美国国家公共电台 NPR--Encore: A new branch of the military is taking a different approach to fitness

Encore: A new branch of the military is taking a different approach to fitness

Transcript¹

Physical fitness assessments³ are a cornerstone of military life. The new branch Space Force is switching to more high-tech⁴ fitness trackers. (Story aired on All Things Considered on June 22, 2022.)

The newest branch of the military is taking a different approach to fitness

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

What would the U.S. military look like without its Annual Physical Fitness Test? Well, probably something like the Space Force, a service branch with a fitness tracker program. St. Louis Public Radio's Eric Schmid reports.

ERIC SCHMID, BYLINE⁵: A handful of airmen gather on a six-lane track at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. They're about to start their one and a half-mile run. Each airman has to finish under a set time based on their age to pass this portion of the Air Force's fitness test.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: So give me a thumbs-up whenever you guys are ready to go. Knock this out. Good, good, good. Good, good, good in the back. All right - cool. All right. All right - in three, two, one - begin.

SCHMID: Earlier in the morning, they completed the other parts of the fitness test.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Push-uppers (ph), ready up.

SCHMID: A minute of uninterrupted push-ups and later sit-ups.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Count out loud, guys.

SCHMID: This once-a-year assessment² is how the Air Force measures if its airmen are physically⁶ ready for what their service requires. But the Space Force has a different approach to fitness. Members won't have an annual test. Instead, they'll get a smart ring or other wearable fitness device that will keep track of their physical activity throughout the year. Chief Master Sergeant⁷ James Seballes is a senior enlisted⁸ leader for Space Force's Training and Readiness Command.

JAMES SEBALLES: Our standards really haven't changed, right? We still are utilizing⁹ the Air Force PT standards. The difference is in our approach.

SCHMID: The Space Force has plans for a digital community for its troops, who are called guardians¹⁰, where they can see data from their own device and how it compares to others in the service. Patrick Hitchins is the CEO of Austin-based FitRankings, the company building that platform for the Space Force. He says it allows guardians to count the activities they normally do, something that hasn't always been the case.

PATRICK HITCHINS: Maybe you're not good at running. Maybe you're not good at pull-ups. So there is, like, some amount of dimensionality to these tests that favors one activity form over another.

SCHMID: Seballes says the Space Force hopes this approach will turn fitness into more of a carrot than stick.

SEBALLES: Many times, fitness is almost used as, you know, a kind of a go, no-go kind of thing, right? You either have it or you don't. I've known folks that can do all their PT aspects and run, you know, a really fast mile and a half, but yet their eating habits are poor. Their sleeping habits are poor. They're not healthy.

SCHMID: On the question of health, research has also found that an annual test spurs some military members to engage in eating disorders¹² and other unhealthy behavior. Lindsay Bodell is an assistant professor of psychology¹³ at Western University in Ontario.

LINDSAY BODELL: Having these consequences of not meeting the standards, then, may lead to people to engage in pretty extreme behaviors.

SCHMID: Space Force leadership hopes the data guardians get from their devices will help them take more ownership of their health. But Bodell cautions that switching to fitness monitors poses its own kinds of risks. Studies have pointed¹⁴ to links between eating disorder¹¹ symptoms and fitness tracker use.

BODELL: Some of the negative consequences, I think, might just be kind of preoccupation with, like, certain exercise regimes or fixation on numbers, which could end up, you know, getting in the way of other activities.

SCHMID: Bodell says there needs to be more research on this topic as it relates to the military. Meanwhile, the Space Force plans to evaluate its fitness tracker program after a year to decide if it will become permanent. For NPR News, I'm Eric Schmid in St. Louis.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

3 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

4 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

7 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

8 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 utilizing   

v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Utilizing an assembler to produce a machine-language program. 用汇编程序产生机器语言的过程。 来自辞典例句
• The study and use of devices utilizing properties of materials near absolute zero in temperature. 对材料在接近绝对零度时的特性进行研究和利用的学科。 来自辞典例句

10 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

11 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

12 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。