The buzz of personal goals, exercise incentives – and a little bit of competition – is in the air at 14 Air Maintenance Squadron, as the Stingers are tackling a 12-week fitness challenge.
Master Corporal Donovan McNeil has walked the squadron’s works spaces, offices and lunchrooms to encourage wider participation – and that’s the end goal.
“I’ve always liked fitness and exercising but, other people? It’s not an interest, it’s hard, there’s an injury…,” McNeil says. “In day to day life, you just feel better. We did a competition last summer – weight loss, a five-kilometre run, powerlifting…. You could do all of them or pick one, but someone already in shape would win. This is more goal-based, to incentivize people to join in.”
Canadian Armed Forces members must meet the annual FORCE fitness evaluation: 14 AMS sets twice-a-week fitness timings for members they can join either as the group or individually, and everyone has another three hours allocated they can use to schedule in more exercise.
Tommy Daniels is the 14 Wing Personnel Support Program’s fitness coordinator. He says, while that FORCE test is the military fitness benchmark, there are people who will sail through the tasks, others who will struggle, and a much larger group in the middle. McNeil and Daniels, with the fitness and sports instructors, took a whole list of potential goals and whittled this iteration of the challenge down to a handful: pull-ups – getting one, or maxing out; running – putting in a 5K personal best, or getting from couch-to-5K by May; vertical jumps, bench press and squat weights.
“Fit people could pick one and make it a challenge, and others could pick ones to get back in to something, or get started – and it’s not intimidating,” Daniels says.
The PSP team has tied 14 AMS’s challenge into the Hexfit personal training app. 14 AMS members can follow a program, add in their scheduled and extra workouts, and mark any goals achieved. Daniels says building that habit in the app is a plus in itself.
“The unit has set its challenge incentive as a short day if members complete their goal, but if you complete workouts in the app, you’ll also be recognized for your effort and improving your health markers. There can be positive outcomes even if you don’t reach a goal.”
With the February 1 start, 14 AMS is also bringing in 14 Wing’s Health Promotion staff to provide additional resources, including briefings on mental health, the benefits of exercise and more. Word has spread, and there are also personnel following along from 26 Canadian Forces Health Services and Deputy Wing Command Branch. Daniels is hoping PSP can both show wing personnel how accessible fitness staff and supporting resources are, and potentially take the challenge’s best components and make it a regular, wing-wide offering.
McNeil, aiming to regain a 20-count pull-up run after a back injury, is hoping squadron peers will take what they want from the challenge: the competition, shared unit morale, exercise with a friend – and fun.
