All of you wannabees need to get your bodies in shape. Now is the time to start.

The Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test includes following events in the order listed:

1. Dead-Hang Pullups. At 5 point each, these are worth gold. Do 20 for a miximum of 100 points.

2. Marine Corps Modified Situps. These are very similar to crunches. These are worth 1 point a piece. You have 2 minutes to complete 100 situps for a maximum of 100 points.

3. 3-Mile Run. This run is to be completed in 18 minutes for a maximum 100 points. Subtract 1 point for every 10 seconds beyond 18 minutes.

You all need to make your PT an unbreakable habit. No excuses for rain, snow, hail, sleet, cold or dark of night.

You need to be doing these exercises at least 4 to 5 days a week. Until you can do 20 dead-hang pull-ups, you need to be doing pull-ups 3 to 5 times a day, 4 to 5 days a week.

You should also be doing push-ups. You will be doing billions of them in Boot Camp so you might as well start knocking them out now so that your arms don't turn into rubber for the first two weeks of training.

If you can, you should also swim. Learn to be comfortable in the water. You do not need to be able to do the 500 meter butterfly in Olympic time. You just need to be comfortable in the water and do the basic strokes. You'll be taught the rest in Boot Camp when they throw you into the pool.

You do not need to be a member of a gym; you do not need all sorts of equipment.

A pair of running shoes - I recommend New Balance 1023's (or the equivalent current model number)

A pull-up bar - for under $20, you can puchase a bar at a sporting goods store that wedges inside a door frame.

Anything that can hold your feet while you do crunches.

A floor upon which to do pushups.

Ideally, you want to start with some light, easy stretching. Easy and light because your body is cold.

Warm up with light exercise or jog for 7 to 10 minutes.

Do some good, long, proper stretching.

Good, strong, hard, feel-like-you're-gonna-die workout for at least 20 minutes in the beginning but no less than 45 minutes after the first 4 weeks.

Finally, some more good, long, proper stretching for your cool down.

Stretching is as important as the workout. Most people who workout, including a lot of competing athletes do not stretch properly or even know how to do so. Read up on it. Learn how to stretch and make it part of the beginning and end of every one of your workout sessions.

Good sweating!

Now, hit the farking road.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DeepRecon,

Bump, very useful. I think it should stay up.

thank you very much sir

Bump
Good thread Deep. Maybe some of these wannabe's will read this instead of thinking of dumb questions to ask.
On another note, I know I'm already a Marine but I wanted to ask this here because I think it might help some of the wannabe's. I'm a Reservist and I will run and do ab workouts one day and then more strength oriented weights another day, but being a college student, the college student diet of Ramen noodles and cereal isn't working for me, you got any suggestions for me as far as a better diet? Thanks and Semper Fi.

The only thing really wrong with Ramen noodles is that there is a lot of sodium in the spice packet. I suggest that you throw in 2 to 3 cups of mixed frozen vegetables into each bag of Ramen noodle that you make.

Jack's Thin Crust Pepperoni Pizza. They're about $3 each. The pepperoni is made with chicken, beef and pork; not very greasy. The cheese is real. The sauce lacks spice so sprinkle oregano on it liberally and cook to a well done brown. Add freshly grated parmesan and sliced pepperocinnis. It's a square meal.

Peanut butter.

Whole milk.

Cottage cheese.

While I was in college, I got a part-time job at one of the commissaries. 4 hours a week got me 3 meals a day. You do the math.

Well I can complete a first class pft now, but Im having alot of trouble with running because of some knee pain. It tends to change between the outside of the left knee and the inside of the right knee, or the tendon below both kneecaps. Did anyone experience this problem when they were preparing for boot camp? If so, what did you do about it? Im going to a doctor for it tommorow, but getting some advice from someone who has walked the walk would help as well. Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, what exactly is a Marine Corps modified situp?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cwaldman15,

The best way to answer your question would be to watch you run. Since I can not do this, I suggest that you have a talk with your high school track coach and ask him to watch you run.

Supponation and pronation can cause the pains on the inside and outside of the knees. Pushing off too hard with the toes can cause the pain just below the knee cap (jumper's knee) but without watching you, it is difficult to correct you.

If the doctor you are seeing is a sports doctor, he may be able to help you tremendously.

If not, he may simply prescribe that you lay off running for a couple of months.

It is also very possible that laying off running for a couple of months is what you will have to do. When you do start running again, you need to start out very lightly, slowly building your legs back up.

quote:

Originally posted by DeepRecon:
The best way to answer your question would be to watch you run. Since I can not do this, I suggest that you have a talk with your high school track coach and ask him to watch you run.

Supponation and pronation can cause the pains on the inside and outside of the knees. Pushing off too hard with the toes can cause the pain just below the knee cap (jumper's knee) but without watching you, it is difficult to correct you.

If the doctor you are seeing is a sports doctor, he may be able to help you tremendously.

If not, he may simply prescribe that you lay off running for a couple of months.

It is also very possible that laying off running for a couple of months is what you will have to do. When you do start running again, you need to start out very lightly, slowly building your legs back up.

well I don't like the idea of laying off running for that long, I'm sort of OCD about working out as much as possible, but whatever it takes

It may take that. The doctor knows how long whatever damage you've done, if any, will take to heal.

It may start feeling completely healed long before but if you start out too hard, too fast and especially too soon, the pain will return and you'll be back at square one.

Listen to your doctor. Do what he tells you to do. If he tells you no running for a period of time, ask him what exercises you can do during that period.

See your high school track coach. Ask him to watch you run.

hey deep
mr fatbody here

pullups? just do more, more often?
palms out or towards yourself on the bar?
pushups? help with pull ups?
what does the Corps call a push up? chest touch or arms paralell with the ground?

knee pain,inside left knee, most likley from a good hit i took last week made worse from fitness, what should i do?

calf cramps/tightening? not streched enough?

pain in the bottoms of my feet...could it jusy be from my cleats? or is it poor form related?

Mack..et all...

This is not a place to receive medical advice. See a doctor for those injuries.

Pullups...Only way to improve them is to do them. Palms out or plams in...whichever way you want as long as both hands are the same.

Pushups...help with everything. Practice doing them touching your chest to the ground. Then anything else is easy.

Calf cramps....hydrate....but see a doctor.

What should you do after a good workout? I normally crash on the couch and watch TV, but I feel to lazy but my body is also to tired to workout anymore.

Is this correct: the best way to get your 3 mile time down is to rotate sprints with long distance runs(3+ miles) at a moderate/fast pace?

Last question: Is going to much over the day bad for your body? On a normal day I wake up, go to school and after school have lacrosse practice for 2 1/2 - 3hrs then go home and workout for about 20 minutes, and do pull-ups throughout the night, every night. Should I do less on some nights and more on the other, or just go all out every night? I need to get in better shape but I don't want to kill my body to soon.

29P, I can handle this. I play a doctor on the internet.

chafe-boy,
I will add one fact about the pullup event in the Marine Corps PFT. Like 29P said, palms in or out, it does not matter, as long as they are facing the same way during the pullup. You are allowed to change-over from one way to the other during your pullup test as long as you do not come completely off the bar during the change-over.

If normal fitness is causing a knee injury to get worse then you have to stop, see a doctor and do what he prescribes. The hit may have damaged your medial meniscus, posterior cruciate ligament and/or tibial collateral ligament.

I suggest that, as long as you plan to play rugby and football, you get to know every tendon, ligament and meniscus in your knee. Know what the treatment is for the various severities of damage to these key pieces of this joint. Find a good sports doctor.

Cramps - hydration, stretching and eat a banana with every meal. If the cramps persist, see a doctor.

Pain in the bottom of your feet - ask your coach and/or trainer.

Snow - give your body a break 1 or 2 days a week.

quote:

What should you do after a good workout?

Stretch.

quote:

Is this correct: the best way to get your 3 mile time down is to rotate sprints with long distance runs(3+ miles) at a moderate/fast pace?

This certainly can not hurt your 3-mile time. I suggest that you train for 4 to 5 miles at a good pace, pushing it hard once or twice a week. Once every couple of weeks, run a 3-mile as fast as you possibly can.

quote:

quote:
What should you do after a good workout?

I'm not a Marine, but I am well researched in weightlifting / nutrition. What is recommended by most stregth coaches for eating after a good workout is some kind of fast digesting carb (gatorade, rice, potatoe, cracker) and fast digesting protein (eggs, whey is the best, meat is a little slow to digest, but is better then nothing) in about a 4:1 protein to carb ratio. A quart of chocolate milk is a good, convenient choice for the post-work out meal. The idea is that the fast carbs create an large insulin release. Insulin then helps your muscles to absorb more protein, aminos and other nutrients essential to heal after you punish them. This meal should be as soon as possible after the workout (hopefully within 15 minutes, but defineately within an hour.)

Obviously it is possible to make tremendous gains without the post-work out meal, but many proffessionals say it is perhaps the most important meal of the day because it helps you recover much faster. From my experience, I would highly recommend it.

DeepRecon is right on when it comes to streatching. My failure to streatch after workouts has resulted in tendonitis problems.

Pain,

Fix your profile. You are not in the inactives Reserves, you are not a Marine and you are not an E-1 Private.

Also, refrain from giving any further advice in this forum.

how about keeping pace? any tips for getting that 6 min mile?

The workout I used for getting my mile time down was 4-5 miles 4xweek and intervals on the other 3 days. By intervals I mean 2x800m, 4x400m, 6x300m, 8x200, and 10x100m all ran as hard and fast as I could. Also make sure you have good long distance technigue, a good runners stride is a minimum of 1.5 meters preferebly as close to 2m as you can get it.

If you have a college with a track team in your area make contact with the coach and ask as many questions about proper technigue as he'll answer.

Replace your shoes often it doesnt take long for a pair of running shoes to break down. Having shoes that are in good shape helps avoid small ticky tac injuries that irritate.

Hope this helps.

Hooter

Bump

Excellent thread! First time I saw this. Mods need to sticky this one at the top!