Photo By Cpl. Joseph Karwick | Sgt. Christopher Flores, Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 engineers platoon sergeant,...... read more read more
Subscribe
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan – With the implementation of new programs from the 21st Century Sailor Marine initiative at all Navy and Marine Corps installations, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni is one of the first stations to have the Marine Corps Aquatics Cadence and Reconditioning Program Training.
Several officers, staff noncommissioned officer and noncommissioned officers volunteered to test the training at the IronWorks Gym pool here Sept. 6, 2012.
The Aquatics Cadence Program allows injured Marines and sailors who are not currently capable of performing on-land physical training with a means to remain physically fit.
“We have a severe problem with Marines on temporary profile types where they cannot run on land or do land -based activity,” said Dr. Mary Wykle, Marine Corps Community Services division contractor, specialized aquatic program development . “So this is a means for them to stay active, keep their fitness level up and also to cross train so that we do not have the injuries we are seeing occurring from too much land activity.”
Aquatic training has many positive ways to assist those with injuries and on the road to recovery, whether those injuries are small or extensive.
“We’re working with them to run in the deep end,” said Wykle. “We are keeping the participants vertical rather than horizontal. If they have had an injury or swelling, being vertical in the water allows the hydrostatic pressure in the water to help reduce the swelling. It is also going to improve their respiratory breathing capacity because of the pressure of the water against their chest. Therefore, their heart rate is going to go down in the water from what it is on land, but it’s actually pumping harder than what it is on land.”
The training, originally introduced to the Marine Corps in September 2011, gets its roots from Olympic marathoners, who found it increased performance and endurance for land-based physical fitness as well.
“A team of doctors developed this program for Olympic Marathoners,” said Wykle. “They were seeing so many lower extremity injuries. This way, while they were healing, they did not lose any training time. They were working out just as hard in the water. Running, using this program and what they found was that many came out and ran the fastest times that they had ever run.”
Not all participants believed in the program’s effectiveness. Nor did they view aquatics training to be an effective alternative to land physical training.
“I was skeptical about it,” said Staff Sgt. Roman Barabash, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12 ground support systems mechanic. “When you think about exercising in a pool, you kind of think about retirement homes and stuff like that. This has definitely been intense and changed my views completely. I plan to implement this in my shop. I think the Marines will really enjoy it.”
This program is not limited to the injured alone. According to Wykle, anyone can do it, and it is very beneficial because an individual who is less fit can be put with a group who may be more physically fit and each is getting a full workout, with max effort at his or her own pace .
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.27.2012 23:31 |
| Story ID: | 95419 |
| Location: | AICHI, JP |
| Web Views: | 107 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Aquatics: injury recovery, intense conditioning, by Cpl Joseph Karwick, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
