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[Down_Under]

Hi, My names Brad and I've been lurking around this forum for a while now but have never posted a message until now. I have read alot of the posts left by other users and they have helped me greatly but none have hit the nail on the head. I'm looking to eventually join the Australia SAS, but there is the problem with my fitness, I have currently been using a routine which has seen me gain a few inches all round in muscle, but my strenght seems to be lacking badly. On the weekend I watched a friend of mine jump and grab hold a brick wall about 9feet high then he pulled him self up and over it, I was in shock as he isnt the strongest looking guy but had great strength, If I tryed that I would be there for hours on end trying to get my butt over the wall.

The Basic Fitness Assement for entry in to the Army is 15push ups, 45sit ups, and to gain level 7.5 on the beep test. Now to gain entry to the SAS the BFA is 60push ups, 86sit ups, 10 heaves (chin ups) plus some running and marching things.

I was wondering what kind of routine I shoulde be doing now in order to gain strength over size, should I cut the weight and do more reps... Also I need to start alot of cardio work, I've read on here that there is no point in doing cardio before doing a weight routine...Does this only apply if you are after size or strength aswell? If so can I do cardio in the morning and weights in the late afternoon?

I also need to work push ups and sit ups in to my routine, I figure if they want me to do 60 push ups and 86 sit ups then I train for 120 push ups and 170 sit ups. What do you guys think the best was to work this in to a routine would be?

I really appreciate any help anyone can give me, no matter how little it be!

Thanks,
Brad

[Fudomyo]

The best way to gain "short term" endurance, is by having more muscle. In other words, if you have lots of muscle, you can do a lot of pushups, because you have more muscle to tire out, and you won't need to use all of it, to do a push up.

So instead of concentrating on 120 pushups, you should be doing weighted pushups in the 4-8 range. That will grow the most muscle. Bench press is probably a good substitute, but I'd guess you'd get the most out of weighted pushups.

Cardio in the am, and weight lifing in the evening is great.

Going heavy for pulldowns, was the only way I could finally do pullups. Lats will grow huge, you just have to push them hard. 4-6 reps is the way to go.

Good luck.
Fudo

[Down_Under]

Thanx for the reply Fudo. I have a long way to go but you have to start somewhere. Currently I can only do about 8-10 pushups coz I became lazy awhile back and now im regreting it. I do use the bench but can only lift about 42kg which is 2kgs more then half my weight. I really think I'm losing out with my shoulders as they seem really weak.
At a forum where I found the BFA for the Army and SAS they sed that I should use the same technique that they do for push ups which is, do as many as I can, half the number and do 3sets of that.
So If i can only do 10, that means I should be doing 3sets of 5...Do you's think this will give me results?
Does anyone see anything wrong with doing pushups everyday? Aswell as my normal weight routine?

Thanks again.
Brad