The Actual Importance of Physical Fitness for Junior Officers

“Show up fit.” For many, it’s the first leadership gem Junior Officers are exposed to when they begin their journey to commissioning. From mentors, guest speakers, instructors, branch Commandants, and everyone in between, the need to “show up fit” is highlighted from the moment you take your first oath to when you receive your initial counseling from your battalion commander. From a leadership perspective, physical fitness is not something you’ll often see written about in journals of psychology or leadership books picked up from the civilian side. So why is there such a large emphasis?

There are sound arguments to be made about its relation to performing one’s job on deployment or in training, but those are well-covered and relatively intuitive. And fitness, strictly pertaining to moving around the battlefield, is less important for the leader controlling the fight than it is for the team leader pushing the fight or the rifleman with a litter on their back fighting the fight. The importance of physical fitness has little to do with how it improves you as a soldier and everything to do with how it affects your relationships as a leader. At the company level, your fitness is an invaluable social capital for building relationships and a direct modifier for how you’re able to harness those relationships under stress and fatigue. 

The concept of social capital emerged in the late 20th century and lends its development to sociologists and political scientists. Pierre Bourdieu references social capital as a form of “cultural capital” to describe ways in which people can leverage their social connections and cultural knowledge to achieve their goals and gain advantages in society. Robert Putnam conceptualizes it as “the network of associations, activities, or relations that bind people as a community via norms and trust.” Nan Lin defines it best for the junior officer by adding how norms and trust are “resources embedded in a social structure which are accessed and/or mobilized for purposeful action.” Norms and trust are distinct features of a company environment that junior officers must quickly familiarize themselves with and fitness is inseparable from both. 

Physical fitness is both a norm and the norm at the company and battalion levels. That needs little explanation with the Army’s purpose being a fighting force. Fitness is inherent in the self-discipline necessary to lead yourself and others. If you can’t carry the weight, move the distance, or have the basic knowledge to monitor the program, you will not be able to hold others accountable. Your fitness and knowledge thereof are just two snapshots of your leadership but they are the ones your soldiers will be most frequently exposed to. Physical training is not the most important thing you do each day, but it is the most important thing you do every day. If you are lacking, your soldiers will notice and find where else you lack accountability. It is not about being the strongest, fastest, or having a 600 ACFT score. It is about having the genuine curiosity for a critical aspect of your profession necessary to make informed decisions, hold each other accountable, and lead by example. However, the benefits of being fit and possessing knowledge thereof far exceed just leading by example. 

Where fitness truly begins to resonate in regard to social capital is in more informal settings. Soldiers love to work out and you’ll often find them in the gym after work or on the weekends. Being in the gym with them after work every now and then or popping into their gym on the weekend is a surefire way to foster cohesion and trust. This informal presence provides another touch point with your soldiers to talk about official or unofficial things in a relaxed environment, one which can become as personal or professional as anyone wants. Less structured and more open for dialogue than formal PT, these interactions portray you more as a member of the team and less as an authority figure. 

If you drive to and from the gym on the weekends, you’ll see your soldiers (many of whom don’t have cars) walking to and from the gym, shoppette, movies, or other places. Offering them a ride or saying hello is another opportunity to build a greater sense of community. Them seeing you on post shows you’ve internalized and live up to the values you and your organization espouse. Leaders must display the ability and desire to share hardships with their soldiers. Everyone has to do morning PT, not everyone has to go the extra mile for their team. Famed UCLA coach John Wooden described this as eagerness: “a desire to sacrifice personal interests or glory for the welfare of all–[a] force that transforms individuals who are ‘doing their jobs correctly’ into an organization whose members are totally committed to working at their highest levels for the good of the group.”[i] Cohesive, physically fit units will be more resilient and operate more effectively under worse conditions than those which are not. 

As the leader, the culture you’ve fostered and the value you provide is diminished if you’re not reliable where it matters most: making decisions under stress. Being physically fit helps with that, too. Your level of fitness will determine how physical and mental fatigue affects your executive function and motor skills. Executive function refers to the mental processes related to the ability to plan, organize, and adapt behaviors to new conditions. Studies have shown that individuals of lower physical fitness are more susceptible to cognitive impairment during and after bouts of high-intensity activity. What qualifies as “high-intensity” is also relative to an individual’s level of fitness. 

The simplest way to illustrate this is to picture a long movement, under load, over uneven terrain to an objective rally point (ORP). An individual of high fitness may only enter a heart rate zone 2  (moderate exercise) during the movement and not face any cognitive impairment whatsoever. In fact, studies suggest that mental agility improves during and immediately following zone 2 physical activity. This is commonly known as the “inverted U” of exercise intensity and cognitive performance. For someone of lesser physical fitness, the same movement may push them into Zone 3 and, in some instances, the Zone 4 threshold. Which leader will be more situationally aware en route? Upon arrival at the ORP, which leader is in a better position to make decisions and adapt to new circumstances?

Leaders with higher levels of physical fitness experience less cognitive degradation when conducting high-intensity (Zones 3/4) exercise compared to lower-fitness individuals. This means that fit leaders have a higher threshold of what is considered high-intensity exercise and perform better when thrust into those circumstances, too. Some studies even suggest that individuals able to regulate their heart rate experience increased emotional awareness, allowing greater awareness of the morale and capability of their soldiers.  For the leader at the platoon and company level, physical fitness is one of the prerequisites to unlocking what Clausewitz described as the coup d’oeil at the tactical level.

All good leaders are physically fit, but not all physically fit leaders are good. While physical fitness may be a trait common among high performers, it is just one piece of the larger puzzle to becoming an effective, well-rounded leader. Overly focusing on physical fitness generates diminishing returns where time spent over-exercising would be better spent reading, studying, or focusing on hobbies and interests that let you relax and bond with others. All of the social and psychological benefits of fitness are rendered null when paired with poor communication, intellect, empathy, and a variety of other traits necessary for sound leadership.

The emphasis on “show up fit” is well warranted and for reasons that far exceed the minimum of being able to lead by example. The overtly social and physical nature of the Army makes fitness a leadership trait that will benefit you in garrison, in training, and in combat. For the leader, physical fitness is a personal endeavor but the soldiers you’re responsible for will feel its effects the most. With the high accessibility of facilities and low resource requirements, the only thing you must provide is intrinsic motivation. You can begin to work towards a better self, a better leader, and a better unit today. 

First Lieutenant Kevin Shinnick is an active-duty Infantry officer with experience leading Stryker and Ranger formations. He enlisted in the Army in 2011 and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2020.

[i] Wooden, John, and Steve Jamison. Wooden on Leadership, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2005, p. 47.