Getting Fit with the ROTC

On Tuesday, Forever-Fit had the pleasure of playing host to members of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis branch of the ROTC as a type of fitness wake-up call for the campers. They got to participate in what’s known as “conditioning drill one,” “movement drill one,” and the “cadence run.”

“Conditioning drill and movement drill are our warm-ups—Army regulation PRT (physical readiness training)—by the book,” Staff Sergeant Ryan Beard said.

The first of the exercise drills involved more calisthenics with push-ups and lunges, whereas the second focused on—you guessed it—movement. It involved a variety of running movements, high knees, laterals, and shuttle sprints—a series of three back-and-forth sprints between a given area against an opponent. Afterward, the campers marched straight onto the track where they took part in the cadence run, complete with all of the “left, right, left” and “I don’t know, but I’ve been told” chants until their voices gave out.

Needless to say, in that short 45-minute time period, the campers were definitely drill-drained. However, one more thing resulted from this tough workout: perseverance. In spite of all the difficult workouts of an official ROTC training plan, not one camper gave up—that’s way more determination that I would ever have! Maybe it was the fear of failing in front of ROTC cadets and officials that drove the campers’ persistence, but I’d like to believe that their own wills pushed them through it. We may not have little soldiers in this crowd of campers, but we sure do have some troopers.