British Military Fitness

In Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel, Brave New World, society is divided into castes: alphas at the top and epsilons at the bottom.

Likewise, British Military Fitness (BMF) sorts you into groups according to your fitness and assigns you a coloured bib to signify your level. I was in the blue group. The epsilons. But, judging by my performance on a cold, muddy winter’s morning, a whole new category should have been created just for me. An omega, perhaps. 

Anyway, I gave it my best shot and the people in my group were very encouraging and supportive. ‘Just a quick tip’, one of my team members said, as we jogged towards the start point on Clapham Common, ‘don’t get caught with your hands on your hips or in your pockets. Just keep moving, jogging on the spot’. 

After 10 minutes of warm up, we were split into smaller groups. Our instructor was Neal Williams, an ex-physical training instructor in the Royal Signals. All BMF instructors are serving or ex-military.

Me and the military don’t really get on. I was booted out of the South African Defence Force in 1985, so I was a bit worried about how I’d take to being yelled at by a man in camo trousers and army boots. But it wasn’t like that at all. In fact, Neal was very encouraging: ‘Come on number 15’, he said and, ‘Good effort number 15’ (that was me: number 15.) The only similarity to being in the army was being a number rather than a name, but I could live with that. 

I read on the BMF website that individuals burn about 640 calories per session. It felt more like 800 calories. One of my team-mates, a 38-year-old guy called Jonathan, told me that he lost a stone doing BMF. 

Aside from a quick water break at mid-point, it’s a one-hour session of non-stop exercise. There are lots of old school strength exercises: press-ups, sit ups, squats, lunges, and lots of aerobic exercise: running, burpees and star jumps. I was knackered by the end of it, but it really set me up for the rest of the day. I was bright and alert and I slept like a baby that night. 

The first session is free, so it’s worth giving it a go. The only thing you stand to lose is 640 calories. 

www.britmilfit.com

Tel: 020 7751 9742 (London and International)
Tel: 0870 241 2517 (UK – National)