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  1. #1

    Fitness Question

    I'm new to these boards and I searched as much as I can about board policies and expectations but as I am currently at my volunteer fire department I couldn't as much as I wanted so I apologize in advance if I didn't introduce myself properly in another thread or messed up somewhere in expected board protocol (calls, cleaning, other firefighters poking fun at me over my shoulder and the like).

    I am trying my hardest to improve my fitness before I ship off in three months but I am not currently at the level of fitness I would like. I can do 9 pullups, ran my 1.5 mile in 9:55, I keep muffing up my crunches even tho last time I didn't crank out the minimum (mostly because either I'm tired or still getting used to the Marine Corps crunches rather then your civvy ones) but I'm hoping to bust my balls daily so when I make it to boot I can get at least a 1st class PFT. My question is how much would my PFT improve from initial depart to the end of Boot? I don't expect a miracle, but I'm hoping to be able to bang out a perfect PFT ASAP. The MOS I'm hoping to get as my assigned is Combat Engineer on the Division level but like every other Poolee and Wannabe on these forums I got delusions of grandeur and am considering trying out for Indoc after SOI. Even if I change my mind by then I'm trying to tie up all loose ends to be as refined as possible when I get outta Boot to have more possibilities for jobs and oppurtunities I've already memorized as much as I could concerning USMC knowledge, got a 93 on my AFQT blah blah blah, but like I've said before in this post I'm hoping that by the end of MCRD I'll get closer to my goal of a perfect PFT score.

    Again before the Marines light into me about not checking the boards enough and the like I'm trying to get used to these boards as quickly as possible before another call goes out or my officers at my firehouse call me off to do something again. Thank you.


  2. #2
    Filling out all of your profile, as it's required in the site rules, will be helpful to the Marines who are going to answer your questions. You can read the site rules in the poolee and Ask A Marine forums....
    [Poolee Rules] Attention New Poolee & Wannabe Members
    Read This Before Posting In Ask A Marine!!!!

    How you improve on your PFT when you first get to boot camp and to the time you leave, is all up to you. Everyone is different. All you can do is your best!


  3. #3
    Marine Free Member sparkie's Avatar
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    Firepuppy,,,,,,, Consider sprints,,,,,,,, Intense sprints.


  4. #4
    Understood.I read all the rules and hope I didn't make my impression to FUBAR.I went over my profile with a fine tooth comb but knowing my luck I probably made a deliberate blatant mistake or left something out heh...Ah, I see, I fully planned on pushing myself as hard as possible in MCRD and on the sprints thing I'll keep that in mind as well. I found and printed off the 'Armstrong Workout Progam' thing and keep it in a folder I use to keep all my Marine related papers (yeah kinda nerdy I know, but I'm anal about keeping anything important like this organized and convenient) together. Are there any personal PT habits that the Marines on this forum use that could further help me or any further bits of advice? And do you think lugging around SCBA and other tools in the firehouse or running around in full PPE help me be more used to USMC full gear drills in any way? If the Marines are unfamiliar with fire service acronyms and lingo I can put it in common English as best as I can.


  5. #5
    Your profile is fine. Sounds like you're doing everything right and running around in full PPE is certainly going to help.


  6. #6
    My question is how much would my PFT improve from initial depart to the end of Boot?
    It varies from person to person. Some of the biggest jumps in performance came from recruits who started out on the over-weight side of the spectrum and then shed pounds.

    My personal anecdote would be that I barely passed the run on my IST, and managed 55 crunches and 8 pull ups. By the time I graduated I was doing 20 pull ups, 100 crunches, and a 20:30 3-mile run time.


  7. #7
    My story is a reverse one. My first test was a full 300 score (17:36 three miles, 110 situps, and 26 pullups). My last pft was a 296 or so, because I dropped to an 18:05 three miles (even though my other scores stayed the same).

    That was under the old boot camp format prior to the Crucible becoming a part of the training. Who knows why my run time dropped like it did. I do remember throwing up a couple of times.

    The typical result for other recruits was as Beltayn stated. You're just a lot meaner toward the end of boot camp than when you first got there.

    Your cardio and stamina will be forged 1) in the Pit; 2) on the Quarter Deck and/or 3) around the Parade Field, in a repeated military fashion during your glorious stay on the beautiful Island.


  8. #8
    I remember that the day before we did our final PFT, they had us do the confidence course. It was freezing and the white tape that used to be wrapped around the monkey bars obstacle had rotted off so our hands froze to the metal bars and the majority of the platoon lost almost half the skin from our palms.
    The next day, when we were doing the final PFT for score, our pull-ups were universally lower than what we normally were able to do by that point, because our hands were so ripped to shreds that we couldn't get a good grip on the bar. The pull-up bars were covered by a good quantity of recruit blood by the time the whole platoon had done our pull ups.

    Just one more motivating story from Hotel Hell.


  9. #9
    Thank all the Marines for their input. Since it sounds like I might as well stick my plan, stay motivated, stay dedicated and I should make improvement. I'll still use this thread for any other questions that come into my head but I'll try to stick to harassing my recruiter about any questions too general til he punches me in the throat for being agitating ha. Again thank you for the current input.


  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by FirehouseCowboy View Post
    I am trying my hardest to improve my fitness before I ship off in three months but I am not currently at the level of fitness I would like. I can do 9 pullups, ran my 1.5 mile in 9:55, I keep muffing up my crunches even tho last time I didn't crank out the minimum (mostly because either I'm tired or still getting used to the Marine Corps crunches rather then your civvy ones) but I'm hoping to bust my balls daily so when I make it to boot I can get at least a 1st class PFT. My question is how much would my PFT improve from initial depart to the end of Boot? I don't expect a miracle, but I'm hoping to be able to bang out a perfect PFT ASAP.
    Typically, crunches are the easy "gimmie" points. I think everyone in our platoon had maxed out by the end of bootcamp. But, if you're not hitting the minimum now, that could be a problem. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but have you got a gut that you're trying to get around when doing them? Normally they aren't an issue.

    Pull ups are your big money when it comes to your PFT score. The rule of thumb when I was in was that your pull ups doubled from the beginning of bootcamp to the end, but I think that applies more to people doing few to begin with. If you start off doing 2, its easy to make it to 4. You start off doing 15, its going to be hard to hit 30. I went in doing 12, I finished doing 22. You're on track, but its not easy so keep hammering away on those.

    The run is the b!tch, or at least it was for me. Its not like you finish up your day in bootcamp and you can go for a jog in the evenings. You run on their time. Bdchi1 mentions his run time dropped, my guess is that its because he (and most other people) were actually doing long distance running more before they went to bootcamp. You won't do many 3 mile runs in bootcamp. The rule of thumb when I was there was that if you took your IST, doubled it and added a minute, that would be about what you could expect for your 3 mile time. So, you're at 9:55, that would mean a 3 mile time of 20:50. You might be able to shave a minute off of that from the beginning to the end of bootcamp, or you might drop. If you want a perfect PFT in bootcamp, focus on getting one before you leave for bootcamp, especcially the run. The pull ups and crunchs will increase, the run might not. Not to mention that I've witnessed the God awful thrashings recruits got for falling out on a run. Don't be that guy.


  11. #11
    It's no problem, I don't take constructive input as 'sounding like a jerk'. But as I said before usually when I take my IST I'm muffing up my crunches generally because I push myself so hard in the rest of the PT by the time I get to my IST then I'm halfway exhausted anyway, and as I usually end up doing crunches last once my back hits that ground I just want to pass out. Granted that's no excuse but even when I went to my field meet where PT wasn't a focus point they were still trying to get us used to the idea of DI's and they'd FIND a reason to make us push or work and I always ended up being around the dude they jumped on. There was one spot where I had the gift of DI PT three times in quick succession one...after the other...after the other. I haven't been focusing on crunches in my personal PT habits but after the last IST I started. Because I'm actually a REALLY skinny dude. High metabolism and the fact that I was athletic at younger early teenage years. Crunches in general have never given me a problem, I think it's less the fact that I can't do them and more that my technique is off or I jus haven't mentally pushed myself like I do in the other areas where I actually feel are a problem. i.e. the time I muffed up my crunches in the last IST when I was done my arms and chest were hurting. My stomach, on the other hand, was completely fine. Not exactly how that's supposed to work.


  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by FirehouseCowboy View Post
    It's no problem, I don't take constructive input as 'sounding like a jerk'. But as I said before usually when I take my IST I'm muffing up my crunches generally because I push myself so hard in the rest of the PT by the time I get to my IST then I'm halfway exhausted anyway, and as I usually end up doing crunches last once my back hits that ground I just want to pass out. Granted that's no excuse but even when I went to my field meet where PT wasn't a focus point they were still trying to get us used to the idea of DI's and they'd FIND a reason to make us push or work and I always ended up being around the dude they jumped on. There was one spot where I had the gift of DI PT three times in quick succession one...after the other...after the other. I haven't been focusing on crunches in my personal PT habits but after the last IST I started. Because I'm actually a REALLY skinny dude. High metabolism and the fact that I was athletic at younger early teenage years. Crunches in general have never given me a problem, I think it's less the fact that I can't do them and more that my technique is off or I jus haven't mentally pushed myself like I do in the other areas where I actually feel are a problem. i.e. the time I muffed up my crunches in the last IST when I was done my arms and chest were hurting. My stomach, on the other hand, was completely fine. Not exactly how that's supposed to work.
    OK, well, that helps. Keep in mind, DI PT will pretty much be a constant for 13 weeks, so get used to it.

    Do you have a work out partner? The best workout that I did (and we did it in bootcamp) was basically burn outs. Get with your partner, he sits on your feet and holds your legs. You start and do as many as you possibly can in 2 minutes. When that 2 minute mark hits, there is zero rest, you immediately switch (and I mean move faster than if someone set your marble sack on fire) and he does his 2 minutes. When he's done, switch again and do a minute and a half, switch, he does his. Then a minute, then 30 seconds, then 30 seconds again. You are basically resting while your partner does their set. You're doing these as fast as you possibly can. Its going to hurt...a lot. Thats a good thing.


  13. #13
    Typically, crunches are the easy "gimmie" points.
    There's a saying that "Every Marine gets a hundred crunches".

    As mentioned above, the Pull Ups really are the key to the PFT. It's a HECK of a lot easier to reach inside yourself and grow a pair and push out one more pull up than it is to improve your run time by a whole 50 seconds.

    As far as recommendations for your work out, to be honest the best way to train for the run, the pull ups, and the crunches is... by running, doing pull ups, and doing crunches.


  14. #14
    Yes just doing the pull ups crunches and running helps, but if you don't have a lot of time look into cross fit and look into cross fit at your local gym, see if they offer it there. For the past couple months my old Troop Handler was making us do that for PT and it's intense, as long as you strive to break your body to the point where you don't want to move.


  15. #15
    Ah, again thank you for the advice. It is really appreciated from this poolee. Another question I'm wondering is about weight gain. As I've said before I'm a really skinny individual, and I heard that gaining a lot of weight can also impair performance. Like my dad before he went into Naval Basic (I'm not sure what they call their basic training) he jumped a good 20 to 30 lbs, granted of muscle since he was as skinny as me going in, but I don't want to bulk up from double rations then next thing I know the added weight keeps me from being able to do as many pullups or running as fast as I can as a lightweight. I heard this is a false fear so I'm assuming as much but there's no harm in asking a question. It's better to ask a dumb question and be called a dumbass then failing to ask a potentially valid question and pay the price for it later.


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