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effort and teamwork the staff invest to produce such a rst class event that lasts long in the memory of OCdts.
Other signi cant events have included the Inter Collegiate Tri Service Games which took place in Jul 16, with all 3 UK Military Of cer Academies competing in an Athletics, Cricket and Super Teams events at RMAS. This was the rst time for a long time that future Royal Navy, Army and RAF Of cers had managed to compete against each other in the sporting arena, suf ce to say it was a memorable day with RMAS running out convincing winners, however credit must be given to the visiting teams who gave it their all in every event which was made especially challenging given the limited available number of competitors they had.
RMAS also continues to strive to be the world leading Military Of cer Academy, likewise the PT Wing play their part by ensuring the PT programme is underpinned by academic rigour as well as encompassing modern physical training methodology. The programme is dynamic and if necessary can be changed very quickly – subject to evidence to support any suggested amendment. The facilities are excellent, especially now the Swimming Pool is open after a long period of closure. The next few months will see the facilities improve even further with a £100k equipment investment to develop the King Hamed Hall Fitness facility into a modern and up to date Army Conditioning Centre. This will also see further development of the PT Programme to focus on a form of periodisation and the RAPTC method of PT, OCdts will also receive a little more education on the type of physical training they need to do in order to cope with the physical demands of a military career now and into the future – encouraging
Sgts Hodskinson, Michaelson Yates, Shackleton and Blake overseeing the Breda Games Super Teams Event
OCdts to “train smarter not harder” will be key to maximising the impact of the new facility.
In closing, I would like to pass on my personal thanks to all those members of the RAPTC with whom it has been my privilege to work with at RMAS over the last 24 months. As always, it has been a busy last 12 months at RMAS, there have few lows but many highs, the young RAPTCIs coming through continue to be of high quality and as their forebears always have, they continue to leave an indelible mark on all newly Commissioned Army Of cers as they complete the most physically and mentally demanding 44 weeks of Of cer training to be found anywhere on the planet.
Alongside all the routine delivery, the PT Wing has also been instrumental in reducing the overuse injury rate during the rst term of the Commissioning Course, when Of cer Cadets are at the greatest risk of injury. Over the last 18 months data has been collected through the use of “Fit bit” wearable technology, which has provided the evidence we have used to initiate changes to how training is delivered. Very early in the study it became apparent that Of cer Cadets were moving an average of 15 to 20 km per day and surviving on less than 4hrs sleep per night. This resulted in an energy de cit of over 1000 Kcal per day. It was now very clear why the attrition rate during the early stages of the Junior Intake were so high. Subsequent recommendations were made and initiatives such as changing the venues for some training serials and commencing some PT lessons at the Coy lines in order to reduce distance marched were implemented, to hopefully reverse the trend. It must be said that once the evidence was presented, the CoC immediately bought into doing as much as possible across the Commissioning Course to reduce daily distance and increase the time available for sleep the combination of which would reduce the energy de cit and likelihood of injury. The initial ndings at the end of the rst full term were concerning as the injury rate had actually increased post the interventions, however we soon came to the conclusion that this was almost certainly due to the damage having already been done during the rst 7 weeks of the term prior to any interventions being put in
place. It had now become clear how important the tracking of activity and recovery during the early stages of Commissioning Course was if we were to reduce the propensity of overuse injury.
Data collection continued with full support of the CoC during summer term, by week six all were keen to see the data and whether or not the interventions had taken any effect on the new intake. The results were much better than anticipated, with the data indicating that the injury rate had reduced by approximately 50%, which led to many hours of checking the maths and cross referencing data to ensure we did not misrepresent the data gathered.
Having now tracked two Intakes with very surprising results it was decided that we should continue until we had gathered at least 12 months of data which would enable us to compare any seasonal differences. Once the Winter Term came to a close it was expected that there may be a reversal in the previous downward trend in the injury rate due to more challenging weather conditions. However, as can be seen in the charts below the injury rate had once again reduced, with the Sep 16 Intake sustaining 60% less injuries compared to the Jan 16 Intake.
It was now very clear through the evidence gathered that increased physical activity, decreased opportunity for sleep (recovery) and
RMAS INJURY REDUCTION STUDY
Major (MAA) B Whitaker RAPTC
16 14 12
10 8 6 4 2
Average KM Moved in 24hrs
14.64
11.77
CC162 (2 Coys)
14.66
0
CC161 (2 Coys)
CC163 (3 Coys)
3800 3600 3400
Average Calorific Expenditure in 24hrs
3613 3200
3309 CC162 (2 Coys)
3796
CC163 (3 Coys)
3000
CC161 (2 Coys)
7 6 5 4
3 2 1
Average Hrs Sleep Per Night
5.43
6.02
CC162 (2 Coys)
5.47
0
CC161 (2 Coys)
CC163 (3 Coys)
350 300 250 200
150 100 50 0
Light Duties Chits Week 2 to 13
320
210
123
CC161 (2 Coys)
CC162 (2 Coys)
CC163 (3 Coys)
CC161 (Jan 16 Intake) to CC163 (Sep 16 Intake)