When you enter Nationals Park you expect to hear the sounds of bats cracking and the fans cheering and chanting “N-A-T-S, Nats, Nats, Woo,” but on Friday, October 14, 2022 the sound of more than 175 Soldiers and Civilians participating in the Washington Nationals Base HIIT program echoed throughout the ballpark.
“Fitness is core to the military’s mission, and Base HIIT provides a unique opportunity for service members to work on their physical fitness using a major league ballpark,” said Gregory McCarthy, Senior Vice President of Community Engagement for the Washington Nationals. “Base HIIT utilizes areas like the bullpens, field, and stadium steps for a challenging workout with Nationals Park as the backdrop.”
The Base HIIT event was a high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout that provided Soldiers and Military Civilians the unique opportunity to get their daily physical training in.
“[We] went through nine stations that were about five minutes per station.” said Colonel Allen Leth, a faculty member and Army Chair at the National War College. “We got a whole-body workout from muscular strength endurance to a little bit of cardiovascular endurance.”
First Sgt. Corey Perriman, Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), said he learned about Base HIIT when he participated last year with the Air Force.
“I did it last year and it was pretty impressive,” said Perriman, an Atlanta native, “I work out a lot so after me being smoked I thought hey let me come out here and be a station manager and help them take it to that next level.”
One of the nine HIIT stations was The Wheel of Death.
Leth, who hails from Baytown, Texas, described the Wheel of Death as a group workout where everyone remains in the push-up position. They then slapped one hand at a time with the person in front of you, did a push-up then rotated in a circle to the next member of the group until only one is left.
“I ended up being the last person remaining in The Wheel of Death,” said Leth. “So, I got to go to the championship round and that was with all the other winners of the nine groups that went through.”
Perriman decided to turn his two stations, the medicine ball and agility, into their own version of the Wheel of Death.
“I’m a personal trainer on the side so I can’t stand people standing around not doing anything. I thought if they just had the continuous movement, they’ll still get something out of it,” said Perriman.
While the physical training aspect was key another important part of the event was the sense of community it provided to those participating.
“I just really love it from a team building and camaraderie [perspective],” said Leth. “Get some shared hardship going in there that brings all of these organizations together because there is a lot of people outside of events like this that don’t get to work together all that often or even if they do, they don’t get the opportunity to do things like this together.”
Base HIIT is just one of the Washington Nationals programs that falls under the Nats on Base initiative which serves the military community in the National Capital Region. The goal is to provide year-round experiences for service members and their families.
“When fans come to Nationals Park, they most immediately notice the displays of military pageantry, or military recognitions. But that is really just the tip of the iceberg,” said McCarthy. “Through a variety of outreach, including professional development opportunities, intramural support, and educational programs, we can more intensively impact the military in substantive ways. It has been a pleasure to work with Military District Washington to offer programming that addresses the ever-changing needs of the military community.”
“To have that relationship with the Nationals and to have them let us take part and do this is big,” said Perriman. “It says a lot, and it says a lot about them supporting the troops.”
When asked what his words of wisdom would be to those who come next year, Perriman laughed and said, “Drink a lot of water the day prior and just don’t think hey I’m coming to the Nationals stadium to just take pictures or do it for the Instagram. You’re going to get a workout in.”
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