JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - Solders with U.S. Army Alaska learned more about their physical fitness during a technical running analysis recently at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, for the upcoming Army Ten-Miler in Washington.
The 14-member USARAK Army Ten-Miler team went through VO2 Max, or maximal oxygen uptake, and gait assessments at the Health and Wellness Center at JBER, to learn about themselves as runners and how to adjust their training to stay competitive.
The fitness tests administered by the HAWC are targeted toward improving the way people run and their overall fitness regiment, which extends beyond physical fitness and readiness, improving overall fitness.
The VO2 max is one factor used to determine an athlete's capacity to perform sustained exercise and is linked to aerobic endurance. VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can use during intense or maximal exercise.
A gait analysis is a method used to assess the way a person walks or runs in order to highlight biomechanical abnormalities.
"This goes well beyond the operation our team is doing, and it's a way for us to take this data and put it to use in our everyday life," said Army Maj. Brian Mayer, the signal officer for U.S. Army Alaska's 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, and captain of the USARAK Ten-Miler team.
Mayer, a four-time Ten-Miler veteran, added that the efficiency in running is more than putting your shoes on and going out and running.
"It's hitting the hills, and it's working with the [HAWC] to continually assess, and through assessment comes improvement."
The HAWC's mission is to ensure all active-duty service members are fit for duty by providing a wide range of quality services such as health education, fitness assessments, exercise prescriptions, and prevention and intervention programs.
"This analysis gives us a chance to look at stuff that isn't really physiology," said John Limon, installation exercise physiologist for the HAWC. "His mechanics, his head, shoulders, knees and toes, is it all tightening up."
Limon added that having the ability to process more oxygen per minute means you are able to use an energy system which doesn't make the muscles burn.
"To have this type of equipment available is a tremendous asset," said Mayer.
Mayer hopes the added help from the HAWC will help him and his team at the Army Ten-Miler race.
Sponsored by the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, the Army Ten-Miler is the second largest 10-mile race in the United States. It's held every October in Washington, D.C.
This year the race is scheduled for over the Columbus Day weekend with additional events, to include a youth run, a youth activity fair and a pre-race pasta dinner.
Representing USARAK at the Army Ten-Miler race are:
Staff Sgt. Sterling Yazzie, Pfc. Hunter Phares and Pfc. Chad Miller, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division;
Second Lt. Daryl Brown, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1/25 SBCT;
Maj. Timothy Brower, Alaska National Guard;
Maj. Ron Oliver, 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron;
Maj. Brian Mayer, 4/25 IBCT (ABN);
Master Sgt. William Wisecup, USARAK Aviation Task Force;
First Lt. Elizabeth Hayward and Pfc. Chelsea Scheuerman, USA MEDDAC-AK;
Capt. Nick Shamrell, U.S. Army Garrison;
Staff Sgt. Robert Hibbert, 109th Transportation Company, 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 2nd Engineer Brigade;
Spc. Keith Robinet, 84th Engineer Support Company (Airborne), 6th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Engineer Brigade;
Sgt. Malcolm Smith, 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4/25 IBCT (ABN).
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