It’s Tuesday, and we’re putting the finishing touches on our new product – Micro-Workouts™ for our golfers who don’t have the time or inclination to train for longer than 20 minutes. You can CLICK HERE to add yourself to the waiting list.
We’re pretty friggin’ excited about it because it bridges the 7-ish minute Daily Motion with our “full-blown” workouts that take 45-60 minutes. The thought is that the Micro Workouts™ will get more golfers moving, then they’ll get so addicted they can’t wait to graduate to the longer sessions where they’ll see even more dramatic results.
But more on that later.
Today, I read something interesting…the US Army has replaced it’s fitness test. And why not? The same standards have been in place since 1980, or since the “Miracle On Ice.”
When I first read the headline, I thought to myself, “Here we go. They’re dumbing down the standards so those folks who can’t pass a physical test and feel like they are being fat-shamed, fitness-shamed, or whatever PC nonsense is the word of the day can pass the test.”
You know. The wussification of the world.
Man, I was wrong. The new test isn’t exactly an IronMan, but it’s quite a bit more challenging.
For the last 40+ years, the test was the ability to do:
- 2 minutes of sit-ups
- 2 minutes of push-ups
- 2-mile run
Now, you have to perform the following six exercises over 2 hours:
- Deadlift 140lbs at least three times
- Throw a 10lb medicine ball overhead and backward at least 15ft
- At least 10 push-ups in two minutes
- Sprint-Drag-Carry: Five 50-meter shuttles doing a sprint, sled drag, lateral run, medicine ball carry, and a second sprint in less than three minutes
- Complete one leg tuck or a 2-minute plank
- 2 mile run in less than 21 minutes
Like I said, not an IronMan, but most of the golfers I know couldn’t do the above with zero notice or zero training.
Of course, the Army is training soldiers for modern warfare, but check out Colonel Kevin Bigelman’s (the holistic health and fitness director at the U.S. Army Center for Military Training) response to why they changed the standards…
“There are other key physical assets that soldiers need to have for success in combat: strength, coordination, agility, and balance are all critical.”
Sound familiar? Is he training golfers or soldiers?
I bring it up because the government tends to lag behind in many, many areas. Clearly, physical standards for our soldiers was one of them.
If the government has finally figured out the importance of strength, balance, etc., then us civilian golfers have no excuse to not take advantage of the same. And put our golf buddies in their place.
Your #1 Fan,
Jeff Pelizzaro
PS – If you’re unsure if you’d could pass the Army’s fitness test, then I would definitely check out the 18STRONG App.
The training programs are, of course, not specifically designed for those six exercises, but you’d knock the test out the park because of your general strength and stamina.
Imagine completing that test in 4, 6 or 8 weeks, AND exponentially improving your golf…now we’re cooking with gasoline.
Here’s the link to check out the App: https://www.go18strong.com/app-test-drive