Page 90 - Mind, Body and Spirit No. 105 2021/22

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The start of 2021 saw the return of Aliwal Gymnasium to the Regiment and its personnel. Not without its restrictions though. Officers were unable to rush into the squash courts and the gym queens had tight restrictions on how we can conduct training safely.
SSgt (SSI) Longden RAPTC was now fully embedded within the KRH and getting to grips with the tempo of what a heavy armoured regiment looks like, instigating improvements to the infrastructure along the way. We have seen touch screen monitors go up on the walls within the gymnasium, new PT equipment readily available to all KRH personnel and delivery of a brand-new Strength and Conditioning Centre (S&CC) which SSgt Longden has been driving since his arrival. The S&CC gives an exceptional, top of the range training space to improve PT lesson delivery all year round.
This year saw the Regiment take part in several sporting activities and physical training days out. The first competing against itself in the form of the D’Arcy Hall Cup. A sporting competition, split across cricket, athletics and battle PT.
The cricket was led by the impeccable umpiring skills of WO1 Steve Pople & WO2 Dave Oakes, seeing all 5 Sqns battle it out in the sun. With C Sqn winning all their matches, they were crowned the winners. Athletics was hosted at the Tidworth Oval Track by SSgt Longden, pushing our personnel to conduct both track and field events (some of which had never been tried before by KRH personnel ... Javelin and Hurdles!). Coming into the 4x100m Relay final race, once again C Sqn narrowly took the lead and were crowned the winners. Battle PT was a feat of tactical endurance for our soldiers. Headed up by the PTI team, it saw personnel conduct a 2km march / run with 15kg, a 2km equipment race, followed by a 2km best effort clean fatigue. Everyone taking part showed an incredible amount of grit and determination, but once again, you guessed it. C Sqn took 1st place on the third and final event meaning that C Sqn were the winners of the D’Arcy Hall Cup 2021.
The Regiment competed in its first ever British Army Warrior Fitness (BAWF) competition for the 3XX Warrior Games. A divisional competition that saw 32 teams come together virtually and complete 5 gruelling workouts. After a long and tough day led by SSgt Longden, the Regiment secured 5th position ... not bad for a bunch of miss-fits scrambled together last minute.
Continuing to improve our soldier’s mental health and resilience, a Junior development package which covered coping strategies and how to employ them whilst dealing with negative thoughts was delivered to circa 140 Tprs and JNCOs. We then put theory into practise by taking them to the Army School of Physical Training Obstacle course in Aldershot, in which they conducted an Inter Sqn Obstacle course race and went over the 50ft Trainasium
Mental Resilience training on shuffle bars
shuffle bars, seeing some shaky legs as the guys and girls crossed the bars.
A study was conducted across all five Sqns with the use of Garmin smart watches in order to better understand our soldiers. The study looked at our personnel’s sleeping habits and stress levels, both in camp and on exercise, so that we can best improve their human performance. The aim was to see the difference in stress levels and sleep quality in individuals when they had conducted physical training. The study found that when our personnel conducted PT in the morning, they were up to 30% less stressed during the working day, and their sleep quality improved ... Who knew PT was actually a good thing!
KINGS ROYAL HUSSARS
SSgt (SSI) I Longden RAPTC
Athletics Winners
SSgt Longden going big during the BAWF event