Fitness after IOT
There are national/international sportspersons around. I guess they, and any other fitness fanatics from pre IOT, remain pretty fit afterwards too.
Most though I reckon (including me!) sit around in offices or crewrooms drinking too much coffee and drink too much in the bar or down route, buy new bigger blues trousers every few years and find that, when they come to get married or get stitched for some formal duty, their No1s don't fit quite like they did at Cranwell.
The only requirement for physical rather than medical fitness is to pass an annual test. You have to run up and down the gym in time to the music and do some sit-ups and press-ups. The length of the music and the no of 'ups' get smaller with age. When you're really old like me you can ride a bike instead of running. If you're aircrew you have to do some swimming too.
Most though I reckon (including me!) sit around in offices or crewrooms drinking too much coffee and drink too much in the bar or down route, buy new bigger blues trousers every few years and find that, when they come to get married or get stitched for some formal duty, their No1s don't fit quite like they did at Cranwell.
The only requirement for physical rather than medical fitness is to pass an annual test. You have to run up and down the gym in time to the music and do some sit-ups and press-ups. The length of the music and the no of 'ups' get smaller with age. When you're really old like me you can ride a bike instead of running. If you're aircrew you have to do some swimming too.
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I used to hold the privileged position of "Sqn Sports Prevention Officer". If anyone was suspected of considering comitting sports they were rushed to the bar. If they actually comitted sports, we drank on their bar bill until they stopped!
Another Sqn nominated their SSPO as sports rep for a Cyprus detachment. After a week the boss asked why they hadn't been comitting sports. He replied that he had been to the gym and couldn't get any rambling rackets!
Low and none is pretty much it!!!
Another Sqn nominated their SSPO as sports rep for a Cyprus detachment. After a week the boss asked why they hadn't been comitting sports. He replied that he had been to the gym and couldn't get any rambling rackets!
Low and none is pretty much it!!!
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Pretty Good programme wetman, very very recommended.
Everyone else is right too though, the older you get, the better your excuses for avoiding strenuous activities.....
"No Corporal PTI, I am excused the Bleep test, because I outrank you"
(Last best move)
Pretty Good programme wetman, very very recommended.
Everyone else is right too though, the older you get, the better your excuses for avoiding strenuous activities.....
"No Corporal PTI, I am excused the Bleep test, because I outrank you"
(Last best move)
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aircrew and swimming
just saw that someone had mentioned about aircrew swimming. ive seen on an raf recruiting website that aircrew must pass a swimming test. has this always been the case? i must admit that ive met aircrew who cant swim, if aircrew join up and arent able to swim are they chopped or given swimming lessons?
Swimming
I remember having to do a swimming test during IOT. Then for many years nothing, but recently they've got all keen again and we have to do it annually although they were trying to get us to do it every dinghy drill (6 monthly).
Its 3 lengths then 3(?) mins treading water then some buddy buddy survival towing and lifting out of the pool.
So what's it for? Well we had a big push to get it binned. After all, what good will it be in the middle of the North Sea? Apparently its so that you can swim to the multi seat dinghy that's dropped nearby. The mad thing is they try to get you to do a recognisable stroke and sometimes it has to be on your front - have they evr tried tried swimming front crawl in a mae west!
Its 3 lengths then 3(?) mins treading water then some buddy buddy survival towing and lifting out of the pool.
So what's it for? Well we had a big push to get it binned. After all, what good will it be in the middle of the North Sea? Apparently its so that you can swim to the multi seat dinghy that's dropped nearby. The mad thing is they try to get you to do a recognisable stroke and sometimes it has to be on your front - have they evr tried tried swimming front crawl in a mae west!
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Can remember that swimming test thing, it was a pathetically short distance though, so short that I couldn't really swim and just thrashed around but passed, 25 yards indeed, most people go further than that drowning...
As for maintaining your fitness, it is important, but you have to remember as military aircrew you are a coiled spring ready to go and defend the homeland from marauding invaders. So unfortunately it's illegal under AF law to waste energy turning beer into sweat (except in a curry house)
As for maintaining your fitness, it is important, but you have to remember as military aircrew you are a coiled spring ready to go and defend the homeland from marauding invaders. So unfortunately it's illegal under AF law to waste energy turning beer into sweat (except in a curry house)
The so-called swimming test is another pointless invention of the Hitlerjugend of the jockstrapping branch. It is, of course, utter bollocks.
They are obviously desperate to cling on to their empire. How is it that everything else has been cut back and pruned, that you can't even have real white A4 paper but there is a seemingly limitless budget for jockstrappers' torture apparatus?
Bring back the civilsation of the 1970s. Did we really have aircrew falling over dead in those days because they weren't fit enough to do their primary job? Did we hell! And everyone was so much less stressed out....
They are obviously desperate to cling on to their empire. How is it that everything else has been cut back and pruned, that you can't even have real white A4 paper but there is a seemingly limitless budget for jockstrappers' torture apparatus?
Bring back the civilsation of the 1970s. Did we really have aircrew falling over dead in those days because they weren't fit enough to do their primary job? Did we hell! And everyone was so much less stressed out....
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Having been through Cranwell recently, you'll find that they now place a large emphasis on self motivation blah blah blah. At the end of the day, this ethos extends because, in theory, you could be called to perform a task for the good of the country in any situation. I suppose fitness could be paramount. That doesn't mean you have to be able to run a marathon but you'd look a right tit in front of your men if you had to catch your breath walking up stairs. But then you could just be aircrew and get through the 'test' once a year......
