A Ranger who wants to lead the way

[AirborneDhampir]

Greetings, all! I'm a longtime lurker and new member here at NF. I'm a soldier who has been in the Army for a few years now, but I've never quite attained my fitness goals I'm sad to say.

 

I was never an athlete before I joined the military. And the mandatory exercise (or physical training/PT as we like to call it) that we do each morning has a highly disproportionate focus on cardio. My endurance has improved greatly over the past few years, but being an ectomorph, I haven't been able to put on much muscle or attain the strength I really want. Sure, I can pass my PT Test just fine with above-average scores, but put me on a bench press and I'll shake and wobble and struggle.

 

I've started P90X (a great program btw, if you have the time for it) multiple times but never made it past week 5. Stresses, long hours and yes, sad excuses prevented me from finishing it. I would try to make time to get into one of the many on-post gyms, whether during my lunch hour or after work. I flip flopped from various programs, when I should have just kept it simple: big compound movements to build base strength, none of that leg day/arm day/shoulder day isolation crap. Sadly, gym time often fell by the wayside in the wake of the excuses I mentioned before. Or sometimes I just didn't want to go because I felt self conscious watching all the gorilla men effortlessly heft weights many times bigger than what I could. Pathetic, I know.   Working out at home never seemed to work right for me. Too many distractions, and after a long day, I just wanted to turn off my brain and laze around with the Xbox.

 

I found NF sometime last year and really enjoyed reading it. However, I still made excuses instead of following its advice. But the time for excuses is long dead and gone.

 

I'm finally deployed overseas, and I'm on big-boy rules when it comes to my fitness. It's solely my responsibility to maintain, and I can do what I want with it. I don't have access to a big fancy gym with loads of machines, but there is a small exercise room with a nice set of free weights (barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells), some CrossFit equipment, and a choice of a treadmill or elliptical for cardio. And since on many deployment days I have nothing but time, the whole "too busy" cop out just can't and won't work anymore!

 

Since I've arrived overseas, I've been hitting the weights very consistently, almost every day. I'm loving the burn, the challenge, and the feeling of triumph afterwards. I signed up for the newest NF six week challenge, and I'm looking forward to smashing my goals outta the park.

 

So that's my entertaining and enthralling story! I'm happy to be here and be a part of this community. And if anyone wants a new accountability buddy, please feel free to message me. Or if you'd just like to talk about Dungeons & Dragons, the Star Wars RPG, Warhammer 40k, The Sword of Truth book series, or...okay I'll stop right there or I'll keep going all night lmao.

[Kalmar]

I felt like I was reading about my own life. I've tried my share of the arm day/leg day workouts with 10 some exercises each, but just ended up getting overwhelmed so I agree with your keep it simple plan. As for PT, the Air Force does the same: run for X minutes and do some push ups and sit ups. Keep it up though, and hopefully you'll come back from your deployment safe and changed for the better. 

[Draken273]

Welcome to the boards man, I too am deployed and on "big boy rules" so ive been revamping my work outs aswell. Recently ive started doing Stronglifts 5X5, and im liking it. its simple, yet challenging and all you need is a bench, a rack and a barbell. 

[CommMarine]

I'm guilty of being that NCO.  I love running and endurance, and in my last unit it was runrunrun 'till the running's done >.<  This shop I've been making it a point to do more varied bodyweight and weight exercises, with emphasis on sprints and stuff.

 

I found out that the complaining happens no matter what exercise you do.

 

Good luck in your challenge!