British Army Fitness Exercises

In the British Army, soldiers -- colloquially called squaddies -- are trained by a Physical Training Instructor or PTI for short. Often referred to as club swingers because of the historical use of Indian clubs in military training, PTIs work to get and keep the soldiers fighting fit for deployment in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Cyprus and Africa. While Indian clubs are no longer a regular part of military training, PTIs use a wide range of traditional and improvised exercises to keep their men fit for anything.

  1. Upper Body Exercises

    • Lifting and carrying heavy military equipment requires strong arm, shoulder, chest and back muscles. To develop strength in these muscles, soldiers perform lots of push-ups, pull-ups and dips, as well as traditional strength training exercises such as bench presses and biceps curls. Away from the gym, soldiers maintain their strength by lifting ammo boxes, rocks, logs and any other suitably heavy object.

    Lower Body Exercises

    • Marching and running while carrying heavy essential equipment requires strong legs, especially if you are traversing rough terrain. Not only will strong legs make the load feel lighter, the additional muscle strength and mass will help provide much needed knee and hip stability. Squats, lunges, step-ups and deadlifts are all common exercises used by the British Army to keep their leg muscles strong, and long marches carrying progressively increasing loads are also used to develop lower body strength.

    Core Exercises

    • Core is the collective term used to describe the muscles of your midsection -- rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis and erector spinae. These muscles control and support your spine. Keeping these muscles in good shape can make carrying heavy loads easier and safer, as strong core muscles can help prevent back injury. Crunches, sit-ups, dorsal raises, leg lifts and planks are all low-tech but effective exercises used in the British Army to strength the core muscles.

    Cardio Exercises

    • While strength is important, most military activities and maneuvers require good cardiovascular fitness -- cardio for short. Cardio is all about heart and lung efficiency. Marching, running, cross country skiing and climbing over obstacles all place a large demand on your heart and lungs. Performing these activities will challenge and develop your cardio fitness but, additionally, soldiers also play sports such as rugby and soccer, and perform regular periods of circuit training to get fit and stay fit. Circuit training involves performing a sequence of six or more usually bodyweight exercises back-to-back to improve muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness simultaneously.