The Grip Strength Superthread- Read Here First

[Magravan]

The individual standing beside you -has- passed the tests. I hate to say it, but by your logic, you do not want to serve with women, because they are not held to the same physical standard as the men on these initial tests. When they get rid of the fitness test at the end, then you will have grounds to be worried about the quality of the soldier beside you.

The new system is -very- simple. You are a piece of clay. You may be a pudgy, out of shape clay, you may have other factors that don't necessarily make you an ideal candidate, such as a superior attitude, or a tendency to put your foot in your mouth. In the end, you -ARE- going to be shaped into a soldier, or you're going to get recoursed. You aren't in shape? You will be made to fit the mold.

It just means that they'll consider shaping clay that they might not have considered before, and taking the extra effort to shape the more difficult recruits instead of throwing them aside with the mentally questionable and the morally bankrupt...

Anyone who joins for the Remedial Fitness Platoon without intention of getting into fighting shape is going to earn that money with blood and tears.

 

[Samsquanch]

Not serve with women who said that... Thank you for putting words in my mouth. I guess by reading my profile it entitles you to make assumptions about my opinions. "By your logic"??? What the...
Some of the of the most fit and truly strong people I know are women (family with policewomen). I'm talking about showing respect for yourself & whatever you are doing. Maybe people should quit posting so much on Army.ca and go for a freaking run/workout and by BMQ the average person can be somewhat of a molded piece of clay as you put it.
I'm confident however the training is sure to be adequate and nobody will ever be sent into the field in less than 110% ready. In that aspect I am wrong. Maybe the post was a little hasty but at least it isn't pulling assumptions from out in left field.

 

[Magravan]

In a bad situation I'd much rather be with a group of guys who had to pass a harder fitness screening.

Based on your profile? No. I based my comment entirely on your comment, which makes more sense in my mind. If you'd like, I can also send you a link that describes the lesser degree of fitness required in the initial fitness testing for both women and men of older age. You put your foot in your mouth, I just opted to point it out to you.

 

[Samsquanch]

You can go in circles about women if you want Mag. I say "guys" when referring to a group of people misleading? Possibly... I am not a scholar. Please don't put words in my mouth. Chalk one up for the grammar police. My point is still the same, quit reading between the lines. I would rather get in a fist fight with Chubby Checker after BMQ/SQ, than Mr.T or Mike Tyson. ;D
  Also the daily rate for a private is approx. 77$ a day multiply by length of remedial fitness add the money for food, shelter and instructor rates. That money might be better spent elsewhere? better vest or bullets, shells, those new tanks or whatever else??? Maybe they could have extra classroom sessions for people who didn't pass the cfat. Or drug rehabilitation for those who didn't piss clean the first time. Where does it stop? Our civilisation is in a downwards spiral in regards to P.T. They even have those scooter things that walk for you now. It's not the law of the jungle anymore in North America or many other places, but when the poop hits the fan it tends to revert that way
  Anyways enough of the rant... Interesting thread for sure look forward to watching it's progress. I'm not trying to be rude but I feel pretty strongly about physical fitness in the military and civilian life. Good luck with your application Mag.

 

[Magravan]

You can go in circles about women if you want Mag. I say "guys" when referring to a group of people misleading? Possibly... I am not a scholar. Please don't put words in my mouth. Chalk one up for the grammar police. My point is still the same, quit reading between the lines. I would rather get in a fist fight with Chubby Checker after BMQ/SQ, than Mr.T or Mike Tyson. ;D
  Also the daily rate for a private is approx. 77$ a day multiply by length of remedial fitness add the money for food, shelter and instructor rates. That money might be better spent elsewhere? better vest or bullets, shells, those new tanks or whatever else??? Maybe they could have extra classroom sessions for people who didn't pass the cfat. Or drug rehabilitation for those who didn't piss clean the first time. Where does it stop? Our civilisation is in a downwards spiral in regards to P.T. They even have those scooter things that walk for you now. It's not the law of the jungle anymore in North America or many other places, but when the poop hits the fan it tends to revert that way
  Anyways enough of the rant... Interesting thread for sure look forward to watching it's progress. I'm not trying to be rude but I feel pretty strongly about physical fitness in the military and civilian life. Good luck with your application Mag.

We are in general agreement, I think. The individual standing beside you anywhere other than BMQ will have passed the testing. There is still a world of difference between the minimum pass rate and the ones who had the examiner pass out before s/he finished doing pushups. I respect that you value PT, but it is not the be-all and end-all of a soldier. You may not want to fight Mike Tyson, because he'd obviously kill both of us without having to work for it. On the flip side, you also don't want to take orders from Mike Tyson, for roughly the same reason...

PT is vital, being fit is a component to being a capable soldier. Being more fit does not make you a better soldier than a less fit if you lack in the other important areas. But since none of us should be aiming to be bottom of the barrel, it stands to reason that we should all be doing as well as we can in every area that is important to being a soldier.

(And to be perfectly honest, I think that this is somewhat preaching to the choir, because if you care enough to be looking up information like this, chances are that you are serious about your application to the CF.)

 

[Spooks]

Well said, Magraven.

I would modify my previous post and nix it, but I will make a counter-post to myself (really, I am not crazy).
Being in a rush, I neglected to notice that posts were made before my comment was posted. My 'Kudos to Magraven' was in reference to his previous post before hand which was award a '+1' by Geo. I do not wish for it to be perceived that I am getting in the middle of a GenderWar or FlameWar, but even by now I see that Magraven and Samsquanch have fizzled down (at least in -my- perpective).

In conclusion, I will apoogize for a wrongfully placed post. And now we return back to our regular programming about the CF initial assesment 'Grip test is just the tip of the Iceberg...'.

 

[mudeater]

Listen, as Canada's army increases in size and as we step up to the plate more in world conflicts, we need to increase the army's size. In a country the size of Canada, it's hard to get personnel as it is. Standards were lowered in WWII and Korea. So what if the guy is 15 pounds overweight, as long as he can shoot and die for his country, that's good enough for me.

 

[geo]

Listen, as Canada's army increases in size and as we step up to the plate more in world conflicts, we need to increase the army's size. In a country the size of Canada, it's hard to get personnel as it is. Standards were lowered in WWII and Korea. So what if the guy is 15 pounds overweight, as long as he can shoot and die for his country, that's good enough for me.

The fact that he enrolled with some 15 lbs of flab does not mean that he will be carrying said cargo by the time he has completed his Trade qualification and is given a permanent posting within the CF

 

[Trinity]

I had the pleasure of having the CFLRS Commanding Officer do a
presentation on his school while at Nav Can.  When asked about this program (I'm assuming were
arguing about the lack of fitness standards and the 90 day get in shape program
at CFLRS) I was quite impressed by his answers. 

It incorporates fitness and military training.  Soldiers in this
program are still being trained military and can join in
basic training ongoing... so its not just a fat camp, but
they are still doing aspects of basic to help them fit into
a ongoing bmq.    I hope that made sense.

This program has provided excellent results.  No failures
at the moment (that he was aware of.. and I'm sure he'd know).
The program is very successfull.  So.. as someone said, is there
money spent elsewhere that's better... NO.  Being able to recruit
more people, faster... = savings for the military.  Otherwise we'd
short of members and not able to complete missions or we'd have
people sitting in pat platoons awaiting training.. or people wasting
time in the system.

The reduction of waste overall is well worth their salary for the
time they spend in this program.

 

[TCBF]

When you think of the thousands of recruits who were injured during Recruit Trg and had delayed training or release as a result, you realize the true cost of short recruit courses.  Cut it from 16 to 12 to 10 to 8 weeks, watch the injury rate go up and the pension claims to skyrocket.

Indeed, let's apply some common sense here.  I'm all for the new program.

Tom

 

[zipperhead_cop]

FYI, if anyone cares the device is called a grip dynamometer and they all more or less look like this:

You squeeze as hard as you can, and two needles go up.  When you release, one goes back, and the other stays at the point where you had the maximum compression. 

As for the fitness debate in progress (from a three year dead thread, btw) you had better be more that just barely passing.  I want to know that if I take a hit beside you, you can pick up my 6'4", 235 lbs-without-kit arse and haul me off to an evac/med area.  Failing that, piss off to the REMF jobs and let the pointy stuff get done by the ones who can do it. 
My $0.02 

 

[aesop081]

Failing that, piss off to the REMF jobs and let the pointy stuff get done by the ones who can do it.   

Yeah...because we all know that all REMF jobs are less physicaly demanding than the pointy end right ?  :

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Yeah...because we all know that all REMF jobs are less physicaly demanding than the pointy end right ?   :

Not at all.  I am aware that there are lots of jobs that are not combat arms that are physically demanding.  But physically demanding is not the same as the demands on the field of combat.  To be sure, replacing a track on a Leo is an exhausting drag.  However, that is not the same sort of thing as carrying another human and all their kit several hundred meters to safety under fire.  I am quite confident that there are scores of support personnel that could easily do the work of the combat arms, but chose other trades.  But that does not diminish the need to have highly fit people at the front. 
However, in re-reading my previous post, I acknowledge the inherent dickish-ness of the tone and apologize to any who may have taken offence.  Perhaps it is time for bed...

 

[new_man12]

I am worried about my grip strength.  I am male, have small hands and small forearms.  I can do the pushup, sit-up, and cardio requirements with ease.  However, I'm worried about the grip strength.  There is no way for me to measure myself prior to military training.  I was told you could substitute chin ups for the grip strength, is this true?

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Not that I am aware of or have ever actually seen.  Its really not that hard.  Seriously. 

Chin ups do not measure the same thing the grip test does.

From DAOD 5023-2, Physical Fitness Program:

Modification to MPFS Testing Protocol If a CF member is unable on a permanent basis to perform the specific testing protocol set out in the CF EXPRES Operations Manual, CFPSA may authorize a minor modification to the protocol or an alternate testing protocol.

I guess it would depend on if CFPSA would authorize it.  But I would also add, good luck getting that approved while at CFLRS.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Buy two of those stress ball dealies at the dollar store.  Every spare minute, squeeze the living crap out of them.  Grip strength will rapidly improve.

 

[Zepish]

honestly dont worry about it. 

We did 2 grip tests. one in week 0 and one in week 10. its very easy dont stress trust me. no one on our course failed the grip test.
its simple. dont pull out your hair over the grip test.

 

[Snafu-Bar]

If you have access to a baseball bat, hold it in one hand straight out and using only wrist go from a straight up to straight out in front of you motion to build up your forearms and co-incidently your grip strength.

Cheers.

 

[Quartermaster]

The grip test would not be substituted for chin-ups in this case because the Modification mentioned in the earlier post refers to an inability to perform the test, not an inability (or presumed inability) to pass the test.  In other words, some specific injury that would keep a person from doing the grip test, but does not preclude thier enrolment.

The bottom line with hand grip is to adjust the metre properly.  Chances are pretty good you are strong enough to pass, but the gauge does tend to slip if it isn't sized properly for your hand.  Ask the PSP staf for assistance with this.

Good luck.

 

[slowmode]

Another great way to increase your grip strengh is to increase your forarm strengh.

What I do is simple and works amazing: Take a bar, put the appropriate weight on it, I add 20's on each side.

http://www.leehayward.com/exercises/forearms/wristcurl1.jpg

As you can see in that image hes holding the bar, all you have to do is curl the bar with your hands while keeping the arm in the same position

Hope this helps