RAF Fitness Test - Soon to be twice a year!

[Al R]

His RO said " Yes, I know, so I can rely on you to be here on Monday morning to complete the FlyPro without a broken leg, twisted ankle or dislocated shoulder" Fit for the job - nuff said!

.. because his RO was happy to endorse like minded people and didn't understand the difference between reflection and observation? Because (and whilst we're at it) he was unable to understand the differences between medical and physical fitness? Because, as you admit, that was in 'the early days'? Then I suppose, all we did was baton down the hatches at Wildenrath and wait.. and I'm sure too, that deep down you can see that fitness plays a part in how effectively one carries out one's job.

[Finger Poking]

Utter SH*T

Questions.... ANSWER at the end:-

Will Pers Admin staff cock less pay up because they did circuits at dinner?

Will a Sootie diagnose an engine fault quicker because he was up at 7 running?

Will a Dog F**ker Change a battery quicker thanks to hours on the rowing machine?

Will a Chef make a tastier Cottage Pie because he has was playing 5 a Side last night?

The answer to all these..... is NO.

It is nothing short of performance indicators, forcing more staff to be absent from the coal face for longer periods at a time when we are over stretched and under manned / funded.

Those who claim that we should do EXTRA Phys outside of working hours, what tripe you rattle. Would a postman or Milkman deliver outside of what they are paid to do? No. If we are to be fitter, the time must be allowing but that time is something most are very short of.

The current levels are adequate and personnel do not routinely have to be sent home from Theatre due to bad health/fitness or lack of prior training.

This is nothing short of an increase in burden, without substantial reason, which will cause a detrimental disruption to the working environment.

Thats before I get on to the fact that the fitness levels are not only SEXIST but AGEIST.

[Al R]

outside of working hours,

Let me put the same questions to you then..

Will Pers Admin staff cock less pay up because they did day release at the local college?

Will a Sootie diagnose an engine fault quicker because he was away for 2 weeks at OU summer school?

Will a Dog F**ker Change a battery quicker thanks to hours on the internet researching for GCSEs?

Will a Chef make a tastier Cottage Pie because he has was spending time away with his Training and Development Co Ordinator?

The answer to all these..... is << insert your answer here>>.

.. the fitness levels are not only SEXIST but AGEIST.

Perhaps we could enlist airmen with the sole purpose of carrying heavy kit for old people? 'Jenkins, Look! Over there.. there's a suicide bomber!! Quickly dammit, sprint over to that sanger, select single shot and pop a few rounds at him for me would you, I'm too old to do it myself and I'm feeling a bit pooped (Now than, wheres my pay cheque gone..?)'.

[SRENNAPS]

Al R

Contrary to a modern belief by young people today, you will also get old one day despite a healthy style and the amount of fitness training you do. Also as you get older and wiser you learn to have a more balanced approach to life. You learn not to react to paranoia in the same way. I do hope you acquire these qualities one day. Otherwise the young lads and lasses that look up to you will be in big trouble.

Oh and by the way, I know plenty of “'Jenkins” that have seen your type in to the ground.

And finally what other contributions have you given to the armed forces. Are you part of the community, do you mix with your troops, do you participate in “TEAM” sports and socialise with fellow members when the occasion arises. I would be surprised if you truly did?

[Maple 01]

Um......the RAF paid for most of my OU degree soz I woz mor edumakted an a beta ana....anna....anly....thinker.

Better training return than star jumps!

[Al R]

Al R

Contrary to a modern belief by young people today, you will also get old one day despite a healthy style and the amount of fitness training you do. Also as you get older and wiser you learn to have a more balanced approach to life. You learn not to react to paranoia in the same way. I do hope you acquire these qualities one day. Otherwise the young lads and lasses that look up to you will be in big trouble.

Oh and by the way, I know plenty of “'Jenkins” that have seen your type in to the ground.

And finally what other contributions have you given to the armed forces. Are you part of the community, do you mix with your troops, do you participate in “TEAM” sports and socialise with fellow members when the occasion arises. I would be surprised if you truly did?

I don't know quite what to say to that.. I would say though, never ask a question (especially on a messageboard) that you don't know the answer to.

[Al R]

Maple 01 said;

Um......the RAF paid for most of my OU degree soz I woz mor edumakted an a beta ana....anna....anly....thinker. Better training return than star jumps!

So, you don't mind the principle of spending time away from work? Which is unfortunate, because you seem to have based most of your lambasting of the fizz test on it.

Maple 01 also once said;

When is the manpower going to be upped to allow for all this "essential phys?" never, because its not that important - manning figures take into account only minimum manning levels, no slack for sports nuts. - why should the rest of an over worked shift cover your desire to play sport or hang out down the gym with like-minded chaps?

Maple 01 could just have easily said;

When is the manpower going to be upped to allow for all this "essential education?" never, because its not that important - manning figures take into account only minimum manning levels, no slack for academic nuts. - why should the rest of an over worked shift cover your desire to educate yourself or hang out down the university library with like-minded chaps?

.. but somehow, I doubt it.

[SRENNAPS]

AL R,

Sorry to be so abusive (and yes Heliport I am am in a bad mood tonight because of the performance of the welsh team) but AL R... you are a sad man.

Did you watch any rugby or any other sport today or have you just monitored prune all day (20 posts since 0015 hrs last night is not good for your health you know!!)

[Al R]

I'm not sure what the form is here but I won't be responding to that, other than to say I've been working in the garden all day and the computer is by my French windows. I hope that meets with your approval.

[Maple 01]

So, you don't mind the principle of spending time away from work? Which is unfortunate, because you seem to have based most of your lambasting of the fizz test on it.

I dun it ol in me own tim m8, woz to buzy wokin knights 'n stuf - so u iz rong agn

u aint "Penguin Sucks" from the other place are you?

[toddbabe]

This fit for task or fit for job, excuse that people keep spewing out is tiresome!
What trades in the RAF apart from the obvious rock apes and Pti's actually require you to be particularly fit? Does a stacker need to be fitter than a Pers admin? does a Pilot need to be fitter than a techie?
The answer is No almost all the jobs in the service could be completed by either fatties or fitties and in fact are! I have seen a few fat rocks and pti's as well by the way!
So just because you can complete an OOA tour and still be sixteen stone doesen't mean it's Ok and that your are "fit for task"
There is no way currently of testing differently for different trades and therefore we all have to pass the same test.
The powers that be have quite rightly decided through evidence that the Service (and society) is generally an unfit one and that personnel as well as the Service would greatly benefit from being fitter.
It is upto the Service now to implement the changes to achieve this and with the introduction of PTL's, compulsary PT and higher level, more frequent testing they have already started.

[SRENNAPS]

AL R

That certainly meets with my approval. I love my garden and work bloody hard in it (beats the gym any day and I get to look at a lot of decent birds).

toddbabe

So you would like to turn the entire air force into brainless robocops.
The "powers that be" are generally a lot more un-fitter than their troops. (and that includes society)

Their aim is to save money and be politically correct.

But I am sure they can rely on people like you to put the message forward.

[Maple 01]

So by your own admition the RAFFT is not about being fit to do your job, so therefore, logically, it's an irrelevance to the RAFs sole purpose for existence - the provision of airpower (AP3000 refers - copies of which are unlikely to be found in the gym)

The powers that be have quite rightly decided through evidence that the Service (and society) is generally an unfit one and that personnel as well as the Service would greatly benefit from being fitter.

Hmmm compulsory irrelevant to task social engineering - goodo, seem to remember the last chap to try that was an Austrian Painter

[Al R]

I dun it ol in me own tim m8, woz to buzy wokin knights 'n stuf - so u iz rong agn

u aint "Penguin Sucks" from the other place are you?

Ok, you can calm down on the juvenile prose now. Its hard enough for the best writers to do it, and you don't want to over egg the pudding. Less is more.

Well done though, for getting an OU degree, and if you managed to do it without impacting at all on the rest of your section, especially well done! I won't ask why an OU degree is needed to deliver 20 minute pre deployment briefs or to put bodge tape on maps mind, and we'll have to agree to dissagree on the need to have a fit military.

Cheers. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

SRENNAPS,

Don't tell anyone, but I camp out in it on occasion.. . My garden is the old village veggie allotment, and 20 years on, the ground is still settling. It does mean that I can't get that smart ATCO stripe finish with a cylinder mower, but to make up for it, I have managed to paint some edging boulders white.

[toddbabe]

Why are you people burying your heads in the sand? "Turning people into robots" aircrew are tested all the time, ground checks, standards unit checks, Sqn training checks, Flight checks, sim checks, medical checks etc etc, you name it Aircrew do it, yet as soon as you mention fitness checks!!!!
It is a Scientifically proven FACT that the fitter you are the better you will perform both physically and mentally, you WILL be ill less and WILLl be less of a burden to your bosses, the benefits of being fit and healthy are enormous to yourself and your workplace.
People don't like doing it cos it requires a bit of hard work!
Boo fecking hoo.

[SRENNAPS]

Toddbabe

Do me a favour please could you show me these “Scientifically proven FACTs”.


Please provide some websites or even some books which show some real statistics and not BBC and Sun headline news.

[Al R]

Theres 11,600,000 hits on 'benefits of being fit'. Take your pick?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...being+fit&meta=

[rafmatt]

get a grip

I can't belive what i am reading on some of these posts.
people actually moaning about being fit.

To be honest im not the most athletic of people but i still pass my fitness test and to be honest it is not hard! It is the basic level of fitness that is required of you.

Yeah you may not be a rock or pti and may spend most of your career flying a desk or stacking shelves or filling out admin in a office. BUT that does not mean that you may not be posted to iraq or afgan on other duties that require a bit of basic fitness.

At the end of the day it boils down to one thing being too lazy to put the effort in. And dont use age or sex as an excuse it is not that harder of a test. your to bloody lazy to do it and prepare yourselfs for it.

im sure if you have got time to be posting on pprune you have time to do a bit of fitness now and then!

The last i looked and im sure many people on here are you are in the MILITARY start acting like you are you bunch of pansies!

[insty66]

I shouldn't do this

If we require someone to fly aircraft.........we train them
If we require someone to mend aircraft ....we train them
If we require someone to supply us..........we train them
If we require somone to feed us...............we train them( honestly)
etc etc etc...........
Yet if we require people to reach a certain level of fitness..
I'm not arguing the benefits of being fit or slim (think of the savings in uniform material) but if it is a requirement of the job then shouldn't we be given proper training from qualified individuals? (not sqn jockstraps after a high profile additional duty).
I understand the need but don't understand why the service is reluctant to provide the training that will help us all achieve what it wants from us.

[blogger]

The fittness test is a joke, run up and down, 8 press ups 24 sit ups to be done once a year.

I have not done it for years and years does it affect my job?.........no...... does it effect my F6000........no....... Do the Gym staff chase you to do it?.......no.......does my boss?.......no.......does JPA tell me to do it?........no.........does JPA know I have not done it?............no........Does anyone really care?..........no.......

Will I be doing it?............no.......... BECAUSE IT'S A PATHETIC LITTLE TEST AND NO ONE CARES.

Have I been to the gym in the last 5 years..........no...... you do not require to go to a gym to be fit. Walk the dog, dig the garden, keep active, watch what I eat and dont smoke.

Do I chase the troops to do it........no.......rather they got on with their day job first.

RAF FITNESS TEST A PATHETIC LITTLE TEST AND NO ONE CARES.