The Situation: practical PT

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Brent Warren
  • 436th Aerial Port Squadron
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Every day, Team Dover members encounter and overcome situations that test their experience and skill. In "The Situation", service members share their advice on how to face these challenges head-on, and overcome them.

The Situation:
All Air Force members can relate to the need to maintain their physical fitness. Many squadrons are afforded time during the duty day to ensure they meet physical fitness standards. Well, personnel working in the 436th Aerial Port Squadron do not have that luxury. Coming in late three days per week or getting off work early in order to maintain our fitness does not work with our schedule. The main reason for this is because the mission here at the 'Super Port' never stops. We have cargo and passengers transiting our squadron 24 hours a day, seven days per week, 365 days per year. The men and women here work long hours - mostly 12 hour shifts with two days off per week. This leaves little time to get your workouts in, and even less time when you do not feel completely exhausted. Failing a physical training test is not an option, so here are a few ways to maintain your fitness while you are at work.

The Solution:
When you are at work, why not work on your muscular fitness? When you arrive at work, get down and do some push-ups and sit-ups. Before you leave for lunch, or at the end of the day, do some more. If you are behind a computer for a good part of your day, set a calendar reminder to do push-ups and sit-ups every hour. You will be amazed by the results you will start to see in how many you will be able to do. There is a good chance that your peers will see you doing this day after day, and might follow your lead. If we can help even one Airman struggling with fitness to pass their PT test, we have accomplished something. We just need to ensure we get our personnel in the mindset that we aren't exercising simply to pass the Air Force PT test - we are exercising to improve and extend quality of life.

- Master Sgt. Brent R. Warren, superintendent of air terminal operations with the 436th APS