Fit.

This is coolbert:

Since the mid-1950's, it has been realized that American youth, when compared to the youth of foreign nations, are woefully out-of-physical-condition and "out-of-shape".

This realization came about as the result of a study conducted by the fitness guru Bonnie Prudden. Administering a series of six simple tests called the Kraus-Weber tests [six tests that take about 90 seconds to administer!!] for physical strength and flexibility, it was found that about 60 % of American youth [58 %] could NOT perform to standard. This was a very poor result when compared to the number of European youth [8 %] that failed, or even the number of Guatemalan youth [21 %] that failed!!

"In the 1950's, Bonnie Prudden presented a report to President Eisenhower
on the "unfitness" of youth in the US. Ms. Prudden used a simple set of
exercises, the Kraus-Weber Test for Minimum Fitness of Key Postural Muscles,
to test the fitness of school children in the US and in several countries
in Europeand Latin America.

Her testing found that children in the US were the least fit
in any of the countries where testing was done."

American youth were physically unfit, and shockingly so!!

"Prudden's test results revealed that 58% of American children were unfit and scored worse than the children of underdeveloped nations."

[this came as a real wake-up to the American public. Americans LIKE to think of themselves as athletic, vigorous, and sports minded. Well, they are sports minded, that is for sure. But not as PARTICIPANTS. Rather as VIEWERS!!]

Such a realization had enormous military implications. The military services would have to spend inordinate time bringing trainees to an acceptable standard of physical fitness. A standard of fitness necessary for ground troops especially to fight successfully in combat!! We are not even talking here about achieving a HIGH level of fitness, we are talking about reaching just an ACCEPTABLE level of fitness.

To address this problem, President Eisenhower established the President's Commission on Physical Fitness and Sports. This commission had the task of formulating programs to tackle the problem of physical UNFITNESS. Encourage physical exercise as part of the educational process. Sound mind AND sound body!!

[remember my many previous blogs concerning President Eisenhower and how he is considered to be the one President who BEST understood military strength. Military strength of a nation is related to the OVERALL strength of a nation. Physical fitness of a nation's youth is obviously part of overall strength! If your youth is not physically fit, they cannot perform military duties to even a minimum standard, much less to a HIGH standard!!]

A system for testing the physical fitness of American youth was also initiated. Periodically, a series of five tests would be administered to school age youth to evaluate physical fitness and how phys ed programs were working OR NOT working.

These test included:

40 yard dash.

Standing long jump.

Pullups.

Pushups.

Softball throw.

[I myself participated in these tests during my grammar school years in the 1950's. My recollection is that there were two distinct groups of participants. One group, small, was of students that WERE NATURALLY ATHLETIC. These kids did very well on the tests. The other group of students, much larger in number, normally did NOT DO very well on the tests. The two most difficult "events" as I recall, were the pullups and the pushups. Most kids could NOT even do one pullup and do very few pushups. In my experience you HAVE TO work on those two "events"!!]

With regard to one specific "event, the standing long jump, I find this most interesting!!

Here is what Suvorov says about the standing long jump and it's role in evaluating the physical fitness of the Spetsnaz [special purpose] soldier:

"The long jump with no run has been undeservedly forgotten and is no longer included in the program of official competitions. When it was included in the Olympic Games the record set in 1906 was 3 meters 33 centimeters. As a athletic skill the long jump without a run is the most reliable indication of the strength of a person's legs. And the strength of his legs is a reliable indicator of the whole physical condition of a soldier. Practically half a person's muscles are to be found in his legs. Spetsnaz devotes colossal attention to developing the legs of it's men, using many simple but very effective exercises . . . and of course the jump from a spot [standing long jump]."

"At the end of the 1970's the spetsnaz record in this exercise, which has not been recognized by the official sports authority, was 3 meters, 51 centimeters."

Today, tests are still administered to school age kids in America. Slightly modified from my day, these tests consist of:

"In 1976, National norms were published for these tests

1. pull up (boys) or flexed arm hang (girls)
2. sit-ups (60 second)
3. shuttle run
4. standing long jump
5. 50-yard dash
6. 600-yd run


Revised in 1975 for safety reasons
straight leg sit ups changed to bent leg sit ups
softball throw dropped."

Sady enough, even after DECADES of effort and stressing the need for physical fitness among American youth, results have NOT gotten better, they have gotten worse!!

"Elementary students
1950's - Failure Rate = 54%
1987 - Failure Rate = 85%
75% of all 13 year old boys can not touch the floor.
Only 15% of European 13 year old boys can not touch the floor."

Damn!!

What reasons are normally given for this lack of success in the area of physical fitness? The prevalence of the automobile and the "couch potato" syndrome from too much TV and video games is the normal response.

Do I have better answers to this problem?? NO!! The problem seems to be intractable!! Maybe we need a "race" of very strong human-gorilla crosses??!!

[with regard to the pullup problem, here is an observation I made during Army basic training in the mid-1960's. There was a distinct group of folks, that even when trained, could not do the horizontal ladder test during the Army Physical Training Test. They would hang from the first rung of the horizontal ladder until their arms tired and then fall to the ground. THEY COULD DO ONLY ONE RUNG OF THE LADDER AND THAT WAS THAT!! For some reason, arm strength in that regard needs to be worked on in an instense manner!!]

Being the "expert" that I am, please let me comment on the photo that accompanies this blog entry. Those two kids on the horizontal ladder are not doing the event CORRECTLY. Their legs should be locked together, knees bent, and the arms also slightly bent at the elbows. Easier to do that way. Take it from a "pro". A little bit of coaching can GO A LONG WAY TO IMPROVEMENT!!

coolbert.