Going into the Military and Need to lose the Fat and get fit Who's got Cardio idea's?

[Gato]

Just as it says, i'm going into the Military and i need to lose the fat so that i can get accepted. I'm 5'9" 230 Pounds and am an avid follower of the MAX-OT principles of lifting...

I have been really slacking in the cardio area and NEED to lose the flab or they won't let me in...

Can i get some help please?

[Gato]

Oh yeah i am interested in the MAX-OT cardio workout.. but it suggests using machines (stairclimber, bike, eliptical etc) but i'd rather do some outdoor running... any ideas?

[sooner_ed]

Ok Gato. I applaud you for wanting to join the military. We need good men and women to step up.
To answer your question, let me preface it by saying I am a military veteran so I know the physical demands that will be placed on you in the military along with having to weigh in each month. At 5'9", I'm unsure what your max weight is (although I'm sure you know). I'm 5'6" and I think for my age, my max is 170.
Nonetheless, being overweight and being in the military is not an easy thing to do. When I was in the military, I was always overweight, but I usually managed to pass the tape test. But it was no fun having to tape every month either. Back then, I had no clue what it meant to eat healthy nor did I really care. I ate what I wanted to for three weeks out of the month then I would try to lose what I could for one week before weigh-in.
To make your military career much easier from this standpoint, it is best to know how to eat and exercise properly so you can stay within your weight limits and not have to be taped.
The key to losing weight is eating healthy, eating less, and exercising more. The key to maintaining weight is eating healthy and exercising enough so you won't gain it back.
Given what your physical demands will be for the military, the most important cardio you can do is run. You're going to have to do that for your pt test anyway. You say you are an avid follower of MAX-OT principles of lifting but that doesn't really tell me if you are currently lifting and have a good lifting program. If you are lifting, keep with it. If you are not lifting, start. However, gaining muscle should not be your priority. It will happen if you start lifting and the muscle will burn the fat, but with the running you will need to do, gaining muscle should not be your priority. Run your butt off. Are you a runner now? How far can you run? If you're not a runner, start off slowly. Don't try to run too far too fast because it will burn you out and you will end up hating it.
So I don't take up too much space in this response, if you will message me, I can get some more specific details from you and hook you up with a program that will not only burn the fat but also help you do what you will need to do physically for the military. If only I had known then (when I was in the military) what I know now, things would have been much easier on me. Let me know if you want some more specific advice.

[Gato]

thank you ED for taking the time to write me... i've sent you a pm...

[Xhale]

Hey Gato I'm hoping to get accepted to the Swedish SF and I've got a workout by them that's simple and gives you great results.

So if you're going to do a physicly demanding service give me a shout and I'll translate and send it to you.

[stoneville]

I wouldn't worry about it. Enjoy yourself now because the military is going to train you just fine. I am 5'9 and went from 186 to 156 and that was in AF basic...

[Gato]

thats the thing stone.. i have to worry about it because i'm sure they are going to give me a problem about my weight...

[sooner_ed]

Gato, for what it's worth, stoneville does have a point. But I will tell you this as well. From a veteran standpoint, I was also a supply sergeant in a basic training unit and I watched many many soldiers come in overweight and drop a ton of weight in basic and get in good shape. You can let it be that way or you can make it easier for yourself before you get there. It's really up to you. At the same time, if you are too overweight, they will make you get to a certain weight before they will sign you up. I know you're going into the Coast Guard. I'm not familiar with their training. Do what you feel is right. I apologize I haven't gotten back with you on that pm. Give me until this weekend and I will give you a good response.

[Your_Crazy]

Ok. First off which Branch are you going to? That will determine alot.

Second are you 233 fat? 233 muscle? or 233 intermediate? That also makes a differance

Third,How old are you?

If your fat you have a problem. If your muscle, tape you don't need to worry. If your intermiudiate, they will take care of it for you. If your worried about being teased or taunted don't everyone is to a point. Just stay true and do as your told. If you want to standout stand out positively. It's the negatives that kill you. I believe your hieght per weight is 186 lbs. I'm 5'11" My weight before tape is 196. I'm over 200 so I get taped. I look now where near fat and alot of the guys I know are the same way. So relax and enjoy your time before you go to boot. Because for a few months you won't have time to.

[Xhale]

This msg was too long to send to you by PM so I posted it here.


Alright here it is. It's pretty damn simple and it's designed to become stronger but mostly to increase your stamina.

At the end I'll post some links to various army workout sites and you can go check them out if you don't think this workout is what you need.


Three very important things to do is:

1) Stamina/aerobic fitness
2) Condition your legs to the strain of walking/running with heavier shoes and packs.
3) Strenght training. Getting your body used to doing push-ups, pull-ups etc.


Get a pair of army boots and walk with them. After you've gotten used to taking long walks with them fill up a back back with about 5-10 kilos (15 pounds) and walk with that for an hour or two.
Each week you should add a little bit of weight, just a couple of pounds or so. In the end you should be able to walk a long distance with a 40-50kg (100 pounds) on your back. (Note:Work yourself into this. Remeber "Rome wasnt built in a day"


Train reguarly. There's no shortcuts to a stronger and conditioned body. Never train when you have a cold, fever or when you feel that your body is so strained that you need a day of rest.


You become good at what you train. You can for example train cyckling, skiing, hockey etc to improve your aerobic fitness but to become good at running you must run. The same with push-ups and other bodyweight excersises.

Have a days rest between longer stamina/aerobic fitness training.

If you injure a part of your body train something else to maintain a good level of physical strenght/stamina. For example if you get a shin split you should bicycle or swim instead of just not doing anything.

STREGHT TRAINING

Start of with using your body for a week until it gets used to weights. 3 sets of every excersise with about a minutes rest between each set.

Squats: 20-70 reps for 3 sets.
Push-Ups: 10-30 reps for 3 sets.
Sit-Ups: 15-40 reps for 3 sets.
Back-Ups: 15-40 reps for 3 sets.

Then when you can do that pretty easily you should start using weights.

Squats
Pull-Ups.
Chins (start with pull-downs for the first month)
Dips.
Bench press/dumbell flyes
Dead-Lifts
Stiff legged Dead-Lifts
Military Presses
Shrugs

Start of with a weight where you can do 8 reps and stay with that weight until you can do 20 reps with it.
Then go to a weight where you can do 8 and repeat the process.

Remeber to also do body-weight excersises once or twice a week.


STAMINA/AEROBIC FITNESS TRAINING.

Train this 2-3 times a week.

If you can afford to get a pulse measurer. (You can do fine without one but they're good to have) Your puls should be up to 65-85% of your max puls for best results in stamina training. Now that you're just starting to train your puls should be a little lower, like 50%.

Start of with 20mins distance training then add on 5mins every week when you feel up to it.

Mix distance training with interval training.
Interval training is training when your puls is at 85% or more. Don't train that until you're decently fit.


WALKING,TRUDGING,RUNNING

If you're unfit and can't run for a longer period of time you should start out by doing this.
Do this for 30mins:
Start of by walking fast for 30 mins. Next time you do it walk fast and occasionally run slowly for about a minute and then going back to walking.

DISTANCE TRAINING

This type of trainig gets your muscles, tendons etc used to be able to work for longer periods of time.
Make sure you don't run too fast because you don't want to get lactic acid. You should train distance training from atleast 20mins upto several hours.
Since you're going into the army most of your training should be focused on distance running and walking.

(NOTE: Start of with the walking/running and do
longer distance training after a few weeks)


INVERVAL TRAINING

You should train intervals once every three weeks.
Your puls should be at about 85% or more.
Run as fast as you can for 2mins then walk very slowly for 1 minute and then repeat until you're upto 30mins of interval training.

(NOTE: Don't do this until you're very fit)

You can also do interval training on hills or by mixing in burpees into your running.



_______________________________________


Always remeber to warm up and stretch before you do any training and to cool down and stretch after every training.

Never train while injured or very muscle sore.

Here's a training program I think might be useful to you.

Week 1 - 4
Mon: Walking/Running for 20 mins, until you can jog for 20 mins continously.
Tues: Rest
Wed: Rest
Thurs: Walking/Running for 20 mins + 45 mins of strengh training (first week just do body weight excersises then switch to weights but keep doing BW to)
Fri: Rest
Sat: Walk with a 15 pound back-pack for 40mins, increase by 10 mins every week.
Sun: Rest

(NOTE: Don't do anything week 3. High risk of injury!)

Week 5 - 7
Mon: Run for 20-30mins + 60mins of strenght training.
Increase your running with 5mins per week.
Tues: Rest
Wed: 60mins of Strenght training
Thurs: Rest
Friday: Run for 20-30 mins + 60mins of strenght training.
Sat: Rest
Sun: Walk with a 20 pound back-pack for 60mins, increase with 10mins per week.

Week 8 - 13
Mon: Run for 45 mins, increase by 5mins per week + 70 mins of bw strenght training.
Tues: Rest
Wed: Strenght training for 90 min.
Thurs: Run for 45 mins + 85 mins of bw strenght training
Fri: Rest
Sat: Walk with a 30 pound back-pack for 80 mins, increase with 10 mins per week.
Sun: Swimming/cycling for 60 mins.

Week 13.

Mon: Run for 45mins + 45 mins of bw strenght training.
Tues: Strenght training for 90mins
Wed: Run/slow jog for 100 mins.
Thurs: Swimming/cycling for 60mins
Fri: Run for 25 mins at a leisure pace + 30min of bw excersise.
Sat: Walk with a 40 pound back-pack for 120 min, try walking 3 hours or more now and again.
Sun: Rest


Alright that's it. I hope this helps you get in shape.
After 13 weeks you're going to be a very fit person and then you can adjust your training personally.

These are training advice from the Swedish Airborne Rangers site and I followed this training about a year ago then after 13 weeks I was in top-notch shape and designed my own program.


Good Luck


Here's some links to other programs.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/teen/mat4.htm

Hopefully I'm going into the Swedish equvelent of the RMC and the training program I got from a officer isnt the same at all as this one so I can't vouch for it. But it seems alright.


http://www.bodybuilding.com/teen/brent2.htm

P.S Any questions just PM me.

[Xhale]

Oh and one thing to do the day before they weigh you is to spend a few hrs in a sauna to shed water weight.

[abarlament]

Only try to shed water weight if you are RIGHT on the cusp of weighing the amount for your height that doesn't require taping. If you know you are going to get taped, try to KEEP all of your water, as weighing more at the same waist/neck measurements= lower BF% (by their calculations).