NOFFS Adds New Navy Workouts and Fueling Strategies

The Navy will roll out two enhancements to its Navy Operational Fitness and Fueling System (NOFFS) in the coming months, first with a technological enhancement in May and then three new workout series in the summer.

Photo by Commander, Navy Installations Command

The Navy will roll out two enhancements to its Navy Operational Fitness and Fueling System (NOFFS) in the coming months, first with a technological enhancement in May and then three new workout series in the summer. The process will also include training for MWR fitness professionals as well as a focused promotional and marketing effort to support individual fitness facilities.

NOFFS began in the summer of 2010 as a fitness and nutrition resource for sailors to improve their operational performance, provide nutrition guidance and ultimately reduce injuries commonly associated with physical training. Initially, the Operational Series included four workout elements that effectively accommodate restrictive environments aboard Navy operational platforms: Submarine, Surface Ship, Large Deck and Group. Each workout provides exercise pictures, descriptions, sets and repetitions and allows the user optional workout durations of 30, 60 or 90 minutes. The fleet received the series in a variety of formats, including laminated card sets, downloadable PDF documents and as an iPhone application.

The fueling component includes resources and recommendations designed to develop nutritional habits that enhance sailor health and individual performance.

Lisa Sexauer, the Navy's fitness, sports and deployed forces support program manager, notes that personnel will see the first enhancement, NOFFS 1.5, by the end of May, with the release of new iPhone and iPad apps. It will allow individuals to create their menu for the day based on "high-octane food choices," she says.

In July, the Navy will release NOFFS 2.0, which features three new workout series entitled Strength, Endurance and Sandbag as well as the Regeneration series.

NOFFS breaks down each series into a variety of disciplines. For example, Strength includes three training phases - "build muscle," "get strong" and "get powerful" - and is designed to increase strength necessary for optimum performance.

Endurance focuses on cardiovascular fitness, guiding sailors through what it calls "training plateaus" all with a focus on decreasing workout injuries. Disciplines within this series include a number of cardiovascular recommendations, such as biking, rowing, running or using a variety of workout machines. Within this series are two tracks: cardiovascular and a warm-up component.

The Sandbag series is designed for those training in an austere environment, Sexauer says, using limited equipment and often-limited space to develop individual strength. Sandbag also has three training phases built upon one another. These include "build your base," "gain muscle" and "get powerful."

Finally, the Regeneration series will focus on "soft tissue relief strategies and flexibility," Sexauer says. "The goals of each program are slightly different-a strength-focused versus an endurance-focused program-have different fueling requirements, and those two will be released in an iPhone and iPad application," she says. "We're almost done with an Android app for 1.5 as well."

In addition, each series will have its own virtual trainer on the NOFFS website.

"The elements of this methodology bring rest into the equation-an appropriate amount of rest-and an appropriate amount of self-care strategies like the self soft-tissue release, dynamic warm-up, various core and balanced training mechanisms," Sexauer adds.

Although she says the hope is to release NOFFS 2.0 to the fleet by the end of July, they would like to train instructors before releasing it to them, and it's a matter of getting the trainers together with instructors and obtaining approvals for required travel to conduct the training.

"While some of the exercises are a little bit new to the population and not necessarily intuitive, it's important to incorporate all of those elements in such a way that's safe, productive and protective," Sexauer says. "The new series brings a higher level of intensity and focus on specific areas of interest."

In addition to NOFFS training, MWR officials also will receive plenty of marketing material for the rollout.

"The marketing and branding will be much more standardized this time, and it has a whole new look," Sexauer says. "Our effort in the coming year is to ensure that [in] our marketing materials, from the headquarters level all the way down to the installations, that there's continuity of messaging and that everybody has access to the same thing."