Story
by Army Maj. Gustave LaFontaine
After
concluding their season by clinching bowl wins for two years in a row, the
University of Kentucky football team has high ambitions for the 2020 season.
However, there is uncertainty about the future of college football. Will a
season begin on schedule this fall?
University of Kentucky football players take part in team workouts prior to the 2018 season. (Stock photo)Will
players compete in vacant stadiums? Will there even be a college football
season? How does a team or prepare in this moment?
University
of Kentucky head strength coach Mark Hill offered his expectation for the team.
“There’s
always something you can do. Even if you’re stuck in the house for 24 hours
there’s always something you can do.”
He
added, “We’re focused on what you can do as opposed to don’t have and what you
can’t do.”
The Kentucky Army National Guard is in a similar position. The Army Combat Fitness Test becomes the physical fitness test of record beginning in October 2020. Does the state of affairs with regard to COVID-19 change that? According to the incoming state Command Sergeant Major, Sgt. Maj. Jesse Withers, not at all.
“The
Army has suspended the requirements of the ACFT until further notice, but as
Soldiers we must remain disciplined in maintaining our personal physical
fitness standards and be prepared for a test of record later this year.”
Understandably,
some Soldiers will wonder how they will conduct physical training in an environment
where gyms from Boone National Guard Center to their local fitness facility are
closed. Group activities, including Army-sponsored physical training sessions,
are off limits. Kentucky’s football team faces the same facility, equipment,
and gathering limitations. Hill says the key is to create opportunity rather
than create excuses.
"At
the end of the day it’s about accountability, we always talk to our guys about
being accountable. First to themselves and then to their teammates. We talk
about it all the time in this program.”
Hill
has prescribed his players a variety of body weight exercises featuring push-ups,
burpees, bodyweight squats, bodyweight lunges, couch dips, and sprints on the
sidewalk.
Staff
Sgt. Zac Casey, Kentucky Army National Guard ACFT NCO, also suggest bodyweight exercises
as an effective physical fitness tool during this time.
“I am
asked repeatedly during this time about workouts without equipment. I tell
everyone that they are the machine.”
Casey
recently launched an Instagram account on behalf of Kentucky’s Attack Exercise through
Education (AXE) program to educate Soldiers about fitness during a time of stay
at home orders and facility closures.
“As
equipment limitations continue, workouts have to become more creative. The
purpose of this account is to educate Soldiers on how to maintain their fitness
during this time.”
The
Army has also published resources to assist. Specific guidance is included in
several places. A Google search of “ACFT” will lead to the Army’s combat
fitness website. There, Soldiers will find exercises to prepare for the ACFT.
The website features at least one bodyweight exercise for each event. There
will come a time when football will resume. Just as certain is that the ACFT
will be conducted. Withers offered his thoughts on how to deal with the current
conditions in the meantime.
“We
are all dealing with a change to our daily lives. It’s the discipline we
display and the resilience we muster that will help us succeed during this
change. Readiness through physical fitness will help us navigate these changes
in a healthy and productive way.”
You can
follow Kentucky’s AXE program on Instagram at kyarng_axe.