Functional Fitness
Marine Corps News staff report by Staff Sgt. Helen M. Searcy
Jobs Marines do in the Marine Corps are as varied as the muscles that are used. Not every Marine is carrying ammunition, which employs different muscles than sitting behind a desk.
The Marine Corps realized this difference and developed a new way of conducting physical training to better train Marines for their jobs, whether they’re humping with a pack or embarking gear. It’s called functional fitness.
Functional fitness can be described as the ability to perform a broad array of natural or realistic physical work, according to “A Concept for Functional Fitness,” a document approved by Lt. Gen. James F. Amos, deputy commandant for combat development and integration in December 2006.
Basically, train the body for real life. For Marines, this means combat.
Several programs are available for Marines to add or change their physical fitness program to incorporate this new way of fitness.
The Marine Corps Martial Arts Program and Marine Corps Community Service’s Semper Fit have programs in place for Marines to learn and apply these concepts.
MCMAP has been doing combat conditioning for nearly four years. It also runs a week-long Combat Conditioning Specialist Course. The course is open to all Marines, regardless of belt level, though corporals and above are preferred.
This course teaches Marines to run a successful combat conditioning physical training session at their units, said Joseph C. Shusko, director
of MCMAP, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.
“It’s a program designed by Marines for Marines,” said Shusko, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel.
“Functional fitness is multi-joint movements based around core strength and hip flexibility, not isolated, not done lying down, not done on a machine,” said Staff Sgt. Brandon T. Millsaps, MCMAP instructor trainer.
Combat Conditioning uses buddy exercises. For example, a Marine might carry a fellow Marine in a fireman’s carry and then follow up with a set of squats. This sort of training conditions the muscles and the mind for vital combat tasks.
Buddy exercises increase muscular strength and endurance to simulate carrying a heavy load in a combat situation, said Millsaps.
Semper Fit also tailors functional fitness to specific job specialties, rather than the rigors of combat.
“We want to look at what a Marine does in his (job) and then look at the exercises that are going to make that Marine stronger,” said Linda Desens, director of Health Promotions at Manpower and Reserve Affairs.
For example, an artillery Marine loading ammunition into a firing piece is having to lift, twist, and push. An administrative Marine sitting at a desk needs to strengthen his lower back and chest to reduce the shortening of muscles.
Semper Fit has certified personal trainers that can lead Marines in group or individual functional PT as well as courses at some of the bigger bases where they can teach Marines how to conduct functional PT.
The Semper Fit program at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., has been running the PT Coordinators Course since 2002. This course is designed to inform unit leaders about anatomy, nutrition, injury prevention, swimming programs, as well as running programs, said Mary Troja, fitness facilities director for Semper Fit Division.
Included in the course at Camp Lejeune is an introduction to the Total-Body Resistance Exercise System. Developed by a former Navy SEAL, it uses a Marine’s own body weight to perform functional exercises.
This type of suspension training can be used by any fitness level, said Troja. People can work at their own pace and at any angle.
In the examples shown, a Marine can use the system to mimic loading ammo by using a wood-chopping motion by hanging it over a pull-up bar. In the office where there’s not a pull-up bar, a Marine can use the door anchor and perform lower back and chest exercises during breaks.
“It’s a good price of gear,” said Master Sgt. Donald H. Hart, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion operations chief. He puts the TRX system around his kids’ swing set in his backyard.
Both programs use exercises that are more realistic and functional. They help Marines train for their jobs rather than for the physical fitness test.
“No longer chasing the PFT,” said Shusko.
Every Marine is a rifleman and must be physically fit for combat. What’s more, Marines also must be fit for their specific jobs. The Semper Fit program and the Martial Arts Center for Excellence are two places Marines can go to train for both areas.
