Fit for battle: RAF's toughest athletes battle for glory at first functional fitness championships
While daily physical training is a cornerstone of military life, there are some personnel who take it even further.
And for those particular individuals there's an invitation to RAF Cosford, and the first functional fitness championships of the Royal Air Force.
After years of hard work, dedication and, of course, sweat, now comes the opportunity to earn the accolade as the fittest in the RAF - with just five gruelling events to contend with first.
Fitness for day-to-day life
For the uninitiated, functional fitness incorporates strength, mobility, balance, and coordination, which help train the body for everyday life.
For military personnel, it reflects real-world combat demands: from sprinting into cover across uneven terrain to rescuing casualties, this style of fitness lends itself to the unpredictable physical challenges experienced in service life.
It also provides the foundation for other sports, including CrossFit and Hyrox, which have taken the world by storm.
"It's very addictive," Corporal Moulam-Jones, a physical training instructor based at RAF Cosford, told BFBS Forces News. "Once you start, there's no going back."
"All the movement that you do in life – lunging, squatting, hinging, reaching up, pulling something down – this aids everything.
"Injury-wise, it helps massively. The fitter you are, the longer your life – within reason."
Under the rousing shouts of encouragement from the man himself, some 30 athletes – a mix of both male and female – gathered at the running track on a blustery morning.
Day of the race
Event One – 'Cardio and Military Resilience' – as the name suggests, tested the competitors' endurance.
Each was required to run 800m around a running track carrying wooden rifles, which meant forfeiting the natural arm swing that drives momentum.
This was followed by 30m of walking lunges with the rifle held overhead, before a 15m drag carrying a 50kg 'casualty' dummy.
Twenty-five burpees over the dummy came next, after which competitors had to complete the entire sequence in reverse, finishing with another two laps of the track.
The strong, cold winds could only suppress the sweat for so long before they headed into the gym for event two.
Go for broke
As is common in most fitness tournaments of this nature, competitors were kept in the dark about the upcoming workouts until they arrived at the competition floor.
Above all, it's a way to test mental toughness and adaptability – qualities they will definitely need.
Named 'Strength', Event Two tested the athletes' raw power – albeit with a devious twist.
Four exercises – bench press, strict press, back squat and deadlift – were performed on two-minute timers, with a one-minute rest between each. However, competitors were free to choose their own weights, with their scores subsequently calculated accordingly.
There was plenty of strategy involved: go for broke with high weight and low reps, or play it safe with the opposite.
"Tasty is probably the word to describe it – and sneaky," Cpl Abbott huffs after just completing it, sprawled on the floor mid-stretch.
"You're taking the ego out of it a little by going lighter weights, and it's surprising how quickly it catches up on you."
A short break followed before it was straight into Event Three, Metcon, and Event Four – Skillz.
While the former consisted of a series of AMRAP (as many reps as possible) exercises, the latter featured a wide variety of pull-up techniques.
Competitors could earn points based on the difficulty of each movement, with the modest jumping pull-up scoring one point and the most challenging chest-to-bar pull-up earning the maximum of four.
And to quote Cpl Abott, if that wasn't tasty enough, it was shortly after that the competitors were moved on to event five – Sprint Finish.
Closing the tournament off, it included a mixture of high-intensity bursts on the Ski-erg and rowing machine, box jumps, and shuttle runs before a quick sprint to the end of the gymnasium.
And breathe...
After the long, punishing day of events, it was time to crown the winners with a podium finish.
Promising future for the sport
The event was the brainchild of the chair of the RAF's Functional Fitness Association, Squadron Leader Abi Bagshaw, who has been campaigning relentlessly for functional fitness to become a recognised sport within the military.
She hopes that when that time comes, "we can then offer the same support as more conventional sports like football to service personnel", she said.
And the benefits of this type of activity can benefit everyone, no matter age or ability.
"Functional fitness is one of the fastest-growing ways to train and compete, and it's extremely applicable to life in the military," she said.
"We know that people, lots of personnel, are training and competing, and we want to offer them an opportunity to do that within the Royal Air Force.
"Whether you've been doing CrossFit for a long time or you're just new to the sport, our hope has been that at least everyone walks away having learnt something about themselves, found a strength, found a weakness, and found something that they can work on in the future.
"And ultimately, they've had a day of competition with like-minded people and networked with other people within the service."
And her advice for those wishing to take part in the next event?
"If you're thinking about it, do it! There is absolutely no situation where being more fit is unhelpful.
"Those late nights, early mornings, long days deployed on operations, the fitter you are, the easier you will deal with those testing situations."
Sqn Ldr Bagshaw hopes to expand the sport to cover the tri-services, with more events planned in the near future.
RAF Functional Fitness is on Instagram if you want to get involved or to find out more.
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
