Exercise Safety
By Col John B. Kelley, Director of Safety, Air Mobility Command
When you hear the phrase “exercise safety,” what first comes to mind? If you, like many of us, spent last summer participating in Exercise MOBILITY GUARDIAN REFORPAC BAMBOO EAGLE TALISMAN SABRE DENY WEEKEND, your mind may go to the challenges of staying safe during large force exercises. If you somehow escaped the summer exercise fun and are a platinum elite member of the honorable gym rats of the USAF, your first instinct may be lifting, running, or Zumba-ing smartly to prevent injury. For the select few of you who are distinguished members of the long-suffering safety community who spend their days searching for hazards, risks, threats, and the occasional free lunch, the phrase is a reminder to incorporate safety and risk management into day-to-day activities. As Airmen, most of us spend time practicing one or more of these categories, let us explore some of the commonalities.
Whether you are a seasoned veteran or an enthusiastic neophyte, exercising in all its forms involve new beginnings or changes. Military exercises remove you from in-garrison habits and challenge you with operational and wartime problem sets—often in austere environments. Similarly, physical exercise scientists and trainers recommend changing workout routines every eight to twelve weeks to prevent boredom and further challenge your athletic skills. Both transitions are designed to introduce new challenges and grow your abilities; being deliberate and focused on fundamentals while exercising is essential to safe progress. For example, when attempting new gym exercises, having good form, clear goals, and patience help prevent injury and gain more from each session—not to mention keeping you from being so sore the next morning you can’t lift your protein shake to your lips without a spotter.
The beginning of a large force exercise is also a good example. You are in an unfamiliar location with new performance expectations and objectives. Going slow at the start, looking for new hazards, and focusing on core procedures (i.e., having good form) can mean the difference between success and failure, or worse, a mishap. Shifting into a wartime operational mindset does not mean throwing the Air Force Instruction or technical order out the proverbial window and just “jobbin’ it” as fast as possible. The latter is usually a recipe for poor and unsafe performance. Taking the time to understand the mission, environment, and hazards helps you accelerate safely to a wartime cadence without sacrificing procedural guidance. Roman Emperor Augustus expressed going slow to go fast as festina lente, meaning “make haste, slowly.” The popular modern phrase is, “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.” Exercises and exercising should improve performance without creating bad habits or hazardous situations.
When engaged in new or unfamiliar activities associated with exercising, in addition to using discipline and caution, you should make a habit of listening to your instincts. It is natural, in new situations or environments, to have that little voice in your head (or stomach) whispering “be careful, this isn’t normal.” Other times, that little voice starts shouting, telling you something is definitely amiss. My friendly 375th Medical Group physical therapist told me something similar to this repeatedly after I injured my knee lifting cargo.[1] She said, “Be attuned to the ‘good pain’ of stretching versus the ‘bad pain’ of further injury with these new exercises.” She was reminding me not to disregard my instincts and experience just because I was doing something new.
We have all developed a sixth sense in our professions that tells us when we are seeing a scenario that is different, and when it is both different and dangerous. During exercises, when locations and mission sets change, we learn to recognize the normal rhythms from those that feel “off” or somehow “not right.” We can see and feel the difference between moving with urgency (i.e., the good pain of stretching your limits) and the recklessness of rushing (i.e., the bad pain of a mishap). Safety and self-preservation instincts are usually strong; we should listen to them, trust them, and acknowledge them out loud for others. Sadly, we rarely hear about the times an Airman speaks up and prevents a mishap. We should have the courage to speak up when that little voice in our heads speaks to us.
Sometimes instincts fail us because we obscure them with ambition, pride, or competition. All these are positive personality traits in the right amount and part of every healthy Airman’s psyche. This is where an often neglected aspect of exercise safety comes in: having a spotter. Whether on the job, in the field, or at the gym, we have all been caught up in the feeling of irrational exuberance for the task at hand. Who among us has not been too aggressive on a project, too optimistic about a work timeline, or too ambitious on the last set by putting too much weight on a barbell? I know I have! This is where the value of a spotter emerges. A spotter is a voice of reason for the overly enthusiastic. A good spotter nudges you in the right direction when you need it most. On the job or in the gym, safety and success are team sports, with each of us playing the role of leader, follower, professional, understudy, coach, and cheerleader. Be the safety spotter you want others to be for you.
The key to “exercising” safety really boils down to a few essentials: building safe habits and procedures that transcend location, trusting your instincts in new situations, and having (and being) a good safety spotter. Keeping these skills strong will keep all our exercises safe and keep us prepared and ready to fly, fix, and fight – Aim High!
[1] I am not including details of how I injured my knee while lifting as my occupational safety professionals read this column. If such details were included, they would proceed to my office and lecture me on proper lifting technique. I would then be forced to acknowledge they were completely correct—they would be filled with righteous safety energy and there would be no living with them!