30-40lb rucks? I would have killed for that in the Marines. I don’t remember humping with anything less than 100lbs for about 20k.
[quote]superthrustjon wrote:
30-40lb rucks? I would have killed for that in the Marines. I don’t remember humping with anything less than 100lbs for about 20k.[/quote]
I find that hard to believe.
My suggestion would be to run, what we did during my basic was we started with a half mile, added 1/4th of a mile each week, we ran 2-3 times a week. Your run will improve very fast with this method. Is the mp OSET or is it just standard basic and then AIT?
I’m really too lazy to read all this right now since I just woke up, but…
Start doing your 2 minute push-ups and sit-ups at least 3 times a week. Also try to do high rep pull-up sets at least 3 times a week. Start running 20 to 30 minutes 3 times a week, and run 6-7 miles at least once per week. Swimming also never hurts if you want to go special forces.
Ruck around with 50lbs or whatever the army uses (i’m air force, we don’t ruck) every now and then. My friend is army and he runs with a ruck once a month and walks ~10k once a month; sometimes more and sometimes less.
For overall conditioning, try to get strength up and keep hypertrophy down. Lift heavy about 2 times per week, and the rest of the time do strength-endurance circuits. Here’s a few examples:
Century Circuit:
11x pull-up
20x ball slam
11x pull-up
20x incline push-up
11x pull-up
20x DL @ bodyweight
11x pull-up
20x snatch @ 115
11x pull-up
20x squat jump
11x pull-up
50x floor wipe
11x pull-up
12x get-up
11x pull-up
20x one hand clean & press @ 44# kb
11x pull-up
1x pull-up
Rounds:
Round 1: (do 3 times)
20x get-up
25x DL @ 135
30x flying burpee
Round 2: (3 times)
10x snatch @ 70% 1RM
10x cauldron stir
10x get-up @ 45#
Round 3: (1 time)
30x man-maker
25x KB swing
20x pull-up
Tag Team: ← if you have a partner obviously
*run through each set 2 times
Set 1:
Person 1: row 1km
Person 2: push-ups
switch
Set 2:
Person 1: Farmer carry 50m w/ 100lb sack
Person 2: flutter-kicks (or bikes or whatever you call them)
Set 3:
Person 1: 4x Rope pull @ 55#
Person 2: piston press bridged to bosu
Set 4:
Person 1: row 1km
Person 2: air squats
Switch the circuits up, but try to plan them out to be difficult. Dirty dozens w/ sit-ups, bosu ball crunches, and step ups on those little aerobic class thingys won’t be difficult. DLs, man makers, piston press, and box jumps will be difficult. Get it?
General stuff like that has increased my endurance by leaps and bounds. I always try to run through the circuits as fast as possible and compete with my roommate. When I lift heavy, I train my full body, 2x a week. All lifts are done within the 15 to 25 rep volume range, so I try to stay as heavy as possible.
For supplements, I personally don’t like them very much. You don’t need most of them if your diet is in check.
Things I do use:
Protein
Fish Oils
BCAA’s
Hopefully you get something out of this. I know if you followed it to the T, you would have a lot of time invested. This is what I do, and I max PFTs. It’s a lifestyle, not a hobby for the weekends.
Good luck!
[quote]Fitnessdiva wrote:
superthrustjon wrote:
30-40lb rucks? I would have killed for that in the Marines. I don’t remember humping with anything less than 100lbs for about 20k.
I find that hard to believe.[/quote]
I’ve heard that 80 pound rucks aren’t bad when you’re in the marines.
[quote]zephead4747 wrote:
Fitnessdiva wrote:
superthrustjon wrote:
30-40lb rucks? I would have killed for that in the Marines. I don’t remember humping with anything less than 100lbs for about 20k.
I find that hard to believe.
I’ve heard that 80 pound rucks aren’t bad when you’re in the marines.[/quote]
What are you guys talking about didn’t you knwo that Marines are recruited do to their superhuman ability and total badassness? Get real they are as strong as Superman and as agile as Luke Skywalker. Yut yut devildog oohrah semper fi. Carry on.
You kids can stop comparing dick sizes now.
Ultimately, how hard he pushes himself and how determined he is to succeed will be the only factors that truly matter.
Funny how only REMFs and kids without combat experience ever give a shit about who wears what uniform.
drink some beer and dont think about it. Nah just kidding just try to eat as lean as you can and do high reps in the gym and do cardio 3 days a week 45mins per workout. It will get you in the shape you need to be in. Basic traning will do the rest. Been there done that I always score over a 300 on the APFT. When it all comes down to it its not that hard you just got to have some heart.
[quote]Fitnessdiva wrote:
superthrustjon wrote:
30-40lb rucks? I would have killed for that in the Marines. I don’t remember humping with anything less than 100lbs for about 20k.
I find that hard to believe.[/quote]
It may be a mild over statement, but not hard to believe. Certainly no harder to believe than someone having a group of people that are all APFT studs. The airborne requirement is 35 pounds (correct me if I am wrong, it has been awhile)because that is the minimum weight to keep the ruck from smacking you in the face. I have carried 110 pounds for just over 20 hours. I have no difficulty believing 100lbs for 20K.
When I said 100lb + im talking about going on a hump with all your gear and a full combat load, not a patrol with a day pack.
If you think that a SAW, a-barrel, 800 556 rounds, extra skivies, cami’s, boots, socks, poncho, poncho liner, (cold weather gear possibly) e-tool, 6 or so MRE’s, Flak, Kevlar, and possibly mortar rounds your carrying for the tube strokers, etc can’t add up to 100lbs than you’ve never been marine corps infantry.
and im not one of those retards who thinks marines are superior to everyone and can do anything, but that is how we trained. I’ve honestly met more badasses in the army than I did when I was in the corps. Most Marines are dicks, that got beat up in high school and joined the marines to think their tough and walk around with 8million USMC tatoos.
[quote]Buffass_t3chno wrote:
I like how you refer to 30-40 pounds in a ruck as moderate weight…Dude Air Assault standards is 30 pound ruck 12 mile road march. There is no way that this guy as a newbie can complete your 30-40 ruck 8 mile road march. If anything training with the ruck start with 15 pounds and do a 2-3 mile march. Once you start to get more advanced and learn to push through the burning in your shins then move to more advanced weights and distances.[/quote]
I agree with starting light/short and working your way up. I can’t speak for the Army since I was Marines, but 30-40 pounds was a pretty standard load, BEFORE they start loading you with food, ammo, extra gear etc., in my estimate standard pack weight was around 60lbs or so, perhaps as high as 70 in some cases. Normal daily marching distance was in the neighborhood of 15-20 miles.
Now all this was mid-1990’s and I know they were upgrading some of the gear so it may be down a bit. The Army tends to be more mechanized so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if pack weights were lower. That’s not a dig, just operational reality.
I had quite a bit of respect for the rangers and airborne guys, even though we tended to get into fights hehe, but the regular army units didn’t impress me much.
If you haven’t walked decent distances with a backpack on, I would start doing that. It’s a totally different sort of fitness.
Other than that, I’d do lots of bodyweight exercises (jumps, pressups, pullups, more pressups, crawls, more pressups) and shortish runs (especially whatever the fitness test distance is).
Squatting 400 is nice, being able to jump and reach the top of the 12 foot wall halfway round the assault course is better.
[quote]kiwinomad wrote:
Squatting 400 is nice, being able to jump and reach the top of the 12 foot wall halfway round the assault course is better.[/quote]
There is a special place of hatred in my heart for that wall.
[quote]Buffass_t3chno wrote:
Also even though you can pass the PT test you have to watch out for your weight. You will get taped if you are too heavy and don’t quote me but I think you have to be less that 18% bodyfat in order to meet standard.[/quote]
Ignore the ARMY’s failed and flopped formula of their “Height and Weight” standards. The ARMY takes their height and weight “standards” from Rangers that have been almost starving on a 9 week cycle in Jungle and desert terrains. The standards DO NOT account for individuals’ specific bone densities and frame types.
For instance, I’ve been told time and time again that I’m obese, too heavy, 37 pounds over what I’m supposed to weigh. Bullshit. I score better than my whole entire damn company (usually 260 to 310 is my score range, depending on what I’m doing in the gym), and there’s not an NCO/Officer out there with the balls to try and chapter me out of the ARMY Reserve because I can’t pass their flawed “standards”.
And yes, I take the APFT every month, just like Buff does. Trust me, a flawed height and weight system is nothing to concern yourself with. Getting the highest score possible is. They won’t “flag” you if you don’t pass their “tape test”, because I’ve failed the “tape test” for 2 years straight.
The bottom line is this: If you score high enough, they won’t make it an issue.
Back to the original question: My suggestion for making it into Basic easily, and without problems is add sprints to your running. Trust me, your 2 mile run time will drastically drop. It’s almost miraculous if you add sprints.
[quote]gatesoftanhauser wrote:
Buffass_t3chno wrote:
The bottom line is this: If you score high enough, they won’t make it an issue.
Back to the original question: My suggestion for making it into Basic easily, and without problems is add sprints to your running. Trust me, your 2 mile run time will drastically drop. It’s almost miraculous if you add sprints.
[/quote]
He’s right, the standards are screwed up, I had guys in basic that passed the test even though they were above the “tape test” levels because they smoked their overall scores.
As for the running, everyone’s pretty much on the same key here of run run run and run again, adding the sprints to them will shorten your time along with build the key stamina you need on those lovely ruck marches in the wee hours of the morning.
Question for you Army boys. I served in the Corps, and a lot of my good Army friends mentioned that weightlifting actually was encouraged by the Army.
I know for us it was optional, but it was much more important to just hit that 18 minute 3 mile and be able to hump nonstop with tons of fucking weight.
So my question is does the army implement weight training whatsoever?
It was optional for my company, but I noticed that the ones you saw in the gym were also the ones with the PT badge on test day and the ones who did well. Never saw anyone on “profile”, those that couldnt pass the test go near a gym even though they were the ones who needed it the most.
[quote]Audi wrote:
It was optional for my company, but I noticed that the ones you saw in the gym were also the ones with the PT badge on test day and the ones who did well. Never saw anyone on “profile”, those that couldnt pass the test go near a gym even though they were the ones who needed it the most.[/quote]
Yep, I agree with everything here too. The PT studs work out, plain and simple. “Profile Rangers” usually don’t go anywhere near the gym, and this is the case on the Reserve side of the ARMY too.
I used to compete on monthly APFT’s with a guy who seriously could have challenged for an IFBB Pro card. No lying. This guy was 52 pounds over the ARMY standard and he would laugh when they taped him. He scored 324 on the “unofficial” APFT scale, and the company commander didn’t even worry about writing him a “waiver”, as they sometimes do with me.