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USS San Diego Sailors Support Navy Fitness Research
Story Number: NNS130628-17
6/28/2013

From USS San Diego Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Sailors from amphibious transport dock USS San Diego (LPD 22) completed their portion of a 12-week study May 17 for the Navy Fitness Waterfront Project (NF-WFP).

Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), with assistance from Indiana University and the University of Georgia, is conducting the project.

They are researching active duty Sailors' physical and mental responses to the Navy Operational Fitness and Fueling Series (NOFFS) standardized program. NOFFS is physical fitness and nutrition program focused on the demands and movements Sailors encounter in the fleet, particularly lifting, pushing, carrying, and pulling movements. The program is built to improve functional movements, prevent injuries, and eliminate the guesswork with physical training (PT).

The research project includes a 12-week physical fitness program, including pre- and post- assessments, with four groups of Sailors from different commands conducting physical fitness in four ways. The first group, the category San Diego Sailors, was conducted with the current fleet standard: traditional physical fitness exercises directed by the Command Fitness Leader (CFL). The other three groups conducted exercises in the NOFFS program, but delivered in different methods: directed by a health fitness specialist, directed by the CLF, or self-directed and exercises on their own. The research project is designed to analyze the effectiveness of a 12-week NOFFS program based on delivery method and compared to conventional physical training.

Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Richard Jett, an assistant command fitness leader with San Diego, participated in the study. "It was an awesome opportunity to participate in the testing. All of my Sailors were highly motivated and ready to PT, giving me a hundred percent," said Jett. "I'm grateful to be selected and honored to have a chance to help more Sailors better their physical condition and keep their career."

Research is ongoing, but Waterfront Fitness officials believe NOFFS is a promising fitness study for the Navy.

"We have two more commands to post test: I am leading NOFFS PT and a CFL leading NOFFS PT. We will capture post test result in the middle of June to complete the research project in its entirety," said Erica Realmuto, waterfront fitness specialist, Navy, Morale and Welfare. "This (NOFFS) program is one of the best I have seen in the fitness industry and it works."

San Diego, homeported in her namesake city, is currently conducting her first basic training phase in preparation for her maiden deployment in 2014. San Diego is the sixth in the San Antonio class amphibious transport dock ship and capable of transporting up to 800 Marines and their vehicles around the world for amphibious landings.

For more information about San Diego, visit http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/lpd22/Pages/default.aspx or http://www.facebook.com/LPD22.