Improving Physical Fitness?

[jc091393]

Hello everyone,

My name is Juan Rubio and i'm 16, 5'10 and weigh 164 pounds.I was wondering if any Marines out there could give me advice on improving my physical fitness.As of now I can't even do a single pull up( Sad I know) I haven't really done much pt since I stopped playing Football last year except for the occasional pt with JROTC.How should I start PTing? What exercises and how many should I do? Also,what should I eat? Oh and I don't have any exercise equpment a home but I can go down to the local gym if need be.All help is appreciated.

[thewookie]

Exercise the search button.

[jc091393]

Thanks for the reply Sir! Ok well I searched for "Physical Fitness" but didn't quite find what I'm looking for.Anyways though my brother is gonna give me his copy of the "Metabolic Surge" book which is supposed to be a good workout program or so he says... here's the link to the "Metabolic Surge" site http://www.fitstep.com/metabolic-surge/metabolic-surge-rapid-fat-loss.htm what do you Marines think of it? I'm gonna post more info on it once I actually get it from him.I'm sick and tired of being weak and unfit! I really want to change my fatbody ways so that I can one day become a Marine just like my uncle.Thanks in advance for the replies!

[Squirtle]

What I would do if I were you is just go out for a run, and every 100 yards, stop, do 20 repetitions of whatever exercise and keep going. You don't need exercise equipment at all besides a pull up bar, and I've used trees before.

To raise your pull up count, I'd say do pyramids, in which you start let's say at 5 for beginning. Five pull ups, then 10 pushups. Then 4 pull ups, 10 pushups. Going down in the count of pull ups all the way to 1 and then you go back up to 5.

If you use the overhand grip, I find it to be easier because your back muscles should be stronger than your biceps, but the biceps are easier to develop.

[samthomas]

run, pull ups, sit ups, and push ups. Nothing to buy, other than a pull-up bar, and you could just as well use the public park. If they don't have a pull up bar, you can something else on the kid's part.

[TheCrazySwede]

Hello everyone,

My name is Juan Rubio and i'm 16, 5'10 and weigh 164 pounds.I was wondering if any Marines out there could give me advice on improving my physical fitness.As of now I can't even do a single pull up( Sad I know) I haven't really done much pt since I stopped playing Football last year except for the occasional pt with JROTC.How should I start PTing? What exercises and how many should I do? Also,what should I eat? Oh and I don't have any exercise equpment a home but I can go down to the local gym if need be.All help is appreciated.
Well, everyone is different, you have to find a balance of exercises that fits you. Now, don't expect that to happen during boot camp, that is why you need it now before it's too late. It's kind of freaky in my opinion to read your thread because I was in the EXACT same position when I was in your age. Here's what worked for me-

My stamina was very low, I went out of breath easily, so I hated to run.
So, instead, I started jogging at a constant speed (nothing too fast and nothing too slow) but I jogged for long distances. When I came to that point where I could no longer run, I dropped, no matter where I was, I dropped on the ground and did push-ups until I could catch my breath. Then, once I could breath again (took about 27 push-ups) I started to jog again. The next time I got tired, I did sit-ups. (about 22) then just repeat. Do this for a while. Now, don't run 5 miles your first PT session, take it slowly, you got time. After a while, you will notice that it will take less push-ups/sit-ups for you to catch your breath again and now you also run for longer distances. Once this happens, make counts for yourself. This means that you make a reasonable, yet hard, limit for yourself in each exercise. What I did was I ran (not jog anymore) for 5 minutes straight, dropped and did 30 push-ups, ran straight for 5 minutes, dropped and did 30 sit-ups. After doing this for a while, you will notice that your speed, strength and stamina has increased. You can now add pull-ups to your PT sessions. For example, see a tree with a good looking branch while running? Do as many pull-ups as you can, or just hang on as long as you can, then keep on running. As I said, do whatever is right for you. Try following my tips and I'll guarantee you it will work, you just have to be willing to do it. Hope this helps.

[jc091393]

Thanks for the advice Marines! Today I ran from school to home (26 blocks) and did one set of 30 sit ups and two sets of 20 push ups in between running,although I did stop to walk briefly 3 times :( I'll run again tomorrow and hopefully I won't stop to walk as much.It feels good to exercise and I can't wait to start seeing results!

[Petz]

if you stop to walk you can cramp up, you should keep your feet moving like you're running but slow it down if you want to catch your breath. so don't rest on your laurels. keep yourself on the balls of your feet.

[Supersquishy]

Thanks for the advice Marines! Today I ran from school to home (26 blocks) and did one set of 30 sit ups and two sets of 20 push ups in between running,although I did stop to walk briefly 3 times :( I'll run again tomorrow and hopefully I won't stop to walk as much.It feels good to exercise and I can't wait to start seeing results!

In that hot humid heat? Drink plenty of WATER and if you can try waking up early before school and working out, or do it late in the evening. Drink LOTS OF WATER when your in FL this time of year.

[Petz]

hey, don't forget to drink LOTS OF WATER.

your muscles are made up of about 70% water, it's the first place you body plunders when you need it for other parts and the last place it puts it when it starts to get some more.

when you're dehydrated the first thing your body does is clean your blood from the toxins it builds up when it starts to run low and decides to not pee.

then it starts replacing lost resources. so even if you are peeing alot keep drinking.

I think they say, after you pee clear you need 32 oz of water a day.

[jc091393]

Thanks again Marines! I'm definitely drinking more water now as the first day I went running I cramped up and it is very muggy and hot.I went running yesterday and today and ran further each time.I feel like this running/sit-ups/push ups thing is a good work out! Now I just gotta buy myself a pull up bar so I can start working on those and maybe a pedometer.

[Petz]

pedometer is a waste of cash. doesn't do much for you in regards to anything.

I would suggest that you go onto google and type in your start location then enter some other destination to get the purple line. grab the destination marker and move it closer to your start location and then map a distance you want to run. I picked a light pole 2 miles away from my house so I know where to turn around?

it's pretty easy, and fun.

[Lisa 23]

Someone on here put this link up a few months ago, its called MapMyRun. I used it to map out my 10 mile bike ride that I do 3 times a week.
Good Luck!

http://www.mapmyrun.com/

[SlingerDun]

www.runthere.com (http://www.runthere.com)

It's quite precise, following bends and curves when you're navigating roads and even trails that are accurately plotted on google maps. Without outlined roads and paths it works more like GPS or "as the crow flies"

--->Dave

[jc091393]

Thanks Marines! These sites really do make buying a pedometer a waste of money.I was able to accurately pinpoint my run route :) 2.33 Miles.I'm going to try to go further today!

[dizark]

Pull-ups: Start out by doing negatives. You start in the up position (use a chair or a friend to get up there), and slowly lower yourself down. Do sets of these until absolute failure (you can no longer control the speed you let yourself down with. Once you get a pull up, every time you pass the bar, do that one pull up. Once you get more, start doing pyramids as suggested.

Crunches: Do 100 crunches each day. No reason to time yourself yet.. just get 100 done each day. Maybe 2 sets of 50 for example. Soon, you'll see improvements as crunches are easy to improve on. Remember, proper form is to grab your biceps and only your elbows need to touch your thighs and your shoulder blades need to touch the ground.

Running: Just run. Don't over do it at first. Start out small and work your way up. Remember to drink plenty of water like other Marines have mentioned. You can also work on stamina by doing sprints on days that you don't run.

Good luck!

[jc091393]

Thank you Marines! I did sprints on the beach today. 7 120 yard sprints and then 3 40 yard sprints.Also I've done 50 sit ups and plan on doing 50 more.I asked my mom if we could go to the sports store later today and she said maybe so we'll see if I get one of those door attaching pull up bars.Oh and I weighed myself today and I'm 160 so I've lost 4 pounds since I started exercising.