Physical Fitness (Jogging, Diet, Cardiovascular, and Strength )

[jparkin]

Don't focus on a scale to judge your fitness..it's useless. Focus on increasing time, reps weight etc in whatever program you choose. Log everything.

This is great advice. Keeping a logbook of all your serious workouts helps you set goals and watch yourself progress! Of course nothing happens overnight, but in the long term you really get a sense of achievement when you can look back to what you started at.

 

[DogFighting101]

To add to the scale comment, just remember that the more excess you have, the more you have to drag along, so although the scale may not indicate your fitness level, your weight will still have an effect on your cardio.

As a side note, if you're looking to improve your cardio, as in VO2 max, try HIIT training. It consist of alternating in between long intervals of High Intensity Training and short intervals of rest/low intensity training.

IE, walk at a 3.0-3.5 miles/h pace for 1 min, then run at a 8.5-9.0 miles/h for 1-2 min, alternate while slowly increasing your running time.

On the weights side, building endurance and strength, combine antagonist movements in super sets and take about 30-45 sec in between sets.

IE, set of 10-12 reps on the bicep curls then immediately run over to a set of 10-12 reps on the skullcrushers or triceps push downs, then take a 30-45 sec break, then repeat for a total of 4 sets, switch to another exercise in the same muscle groups and repeat.

I guarantee after you will feel it after every work out and you will notice a improvement in all fields within a few weeks. I guarantee you will want to puke the first few times you do it, you just have to push yourself through it and keep on your times (you can cheat a little at first to get used to the intensity).

Another concept to develop both VO2max and Strength/Endurance is the DTP program, made famous by bodybuilding.com chief editor Kris Gethin. This program consist of doing a workout with only 1 compound exercise (aka bench press, full squats, deadlifts, basically an exercise which works multiple muscle groups) and doing pyramid sets of 50-30-15-8-4-8-15-30-50 (somewhere along that range) with minimal rest in between the sets and increasing your weights for each set, so that when you get to your 4 set you should be around your maximum weight capabilities, then you pyramid down the weights until you get to your 50 reps again. This training is a little more advance but i guarantee you will ache in areas you never knew you had muscles.

As for me, i currently follow something a little more oriented towards building size as I was way underweight (sitting around 105 lbs at 5.8, now at 170 after 2 years), which is basically a HIIT training on the cardio and a Pyramid program on the weights with target training (focussing on 1 muscle group per workout) and going as heavy as i can on the weights.

I suggest taking a look at this website, contains allot of good workout programs, from beginner to advance, it has everything. Most of them are written by professional trainers or bodybuilders and the best part is that its free.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workout.htm

my :2c:

 

[SentryMAn]

I'll only add this part:

I did classes to get my but in shape, Body Training Systems and Les Mills do some great fitness classes built on rounding out your entire fitness.  I went from being able to do about 8-9 push-ups to over 30 in about 6 months of doing the classes 3+ times a week and doing cardio along with it.

Best of Luck!

 

[KeoughJ]

To add to the scale comment, just remember that the more excess you have, the more you have to drag along, so although the scale may not indicate your fitness level, your weight will still have an effect on your cardio.

As a side note, if you're looking to improve your cardio, as in VO2 max, try HIIT training. It consist of alternating in between long intervals of High Intensity Training and short intervals of rest/low intensity training.

IE, walk at a 3.0-3.5 miles/h pace for 1 min, then run at a 8.5-9.0 miles/h for 1-2 min, alternate while slowly increasing your running time.

On the weights side, building endurance and strength, combine antagonist movements in super sets and take about 30-45 sec in between sets.

IE, set of 10-12 reps on the bicep curls then immediately run over to a set of 10-12 reps on the skullcrushers or triceps push downs, then take a 30-45 sec break, then repeat for a total of 4 sets, switch to another exercise in the same muscle groups and repeat.

I guarantee after you will feel it after every work out and you will notice a improvement in all fields within a few weeks. I guarantee you will want to puke the first few times you do it, you just have to push yourself through it and keep on your times (you can cheat a little at first to get used to the intensity).

Another concept to develop both VO2max and Strength/Endurance is the DTP program, made famous by bodybuilding.com chief editor Kris Gethin. This program consist of doing a workout with only 1 compound exercise (aka bench press, full squats, deadlifts, basically an exercise which works multiple muscle groups) and doing pyramid sets of 50-30-15-8-4-8-15-30-50 (somewhere along that range) with minimal rest in between the sets and increasing your weights for each set, so that when you get to your 4 set you should be around your maximum weight capabilities, then you pyramid down the weights until you get to your 50 reps again. This training is a little more advance but i guarantee you will ache in areas you never knew you had muscles.

As for me, i currently follow something a little more oriented towards building size as I was way underweight (sitting around 105 lbs at 5.8, now at 170 after 2 years), which is basically a HIIT training on the cardio and a Pyramid program on the weights with target training (focussing on 1 muscle group per workout) and going as heavy as i can on the weights.

I suggest taking a look at this website, contains allot of good workout programs, from beginner to advance, it has everything. Most of them are written by professional trainers or bodybuilders and the best part is that its free.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workout.htm

my :2c:

Thanks for the advice man, much appreciated. Its hard to really have a starting ground when there are so many different workouts you can do, and don't want to mess it up. I have a friend thats let me copy cat his workouts this last week and I'm certainly feeling them. Everywhere.

I was looking at HIIT prior and was thinking about doing that 5 times a week and then just a 5km run the other two days. I'm not noticing that much of a decrease in fat accumulation around my stomach, even tho I run 5km 4-5 times a week and now starting at a gym where as prior I sat at a computer most of the time and ate shit. So I shall give it a shot when my legs don't hurt as much.


Also thanks for the log tip guys, Surprisingly helpful.

 

[ballz]

Thanks for the advice man, much appreciated. Its hard to really have a starting ground when there are so many different workouts you can do, and don't want to mess it up. I have a friend thats let me copy cat his workouts this last week and I'm certainly feeling them. Everywhere.

I was looking at HIIT prior and was thinking about doing that 5 times a week and then just a 5km run the other two days. I'm not noticing that much of a decrease in fat accumulation around my stomach, even tho I run 5km 4-5 times a week and now starting at a gym where as prior I sat at a computer most of the time and ate crap. So I shall give it a shot when my legs don't hurt as much.


Also thanks for the log tip guys, Surprisingly helpful.

Don't do HIIT 5 times a week, that's way too much. HIIT is pretty hard on the body, especially if you are overweight (I have no idea if you are overweight or not, but since you want to lose 30 lbs I'll assume you think you are). You need rest after HIIT training in order to make gains. If you do 5 sessions a week you'll plateau pretty quick.

If you're not losing weight any more (and if that's your goal), your body has probably adjusted and is quite capable of running 5km at your current weight. To fix this start running longer distances. I usually don't do HIIT and cardio together (I train in phases), but if you're going to do both, try cardio twice a week and HIIT twice a week (aka off - HIIT - cardio - off - HIIT - cardio - off).

Personally, I agree with the "don't worry about the scale" comment. When I'm training for courses, I'm not worried about my weight or my physique, I'm only worried about setting fitness goals that are going to ensure I will succeed, because at the end of the day it doesn't matter how much you weigh or how you look, if you can run 5km in less than 20 min or 8km in less than 40 minutes, no one is going suggest you're not fit.

So for basic training, I would set these goals
5km in ~23 min
8km in ~40 min
30 push-ups(chest to the floor, perfect form) push-ups
45 sit-ups in 60 seconds
5 chin ups

And if you were around 185 lbs, I would say
a 185 lb bench press
a 250 lb squat
a 275 lb deadlift

If you can accomplish those things before you go away, you will have a good well-rounded fitness base and you should have no problems accomplishing the physical things you need to accomplish at basic (such as obstacle courses, the BFT, and just everyday PT). Now, depending on what your trade is, you will want to surpass those goals because the courses after basic will get a lot more physically demanding than a BFT.

 

[DogFighting101]

Don't do HIIT 5 times a week, that's way too much. HIIT is pretty hard on the body, especially if you are overweight (I have no idea if you are overweight or not, but since you want to lose 30 lbs I'll assume you think you are). You need rest after HIIT training in order to make gains. If you do 5 sessions a week you'll plateau pretty quick.

If you're not losing weight any more (and if that's your goal), your body has probably adjusted and is quite capable of running 5km at your current weight. To fix this start running longer distances. I usually don't do HIIT and cardio together (I train in phases), but if you're going to do both, try cardio twice a week and HIIT twice a week (aka off - HIIT - cardio - off - HIIT - cardio - off).

Personally, I agree with the "don't worry about the scale" comment. When I'm training for courses, I'm not worried about my weight or my physique, I'm only worried about setting fitness goals that are going to ensure I will succeed, because at the end of the day it doesn't matter how much you weigh or how you look, if you can run 5km in less than 20 min or 8km in less than 40 minutes, no one is going suggest you're not fit.

So for basic training, I would set these goals
5km in ~23 min
8km in ~40 min
30 push-ups(chest to the floor, perfect form) push-ups
45 sit-ups in 60 seconds
5 chin ups

And if you were around 185 lbs, I would say
a 185 lb bench press
a 250 lb squat
a 275 lb deadlift

If you can accomplish those things before you go away, you will have a good well-rounded fitness base and you should have no problems accomplishing the physical things you need to accomplish at basic (such as obstacle courses, the BFT, and just everyday PT). Now, depending on what your trade is, you will want to surpass those goals because the courses after basic will get a lot more physically demanding than a BFT.

Agreed on the HIIT comment. Leave at least 1 day in between high intensity trainings. You wont gain strength or lose weight at the gym either, that's only about 10% of it. The real gits of it is how well you maintain your nutrition and making sure you get enough rest to let your muscles heal.

Especially if this is your first time, take it real easy for the first 4-5 weeks, maybe like 3-4 strength training over a 7 day period, the cardio you can do as much as you want tho, but the "off - HIIT - cardio - off - HIIT - cardio - off" seems like a good start.

You just have to make sure that you don't Overtrain, what i mean by that is lifting and pumping iron, w/o proper rest and eating well, to the point where you muscle fibers will actually break themselves down to provide you with energy, when this occurs the fibers get replaced by scar tissue (not a good thing, cause scar tissue is basically dead). I know allot of people who killed it in the gym every single day but never had any gains, and that's because the weren't getting enough rest and not eating properly. If you "Overtrain" you can potentially really hurt your muscles.

Also you'll notice gains fast within the first 2 months or so, don't get discouraged once it slows down because it will.

 

[m.k]

Even though everything you need to know is in the great above posts I'll still toss in my  :2c:
Most important things are a well balanced healthy diet, proper rest for muscle recovery (off days, good night's sleep) and an even, balanced weekly workout plan. IE don't be a curl monkey

Get a daytimer or something and try to get into the habit of logging everything, for the first little while at least.

 

[nik214]

Recently started running to get into better shape for my testing. Off the bat I ran a 10:30 2.4 km which is not amazing by any means I am just showing my level of fitness. My question is: Would it benefit me to go on runs upwards of 10 km? or should I keep my focus on getting faster at distances shorter than 10 km? Thanks.

 

[ballz]

You will definitely want to be able to run longer distances than that. The key is varying you distance/intensity/time.

If you run 5km once a week at your fastest, then a low 10-15km once a week (the distance should tire you out, not the pace), with a day of high-intensity intervals, you will end up with a better 5km time than if you were just running 5km 3x a week

10.30 for 2.4km is a good start if you're not into running by the way, so if you keep running you should do fairly well at it.

 

[nik214]

My goals are just to get in great shape all round. I have applied for a reserve unit so I believe the cardiovascular test is the beep test.

Ballz: Thanks for the advice. I am going to do a couple more 5 km runs and include intervals; then try and work my way up to longer distances.

 

[nik214]

Thanks for the link

 

[RyaeC]

So for basic training, I would set these goals
5km in ~23 min
8km in ~40 min
30 push-ups(chest to the floor, perfect form) push-ups
45 sit-ups in 60 seconds
5 chin ups

And if you were around 185 lbs, I would say
a 185 lb bench press
a 250 lb squat
a 275 lb deadlift

Can anyone set some goals like the (above) goals, but for a woman? 145lbs 5'6.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Can anyone set some goals like the (above) goals, but for a woman? 145lbs 5'6.

5km in ~23 min
8km in ~40 min
30 push-ups(chest to the floor, perfect form) push-ups
45 sit-ups in 60 seconds
5 chin ups


a 100 lb bench press
a 240 lb squat
a 180 lb deadlift

 

[MJP]

a 100 lb bench press
a 240 lb squat
a 180 lb deadlift

It is usually better to use ratios of body weight (Bwt) for people rather than give arbitrary numbers.  I assume you saying that these are 1RM numbers (1 repetition maximums).  Arguable as well one should be able to deadlift more than they squat.

In that case;

A decent squat weight goal is Bwt - 1 1/2 Bwt

Bench would be 3/4 to bwt

Deadlift Bwt - 1 3/4 bwt


Ideally you will be well served in the military by achieving the goals that both Ballz and OZ mentioned first.

5km in ~23 min
8km in ~40 min
30 push-ups(chest to the floor, perfect form) push-ups
45 sit-ups in 60 seconds
5 chin ups

These are excellent goals and very achievable for both men and women.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Bench would be 3/4 to bwt

I think benching your own body weight is a good starting goal then working up to 1 and a halfish times your body weight.  ie at 175-180 my goal is 275

 

[THINKBIG]

Hello,  I find a nice book online last week that I would like to share with all of you I was searching on youtube on Paleo diet and I found this:  This is very long but it is great stuff.  I seriously think that book with help a lot of people in the FC.  It could be a future tool for PSP staff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PdJFbjWHEU

Book : ( Body by Science ), I read it all as a french men it was easy to read.  You must read it all to understand.  DO not just read the work out you will not get every tool you need to succeed in your training.

I am giving a try to this work out + my sport biking and diving.  I stop running training because at long term it is bad for your joints. I use to run my 2.4 km in 8 min.

Any comment or help ... I will be more than happy to put you in the good direction.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Here's a hint: the best workouts are not in the gym. Go outside, go far, go fast!

 

[MJP]

I think benching your own body weight is a good starting goal then working up to 1 and a halfish times your body weight.  ie at 175-180 my goal is 275

Sure for a male yes, but you were giving a recommendation for a female who have different musculature physiology than males do.  Their lifts will for most females tend to be lower and therefore good strength programs and coaches usually have different goals for males and females.

However I will stand by that the first part regarding good running, push-ups, chin ups etc is more vital than lifting big numbers.  Like DaftandBarmy said there are great options outside of the gym and building that core ability is crucial to long term fitness

 

[Jarnhamar]

Sure for a male yes, but you were giving a recommendation for a female who have different musculature physiology than males do.

I'm not built for running but the army makes me  ;D

I hear you though.

 

[THINKBIG]

http://forums.navy.ca/forums/threads/68249.25.html