New CSM Leads "Pain Train" PT on Fort Hood - kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and Killeen

One of Fort Hood's newest leaders has brought his own version of physical training (PT) with him to central Texas.

CSM Scott Schroeder now leads PT outside of III Corps Headquarters each morning, and anyone who has tried it knows it's no walk in the park.

Fort Hood's combatives team got a taste of it Wednesday, and for this routine, "stop" is a four letter word.

The beefed up version of PT, affectionately called the "Pain Train," is a nontraditional, nonstop workout, and one that SGT Eliseo Perez doesn't take for granted.

He said, "It definitely pushed me, I was definitely hurting once I got to the chains, but fortunately, my partner kept pushing me on."

From flipping tires to dragging chains, CSM Schroeder designed and leads the workout with soldier readiness in mind.

That's because he says once it's time to deploy, their condition at that time is as fit as they're going to get.

Schroeder said, "You might adapt a little bit, and what I tell people is, especially in Afghanistan, 'The mountain doesn't care.' The mountain doesn't care what your age is, it doesn't care how tall you are."

So he's shaking up the standard running, situps and pushups PT, and for an hour straight, the soldiers don't stop, running sprints in between stations.

"There's no break, you're constantly working, it's constantly keeping your heart rate up, an amazing workout, good for cardio, good for muscular endurance, combat fitness," said SSG Colton Smith.

And Eliseo says he's always weighing in on combat fitness.

"We always have to strive to be the best that we can, we never think about breaks, we're always working harder to better improve ourselves," said Eliseo.

Various units participate in Shroeder's "Pain Train."

He says volunteers and leaders hoping to pass the skills down the chain are welcome to join.

Reporter/Photographer: Sophia Stamas sstamas@kcentv.com