FORT RUCKER, Ala. (April 3, 2015) -- Registration is open for a youth physical fitness program designed to meet participants at their current fitness level and motivate them to reach new heights.
Youth Extreme Fitness, open to ages 8-18, takes place Tuesdays and Thursdays, May 19 through June 18, from 6-7 p.m. at the Fort Rucker Youth Sports Field, Bldg. 8923. Cost is $20 per participant for the entire program. A current sports physical and valid child, youth and school services membership is required for participation.
Randy Tolison, Fort Rucker Youth Sports director, said parents and youth should not be dissuaded by the inclusion of the word "extreme" in the program's title.
"The sessions start off slow," he said. "We don't jump right in at full speed. All levels of conditioning are welcome. We want them to improve. We don't want them to be deterred.
"This is a program designed to help youth find a new activity that will help them improve their current skill sets and maybe discover some new skill sets," he added. "We don't want parents or youth to be afraid of the word 'extreme.' What makes it extreme is the different types of activities we do. They may only be able to push the lawnmower 10 feet and some may push it 50 feet. And that is fine. We simply want them to get out there and try."
The program places participants outside for a wide range unique workouts including low crawling, tire flipping, pulling ropes attached to grates, lawnmower pushing and other standard workouts.
Staff Sgt. Sherman Hill, D Company, 1st Battalion, 14th Aviation Regiment, volunteers to coach the youth during these sessions.
May's session will be the second for this fiscal year, according to Tolison. During the last session, staff began to integrate exercises from the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, a part of The President's Challenge.
"They work from the Presidential Youth Fitness Program format," Tolison said. "Coach Hill finds out how many pushups they can do, how many sit-ups they can do, how fast they can run. The results of the test become the starting point for each participant. The test helps identify what work they need to do to be able to complete the final test and earn their patch.
"The coach helps the participants work through all these activities and, at the end of the program, they test out," he added. "If they meet the testing criteria, then they receive a presidential award patch to place on the shirt they receive for completing the Youth Extreme Fitness session."
According to Tolison, the shirt helps participants stand out among their peers and instills a sense of pride for their accomplishments. He added that the patch mirrors a similar uniform designation military parents receive for testing well during physical assessments.
The program, which will mark its fourth session May 19, began with only eight participants. The number of participants nearly doubled along the way and Tolison hopes the trend will continue.
"We want them to get out there and have fun," he said. "And Coach Hill definitely promotes that. He gets out there and does every activity with them. He doesn't just tell them what to do. He actually shows them, participates with them and works through it all with them. He doesn't show any favoritism to one participant or another. He wants them all to improve their physical fitness at whatever level they may be.
Youth of all fitness levels are encouraged to participate, Tolison said. But each participant should be prepared to push for improvement.
"We try to get kids to come out of their comfort zones," he said. "They're probably not accustomed to being pushed as hard as we will push them. Our staff does not yell at them, they encourage them in a loud tone. It's not a demeaning tone, but it is a tone designed to inspire them to push a little harder."
The session's description asks parents to keep in mind it is designed to push youth beyond their normal comfort zone, both mentally and physically.
"It will probably get to a point where they want to quit," Tolison said. "But that is not the point. We don't want them to quit. We just want them to push a little harder."
Parents must visit parent central services, Bldg. 5700, Rm. 193, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to sign up.
For more information about Youth Extreme Fitness, call 255-2254 or 255-9638.
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