Forum: Future F-16 crew

What kind of things will a pilot usually do to stay in shape? I heard once that strong legs were important for pulling G's, so I would imagine a lot of squats and leg presses. Obviously running would be important as well. But typically what kind of workouts to pilots have to keep in shape?

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16 oz curls...

(usually bud light)

Cylon

Cylon, once again your humor doesnt cease to impress us. Laughing

-Aaron

Of corse Bud Light, gotta keep that figure for the ladies Thumb

, but seriously, what do pilots do for exercise to stay in shape?

Same thing anyone else does... Run, Lift Weights... but a few of them I know havent seen a WR in years. Whoops, did I say that?
What were you expecting? Body By Jake, Ab Scissors or Bow Flex. I like Cylons workout. High Rep, Low Weight... Builds long lean muscle (sts).

Last edited by EriktheF16462 on Mar 31, 2005 - 05:26 PM; edited 1 time in total

Short fireplugs tend to handle G's better according to the office pool. I can speak from experience, I have had two Irides, ride one I was a couch potato and did great, held a 9.1g turn and could still see, talk etc. Ride 2, well I was in the middle of bike racing season in Phoenix and was the fittest I had been in my life. I struggled with the Gs the entire ride. Flight doc told me I would because of added plumbing in my legs from years of cycling. From pics here on the site you can see I am pretty long and lean.

I always tought pilots had to be fit, but not overly fit because that would create probs with the G's they pull.

EriktheF-16462 wrote:

Flight doc told me I would because of added plumbing in my legs from years of cycling. Form pics here on the site you can see I am pretty long and lean.

I'm sorry but its probably because of my bad English that I don't understand you (Dutch is my mother tongue). Are you saying cycling was good or not good for you, to handle the G's?

Bad, the added blood vessels you develop from cycling tend to give your blood more places to go all of which are far from your brain.

So how much should you work out, with out being overly fit?

I'd always been told, as EriktheF-16462 said, that short fireplug types seem to be the 'ideal' body type. Add to that high blood pressure to help with the G's. Not much running (too much cardio, could 'hurt' the ol' BP) and maybe some light weightlifting (as Cylon recommended).

Hmm, what's that a short round guy that drinks and maybe smokes?
What do I know? I'm a mechanic...

Mike

I'm not a flight surgeon and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last nite but one theory I read about the short fellas (and now short gals too) was that the distance from the heart to the brain was slightly less in the "fireplugs" than the "lamp posts" Wink

, making it easier to maintain blood flow to the noggin while under G and doin' the AGSM.

I used to use the base gym at Tucson and the drivers I saw there concentrated on weight training in the lower body, some upper body (again for the manly figure), and the neck (wouldn't want the brain bucket to get pinned under G now, would ya?). The gym had 2 each of squat racks, neck machines, and "multi-station" machines (lat pull-down, seated row, etc). And if they didn't do it off-base, some pilots also ran around the flightline perimeter once or twice a week for cardio.

AFAIK you should only do moderate aerobic training (Running, cycling and such) but do some weight lifting to build up muscle strength and enurance.

So LinkF-16SimDude, what you are saying is that shorter people can withstand high G's better than taller people, right?

its got to do with lymphatic drainage from your muscles, your fat vs muscle ratio and the rate of your oxygen to carbon dioxide reaction in your lungs and blood. the fitter you are the more your body has to work to get the oxygen out. (ie if it doesn't remember you have legs because you havent used them in exercise recently, it is less likely to actually worry about putting oxygen out to them) that sounds a little strange i know and may be a little out of left field, given most pilots have damn fine bodies but thats just what i got told. and most pilots wont actually find it a problem because they don't have rediculously large muscles in the wrong places for g-flying. but thats just my two cents.

Forum: Future F-16 crew

Pilot fitness