CAF Story | Keeping the CAF Fit and Ready
Video / October 2, 2020
Transcript
This video was filmed and produced before COVID-19 public health measures guidance and protocols were put in place within DND and the CAF.
Benefits of having both physical fitness and mental fitness is you have less time at work where you're injured, you have less days off, you're sick less, perform better and your work is better.
I am Nick Pyke, I'm a fitness sports and recreation coordinator for PSP.
I'm originally from a very small town in northern Ontario, about 3,5 hours north of Sault-Sainte-Marie called Chapleau, Ontario.
Before working for PSP, I was a firefighter. I worked in Ontario Parks, worked in the private sector at a local gym.
Some of my main duties, there are many, widely varied depending on the day. Anything from Forces testing. So, administering their annual physical fitness tests all the way to specially testing. So, if a member says they want to go JTF or Special operations, then, I'll push them through that to personal training programs, to someone who just wants to lose 10 pounds.
And it can go from the fitness side of things all the way to they want more fitness equipment. So, going out, procuring that equipment so that everyone has an opportunity to better themselves in the fitness field as well as location recce. So, for recreation, for those more family-oriented activities, making sure they have a place that they know, that is safe and is local so that they can go and experience those things with their family.
Physical health and mental health are very important. You can't have one without the other. If you're not sound of mind, you can't have a sound body.
In the military, it's very important. It's a high-stress job. A lot of things are incredibly high-stress. That's the nature of the occupation.
Without mental health, the physical health is pointless. It's putting the cart before the horse. So, you wanna make sure you're well rounded in having a healthy body and a healthy mind by working out in the gym, but also seeing those healthcare professionals, those mental health professionals if you need to in order to get your brain in tiptop shape just like you get your body.
The thing that stands out the most to me would have been the hike that we organized in New Zealand where we took about 15 members on a 26 kilometres hike through a volcanic ridge. Everyone enjoyed it. It was a great experience and that's definitely the thing that stands out in my mind for one of the best experiences not only of my PSP career, but of my life.
For me, the best part of my job is seeing that change, something that I set as a goal for myself or other people that ask me to do and seeing that completion of that task and the people enjoy it. So, whether it's a program where they want to lose 10 pounds or they want to do the JTF test, CSOR testing, they want to go on a course, all that stuff. When they accomplish their goals, that really makes me feel nice that I contributed to their happiness and that's what makes me happy.
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