Page 51 - RADC Bulletin 2018

delivery of change with promised results. With backing from athletes and members of the RAPTC a sanctioned functional fitness style programme was designed that would be supported at Unit level. British Army Warrior Fitness (BAWF) was revealed in 2016. It selected military style movements that PTIs could incorporate into exercise programmes, monitor and review. This programme empowers the PTI and allows active engagement with soldiers, and can directly feed into performance testing, rehabilitation programme design as well
as offer a competition element to enhance ‘esprit de corps’. BAWF is now a recognised Tri-service sport with unit PTIs delivering at firm base. Although many will still not have had exposure to BAWF, it is still in its infancy but it is here to stay. Information can be found on the RAPTC Sharepoint and BAWF Facebook group, and more formally through your unit RAPTC POC.
In 2016, I was lucky to be able to work closely with the first appointed BAWF Midlands Regional Secretary whilst serving as SDO in Hereford. He was one of my patients, and had explained to me the format and the plans to host regional leagues in the North, South, Midlands, BFG and Cyprus. Fortunately, Hereford wasn’t short of ‘fit blokes’ and many of them I had already trained with or competed with in some form or the other. A high operational tempo meant consolidating a team over many months would be a challenge. I was quick to pull together a pool of 6 males to represent the Garrison. Each BAWF match would consist of a team of 3 competing across 4 events, which would score total repetitions or time to complete a set task. The workouts were released on the day
and would consist of any combination of movements or exercises presented in the BAWF sanctioned list. Squats, deadlifts, rope climbs, loaded runs, burpees, obstacle courses, tyre flips, sled drags, rowing, track sprints, power cleans, kettle bell swings and sandbag carries, you get the idea.
British Army Warrior Fitness
The ‘broad time and modal domains’ concept of Crossfit would test teams over long and short duration to challenge aerobic, anaerobic and lactate thresholds. Carefully planning workouts to achieve the intended training effect and facilitating an exciting team competition that pushes even the fittest is challenging and requires careful programming and adherence to movement standards. To the uninitiated, performing high intensity functional movements in a competition setting is not recommended. BAWF requires PTIs to sign off teams prior to entering competition to ensure soldiers can move safely. It is at the heart of the programme to identify functional deficits in individual movement patterns and flexibility, and to address these to improve role
‘One for the Man Cave’
specific functionality. This of course is the main concept and key to the acceptance and delivery of change in the way fitness is approached in the Armed Forces.
By the end of the season our team had won the Midlands title and were selected to compete in the 2016 Army Finals in Aldershot. 15 teams went head to head and we finished in second place, one point behind 2 SCOTS.
For the 2016/7 season, the regional structure had expanded and had clearly attracted more attention with more teams from across the Army showing up. I was fortunate to be able to Captain the Garrison team again and through 6 Midland League matches between November 16 and April 17 (one of which took place in Colchester!?) we were focused on redemption. The usual management of logistics and commitment to the main effort ensured we pulled together as a team. We trained together when we could and after some motorway miles it appeared the work had paid dividends
as we won the midlands league by a comfortable margin. In June, we were to
face 2SCOTS once again in the Army Finals. This time luck was in our favour and despite being pushed extremely closely we managed to turn the tables and took the trophy. A golden Kettlebell now takes pride of place in the Garrison gymnasium back in Hereford: ‘BAWF Army Champions 2017’ and, alongside another well-known motto, reads ‘Ex Dentibus Ensis’.
Guinness World Record
My legs had barely had chance to recover from this midweek battering and I could have done with a few days of recovery. Unfortunately, I faced the daunting prospect of attempting to set a Guinness World Record (GWR) some 5 days later.
In 2013, I had just completed a half ironman in Lanzarote. The day after, I was sat with my family drinking a beer in the blazing sun, by the pool, in Club la Santa, and was reading about the great David Hemery and his 400m hurdles Olympic victory in Mexico City in 1968. He was coached by Malcom Arnold a specialist hurdles coach and one of Britain’s greatest
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