A “one-stop fitness spot” within the 14 Wing Greenwood Fitness and Sports Centre is tailored for the tactical athlete.
The new functional training area combines space and equipment for power lifting, free weights, machines, cross training, pull-ups, full-body squats – “the intention is, this can be for anything,” says Sergeant Jonathan Boucher Kovacs.
“This is a functional area to build fitness. There’s multiple machines together – a rower, a squat rack, weights. You couldn’t do all of that before in one area. There are more possibilities – use your creativity. Instead of getting on a single modality machine, figure it out – what do you want to do?
“Functional exercise is using the full range of mobility of the body, while increasing full mobility. Using one machine to isolate a muscle can grow it but you may not be able to use that muscle to do a pull-up: that’s functional training. That’s a tactical athlete.”
Boucher Kovacs is a search and rescue technician, and functional training is core to much of his own physical work. He worked with the 14 Wing Personnel Support Program staff at the Fitness & Sports Centre to plan for the re-created workout space, knowing a number of in-unit gyms around the wing already have functional training spaces and equipment. Functional training space hasn’t been available at the base’s main gym for military members, or their family or community members.
“We started planning for this in January,” says Fitness and Sports manager Matt Gillis. “It was tough to shop for all the new equipment, it all moved in here on six or seven pallets, and then we spent three days figuring it out. We had planned a rough layout, we modified it a bit, and it’s now turned out how we envisioned it.”
The F&S Centre closed for several days to make the move, shifting cardio equipment from the main floor to more open spaces along the upper walking/ running track, and even sending three of five old single squat racks out to unit-level gyms. The new equipment includes a six-station rig, adding an extra squat rack capability, and a number of attachments and supporting gear to enable more integrated workouts within metres.
“We could start posting a workout-of-the-day, and we’re working with Wing imaging to do a video walk-through of the functional space, and the other gym spaces, including the powerlifting room, available cardio equipment and more,” says Gillis. “We can show people what we have here for each type of person’s personal workout preferences.
“We’ve already been busy in the space – you can spread out, bring your equipment over and have your own space.”
14 Wing Greenwood’s Fitness and Sports Centre has put its energy in recent weeks into the creation of a new workout space on the main floor: a functional training area, with a slate of specialized equipment, designed for the tactical athlete – or those looking to create their own workout. From left are F&S Centre staff Jonah Feil, Kyle Wolfer, Tanya Brooks, Matt Gillis, Mackenzie Beattie; and volunteer Sergeant Jonathan Boucher Kovacs.
