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Question: How to improve physical fitness for the Armed Forces?

Answer by Commander Rathore:

The passing out parade at Officers Training Academy (OTA) Chennai in March 2020 was marred by an unusually high failure rate of women cadets. At least 13 women failed the rope test, while three others could not complete their 5 km running task within the prescribed timings. It is pertinent to note that a cadet cannot fail more than twice in a course otherwise he/she is sent home.

Supreme Court’s on 17^th February 2020 made women officers eligible for permanent commission and command posts. Women officers are now on par with male officers in matters of promotions, benefits, and pensions. Thus, it is expected of them to meet minimum physical standards even if they are not on par with their male counterparts.

At the OTA, there is a marked difference in the physical standard requirements of men and women. For instance, while men need to complete a 2.4 km run in 10 minutes, women get 15 minutes. In the battle physical efficiency test, ‘excellent timing’ for men is 24 minutes and 40 seconds while for women it is 31 minutes and 30 seconds. Let us keep in mind that to clear the physical fitness test, women cadets get multiple chances, including mercy attempts.

I was therefore compelled to write on how to improve physical fitness for the Armed Forces.

You must know that physical fitness cannot be achieved in a week or two. Some people think that there is no physical ability test in SSB, so they neglect their physical fitness. Always remember that developing stamina & muscles is one of the activities that needs time & patience.

Do cardio & other exercises daily: By all means, you should not train for more than 1 hour a day. Some people make the mistake of practicing cardio only or they do only workout and as a result, they do not acquire fitness for the Armed Forces. Make sure that you do Cardio and push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, pull-ups, and flexibility exercises daily.

• Running: You will find yourself in better running shape in about 12 weeks (depending upon the start-up level of the person). Play with your speed: This means shifting your speed and intensity at slightly random intervals during your run. Challenging yourself more during exercise allows your heart rate to rise without breaking your energy bank. The fun part is running hard for 30 seconds, or to a tree you spot down the road—for one interval, with a minute of walking in between, and then pushing for 45 seconds during the next interval, with two minutes of walking or jogging in between. So, if you build your cardio conditioning using both high speed interval training and goal pace (5 Km) running distances, your timed military runs will get better.

• Go swimming: As soon as lockdown is over, in addition to exercising, swimming once every week can have a dramatic impact on the shape and size of most of your muscles.

• Reduce your fats: your muscles may be already there, but they may be hiding behind the fats!! You just need to follow a low-fat diet. Reducing fat will also improve you in long-distance running.

• Avoid weights: If you are training to join the Armed Forces, avoid weights. Do different types of push-ups instead.

• Rest: A good night’s sleep is essential. Meditate twice a day to reduce the sleep requirement of your body. Because you need to study longer hours.

Note:

• OTA Gaya (Established in 2011) in Bihar is the third pre-commission training academy for the Army after OTA Chennai and IMA. The Army Headquarters said it was getting increasingly unviable to run the OTA in Gaya due to fewer cadets. Hence, in Dec 2019 it was decided to shut down Officers' Training Academy at Gaya. 

• After the Kargil conflict, it was anticipated that there would be an increased demand for Army jobs and, hence, the requirement for more infrastructure for training personnel. This clearly did not happen. The number of people who could qualify as officers to join the Army was much less than anticipated. Even OTA Chennai has just been able to fill 50 percent of its seats as the “Short Service Commission did not come across as an attractive option for people willing to join the Army”. Even IMA (capacity of 1,650) Dehradun is training about 300 cadets less than its strength.