups of anything from 20 – 80 soldiers for a Company level session and anything from 100 – 300 soldiers for a CO’s PT session. It is common for a Unit to have 5 Company’s (Coy). Each Coy can have up to 100 soldiers in it, totally 500 for the entire Unit.
Most Army Units will state that each PT session must have a ratio of 1:15 ratio when it comes to AAPTI to soldier ratios. Therefore, if a session has 75 soldiers on it, there must be 5 AAPTIs taking that session. I would say, in the majority of cases, this is not achievable for any Unit within the British Army. It is more likely that the session of 75 soldiers will have 1, potentially 2 AAPTIs taking this session. This shows a clear lack of qualified instructors based on the direction of 1:15 ratio.
The next point to mention is the facilities to conduct PT. In many cases the Units gym is an old sports hall somewhat converted into a strength and conditioning hall. The British Army has spent money on strength and conditioning equipment over recent years, introducing squat racks, barbells, bumper plates, kettlebells, etc. This hall may have, for example, 16 squat racks/barbells/bumper plate sets. If each squat rack has a group of 3 soldiers working on it, this allows for up to 48 soldiers to be on the lesson and, if groups of 4, then 64 soldiers. Within the hall, in many cases, there will be equipment such as rowers, ski – ergs and assault bikes. It is common the lesson may get split into two with one group utilising the resistance equipment and the other utilising the cardio equipment and changing over halfway through the allocated time.
The final point to set the scene, is the use of ability groups for loaded marches, aerobic capacity and CO’s PT. Common practice amongst RAPTCIs is to, where possible, assign ability groups. If AAPTIs are available, you would have 2 or 3 different paced groups on loaded marches and aerobic work. The aim of using ability groups is to try and keep a consistent pace for all individuals in each group, mitigating the chances of an unfit individual attempting to keep the fitter individuals steady state pace. Whilst this is not the most scientific approach, it does add value to the delivery of the sessions. This links directly to the first point of instructor/soldier ratios and the use of ability groups only being delivered if AAPTIs are available.
Now the current situation has been explained, let’s look at the some of the positives of the current methods. The first huge advantage of conducting sessions with the full Coy attending at the same time is the ability to keep the Coy following the same structure each day as a collective. By everyone in the Coy conducting PT as a mass group, this allows for all soldiers to follow the same daily routine. For example, 0800 – 0900 PT, 0900 – 0930 shower, 1000-1030 work, 1030 – 1100 break etc. This also feeds into the team cohesion of the Coy. In some circumstances RAPTCIs have attempted to conduct 2 x PT sessions for the Coy, for example, 0800-0900 for half the Coy and then 0900-1000 for the other half. This then created problems of the Coy not being aligned as a collective until later in the morning each day, something the chain of command was not willing to accept.
Another positive linked into this is when attempting to run multiple sessions per day for one Coy, for example splitting the Coy into two groups, it is common that when the schedule of the Coy becomes busy PT tends to be the first training to stop, especially if it covers a 2-3 hour window because of multiple groups. Therefore, the ability to conduct one mass session a day, in many cases, ensures that it will happen even during busy periods. When looking at CO’s PT, that typically happens once per week in a Unit, where the entire Unit comes together to conduct PT. The team cohesion and team ethos this instils into the soldiers can be argued to be the backbone of the week as this brings everyone together as a collective to achieve one aim. This has massive positive effects on the mood of the group as a whole.
Touching on the negatives of this delivery, without a high number of AAPTIs, it is difficult to keep the coaching quality of the technical sessions high. It does not allow for specific adaptations to take place, more a generic adaptation over a longer period of time. This is due to not being able to individualise the training to the level needed for specific aims. Recovery times are again, generic. One individual may take longer to recover from Monday’s session than another individual. Yet the next day they both need to attend PT 0800 Tuesday morning to conduct the same session regardless of recovery. Finally, a saying in the Army sometimes gets stated that “the fit look after themselves and the unfit just get un-fitter”. What this means is, sometimes when conducting large group sessions, the session isn’t specific enough for the fit to get fitter, but does not allow enough individualisation for the unfit to get fit. The fit people then conduct their own training outside of working hours. Therefore, overall, sometimes the PT sessions do not achieve the aim.
Now onto the fun part. The part where I get to produce a solution that may spark the thoughts of the individuals that will allow for positive change when it comes to delivery of PT to the masses within the Army.
Firstly, I believe the Army needs to utilise a mobile Application (app) for individuals to use to track their specific strength program. On the days the PT Program stated gym-based sessions, such as resistance training or indoor anaerobic sessions (rowing etc), individuals would use the app to conduct this training alone. This would then give each person a window from 0500 until 2200hrs to conduct this session. The benefits of this would be, firstly, they can take their time to conduct the session, working out the exact weight to lift, have the exact rest time they need and also conduct the session at a time they feel most recovered. Systems would need to be in place to track attendance with this, but this could be easily executed by the chain of the command and the gym staff.
Secondly, all soldiers would be issued a heart rate (HR) monitor. This would allow soldiers to work in specific HR zones and also track the stress placed to the individuals after long sessions such as loaded marches or aerobic work. If the app was introduced, this would then free up AAPTI resources to double up on group sessions such as loaded marches, aerobic capacity and CO’s PT where, for safety reasons, this would need to be an instructor led session. This then allows for clear ability groups, beginner, intermediate and advanced groups when conducting steady state or loaded marches. All tracked by the data from the HR monitor.
To summarise my thoughts; resistance training and anaerobic training should be conducted alone, utilising a mobile application with the sessions on. Loaded marches, aerobic training and CO’s PT should be done as a mass group, where individuals wear HR monitors and conduced with higher numbers of AAPTIs.