Page 40 - QDG Volume 9 No. 2 2021

38 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
Christmas fancy dress run Do you think this pipe is burst?
Gymnasium
Introduction
2021 has been a great year for the Gymnasium. 2020 was the year of indi- vidual PT and 2021 was the year we got our teeth back into some real phys. This year has brought new fitness testing that replaces the Annual Fitness Test (AFT) for the attached arms called the Role Fitness Test (RFT(S)). This aligns with their Physical Employment Standard (PES) so that each capbadge has its own standard, appropriate to its role. Build-up training has paid off and the testing has been successful.
COVID-19 still restricted training during 2021, but we had the chance to mitigate this with the introduction of the Lateral Flow Testing Facility. The Gymna- sium was the chosen location for the test facility and this meant that the AAPTIs got to show off their versatility whilst leading the testing. The testing facility enabled pre-deploymenttrainingtocontinuefor both Op NEWCOMBE 2 and 3.
C Sqn Pre-deployment PT
At the start of the year, C Sqn was almost ready to deploy, but just before they did, we provided one more week of decent PT for the Sqn. The gym was still out
of bounds, so myself, LCpl Guttteridge and Sgt Taylor ran a few big outdoor circuits with a final Mali-themed tactical PT session.
Gaining Strength
It had been a while since
the unit conducted real strength-based PT. The barbells were set up outside and lifting techniques were checked before progressing to some real weight. The goal was to build a stronger muscular-skeletal foundation prior to loading the body with heavy bergens; we worked on the main compound strength exercises, deadlift, squat, row, bench press, shoulder press, lunge and heaves.
Building Team Cohesion Through Physical Training
After the strength phase we started working on muscular endurance. Tuesdays were now muscular endurance days and through the summer months these took place outdoors. We struc- tured team-based sessions which gave the sessions more of a competitive feel, you could clearly see the effort teams would put in to beat others.
Commanding Officer’s PT
The Gym staff’s favourite day of the week is Thursday, as this is when we perform CO’s PT. CO’s PT is an effec- tive way of building not only physical robustness, but more importantly mental resilience. The session is
always kept a surprise, to keep the troops on their toes. The sessions start with a good warm up, after which the troops begin running, only to find logs and stretchers lined up around the corner.
A good way to build courage and confidence in soldiers is to run combat conditioning sessions. We set up 4 stations, punching pads, casualty evacu- ation, partner exercises and the big one which is wrestling. This a good exercise because all the soldiers sit in a circle facing outwards,thePTIswalkaroundthecircle building suspense before picking the two soldiers to wrestle, once the pair are picked the words of command are “turn and face”, all the soldiers turn around and those nominated enter the circle, bang their hands on the ground 3 times before going head-to-head with the aim
Swinging...not all glamour
The slow roll out of Regimental PT kit was evident!
1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12... Yep that’s all of them!
The session is always kept
a surprise,
to keep the troops on their toes