Military prep?

[Petra (Katie)]

Howdy ya'll,

 

It is I, the frenchiest fry...except that I'm American...

 

ANYWAY

 

I recently enlisted in the Army National Guard, and I was wondering if there are any specific/special workouts and programs I should be doing to prepare for both Basic Training and the training in RSP.

 

As always, thank you guys!

 

-Katie

[RisenPhoenix]

@Machete knows these things, having lived through it.  He has many wonderful suggestions.

[Machete]

12 hours ago, Petra (Katie) said:

I recently enlisted in the Army National Guard, and I was wondering if there are any specific/special workouts and programs I should be doing to prepare for both Basic Training and the training in RSP.

 

What's your MOS? Also what do you score on the APFT? (Have they implemented the new one?)

[Petra (Katie)]

7 hours ago, Machete said:

 

What's your MOS? Also what do you score on the APFT? (Have they implemented the new one?)

My MOS is Automated Logistics (92A), and I haven't taken the official APFT yet, and as far as I can tell, it is the two mile run plus the max. sit ups and push ups. Based on the standards, my score is low, due to sit ups and pushups, but my run is about standard.

[Eruannu]

Following

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[jbowler]

Hello everyone. I realize this is an older post, so hopefully at this point you have already improved and found items to help out. If not, as a current Drill Sergeant I can tell you that the PRT program works great as it is. If you want to improve in push ups, you need to do push ups. I recommend for push ups doing a even/odd split. During even days, choosing an amount (lets say 50), and splitting it into even sets throughout the day to reach 50. Odd days do as many push ups as you can to reach failure, and go until 50 again, with as few sets as possible. The Push-up/sit-up drill is a money maker when doing a strength and mobility PRT session. When doing push-ups in this drill, do the full 2 minutes,  don't stop doing any push ups...If need be go to your knees and keep going until the 2 minutes are done. Same with sit ups right after.

 

If you need help with what a PRT session looks like, Youtube is gold for it  If you need anymore help or advice feel free to ask away.

[NicTheRugger]

Following! I know this is an older topic but I'm applying to the Marines so I'm definitely interested in seeing how other military folks are working out to get up to snuff for PFTs/CFTs/Boot camp/officer school, etc.

[Machete]

It's all pretty much practice. That's why those old crusty NCOs can just knock a test out and get a decent score with no prep. First thing is not being too overweight that it interferes with your performance, because it's mostly bodyweight exercises. Pushups, pullups, and situps are about technique and tension management; you just want to have enough tension to perform the exercise. GTG is great for practicing, then leading up to the test you can start escalating the density of sets. (I believe a poster here and I worked on this years ago for his Air Force test.) EMOMs are great for this.

 

Running and rucking have a huge technique component to them. These were ones I had to personally work on, as I'm a 5'2 guy with asthma and short legs. (Army running is pretty much a free market system; the fastest runners get the most benefit, the middle-of-the-pack get marginal benefit, the slowest ones get screwed. You get outliers that move from one caste to another, but ultimately "social mobility" is limited. Same with rucking--you're either good at it or you're not.) If you're a slow runner, the biggest bang-for-your-buck method method appears to be technique work. Brian MacKenzie's Pose Running drills from the CrossFit Endurance Guide helped me a lot with these. They're usually done in short bursts where you can really push the intensity and get enough rest to maintain attention. Cardiac Output training would be a close second here, as it allows you to get a lot of those miles in without too much allostatic stress, alowing you to train more rather than be constantly beat up. Slow runs and fast runs are great; it's the medium runs (that the Army seems to like a lot) that mess you up.