Page 93 - Mind, Body and Spirit No. 105 2021/22

1 RRF Gym Staff
FIRST BATTALION THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF FUSILIERS
SSgt (SSI) J Bremner RAPTC
First Fusiliers. The First Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers “England’s Finest” are an Armoured Infantry Battle Group, located in Tidworth, Wiltshire. First Fusiliers are part of 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team who sit within 3 (UK) Division, as part of their Reactive Force.
Physical Development. First Fusiliers, as have many other Units across the Army, have been complying with Force Health Protection Instruction (FHPI) measures throughout 2021. Physical Training (PT) has been tough to manage but the show must go on. A number of initiatives at the start of the Year has enabled First Fusiliers to continue with PT, whether that is at home via Zoom, following a FORMS link that was produced which had many different workouts within it, or FHPI controlled PT. The transition to normality has evidently highlighted the fact that aerobically there is work to be done within Fist Fusiliers and specificity of training is the direction of travel as the Battalion are now on the road to Op CABRIT.
Sport. Sport has been at the forefront of the Battalion this year. Rugby, Football and Boxing being the main drivers. Every year the Battalion hold the Hearts Medal Competition. This is a Coy level Boxing event which is held in high regard by all Fusiliers, both past and present. This was a big event with a huge amount of money chucked at it. This was great for morale as well as a good time to spot new talent. The Battalion Boxing Team this year managed to fight in Bahrain against the Bahraini Guard following an invite from the Royal Family. A former Fusilier and RAPTCI, Tony Davis, is now the Bahrain National Boxing coach. Great experience and retention tool for the Battalion.
2022. First Fusiliers are on the road to Op CABRIT and have a number of Battle Camps in the pipeline this year and are mainly going to be in the UK or in Germany. The Battalion are currently held at high readiness and are more than prepared for any tasking that they are given. First Fusiliers are “Fit to Fight”.
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QUEENS ROYAL HUSSARS PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
SSgt (SSI) J Bedford RAPTC
This has been another busy year for QRH in terms of Physical Development (PD). Although Covid-19 is still with us, we have been able to carry on as best we can to ensure our soldiers are afforded the best Physical Training possible.
This year has also seen many changes regarding the facilities we use to deliver PT, and for the better too. After just over a year of being in the UK we were finally able to move out of the small white gym and into the main Aliwal Gym. This gave us a much needed, larger indoor training area, along with more equipment in which to deliver our Strength & Conditioning sessions.
After moving out, we had planned to utilise the small white gym as an area to deliver rehabilitation PT. However, we felt that soldiers undergoing rehab would benefit more from being able to use the space and equipment in Aliwal Gym. We therefore decided to use of the small white gym as a boxing gym. In collaboration with KRH we pulled together all our resources and were able to kit it out with 10 boxing bags and a sparring ring. This is now used every day in the morning, afternoon, and evening to deliver some great boxing training. This year we are hoping to turn a small area of it into a mixed martial arts area so that it can have a fully-fledged Aliwal Boxing and Combat Training Facility.
Another addition to our training areas was the new Strength & Conditioning Facility, provided and built by Beaverfit. This gave us an extra 600 Square meters of indoor training area and was kitted out with rubber flooring throughout, squat racks and other portable Physical Training Equipment (PTE), including rowers, ski ergs and the dreaded assault bikes. Since this has been in place it has been used daily and enjoyed by all soldiers.
One of the highlights of the year was the newly formed Warrior Fitness Team. After some months of gruelling and intense training, mainly lead by AAPTIs Cpl Lutaaya and Cpl Hanson, the team entered the 3 Div Warrior Games Competition. Above all expectations, they absolutely smashed it and ended up finishing 3rd overall and collected a prize of £500. After this success they then entered the 20X Warrior Games in December. They placed 3rd in the male category, 3rd in mixed and placed 2nd overall. An excellent achievement by all.
So, what will 2022 bring? Well, providing Omicron (the new, more transmissible Covid-19 variant) doesn’t stifle our plans, progression from the base level of physical fitness we had achieved last year with more fun and imaginative PT sessions, then it will include more participation in sport, more AT and definitely more Warrior Fitness.