Serious 4 1/2 weeks to get in shape.

[Dr. Percival Cox]

I'm not sure exactly where to put this. So, I chose since it's an "issue".

So, I made my thread stating that I'm joining the military and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I'm shipping in a little over four weeks and I'm starting to consider that I'm uber fucked. The reason being that I'm out of shape. Like unbelievably out of shape. I thought I'd be able to get myself to a comfortable level of fitness before leaving. The bullshit in that is that I'm leaving in a month and I can't even completely JOG two fucking miles. I have to stop every 200 feet or so and walk slowly. All in all, it takes me between 25 - 30 minutes to complete two miles. One of the fitness requirements once you get to a certain point is to run 1 1/2 miles in under 12 minutes. If I had more time, I'd be less worried. But again, barely a month and I'm off to boot camp. My recruiters and other people keep telling me that I got nothing to worry about and that they'll "take it slowly" at the beginning but that actually doesn't help. Not at all really. I mean, how fucking slow are they going to get. They're gonna have to be at snail pace for me to keep up with them. I know I'm more than likely not going to be THE most out of shape person there, but still.

Ugh...rant. That's all I got. Just had to vent.

 

[Bambi]

i suggest you get running round the block as often as you can!

stating the obvious, and im Sure that doesnt make you feel any better, but the more you get used to it now the easier it will be when you get there and a little bit has to be better than not at all

And im sure they will push you till you puke, so i think you really need to step up your game, like now

 

[Squid]

A way to get fit fast regarding cardio is to do interval training on a treadmill.
You run for a minute. Walk for 1min. Run for 1min etc. Then when you're good at that, amp it up to 2 mins. A lot of guys at work who are training to be a pt are doing this and it really works for them.

Also on police recruitment sites they have a work out timetable thing that's really handy. You could dl that and follow it?

Hope I helped at least a little

EDIT: This is from the Australian Police site, but I should think the exercise schedule at the bottom could be used by anyone: http://www.achievemore.com.au/officer/files/PO Fitness Training.pdf

maybe you could print out the last page and follow the work out for 4 weeks?

 

[Harlequin]

I'm shipping in a little over four weeks and I'm starting to consider that I'm uber fucked. The reason being that I'm out of shape. Like unbelievably out of shape.

It doesn't matter you can still make the fitness. A month is a very long time when you consider what you could be doing with every hour that passes. The stamina can easily be compensated for by eating healthy energy foods, drinking water and training regularly. Believe me the first training session is always the hardest, when you under perform you feel like that training session won't make a difference. It will. If not physically then definately mentally and mentality is what the army's all about. You have to believe that you can make the deadline or you won't even bother training. You have to believe you'll make the grade in the army or you'll bow out the second you begin to feel the burn.

All in all, it takes me between 25 - 30 minutes to complete two miles. One of the fitness requirements once you get to a certain point is to run 1 1/2 miles in under 12 minutes. If I had more time, I'd be less worried. But again, barely a month and I'm off to boot camp.

A good way of training physical and mental stamina is to make it so that backing out isn't an option. A few I do are running until I literally can't take it anymore then having to make my way back. Taking the easy route then isn't an option seeing as you can't just teleport back.

My recruiters and other people keep telling me that I got nothing to worry about and that they'll "take it slowly" at the beginning but that actually doesn't help.

It shouldn't help because it's bullshit. You're recruiters won't recruit you into the army unless you meet the minimum criteria. Emphasis on the 'minimum'. Your drill sergeants won't take it easy on you, they're there to toughen you up.

Good luck with it though I hope you make it.

 

[coffeecup]

They work you pretty hard. Well it depends on what branch you're going into, but the biggest thing to worry about is not your physical fitness but your mental resilience. Even if you fail the phys requirement, you'll just get pushed back into a lower class and pretty much have an extended boot camp (at least for the Marine Corp). You've got to fail a good number of times before they actually give you the boot. So long as you work hard, you'll eventually make it unless you develop some physical/mental illness during this arduous process. But that's prolly not going to happen

It's probably a good idea to prep a bit before going to boot camp. No need to go Rambo at your local gym or anything, but lifting every other day and a cardio regime in between doesn't sound like too bad an idea. You need to tailor your own workout schedule for your needs, so do some independent research and get to it. Starting is the hardest part, but I'll leave that little difficulty for you to overcome by yourself.

 

[CassinoChips]

The main thing is to get out there and run, and as Tom mentioned, modify your diet. I coach track and until this year coached cross-country at the high school level, so if you want an idea of some workouts or a general idea of how to gear your workouts, shoot me a PM.

 

[Donald Trump]

Join a gym with a personal trainer. He'll be able to offer far more useful advice than some cunts from the internet. If for whatever reason you don't he say something along the lines of do interval training and lift some weights. Interval training because it's best for burning fat, and weights because that too burns fat.

 

[SaShman]

As several others have pointed out, interval training is pretty good. Tabata training is quite good as it makes you perform at your peak for the whole session. http://www.squidoo.com/tabatatraining

Aside from that, changing up your eating habits will go a long way. Also (although it is often neglected) improving your flexibility will probably help a fair bit.

 

[Stoic Hero]

I think I can shed some light on this. I'm an Exercise Science major in college and I help some people with their training. Also, my friend recently went through military basic training and told me a lot about it, so I have some idea of what you're in for.

You only have 4 weeks, so you'll have to take big steps in your training. Before I can give you any advice, though, I need to know about you. How much do you weigh? How tall are you? How many pushups can you do in a minute? How many sit ups? Do you have asthma? What are your eating habits?