'Make fitness your mission' with NZDF's Force Fit app
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has create a mobile app to encourage people to get fighting fit.
Packed with training expertise from the armed forces, the app was designed and released to encourage new recruits and the general public to get ‘Force-Fit’.
The app will be released for free download and Android and iPhone users, as well as in PDF form.
Recruiters from the NZDF have noticed a decline in fitness levels in people around the country. The number of young people who want to join the NZDF are turned away as they aren’t achieving the entry level fitness test.
By contrast, the NZDF is one of the country’s fittest organisations, and the active members of the armed forced have 'excellent fitness levels.
“Fitness is a really important issue for us,” says the Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General (LT Gen) Tim Keating.
“On any given day our people might be asked to push themselves and their equipment to their very limits as they respond to a crisis or catastrophe at home or abroad. So it’s something we take seriously and we make sure our people have the support they need to help keep them in top condition.”
The ‘Force Fit’ app provides users with a six week programme and will also provide support for anyone who wants to improve their fitness levels and achieve a good routine.
Making it accessible to the wider public, no expensive equipment or gym memberships are required. Instead it focuses on a basic, simple approach that those in the NZDF use to keep their force fit.
Potential recruit candidates can use the app to prepare themselves for the initial fitness tests to join the Navy, Army or Air Force.
“Defence Force personnel are passionate about New Zealand, that’s why they have committed to doing the extraordinary task of serving and working to keep New Zealand secure," says Keating.
“We can see that keeping fit and staying healthy is a growing struggle for many New Zealanders, so we felt an obligation to do something that would not only help prepare our recruits, but could also inspire the whole country to join us in making fitness their mission,” he says.
