Morale During Deployment

Although confined spaces can limit your Щь training options and make you feel less than I enthusiastic to train, you need to remain physically active. Stopping all physical training results in a rapid decline in muscle | strength and endurance, flexibility, and aerobic conditioning (see Chapter 4). One option to boost morale and increase participation in physical training during deployment is to create training competitions. Some ideas include:

♦ Mini-triathlons - Perform any three aerobic exercises back-to-
back for the best time. Honor the winner by engraving his/her
name on a plaque or give him/her a token that is symbolic of the
competition.

♦ Organize team competitions that coincide with major sporting
tournaments, such as the NFL playoffs or the NCAA Final Four
tournament. Assign each crew member to a team and organize
the teams into tournament-style playoffs. Record the time each
team member exercises. The team with the most total exercise
time wins the tournament.

Anyone can organize these types of competitions. Such events make exercising a social and morale boosting activity for all sailors during deployment.

Finally, you may feel that the biggest barrier to working out when deployed is time limitations. In actuality, it requires less time to maintain fitness levels than to increase fitness levels. Though not ideal, you can maintain your fitness level by working at your usual intensity fewer times per week and for shorter durations than what is required to improve your fitness level. A minimum of one strength session, which includes exercises for all the major muscle groups (1 set of 8-12 repetitions), and two 20-minute aerobic sessions, within your target heart rate zone, per week will allow you to maintain your current fitness level. Though this limited amount of training is not ideal for your overall fitness, it is much better than not performing any exercise at all. Remember, detraining occurs rapidly when all training is stopped (see Chapter 4).