This week is IDF Fitness Week and it is only appropriate that much attention is being drawn to the physical abilities of soldiers and officers. On Monday, in the sweltering afternoon sharav heat in Tel Aviv, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gabi Ashkenazi and some of his senior officers were working out atop of the Kirya Defense Ministry complex, seemingly immune to the offensive temperature conditions.
 
Ashkenazi is known to maintain his physical fitness, working out several times weekly to set an example for officers and soldiers alike. 
 
Colonel Dr. Avi Moiyal, the chief fitness officer, is calling for less sweets for combatants in the field, explaining too many sweets in a combat situation will diminish a soldiers ability to maintain alertness. In the Second Lebanon War, 47% of combatants complained of difficulties maintaining alertness the colonel reports. The doctor explains that ingestion of sweets contributes to diminished alertness, explaining during Operation Cast Lead; well-meaning Israelis donated endless amounts of candies and sweets, which ultimately had a negative impact on the abilities of a combat soldier as he entered the field of battle.
 
Moiyal explains that the general fitness level of the IDF has improved significantly since Second Lebanon War but one of the problems remains the soldiers’ unwillingness to carry heavy loads. He feels the nutritional habits of many soldiers are not in line with the demands made of their bodies. He also has learned that some of the training exercises and physical fitness training is not appropriate for their ultimate mission. In short, they are not eating correctly and some of the training needs to be reevaluated.
 
Dr. Moiyal is stressing the need for increased training involving challenges of upgrades and hills as well as training with heavier loads, as has been the case since the Second Lebanon War. Ashkenazi was called out of retirement to whip the army back into shape.
 
In Operation Cast Lead he explained, it was seen that soldiers were far better prepared for their mission, having made vast progress from the lessons of the Second Lebanon War.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)