of course, but let talk about the majority. most NSmen have
completed the BMT as per normal, that is what i mean.
losing weight doesn't mean losing muscles. it can be losing fats
or losing water retention. doesn't mean that your body is
losing so much weight, it is not building
up strength. training takes time and it happens in
stages. like they always say, you can't have best of every world,
so either you lengthen the liability or do with what you can.
i feel there are other areas that are needed to be
considered before implemeting. for example, whether is it
necessary to pump every trainee up to become mesomorphic? will
every trainee be able to become big and bulky? are the nsmen going
to maintain after training phase? etc.
of course i agree the meals planned are not the best in the
world. but i believe it is sufficient to get through and meet the
demands of bmt. period.
I am not saying that the nutrition is such as to make recruits
unable to function. As you said, most ( I would say the vast
majority) of the recrutis are able to pass BMT. You are right but I
am not disputing that. What I am saying is the amount of food
provided is inadequate if one wants to maximize training
benefits.
The bottom line is, if you want performance gains, you need
proper nutrition. I would, for instance serve soya bean drink
instead of sugared, coloured water. I would also want recruits to
be able to help themselves to one starchy item (eg rice, potato) at
lunch and dinner. That will ensure that everyone has as much food
as they need to function effectively.
I undwerstand the point about making best use of recources but
this can be implemented rather cheaply. Rice and potato is dirt
cheap. I would imagine soya bean drink or some other kind of
protein supplement will not cost a lot. After all, one really only
needs about 20+g of protein a day. This can be done easily and at a
low cost.
Putting costs aside, we as citizens place our and our children's
lives at the hands of the armed Forces. We lay the defence of the
nation on the Armed Forces' shoulders. For that, we have paid in
blood, sweat and enormous amounts of money. The Armed Forces
therefore has a responsiblity to properly train our soldiers.
Nutrition is a very important part of that process.
Before anyone says there is no link, I ask you to look at the
food provided to the Commandos. I feel that during Basic training,
everyone should be fed to that standard due to the enormous
physical strain placed on our soldiers.
On the point of whether we need every soldier to be big and
bulky, I feel that is irrelevant. You will almost certainly not get
big and bulky from the training in BMT.
