A division of CF Morale & Welfare Services Une division des Services de bien-être et moral des FC PSP DIRECTORATE OF FITNESS PROMOTING WELLNESS FITNESS AND SPORTS VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2 • SEPTEMBER 2016 • WWW.CFMWS.COM MESSAGE FROM DFIT 2 New Generation of Fitness at Valcartier: Understanding the basics of improvement 9 Directorate of Fitness, Sport and Health Promotion Year in Review…and looking forward 2 My idol: A true home-grown hero! 10 HQ NEWS 2 CFB Esquimalt Hosts Old-Timers National Hockey Championship 11 CANEX and DFIT – Collaborating to provide a healthier food environment in the CAF 2 Thank you 8 Wing CFB Trenton and the Snowbirds 12 DFIT and field commitments following the 8 Wing/CFB Trenton accepted the Challenge! 13 regional training for the Fitness Profile 3 Health Promotion Vegetable & Fruit Challenge…while on deployment. 14 National PSP Training Centre course calendar released 3 Health & Physical Fitness Challenge in Wainright 15 Major Research and Development projects on the radar 4 CONGRATULATIONS PSP 16 FORCECombat reliability Trials 4 Discovering the Personal and Career Fitness Profile - 3 months post launch update 5 Opportunities for PSP Staff 16 GREAT WORK IN THE FIELD 6 MEET GREENWOOD 18 Circuit for the Cause – “Fun” raiser for Military Family Fund 6 14 Wing Greenwood PSP Staff 18 Suffield’s new Strength and Cardio room 6 MEET WAINRIGHT 19 Morale and Welfare at its Best 7 STAFF UPDATES IN THE FIELD AND AT HQ 20 Promoting Health and Wellness at the Unit Level 7 If you have any questions or would like to submit an article please contact [email protected] MESSAGE FROM DFIT Directorate of Fitness, Sport and Health Promotion Year in Review…and looking forward 2015-16 was marked with fiscal stability where Fitness Strategy Strategic Initiating Directive (SID). All appropriate levels of new funding were provided in in their own way contributing to our PSP mission and support of priority CAF and DFIT activities. This level strengthening the CAF Culture of Fitness. of support from both the PSP and MPC Chains of Command were critical to DFIT and PSP’s collective For 2016-17 our directorate will continue to allocate success. Major milestones included 4 Regional our efforts and resources to areas which most Training Sessions for all PSP field fitness personnel, impact the fitness and wellness of CAF personnel. the implementation of the FORCE Fitness Profile Significant progress is expected on the following across the CAF, CAF participation in the 6 Military files: i. Fitness Profile implementation with Reserves, World Games in South Korea, the launch of the new ii. The drafting of a new CAF Fitness Strategy, and and improved DFIT.ca and DFit.ca for families and iii. A new Sports Way Ahead and policy update. veterans website, and the drafting of a CDS issued HQ NEWS CANEX and DFIT – Collaborating to provide a healthier food environment in the CAF Michael Spivock, Senior Health Promotion Manager, PSP HQ Ottawa Representatives from DFIT Health Promotion, CANEX and Ventrex (the company that manages vending machines for the CAF) have been working together for the past few months to develop a program which identifies and promotes healthier food options in vending machines and on CANEX store shelves across Canada. Building on the successes of a similar program at CFLRS in St Jean, Registered Dietitians and other Health Promotion staff have performed extensive research on existing programs, and held both face-to- face and virtual meetings in order to come up with the best possible program for the CAF. The team is now hard at work, developing a point system which would allow CANEX managers to identify foods as healthy, based on contents of protein, fibre, vitamins, calcium, calories, sodium, fat etc. Items deemed to be healthier options will be clearly identified both in vending machines and in stores. The idea is not to completely eliminate junk food, but merely to offer options and enable informed choices on behalf of consumers – there’s certainly nothing wrong with an occasional “treat” in the context of a healthy and balanced lifestyle. The working group expects that the program will be ready for launch and gradual implementation in the fall of 2016. 2 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2 • SEPTEMBER 2016 • WWW.CFMWS.COM DFIT and field commitments following the regional training for the Fitness Profile Denis Couturier, Senior Manager Fitness & Sports, PSP HQ As you can appreciate there are many challenges opportunities to be used in support of local to organizing national meetings and training with recruiting efforts. field staff from across the CAF. Not only is it a costly • Provide further guidance on DFIT supported exercise it is also difficult for local programs to professional development opportunities for field manage the absence of key personnel based on the staff; and important role that you play. Given these realities, • Review CSEP certifications and their relevance to in order to maximize our time together during existing fitness positons (FSI, PES, RAFS). the regional Fitness Profile meetings, we took the opportunity to discuss a number of key projects Short term field commitments and initiative as well as engage in discussions with • Aligning activity planning with PSP and DFIT Strat Managers to gain better appreciation of existing field Plan realities. • Focusing programming efforts on DFIT’s three Key Result Areas: Program & services, The results of these discussions resulted in a number relationships with stakeholders and capacity of HQ and Field commitments: building • Continue collaboration with, and support of, DFIT HQ commitments: priority activities. • Create further opportunities for field managers and staff to meet and discuss best practices with I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who DFIT participated in our working groups and all of those • Review the existing clothing arrangement and who helped the delivery team with supporting us pursue alternative solutions to better meet on your base while we were delivering the training. organizational needs (alternative supplier or Without you, the training would not have been such permitting the purchase through local suppliers). a success. • Develop video promoting existing PSP National PSP Training Centre course calendar released The updated calendar for PSP and Military fitness courses is available on the PSP Training webpage. The calendar can be accessed via the following link: https://www.cfmws.com/en/AboutUs/PSP/PSP%20Training/courses_certifications/Pages/default.aspx https://www.cfmws.com/fr/aboutus/psp/psp%20training/courses_certifications/pages/default.aspx For information on any of the courses please contact the National PSP Training Centre’s Office Coordinator, Evelyn Keller, at [email protected] or 705-424-1200 ext.3127. VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2 • SEPTEMBER 2016 • WWW.CFMWS.COM 3 Major Research and Development projects on the radar 1. Universality of Service review project 2. Updating the Fitness Profile: a. Validating the relationship between VO2max, FORCE performance and anthropometrics b. Updating the scoring for the incentive program based on 2016 FORMefit results 3. Search and Rescue Physical Fitness Maintenance Evaluation 4. FORCEcombat: a. Trainability of FORCEcombat after 12-weeks of dfit.ca and PSP b. Reliability: how many times do you need to perform the test before obtaining a stable performance c. Effects of Heat stress FORCECombat reliability Trials Tara Reilly, Senior Officer Human Performance, Research, PSP HQ Ottawa The development of FORCE combat (the new IBTS fitness objective) was the result of continued communication with CADTC, and completion of 3 research studies over the past 12 months; 2 investigating the physiological demands, and the latest trial investigating the reliability of repeated performances and the need for practice. These trials took place in May with 2CMBG in Petawawa. 32 participants attempted FORCEcombat at maximum effort 5 times. The result of the trial provides direction with regard to the need to perform 2 trials of practice before achieving the maximum capability. In August we will return to 2CMBG to investigate decrements on performance due to heat and potential for heat stress, and to Kingston with CADTC, to examine the effects of various methods of training (Dfit.ca, with guidance etc). PSP field staff support is always integral to the success of these projects. DFIT will propose FORCE combat implementation for Army Council (AC) in January 2017. 4 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 2 • SEPTEMBER 2016 • WWW.CFMWS.COM Fitness Profile - 3 months post launch update Looking back at the last 3 months since the launch of the fitness profile we are extremely pleased with implementation efforts. It is certainly not to say that we haven’t hit any “speed bumps” but we are working through them and certainly appreciate that field staff are too. While we expected a decrease in the number of FORCE Evaluations at the onset to incorporate new processes our outputs have remained relatively stable. In April, May and June about 20,000 FORCE Evaluations were completed. This certainly speaks to our combined efforts to make the transition to E-fit as smooth as possible. The importance of the PSP Fitness Regional training sessions held in Jan, Feb and Mar cannot be underestimated. Having field staff fully versed on the Fitness Profile and its benefits certainly increased CAF understanding, and helped alleviate some of the expected push back that usually comes with the implementation of new program tools and elements (Health Related Fitness). To date the concerns received from CAF personnal have most often been based on either misinformation or protocols/procedures not being followed. Ensuring that CAF Personnel and Leadership have accurate program information remains critical to our continued success as we shift some of our efforts to Fitness Reporting, Fitness Profile with Reserves, and the implementation of individual and group rewards.