All Branch Topic (ABT) Command fitness programs

[Perrotfish]

My command has a decent number of corpsmen (and a few nurses and physicians) who are endlessly on the edge of failing the weigh in, and more than a few who are actually on FEP and on the edge of being involuntarily separated. Has anyone here seen any good diet and/or exercise routines incorporated into their commands? Particularly those of you who work in clinics? I'd like to introduce something more than the nothing we do now. Assume for the sake of argument that this is all going to be on the officers, rather than the LPOs and the Chiefs.

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[bryce]

I'm not a physician, however, as a Platoon Leader I was tasked by my BC to change the Company's PT Standards. We went from an average PT score in the mens age bracket of 17-21 from 250 - 285 in a quarter (FA Batt). Eventually it was adopted throughout the Battalion. If you're interested, PM me and I'll shoot over my diet & the workout plan I implemented.

 

[pgg]

I'll just cut to the chase and give you the answer: mandatory daily 0500 PT for the people who've failed or are on the edge.

If you're not willing to champion that and instantly become the most hated person in your command, you can always do some pointless handwaving

• educating people who aren't ignorant of why they're out of standards
• motivating people who don't care that they're out of standards
• telling people who're too busy to exercise that you don't have the authority to close the clinics and carve out work hours for PT so they'll have to find time to exercise on their own

None of this will change the calorie in : calorie out ratio of anyone you're waving at.

 

[Perrotfish]

I'm not a physician, however, as a Platoon Leader I was tasked by my BC to change the Company's PT Standards. We went from an average PT score in the mens age bracket of 17-21 from 250 - 285 in a quarter (FA Batt). Eventually it was adopted throughout the Battalion. If you're interested, PM me and I'll shoot over my diet & the workout plan I implemented.

I would appreciate the PM. I suspect I might be much more limited by time than you are, though. Right now, to the best of my knowledge, we allot exactly 0 hours for physical fitness. Even PFA needs to be done outside of normal working hours. I think they might be willing to carve out 2-3 hours a week for this if I made a strong case, but definitely not more.

 

[Helpful Troll]

My command has a decent number of corpsmen (and a few nurses and physicians) who are endlessly on the edge of failing the weigh in, and more than a few who are actually on FEP and on the edge of being involuntarily separated. Has anyone here seen any good diet and/or exercise routines incorporated into their commands? Particularly those of you who work in clinics? I'd like to introduce something more than the nothing we do now. Assume for the sake of argument that this is all going to be on the officers, rather than the LPOs and the Chiefs.

Perrotfish - they can't separate physicians with an ADO, for weight control or physical readiness failures per DOD Instruction 6000.13.

Outside the command structure the only actions I have seen successful were nutrition counseling (for those that cared) and taking a peer out for physical exercise if we were on a similar schedule. Good for you for caring and trying. The formal nutrition counseling for weight control in the Army requires participants to choose and utilize a meal planning program and document their participation with a dietition or healthcare provider. Participants lie regarding intake though. AR600-9 - The Navy likely has something similar.

Even as a Company Commander in the Army (O3) I could force them to participate in nutrition counseling and physical training but I couldn't force them to push themselves away from the table, or not pour themselves another beer. That angry O4 Engineer and Catholic priest kept their flags that prevented promotion and other favorable personnel actions like schools.

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/600013p.pdf

7 "c. Individuals Not Affected. AFHPSP and FAP participants may not be dropped from these programs or separated from military service for failure to comply with physical readiness and weight control standards. The Secretary concerned may retain the participant until the ADO incurred has been served."

 

[pgg]

Even PFA needs to be done outside of normal working hours.

This has always been especially irritating to me - this notion that one should schedule the PFA outside working hours.

The PFA is a military requirement and it should be done on the military's time. I have always made a deliberate point of scheduling my PFA during working hours.

Same with that pointless annual PHA. I wouldn't be wasting my time seeing a doctor (er, I mean, some IDC trained to check boxes and plug my vegetable intake into a computer calculator) for no particular reason if the Navy didn't require it. If the Navy is going to invent busy-work for me AND another clinic worker, it can get done on the Navy's time.

Dental class 4? For the 3rd time this year, because my X-rays and/or record were lost, again? That gets done between 7 AM and 4 PM, and not on a post-call day like we're encouraged to do. If it was up to me, I'd see a dental hygienist twice per year for a cleaning (on my own time).

Online training about how to use a fire extinguisher? Working hours.

Personal appointment? Car needs fixing? Kid has a field trip and I want to go? My time.

Job requirement? Navy time.

That simple.


Now ... out of weight standards or failed the PFA? Some EMI is not inappropriate, and there ain't nothing wrong with that being outside working hours. The 0500 hour is open.

 

[DrMetal]

My command has a decent number of corpsmen (and a few nurses and physicians) who are endlessly on the edge of failing the weigh in, and more than a few who are actually on FEP and on the edge of being involuntarily separated. Has anyone here seen any good diet and/or exercise routines incorporated into their commands? Particularly those of you who work in clinics? I'd like to introduce something more than the nothing we do now. Assume for the sake of argument that this is all going to be on the officers, rather than the LPOs and the Chiefs.

FEP isn't enough if you're really overweight (>10 lbs). Of course, FEP is good if you're having difficulties with the PRT. But if weight is your issue and you need to lose > 10 lbs, you really have to shut your pie-hole and reduce your calorie intake . ie portion control....maybe reduce the number of meals you eat....2 vice 3 meals a day...you can get by on 2 meals/day. Interestingly: month of Ramadan coming up, my patients who fast will lose some 15-20 lbs that month! Not that that's a healthy way to lose weight, but you can't argue with results.

 

[DrMetal]

This has always been especially irritating to me - this notion that one should schedule the PFA outside working hours.

The PFA is a military requirement and it should be done on the military's time. I have always made a deliberate point of scheduling my PFA during working hours.

Same with that pointless annual PHA. .

What command on earth is asking you guys to do the PFA outside of working hours?! 30 cycles of the PFA I've done, have never done it outside of working hours. Hell..we usually do it during lunch and use it as an excuse to blow off the rest of the day.

 

[Perrotfish]

What command on earth is asking you guys to do the PFA outside of working hours?! 30 cycles of the PFA I've done, have never done it outside of working hours. Hell..we usually do it during lunch and use it as an excuse to blow off the rest of the day.

My command schedules our PFA so close to the PFA dates that patients are already booked in the clinic on any day that you can schedule. They never tell us not to cancel clinic, there's just no option to do so without rebooking everyone. Not truly a requirement and a few people canceled a few hours of clinic anyway but I was told a dozen times not to give a lot of pushback in the first year out of residency. So I've done both of this year's PFAs at 06:00 and showered at work so I could be there for clinic at 07:30. Honestly its not a huge deal other than that it does highlight just how little time we carve out for physical fitness.

My residency did allow us to do the PFA during working hours, but only because our 'working hours' encompassed all the hours that anyone else in the command was awake. They were enormously obnoxious about making sure you were back at work less than an hour after the PFA. Same rules applied to all mandatory offsite trainings and to the command wide graduation. I remember being really annoyed about the graduation thing, at the time.

 

[DrMetal]

My command schedules our PFA so close to the PFA dates that patients are already booked in the clinic on any day that you can schedule. They never tell us not to cancel clinic, there's just no option to do so without rebooking everyone. Not truly a requirement and a few people canceled a few hours of clinic anyway but I was told a dozen times not to give a lot of pushback in the first year out of residency. So I've done both of this year's PFAs at 06:00 and showered at work so I could be there for clinic at 07:30. Honestly its not a huge deal other than that it does highlight just how little time we carve out for physical fitness.

I wouldn't fight it much, unless they start making you come in on a Saturday/Sunday. Save your energy, I'm sure you'll have much bigger fish to fry in the future.

 

[bryce]

I would appreciate the PM. I suspect I might be much more limited by time than you are, though. Right now, to the best of my knowledge, we allot exactly 0 hours for physical fitness. Even PFA needs to be done outside of normal working hours. I think they might be willing to carve out 2-3 hours a week for this if I made a strong case, but definitely not more.

Please PM me with an acceptable email and I will send you everything. Unfortunately, it's in a pdf.