Improving Running Skill in the Army

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Improving running skill in the Army is an important initiative. At any given day, there are approximately 46,000 soldiers training to become a member of the U.S. Army. The Army continues to adapt and innovate, protecting the health and safety of its people while maintaining the readiness of the force.

The physical readiness domain focuses on a particular goal called “movement lethality,” which is the ability to destroy the enemy on the battlefield and successfully return home. Movement lethality is an essential skill for every Soldier to have, regardless of their specific military occupational specialty, as every Soldier has the potential to be deployed.

…we had a myriad of soldiers who were plagued with lower extremity overuse injuries. What are we doing that’s causing this to happen? I realized that if the way we do aerobic fitness in the military is running, then we need to know how to do it right.

– LTC Angela Diebal-Lee

THE HISTORY

Running has always been part of military training. It is an essential activity that is part of virtually everything else soldiers must do on regular basis. And it's been known for years, that as an activity, running is also the most dangerous athletic movement solely due to the amount of injuries that soldiers sustain. More than 2 out of 3 injured soldiers face injuries from running. However, running itself is not the issue.

THE PROBLEM

Soldiers are trained and taught how to do virtually every task, however, running, the activity directly responsible for an overwhelming majority of all military related musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries, is not taught as a skill.

THE SOLUTION

Health and Holistic Fitness, or H2F is a big initiative by the Army to revamp training protocols. One of the major updates in the new doctrine is the addition of Running Skill (Pose Method) in FM 7-22 (Chapter 7).

Running Skill training is now available on demand, forcewide,  through the Army IgnitED program. Individual Soldiers can watch Pose Method running skill training videos online, and take an exam to become a certified instructor (technical certification, promotion points).

Questions? Contact us for assistance.

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