CATC hosts fitness course in GTA for Soldiers in Europe

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — Thirty seven Soldiers completed the Master Fitness Trainer Course, September 15, 2016, here.

The Combined Arms Training Center, the education directorate of the 7th Army Training Command, hosted the two-week course in Grafenwoehr Training Area which brought a Mobile Training Team (MTT) from the United States Army Physical Fitness School, based in Fort Jackson, SC.

During the MFT course, the Soldiers learned principles of exercise science, physical fitness assessment, exercise training principles, exercise leadership, and development of individual and unit physical readiness programs based on current Army doctrine and regulations.

“We teach how to access someone’s movement patterns, identify what they are doing wrong and fix it,” said Sgt. 1st Class Leila Cowhig, MFTC instructor.

In addition to learning how to properly perform all tasks from Field Manual 7-22, these Soldiers also cover other exercises that can be implemented into their unit’s fitness programs.

Cowhig explained that this is important because understanding the mechanics behind what we do will help avoid injuries and enhance performance.

As Sgt. Burnell Stewart and Staff Sgt. Regan Davis complete their training tasks for the morning, which included the bench press, rope climb, squats and other exercises, they reflect on the material they had learned so far.

“Coming to this course I thought we would only be covering Physical Readiness Training (PRT), however, this was not the case,” said Stewart. “This course will help me better myself and my unit.”

Davis was excite to learn more about nutrition and refueling the body, explaining, “These are things that we don’t normally think about but are important for recovery.”

Davis also said, “I thought I was coming here to learn about PRT and incorporating it into the unit. I also learning about doing more strength exercises, which should be the ultimate goal of the unit instead of just training to pass your PT test.”

“When these new Master Fitness Trainers go back to their units, they have to have the passion for fitness and the passion to make your unit better. We can give you all the knowledge you want, but if you don’t have the passion, if you don’t live the lifestyle and look the part then that knowledge will fall on deaf ears,” said Staff Sgt. William Webb, master fitness trainer course instructor.

For more information on the Combined Arms Training Center visit: http://www.eur.army.mil/7atc/CATC.html

Related Links:

U.S. Army Europe

Combined Arms Training Center

7th Army Training Command

U.S. Army Physical Fitness School