Email   Print   Share By Erin Rogers, Sentinel Staff

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Sgt. Kyle Ellis, Fires Squadron., 3rd Cavalry Regiment., practices sandbag cyclone squats at the Applied Fitness Center July 10 during Operational Fitness. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Staff

Operational Fitness performance coach, Katie Lochridge, ensures that Staff. Sgt. Justin Herman, Fires Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, and Sgt. Nicholas Bryant, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, are doing their alternating lateral lunges correctly at the Operational Fitness course July 10. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Staff

Operational Fitness performance coach, Katie Lochridge, encourages and coaches Sgt. Trevor Gamble, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, on plank alternating lateral sandbag pulls during the Operation Fitness course at the Applied Fitness Center July 10. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Staff

The three-phase courses for Operational Fitness are well underway and available on Fort Hood at the Applied Fitness Center through an enrollment process.

The Operational Fitness classes are made for Army physical training leaders, and are designed for those leaders to better know how to teach their Soldiers, according to Operational Fitness director Laura Robinson.

Robinson has the combined experience of coaching, having a masters degree in exercise physiology and being a life long athlete. Operational Fitness performance coach is Katie Lochridge, who is a former thrower on the Louisiana State University Track and Field team. Lochridge is also a certified personal trainer.

The idea of these classes is to broaden the options for workouts so that PT leaders can adjust training according to their Soldiers’ experience level, and also to have a variety of workouts to choose from, Robinson said.

“This is important because there is a large number of Soldiers who are going through their morning PT without a clear understanding of what they’re actually doing - and it is limiting for them,” Lochridge said. “This gives them tools that they can use for their daily, weekly and monthly PT scheduling, and also in their off-time workouts.”

Before the workout began, the class met in the Applied Fitness Center to go over some slides that Robinson had prepared. The slideshow was over muscular endurance and the benefits of working out using a combination of strength and endurance, and how important strength training is to maintaining health.

There are three phases to Operational Fitness, and each phase lasts for a week. To advance to the next phase, there are tests that the PT leaders are required to pass. With each week-long phase adding up to 40 hours and the leaders actually participating in the workouts, they leave the course with the experience needed to lead their Soldiers for PT.

Phase one of the current Operational Fitness course is about to end, phase two begins in August and the final phase will be in the beginning of December. Spacing out the phases of the same course gives the PT leaders the opportunity to take what they’ve learned back to their Soldiers and pass that knowledge on before heading straight into the next step.

Each phase also has different goals that focus on specific areas of Army PT. Phase one is about learning how to apply exercise science principles to workouts, which helps Soldiers know how to most efficiently work out, and in a safe way. It also focuses on applying rationale for training programs and establishes a means to push the military doctrine beyond its limits.

On Tuesday, Lochridge and Robinson met the PT leaders outside of the Applied Fitness Center to begin their in-depth warm up and work out. Upon completion of phase one, those Soldiers can lead morning PT in a new, more effective way.

After passing the final exam for phase one, Soldiers can then advance to phase two. Phase two delivers an even deeper understanding of exercise science, helping to understand human anatomy, exercise physiology nutrition, kinesiology and leadership implementation.

Phase three focuses on biomechanical principles working together with exercise and movement. According to Robinson, after

completing phase three Soldiers will be able to confidently design and implement an exercise regimen at any point in the military training cycle.

“This is giving you a new toolbox,” Robinson said to the PT leaders in her class on Tuesday morning. “You will be able to go back to this toolbox and

continue to draw from it.”

The qualifications needed to apply for Operational Fitness courses include: being a Sergeant or above, having a minimum Army Physical Fitness Score of 270 and meeting the height and weight standards in accordance with Army Regulation 600-9. Soldiers applying for Operation Fitness courses must have at least six months remaining time in service following the course completion.

To submit an enrollment application, visit https://moss.hood.army.mil/units/iiicorps/SpecialStaff/health/funfit/default.aspx.