Wednesday, December 29, 2010

How lazy are teenagers today?

From NPR
A decade ago, the Army started to notice that new recruits were, in general, getting weaker — their endurance was down, so they were more prone to injury.
"America's Army is very proud of the fact that we reflect our society," says Maj. Gen. Richard Stone, the Army's deputy surgeon general. "But since we reflect our society, we also absorb society's problems."
The Army's problem, Stone and others say, is that most current enlistees grew up on the couch, playing video games, rather than horsing around outside. And public schools have cut gym classes.
"You'd be surprised, the soldiers that we get today," says Frank Palkoska, who directs the Army's fitness school. "They can't do simple motor function movements, like a shoulder roll, the ability to skip — so we've got to lay a base of foundational fitness, without injuring them."
...
Palkoska has completely revamped basic training at all posts, starting with, well, the basics: stretching and holding; mastering simple, precise movements.
Soon, athletic trainers and physical therapists will join these workouts at Fort Leonard Wood to help soldiers avoid injuries and to quickly treat those that occur.
Drill Sgt. Travis Bammer says old-school soldiers initially chafed at the change in training philosophy.

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