Welcoming the Gift from the Sea — A Look at Military Physical Training Conducted by Southern Theater Command Navy Personnel Aboard Ships Underway

Welcoming the Gift from the Sea — A Look at Military Physical Training Conducted by Southern Theater Command Navy Personnel Aboard Ships Underway

■ Ye Lei, PLA Daily Reporter Ma Jing

Photo ①: Soldiers of a Southern Theater Command Navy brigade conduct grip-strength training. Photo by Huang Weihao

Photo ②: Soldiers of a Southern Theater Command Navy unit conduct strength training using kettlebells. Photo by Shi Ran

Photo ③: Officers and soldiers of a Southern Theater Command Navy brigade navigate obstacles with a ball inside the main hold. Photo by Guo Xingjian

Photo ④: Officers and soldiers of a Southern Theater Command Navy brigade conduct jogging training inside the main hold. Photo by Gong Wenxuan

The morning sun leapt from where sea meets sky, and the deep-blue water shimmered with golden light. A naval formation pressed forward swiftly across the emerald waves. Standing in the bridge of the Yuncheng, helmsman Zhang Mingxing gazed at the spray bursting from the bow, his thoughts surging.

His mind drifted back to the first time he had stepped aboard a warship — the hull swaying beneath him as he stood on the deck, "the sea wind howling in my ears, and after a wave of dizziness, all I could hear was my own heartbeat." Now, after spending months at a time at sea on missions, he has long since grown at ease.

Far away, people in the cities were still asleep. But the resounding cadence calls of "one-two-three-four" aboard the ship had already awakened the morning of the ocean……

I

In the eyes of most people, the open sea holds a mysterious and romantic scenery.

For naval officers and soldiers, there is simply no time to enjoy any of that. During deep-sea voyages, they must not only battle wind and waves and carry out missions, but also maintain good physical fitness within confined spaces, so as to ensure they can respond promptly to sudden emergencies.

On the sea surface, stability is a luxury; turbulence is the norm. As personnel walk through the passageways, their bodies unconsciously adopt a kind of "naval gait" (海军步态) — knees slightly bent, core tightened, steps moving in rhythm with the rolling of the hull, like an instinctive dance.

Physical training, too, is often difficult to carry out due to limited conditions. Yet for naval vessels executing missions in distant seas, the ordeal is invariably a dual test of physical fitness and psychological endurance. The enemy will not stop provoking simply because you cannot stand steady in wind and waves, and emergencies will not be delayed simply because a crew member is physically exhausted.

Aboard a warship, the best way to maintain physical fitness is to use every available space and piece of equipment at hand for training.

During voyages at sea, personnel routinely perform tasks such as shipboard lookout, equipment inspection, and night watch, with rest schedules rotating around their duty stations, leaving almost no extended blocks of free time. Yan Xinzhe, a Second-Class Petty Officer aboard the Luomahu, drew up a duty-integrated exercise plan for himself: during daytime machinery watch intervals, he performs standing abdominal contractions, wall sits, and wrist-strength exercises within the safety zone of his duty station; during the brief rest periods between watch rotations, he completes high-knee marching in place and plank holds in the ship's enclosed passageways; before evening muster, he uses a designated safety zone on the aft deck to complete several sets of push-ups and squats……

During extended voyages at sea, the rolling of wind and waves is frequently accompanied by the discomfort of seasickness. By persisting in fragmented exercise, Yan Xinzhe steadily improved his core strength and endurance, finding it no longer a strain to stand watch for extended periods or carry heavy equipment, and maintaining ample physical energy and mental alertness during combat readiness watches, successfully completing multiple maritime patrol and lookout missions.

Unable to bring large professional fitness equipment, the ship's own structure and basic supplies are all converted into training apparatus —

In the cramped crew quarters, personnel use bedside cabinets for push-ups and tricep dips; the fixed, side-by-side watch seats are versatile — pressing both hands on the seat surface allows for push-up training, and leaning against the seat edge enables static squats to strengthen lower-limb stability. Even the galley holds its own secrets. Cook squad leader Old Fan laughed as he hoisted a large stainless-steel bucket: "This thing is filled with water — fifty jin. Tossing a ladle trains the wrists and forearms; lifting the bucket trains the legs and lower back. Our cook squad has to be able to stand firm and hold steady in wind and waves, or the whole ship's brothers will be eating 'wave soup.'"

Portable resistance bands take up no storage space and allow personnel to train anytime, anywhere during spare moments. Standing lateral raises, kneeling presses, resistance-band squats in place — many personnel use resistance bands for targeted training to counter the muscle atrophy caused by prolonged sitting in the cabin. Storage containers filled with seawater and military-issue canteens also serve as adjustable counterweights; personnel use them to complete loaded squats, lunge walks, and similar exercises, simulating the lifting and moving of metal spare parts and emergency supplies during repair operations.

This "one-square-meter training method" (一平米训练法) has been popularized across many vessels. Anchored in a corner of a compartment, personnel can complete strength training and aerobic training in a confined space using only their own bodyweight or simple equipment, changing the previous situation in which physical training meant "train intensively when ashore, coast on reserves when at sea."

II

Clouds flew and waves rolled as the Xuefengshan plowed forward through the vast ocean.

"Come on, let's go train in the main hold!" Every day at sunset, the personnel of the Xuefengshan would call out to one another in this way.

The "main hold" refers to the ship's landing dock, roughly the size of several basketball courts. During deep-sea transits, this compartment — swaying continuously with the ocean swells — is the space the crew considers most suitable for physical training.

Whenever free time arrives, the main hold transforms into a training ground. Without a wide parade ground, personnel jog back and forth along the pipelines running along the bulkheads, matching every turn and stride to the rhythm of the hull's side-to-side roll. Unlike long-distance running on land, which places high demands on cardiopulmonary function, this training tests more the control of the core muscle groups, because while running, personnel must constantly make micro-adjustments to their center of gravity to counteract the inertia generated by the ship's movement.

Private Li Huaichao, 19 years old, is from Ankang, Shaanxi, and had never lived near the sea before. Not long after enlisting, he boarded a warship for the first time, and after just a few shuttle runs he was stumbling, a wave of dizziness washing over him, leaving him with no choice but to lean against the bulkhead and rest briefly. Watching veteran Yang Jianbin beside him maintain a steady rhythm, even breathing, and sure-footed stride throughout, he adjusted his own breathing and worked hard to keep pace with the group. Over the long voyage, jogging inside the hold can offset the physical decline brought on by extended time at sea, building up sufficient physical reserves for prolonged watch duty and emergency response.

During voyages at sea, the continuous multi-directional motion of the vessel can easily trigger nausea and dizziness, directly affecting equipment operation and emergency response. Anti-vertigo adaptation training is a mandatory threshold every deep-sea sailor must cross.

In the main hold, personnel conduct organized anti-vertigo specialized training: rapid spinning in place, pitch-and-roll position changes, static standing with eyes closed…… At first, Petty Officer Third Class Wang Yunteng would turn pale and feel nauseated after just over ten rotations. But he refused to stop training easily, resuming participation as soon as the discomfort eased slightly. From 10 rotations to 50, and then to smoothly completing hundreds of turning drills, he used day-after-day persistence to forge the ability to stand firm, hold the line, and fight to win amid surging swells.

Ball sports such as football and basketball are also flexibly conducted in the main hold. "Dribbling on a rolling warship is a completely different matter from playing on land," said Gui Mu, political instructor of the navy vessel Chaganhu, an avid football fan. "The deck beneath your feet won't give you the cushioning of a grass pitch — instead it carries an unpredictable, continuous sway, and you have to constantly adjust your center of gravity. When the ball bounces near your feet, the slightest lapse and it veers off the intended path. But strangely, I adapt quickly to the swaying environment and come to treat that uncertainty as a kind of pleasure."

Playing football on a vessel underway, personnel instinctively lower their center of gravity and dribble with short, rapid steps. They must keep a close eye on obstacles while also sensing the rise and fall of the hull. If someone can weave through several obstacles while the ship is pitching and then bring the ball to a clean stop in the target zone, they are sure to earn a burst of cheers from their comrades.

Of course, during deep-sea transits, the spacious main hold is not always available for use. In recent years, many vessels have also made use of available passageway ends to install treadmills and fitness corners suited to local conditions, giving personnel more options.

III

A sea breeze blew gently, and battle songs rang out.

On the deck of the navy vessel Fujian during a break in navigation, a lively military sports meet proceeded as scheduled.

Unlike standardized shore-based training, the deck sports meet held at sea closely conforms to the special environment of the warship, dispensing with large venues and high-intensity events. Events such as tug-of-war, plank holds, and jump rope — which balance strength, endurance, and physical coordination — were conducted with full enthusiasm in the limited space, as personnel competed with all their might on the rolling deck, with shouts rising one after another.

Every athletic contest conducted amid the rolling hull and complex sea conditions is a tempering of physical fitness (体能淬炼) closely aligned with actual combat. At one end of the deck, a chemical defense skills competition resonated in unison with the surging swells. It was a relay race that pushed physical fitness to its limits: personnel had to rapidly don protective suits on the swaying deck, hoist decontamination equipment, and sprint at full speed. As waves crashed against the hull, fully equipped personnel had to twist at the waist, sink their hips, and tighten their cores just to hold their footing — every step required fighting against inertia and applying force with precision. First-Class Petty Officer Wu Zhijian of the ship's services department led three teammates in seamless relay handoffs, crossing the finish line first with a flawless performance.

The combat casualty care competition tested the "steadiness" of personnel's hands and the "rootedness" of their feet amid the ship's rolling. Hemostasis, bandaging, immobilization — actions mastered on shore — become dramatically more difficult the moment they are performed on a heaving deck. Competing personnel knelt on one knee, using their legs as an anchor, keeping both hands rock-steady amid the pitching as they rapidly stanched bleeding and applied splints to the "casualty." The real test came during stretcher transport — as swells struck and the hull rolled laterally, competitors had to lower their center of gravity, unify their step frequency, and coordinate movements with short, forceful commands, carving out a lifeline through the battering of wind and waves. In the end, First-Class Petty Officer Qi Guangshen of the weapons department led four teammates to complete the full set of casualty care procedures in 3 minutes and 4 seconds, the fastest time, winning the championship.

The heavy friction of firefighting suits and the muffled thud of combat boots striking the deck alternated in succession as a damage control skills competition unfolded in full intensity on the deck of the Fujian. Personnel raced against the clock to don firefighting suits and air-breathing apparatus amid the ship's continuous lateral rolling, then charged toward the fire point and used a stretcher to evacuate a trapped "casualty." Sweat blurred their vision beneath their face masks, and the hiss of airflow from the breathing apparatus merged with the roar of the waves, testing the physical reserves and fighting will of the personnel. After intense competition, Second-Class Petty Officer Xie Tao of the engineering department led three comrades to complete the "casualty" evacuation in 4 minutes and 38 seconds, the fastest time, driving the atmosphere of the competition to its peak.

On the deck of the navy vessel Chaganhu, a table-tennis table was secured to the deck with steel cables. When serving, if the hull happened to roll laterally, personnel could only watch helplessly as the ball traced a bizarre arc across the table — not because the opponent had played a tricky shot, but because the table itself had "moved." Footwork during play also differs from that on land. On a rolling warship, to receive the ball more steadily, personnel must not only bend their knees slightly and plant their feet in a wide "figure-eight anchor" stance, but also anticipate the ball's bounce trajectory based on the ship's sway.

"The 'steadiness' (定力) forged through training in this kind of rolling is probably the most special gift the sea has given us," said Chen Zuoshu, deputy section chief of the gunnery department and the table-tennis champion, who enjoys playing table tennis in his daily life and uses it to maintain his fitness during deep-sea voyages. "No matter how turbulent the environment, as long as the mind is steady, the hand will be steady, and the swing of the paddle will not miss."

The deck sports meet may look like an everyday recreational competition, but it is in fact a real-combat-oriented physical tempering (实战化体能锤炼) closely aligned with sea conditions and duty stations. Every act of perseverance, every breakthrough, is consolidating the physical fitness and skills of the personnel.

Every straining shout, every successful high-five, is continuously reinforcing the most solid emotional and spiritual bond of this fortress at sea — "a hundred men, one ship; a thousand men, one rifle" (百人一艘船，千人一杆枪).

On the bridge, the radar antenna rotated at a steady pace, scanning the vast sea and sky; below the deck, the engines roared without cease. In every corner of this "steel behemoth," personnel were using breaks in navigation to conduct intensive military physical training.

As night fell, the naval formation adjusted course and sailed toward the deep blue……

Layout design: Xu Shuo