Weights to prepare for boot camp? Please help.

[TMiller556]

I'm 17 years old and I'm heading into my last year of HS. I'm not a poolee yet, but I do go to my RSS PT sessions. To all Marines, I want to ask: would you recommend just working on calisthenics, endurance, and core strength to prepare for boot camp or lifting weights as well? My workouts usually consists of some weight lifting with calisthenics and core exercises thrown in. I've seen improvement ever since I first started lifting but now I hit a plateau, especially my pullups. I also don't want to gain too much size because I have a pretty good run time. If anyone has any suggestions on how to break my pullup plateau or has had any programs that has worked, it would be great if you could help me out. Thanks in advance.

[josephd]

yes you need to do some sort of weight lifting to keep your strength. And as far as the pull up plateau thing goes here is my advice...DO NOT get off that bar until you literally cannot pull yourself up at all anymore or cant hang on any longer. At my peak a few years ago I was busting out 35-40 pull ups at a time from this. The key to it is stretching out your lat muscles. I am currently trying to get back to what I was at before by doing exactly what I told you

[TMiller556]

Thank you for the reply sir, I will try it out. Today I tried doing weighted pullups and I did 4 sets of 5 reps, which probably didn't do anything for me. And regarding weight lifting, is there a specific program that you know of that is good to follow and/or that has worked for you? Should I just be doing compound exercises and no isolation exercises? Also, what rep range should I stick to? Thanks again

[josephd]

I don't use any program and don't really know of one to suggest. I stick to the tried and true back and triceps one day, chest and biceps the next, leg day, shoulders, have a day off, and then start over again...As far as reps go, I would suggest doing 4 sets with 8-10 reps each

[TMiller556]

Thanks sir, I'll be sure to keep up with the weights and pullups.