Questions about PT before boot camp

[csellers0956]

Ok here are some questions that I would like cleared up about working out. Psurichie said do pull ups everyday, that is ok because I have a pull up bar in my house. I have searched and searched about different ways to work out and how often I should work out, right now I can do 9 pull ups, 70 situps. I leave for boot camp in April. I have only been working out about 1 month on pull ups and improved from 7-9 so far. I have heard a lot of people say you dont need to work out everyday your muscles need time to recover so work out every other day. But I have also read, you can do pull ups everyday, but dont max out and go to failure. They said since my max is 9 I should do 4 at a time and do that 5 times a day throughout the day. I think this is effective, but im not sure. So I have about 10 weeks to add 11 pull ups, 30 situps, and I have a workout for running that is working so what do you guys suggest for pullups, situps and also push ups. How often should I do them, everyday? Every other day? And anything else you guys want to add. I greatly appreciate it and I'll work as hard as needed.

P.S. I had this on another thread, but it was about a different topic so I wanted to repost this with the right title. Thanks in advance

[xpaz]

Yes, you need to rest. Your muscles won't recover and grow efficiently unless you are allowing them time to do so, and eating a healthy diet.

There are lots of ways to improve your pull-up numbers. I've found the most efficient and effective to be "Greasing the Groove" as you've described it.

If you can do 9 pull-ups now, then try doing 6-7 pull-ups, 8 to 12 times throughout the day. The same can be said for your sit-ups. Generally you want to hit between 75% and 80% of your max reps, 8 to 12 times a day. Once a week or so, do a max effort test and see how you're doing. Once you can pull off 10 pull-ups, increase to 8 pull-ups, 8 to 12 times a day... and so on.

Remember to include 1-2 days of rest a week to allow for recovery.

The other way that I prefer is with "Tabatas." 2 times a week or so, do the following:

- As many pull-ups as possible in 20 seconds (you can drop off the bar, kip, or do whatever is necessary to get your chin over that bar -- but don't get in the habit of kipping too much, as they won't allow it at Recruit Training, but for your purposes here, it's just fine).
- Rest for 10 seconds
- Repeat 8 times

It sounds easy. It's not. I used Tabatas and GTG (Grease the Groove) to get from 11 to 23 in a couple of months. The same can go for your sit-ups.

Don't worry about push-ups, really, unless you're totally weak on them. They don't get tested in the PFT, so if improving your PFT score is your only concern here, then focus on that.

With that advice aside, your PFT score is important, but general physical preparedness is even more important. A 280 PFT isn't worth much if your body is not prepared for 8 mile hikes in full gear and rucksack.

For general physical preparedness, you have time to improve, and should take advantage of it.

1 word: CrossFit (dot com)

For diet: Meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar

I won't type for pages and pages about CrossFit (I often come off as a spokesman, almost), but there's a reason it's spreading like wildfire through the Corps and through the armed forces as a whole. I've been doing it for almost 2 years now, and it's hands down the most efficient and effective GPP program out there.

So... do what works for you. You can focus on your PFT, or you can accept the fact that with overall improvements in physical fitness, you will experience overall improvements in your PFT as well. Don't underestimate the impact that a healthy diet can have, either.

Apologies for rambling. Good luck.

[WalkingMan]

Ok here are some questions that I would like cleared up about working out. Psurichie said do pull ups everyday, that is ok because I have a pull up bar in my house.

I was doing my pull-ups on a bar I jerry-rigged to the ceiling in my basement, but I recently picked up that 'Iron Gym' bar that you can hang on any standard door frame, and it really does work great for pull-ups and also, on the floor, for deep push-ups.

First, make sure you are doing dead-hang pull-ups, where you go all the way down at the bottom. Also a good idea, to vary thy type of pull-up... palms forward, palms facing you, wide grip, narrow grip, and with the Iron Gym bar, you also have the option of doing pull-ups with your hands turned 90 degrees inward, palms facing the sides of your head. Each one works a different set of muscles, with a little overlap.

If you want to do pull-ups every day, without over-exercising your muscles, just alternate the various grips.

Also, you did not mention running. If that was an oversight, and you are already running, cool, but if running is not a major part of your workout, you might want to consider making it a major part, for things like endurance, increasing VO2-max, and toughening up all the core muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connecting tissues.

For me, running seven miles most every morning (weather permitting, and I am pretty hard core, snow, cold, ice and extreme heat generally will not stop me) is my base workout, then calisthenics, and then some weight training, last in the order of importance.

Also, and this is really a big deal in my opinion... warm-up and stretching exercises, both to prevent injury, and to increase flexibility.

[csellers0956]

Thank you guys for both replies , that is great information. I have the iron gym as well and I like it a lot, it works great. And yes I am already running, that is why I didn't mention that. My run time isn't great right now for a PFT I did a mile and half in 10:54 at the recruiters station the other day, but it was about 30 degrees out when we ran, they said when it's warm my time will drop. I run 3-4 miles 3-4 times a week, I am slowly increasing that number in between now and April. My goal is to be running 8-10 miles in April when I leave. Thanks again for the info.

[WalkingMan]

Thank you guys for both replies , that is great information. I have the iron gym as well and I like it a lot, it works great. And yes I am already running, that is why I didn't mention that. My run time isn't great right now for a PFT I did a mile and half in 10:54 at the recruiters station the other day, but it was about 30 degrees out when we ran, they said when it's warm my time will drop. I run 3-4 miles 3-4 times a week, I am slowly increasing that number in between now and April. My goal is to be running 8-10 miles in April when I leave. Thanks again for the info.

Yeah, that Iron Gym advertisement on TV looks like total B.S., but it really is a terrific little tool, as long as you weigh under 250 lbs. Over that, I would be afraid to use it.

Yeah, my 3 mile time in dead of winter is between 28 and 30 mins, depending on ice, wind, and other weather and bulky-clothing-related factors. In summer, my 3 mile time is between 24 and 26 mins... I'm 60 years old with a 100% disability rating, so your times will probably be a lot better than mine.:)

Good Luck, in April!

[Wolverine1971]

I love the Iron Gym - I did a review of it on my website and gave a shout out to the Marines. My Iron Gym Review (http://www.howtogetrippedabsreview.com/blog/home-gym-equipment-the-iron-gym-pull-up-bar-review/)

Pull ups don't need to be done everyday as it is a pretty intensive exercise on the upper back and biceps. Every other day works o.k. but even then it is a good idea to switch up the grips to work the joints a little different and hit the muscles and biceps from a slightly different angle. The bicep is the weak link on this exercise and will give out before the upper back muscles so their is a intensity technique I use that works great for building those lats.

Once you reach failure on pullups and can't make a complete rep use your upper back to pull yourself a quarter of the way up and hold for a second. Do it like a shrugging movement and don't let your biceps initiate the movement or pulling. When done correctly you can do quarter reps and really exhaust the upper back muscles to the next level. Most times when you reach failure on pull ups it is the biceps that are toast and the upper back still has more juice left so do some quarter reps until the muscles are on fire.

Vary the rep ranges also - you can do a day with 10 sets of 3 reps to work the strength motor units. Most people need to add some weight around the waist but choose a weight where you can do 5 complete reps. 10 sets of 3 reps on Monday. Then on Wednesday work the motor units differently by doing 5 sets of 8-10 reps with a reverse grip or use a V bar to make it into a pullup rowing movement. Friday go with 4 sets of 12-15 which for many people will require using a pullup assist if you can't do 12 to 15 deadhangs.

By varying the rep range and rest periods you can work muscles with greater frequency getting faster results. But by doing the same pull up workout a few days a week the body will adapt within a couple weeks and results won't happen.

Semper Fi!

[giveen]

I would try pyramid pullups.

Do 9 pullups one set
Rest (10 seconds)
Do 8 pullups, one set
Rest

And so on, then do it in reverse

1 Pullup
rest
2 pullup
Rest

and so on.

[Lisa 23]

In case anyone hasn't noticed, the original poster started this thread in January of this year and went to boot camp in April of this year.
Just thought I'd pass that info along.

[Rocky C]

In case anyone hasn't noticed, the original poster started this thread in January of this year and went to boot camp in April of this year.
Just thought I'd pass that info along.

HAHAHA!!!
Good Call:D:thumbup:.
The Thread stopped in February and got picked up again today.

Semper Fi,
Rocky

[Wolverine1971]

Yes, I realized he was long gone and better be able to do pullups by now. LOL

I posted this for any guys searching the internet for answers and if they find this in a Google search we just added some great info to go along with this. Old forum posts stay very much alive in the search engines. It's like a living encyclopedia you can add to.

[Lisa 23]

Yes, I realized he was long gone and better be able to do pullups by now. LOL

I posted this for any guys searching the internet for answers and if they find this in a Google search we just added some great info to go along with this. Old forum posts stay very much alive in the search engines. It's like a living encyclopedia you can add to.

:) :thumbup: