MILITARY FITNESS

I'm not the best runner. I do about 15 mins for my two mile on the pt test. I came across this article though and it seems pretty legit. A year a go I couldn't even run one mile without stopping. Hiit does a lot of good. And far runs. You're going to want to do more than a 5k once or twice a week for sure. This article might help
taskandpurpose.com/how-to-crush-your-2-mile-run-like-an-olympian/

Op u need to literally work on everything those seem like the absolute minimal standards to barely scrape by on a pt test in a mom infantry unit. Unless the army is just that easy?

the only time I've taken two days off is when i pushed myself too hard and fucked my ankles and thighs
>so bad i could barely walk upstairs the next morning

...

thank you for this! great article, I'm going to start incorporating this into my runs.

OP, I ran a 15:13 5k in college and have fun sub 9 minute 2 mile races. If you need to improve your running speed, you need to specialize your training. You have to do an over-distance day, a threshold day, an anaerobic day, and a competition or effort day, each week.

Over distance days are long runs - about 3-5 times the distance of the event you are training for.

Threshold is running at about 75-85% of max heart rate for sustained efforts.

Anaerobic days are 400m repeats on a track at pace

Competition/effort days are days where you try to set a new 2 mile PR

The rest of the days are recovery runs/junk miles.

critique me
>monday get up at 5:30/6, stretch, walk half a mile to the middle school track. run about 75% speed for 1.5 miles, walk home
>around 6/7pm warm up/stretch, walk back to track, run 2 miles as fast as i can. walk home

>tuesday same thing

>wednesday i take the dog on a 3-4 mile walk, roads sidewalks gravel woods dirt/sand, sometimes we jog but its about 80% just walking.
>wednesday night i go to the track and run 1.5-2 miles

>thursday and friday same as monday and tuesday

>saturday and sunday is a mix bag, depending on my schedule. sometimes i walk the dog, sometimes i run at the track, sometimes i just walk around the neighborhood etc

i know its not perfect, and i'm getting more disciplined. i'm also going to incorporate some of that stuff from the Olympian article above.

i also have to improve my sit up and pushups, i just bust a few of those out every hour, and do some pullups everytime i pass the pullup bar attached to my door

Honestly it's shit. Just like lifting weights the only way to ever improve is to overload. You have to train well past the distance that you intend to improve.

Try this:
Sunday - long run 3-5x distance of event, slowish
Monday - 8x400m intervals with 60-90 seconds rest in between
Tuesday - recovery run, (3-5 miles)
Wednesday - warm up 1 mile, 2 miles of threshold running at 75-85% max heart rate, cool down 1 mile
Thursday - recovery run
Friday - recovery run
Saturday - try to set 2 mile PR or repeat Wednesday's workout

The 400m intervals should be fast - 90%+ of max HR

the recovery run should be just a light jog? thank you for the help!

> pushups till Failure x 3 in morning

> 25 situps and then 1 minute plank right after x 4

> do these every day, rest over weekends

> couch to 5k

this is the bare minimum you need to do

as long as you can pass the minimum standard like a bitch ass pussy they'll push you through

its harder to fail out than it is to get pushed through, just dont go private pyle

i just thought they'd give you shit for bare minimums

Yep. They're called junk miles Just to get your legs used to the beating, and to get some blood flow to facilitate recovery. Light exercise is the best way to recover from strenuous efforts. No more than 65-75% of max heart rate. It's oftentimes difficult to run that slowly but you have to force it.

As the miles become easier and you're better able to hit your 400m repeats more accurately, you can increase the mileage, decrease the pace of the 400m, increase the number of reps to do, etc. it's all about adding total miles and a percentage of that mileage should be effort based and recovery based. If you want an in depth look, read a book called "Daniels' running formula" it's the gold standard

thanks so much user

I mean, ya its gonna suck way more dick for you if you can hardly do 50 pushups than the guy who can pump out 100

you're gonna get smoked either way

No problem. Good luck. Be patient, don't overdo the recovery days by running too fast. You only get faster by recovering from your hard workouts. Make a plan and stick to it. When I was running I planned y runs for 3 months in advance and didn't deviate unless I was really sick or something. You have to hold yourself accountable.

yeah i figured, either way. but isn't the AFPT score at the end of basic kind of important? it affects promotion points, what kind of unit you go to?

Nothing is going to prepare you for the absolute ass whooping in bootcamp. You'll push your body till it fails and be expected to push it pass that day in and say out. Stay extremely hydrated since ass whoopings happen at random.

not really, I knew guys who went in with a 300 and came out barely passing cause they were so broken

it doesn't matter

>5 minutes of rest
>for 30 seconds
wat? I'm a retard who wants to get better at doing pushups, but can you explain this to me again?

Not that guy, but read it again, its 30 minutes not seconds.

goddamn, can't wait. Oklahoma in the summer plus soulcrushing physical tasks

goddammit. I said I was a retard.

I think what he is saying is you have to generate more power from your hips. I guess he does this by visualizing pulling chains attached at his hips. Idk, but it makes sense to me. Too many people try to get faster by lengthening their stride which cause a bouncing motion, which will wear out your ankles, shins, and knees faster. What he's suggesting is basically moving your legs faster over the same distance (same stride that is). Try it on a treadmill to get a feel for it. Don't rely on hamster wheels too much, but they're great for practicing form and getting a feel for how your body moves during higher speeds.

this makes sense, and yes i've attempted the longer strides thing, with negative results

Army boot is easy. When they say boot is 90% mental, they mean it. I went into the Marine Corps never having run 3 Miles in my life and doing 3 pull-ups, and I graduated boot camp with a 21:00 3-Mile and 18 Pull ups. They will train your body. You will get fucked up regularly, but do what you're told, be loud, and aggressive, you'll be fine.

i don't want to be the best or worst, just gray man the entire time and try to fly under the radar

>taskandpurpose.com/how-to-crush-your-2-mile-run-like-an-olympian/

If you're joining the US army your APFT score in BCT and AIT will not matter as long as you pass with a score of 60 in each event. Once you get to an actual unit your APFT score will effect promotion points. The only thing your BCT APFT score will effect is your eligibility for end of training awards (for example the Audie Murphy Award for infantry basic training or Excellence in Armor for tanker or cav scout)

goddamn my recruiter is a fucking idiot

I doubt he's an idiot. He's just not telling you the whole truth because he wants you to be well-prepared physically before you ship. If you fail out of basic because you can't pass your APFT or get hurt you won't be counted towards his recruitment numbers.

But it really is in your best interest to be in the best shape you can be before you leave, it will make it that much easier. The training itself wasn't that hard for me, and I wasn't in that great of shape. It was living with the dregs of society 24/7 that made my training difficult.

You don't belong.

DON'T FUCKING JOIN
Best advice a Marine can give you, go to college, enjoy your freedoms.

the kids at MEPS were all fat as fuck, smokers, dumb.. if these are the people i'm going to basic with, i should be alright. there were like 3 super/fit/ dudes, 2 going marines, 1 trying to be a Ranger

have been runner for many years. This guy has the best advice for improving mile/ 2mile time. Just make sure you are timing yourself for whatever set distance you are running so you can improve on it next time.

Yeah, I'll be honest with you, the dumbest people I have I ever met, I met in the military. You have to be a tremendous pussy to not make it through BCT.

yeah, i don't belong in basic, you're right. but unfortunately there's no way to skip that part, user

Wtf, going stealth is the best way to get through basic. Seriously, it's not gonna follow you around.

that's what i was saying, but captain america doesn't think i'm worthy for HIS army lol

Goings to MEPS to get that all sorted soon and am going to shoot for 1C2X1 im a pretty small guy but im really toned and have a low 7 minute mile, what should i do to prepare other than endurance training?

> hurr dur I'm gonna showboat and prove Imma supersoldier in basic, surely that'll impress my DS and he'll promote me to an E12 right after I get out

To improve how fast you run you gotta do som interval training... Here are some different interval training options:
1. Speedgame - 5 min. easy run. 2 min. as fast as possible. 5 min. easy. 2 min. easy. 5 min. easy
2. 60/60, 60 sec. as fast as possible 60 sec walk. x10
3. Once a week, 4 weeks - W1 10x200, W2 4x500, W3 5x600, W4 5x800.

If you run three times a week it could be something like:
Day 1: Speed Game + 60/60
Day 2: Nr. 3 + 10 min. Light jog
Day 3: Distance Running

Just some ideas

what asvab score did you get user?

Sorry... In nr. 1 i meant 5 min easy, 2 min. hard, 5 min. easy 2 min. hard, 5 min. easy

99, GT 143.

But it doesn't matter too much because I can't even run an 8 minute mile yet. Probably need to start taking some of the advice from this thread, because fuck.

Your pushups are probably garbage, and your run needs to be waaayyyy faster or you're gunna fucking hate life.

Shoot for sub 13 two mile, and 70 GOOD FORM pushups.

very nice, I got a 97 on mine (stupid mechanical section)

Thats a top tier score though, what mos?

Canadian Forces for 3 years here. Our fitness standards are a fucking joke. Here's the test:

youtube.com/watch?v=WEjYXaEekTY

I kinda like how it's not just about cardio and more about weighted compound movements, but a 30lb sandbag is nothing. Even PT at basic and my trades course was a joke.

>Attractive female marine
Times sure have changed bros

Tools and Auto Body sections don't count toward your percentile score, it seems. I fucked up pretty hard on those parts because I didn't bother preparing for them and still came out on top in terms of the final score.

Probably anything that bears semblance to a 9-to-5 civilian job. I've heard of people signing up for more combat-oriented MOS, but my thinking is, I'd rather not have a bullet hole somewhere on my person if possible. 36B sounds right up my alley since that seems to be the only job in the similar vein as my civilian career goal.

But of course I understand I need to shake myself out of the meme mentality that cardio is somehow detrimental to my health. Rather the contrary if I don't want to see myself getting my ass kicked in basic.

You're honestly wasting yourself on that mos man. Go into military intelligence or something that gets you a TS clearance. Once you get out, you will literally be able to get a job anywhere and companies will be sending you more offers than you can deal with. Totally safe, too.

Just graduated OSUT a couple weeks ago, now I'm in Airborne hold. My DS didn't even know who I was until week 13, everyone was impressed really.

That feel when Americans will never know the sheer agony of yomping.

RM?

thats a great way to do it user

I probably will stick out like a sore thumb in basic cause I've been doing ROTC and rsp for national guard and I'm kind of a pt stud (still gotta get my run time down after an injury inshallah)

I'm not gonna tell anyone that I'm a cadet/ in the guard, or even showboat, but I won't hold back o0n pt. I've heard that everyone likes a pt stud anyways though (as long as you aren't showboating)

monday- Long run

are you some kind of muhreen faggot?

>stand out at basic

Rip. Better to be a wallflower unless you want to have your rack moved into the CC's for being a good little recruit.

nah senpai