CAPE MAY, N.J. – Recruits at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May are now using a new stationary bike that is better aligned to support their training needs and requires less maintenance, which will increase the equipment's operational life span and save money.
Ninety five new Lifecycle GX indoor bikes were purchased due to the deterioration of the older stationary bikes and offer the recruits a more dynamic workout by providing a more rigorous routine. The older bikes were not able to handle the stress of interval training and were costing both time and money to maintain.
"With these machines, we can modernize our bike class and improve our abilities to meet training requirements as well as maintain a safe environment for recruits to train in," said Chris Hingston, physical fitness instructor at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May.
U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May is the sole accession point for the Coast Guard's enlisted workforce. More than 3,500 recruits, on average, train here annually before being sent to jobs around the world to carry out the Coast Guard's eleven statutory missions. Recruits who graduate the training program here will become part of an organization that in an average year:
- Protects and defends over 100,000 miles of coast and inland waterways
- Responds to 25,000 Search and Rescue cases
- Saves 5,000 lives
- Responds to 3,000 pollution incidents
- Services 42,000 aids-to-navigation
- Patrols over six million square-miles of ocean.
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| Coast Guard recruit company Juliet-190 become the first company to try the training center's new stationary bikes, Sept. 10, 2014. The bikes will replace the aging models and provide a safer and more intense workout for recruits going through basic training. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Warrant Officer John Edwards) |
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| James Schena, a physical fitness instructor at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, instructs recruits in the proper way to ride a stationary bike, Sept. 10, 2014. The training center recently purchased 95 Lifecycle GX indoor bikes, which are more compatible with interval training and will reduce the amount of maintenance required to keep them operational. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Warrant Officer John Edwards) |