The metal container measures roughly 10 feet long by 8 feet wide by 8 feet tall. Its rigging consists of three squat racks, 12 pull-up stations, a 12-foot rope climbing tower, muscle-up bar and a flying chin bar that attach to the outside of the container in 90 minutes. Other equipment includes a dip bar, grappler, jump platform, wall ball target, J-cups and safety squat attachments. Freestanding gear ranges from medicine balls and kettle bells to sandbags and lift bars.
All the fitness training equipment and external racks store neatly inside. The 7,360-pound galvanized container is fully deployable on military cargo aircraft.
But the base’s locker is staying put, said Kevin Ball, Wright-Patterson AFB fitness and sports manager, who applied for the equipment.
“This will offer high-intensity interval training,” he said. “It’s very popular in the fitness realm right now. It’s geared for the tactical athlete.”
The equipment will be available for use by anyone who has base access, Ball added.
He said the fitness department is excited the locker is located near the dorm residents.
“We see them as tactical athletes. We want to train them, make sure they are prepared for fitness assessments and keep them able to maintain readiness,” Ball said. “We want to enable units to come with their physical training leader, check out the key to the locker and do a group PT session.”
Ball has been helping with the Commander’s Challenge and said it is the perfect opportunity to introduce the locker to the base community.
“It’s like the baseball season’s Opening Day,” he said. “We are going to have lots of people seeing it for the first time.”
Following the Commander’s Challenge, group classes utilizing the TRX equipment and called CAT (Combat Athlete Training) will be conducted by Silas Stanton, fitness specialist/personal trainer and Air Force retired master sergeant.
“When I was in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, we had the opportunity to be in front of (Army) Gen. (Norman) Schwarzkopf (Jr.) and he called service members ‘combat athletes.’ That stuck with me; I’m a trainer and I’ve trained people accordingly since then,” he said.
Stanton said he is excited about the new equipment and the capabilities it will offer.
“It will bring out all the athleticism in my clientele; that’s my goal – training them like they’re in the NFL or NBA, along with hitting the things that are on the Air Force PT test,” he said. “I think we’ll have fitter service members here now.”
The apparatuses that attach to the locker will be especially good for strengthening core muscles, Stanton added.
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