JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
The 733rd Force Support Division has converted the McClellan Fitness Center into a place where Soldiers can hone in on the U.S. Army Holistic Health and Fitness initiative.
According to the U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training officials, H2F is an all-inclusive initiative designed to integrate personnel, equipment, facilities, programming and education to produce physically and mentally tough Soldiers ready to defeat enemies in future warfare.
To support the initiative, the 733rd FSD consolidated services already existing in support of H2F and human performance. The fitness center now consists of offerings and programming from the Army Wellness Center, JBLE Ready and Resilient Performance Center, McDonald Army Health Center Physical Therapy and highly qualified fitness professionals from 733rd FSD. Functional fitness equipment was also reorganized from Anderson Field House to the McClellan Fitness Center.
“The force support division was well-read on and tracking the Army’s H2F initiative including implementation of the new ACFT,” said Donna Fontes, 733rd FSD Director. “We saw the significance of the change and were watching how it would unfold. We formulated a plan to unite all these resources together to offer convenience for our Soldiers on Fort Eustis. The goal was to create a motivating environment, eager team support and an example of how crucial a collaborative culture is to achieving goals.”
Kellie Jorgensen, JBLE fitness center director, explained how they sought guidance from CIMT to ensure they were on track with the correct concept of H2F to optimally provide for Soldiers going forward.
“Before COVID-19, we worked with CIMT to develop the Holistic Soldier Program, which was an eight-week program introducing Soldiers to the facets of H2F in one single location,” Jorgensen said. “We wanted to focus on physicality, sleep, nutrition, spiritual and mental fitness. The first few groups of Soldiers participating in the program showed significant improvements via personal survey assessments and reduction of injury reporting as well as raw data consisting of volume/load progressions and Army Physical Fitness Test and Army Combat Fitness Test scores.”
The program paused due to COVID-19, but the fitness center staff is working to bring back facets of the Holistic Soldier Program in cooperation with AWC, R2 and MCAHC while being attentive of COVID safe practices.
Currently the 733d FSD fitness staff hosts educational clinics for Soldiers to learn foundational movement patterns and techniques to safely and effectively execute events of the ACFT to include: leg tuck clinic, deadlift clinic, mobility clinic and ACFT familiarization clinics. They are also offering running clinics and mobility clinics.
“The team is eager to continue to work as a comprehensive team in one location readily accessible to Soldiers in support of H2F going forward,” Fontes said. “We look forward to continuing to support this pivotal cultural shift of the Army, enhancing readiness and lethality of our force while improving the lifetime health and wellness of our Soldiers.”
According to Jorgensen, a strategic plan exists to further expand facilities at Anderson Field House to include an addition to the facilities that will house an improved Functional Fitness area in the future.
For more information about what the McClellan Fitness Center offers or to schedule sessions, contact 757-878-4380 or 757-878-5556.