Army help.

As alot of the people on Sythe that I talk to know, I have been wanting to join the army. My biggest concern with this is that I am not in the best of shape. I am 6'3 198 lbs, most of which is body fat ( =( ) I have been a smoker for the past 5 1/2 years, just quit 4 months ago. I want to get into better shape before moving further toward my goal. What I am hoping right now is that someone might be able to help me with this.
Does anyone know what kind of physical demand is involved?
Also, is the any helpfull tips on working on my weight/muscle ratio, strength, and cardio?
Also, I have a weight bench, and a stationary bike.
Any help would be appreciated, but please, no responses like "just search around on the internet" or "ask a recruiter"

 

First thing you need to do is to lose most of the fat I guess. It is pretty easy to do by cutting carb in your diet. Body builders watch their carb intake very carefully to keep their bodies full of muscle and least amount of fat. Moreover, you will need to learn about good carb and bad carb too. More detail is needed by your own research, but just look at body builders for starting.

After removing some fat, you can start thinking about other stuff. It is generally much easier to start training your body heavily once you do not have as much fat.

 

Thanks for the advice. I have been doing alot of searching around to help with the understanding of the good carb bad carb thing. Would you by chance have any advice on an exercise/workout regiment?

 

Ya no offense to the previous poster, but he's not too on track. The part about the good/bad carbs is right, you do NOT want to avoid carbs entirely. All carbs in your diet can, and should be primarily fruits and vegetables. Avoid breads/cereals/pasta and things like that. If an item contains sugar or an equivalent in the first three ingredients, scrap it. You do not need to lose fat to begin working out or seeing results, on the contrary your body will get stronger faster with a few extra body fat percentages. Start eating 5-6 meals a day with 1/3 of the meal being a lean protein source, 2/3 being favorable carbs, and add in some healthy fats in there. For reading material if you are serious, I suggest purchasing the Zone Diet by Barry Sears, or looking into the paleolithic trend of eating as they are both similiar, and conducive to healthy eating habits.

 

For Army, it is Army Physical Fitness Test that is important to look at to pass. Just push-ups, sit-ups and 2 mile run http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Physical_Fitness_Test

As long as you excel in these, I think you are pretty much in shape.

 

You may need to do a little more research. Carb from fruit and vegetable is not necessarily good. For example, carb from ripe bananas is considered bad for fat shredding, but may be good for muscle mass gaining. It all depends on which situation that a certain type of carb is good or bad. Bread on the other hand, may be very good for fat shredding if you choose whole wheat. The hint is to look at the Insulin Index of each type of food to determine the type of carb.

 

Considering I am shortly going to be a commissioned Army Infantry officer (PT score of 360), as well as being a seasoned mma fighter and lifter, I know what I am talking about, at least for his situation with the Army : P. I was speaking generically; obviously bananas are on the less favorable end of the fruits and veggies of the GI, however in general, I would say its a safe bet to say eating any consistent fruit or vegetable will be much more effective, both for fat trimming, muscle building, and overall all nutritional value, than any other type of carb.

 

Hopefully the OP is not confused yet by us Correct diet is such an art I have to say if you want it to be the best for your health.

 

Not yet lol Thanks for all of your help, both of you. I am currently taking notes from many other information sources, so if you have anything else to add, please be my guest and post I am happy to see that I can atleast get answers. Thanks again.

 

Good courage you got there. Let's see ... from my own experience, you can lose as much as 5 pounds per week just for cutting carb while in fat trimming phase in the first few weeks. Make sure to minimize muscle loss though. After that, the amount of weight loss should lessen over time if fat is well burnt. Watch out for the weight loss, if it goes too fast, like 5 pounds per week for a straight 6 weeks, that may mean you lose a considerable amount of muscle also. Be very careful and take note of your own weight almost everyday to make sure you are on the right track. Good luck.

 

i started working out today, did a half mile light jog followed by 50 push ups in a little under 2minutes, 50 sit ups in a little over 2 minutes, and a 2 mile jog/run in around 14 minutes. I decided to take a trip to the local books-a-million, instead of driving I rode my bike as a cool down(its about a 4.5 mile trip one way) . Got there and realised it was closed lol. so I will pick up some more literature tomorrow.

 

I'm sorry, but why don't you want to talk with a recruiter? They encounter people in your situation all the time and often turn into personal trainers. They'll tell you exactly what kind of shape you'll need to be in and it's better advice than anyone here can give. We aren't recruiters.

 

To be 100% honest, I am embarrassed of myself, the help and advice from someone who isn't really there is great with this issue. I will be going to the local recruiter when I feel comfortable with myself. Which, with what I have been reading should be soon.

 

I have a friend in the military who could not even walk before joining the military because he was too skinny and weak in physical condition, had some asthma as well I think. On top of that, he was short and nerdy, not the active type at all. At first when he told me he was going to join the military, I was kind of chuckling in my mind and did not take his word seriously. Now he is a badass in the Marines. And yes, he told me he talked to a recruiter who helped him a lot to get over all that. I think you should too, the sooner the better.

 

There's a guide in my sig if you need any help with some exercises.

 

Well first, good luck haha.

A previous poster posted the Army test you have to take... what i would do is try as best as you can to do double those requirements.

For weight loss, one of my friends lost 50 pounds on this one, pretty easy diet. If you want more info you can pm me.

Good luck again, and thanks!

 

Your not alone. Everybody who joins the Army is concerned with their physical fitness level. I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much. As long as you can pass the initial PT test to get into the Army, you will be fine. Nothing can prepare you for the physical beat down your going to take in basic training, except for maybe jumping out the back of a truck a few times a day.

If you go into basic overweight, they will just make you eat salads and sandwiches all day.
If you go in underweight, they will make you eat the overweight guys food that isn't salads or sandwiches.

I've been in the army for almost 3 years. If you have any questions I'll be more than happy to answer them.

 

If you look on the British army website there is a training regime to follow before you go into the army to get into shape.
http://www.army.mod.uk/join/20265.aspx Just click "Learn more" in the fitness section and it should pop up, you can choose from there on

That's 1 of the things I am doing to keep generally fit, I also recommend martial arts, it can be physically demanding at times and it will also help you out in combat!
A fun way to lose weight is to go paint balling, you don't actually realise how much you are working your body because of the fun you have while doing it.

 

From listening to the people I know that were in the Army and the Marines talk, They say it's more about mental than physical strength. according to them, the hardest thing is just committing yourself to it 100% and not giving up.

 

Removed some info due to personal info, but ill try my best..

When i wrestled in high school and I had to cut weight, I threw 1-3 sweatshirts on and sweat pants then a trash bag on my body and ran for awhile to lose weight or sometimes drink....vinegar. That's just a suggestion though..

It all depends how much weight your trying to lose, how big you are now, how much discipline you have and if you can handle the pain.

Break fast - always eat it, no sugar bullshit, regular cheerios, wheat bagel with peanut butter or oat meal.
lunch - pasta, chicken, fish, sandwiches(depends), etc..
dinner - I usually have chicken, rice and broccoli or fish or whatever.
fit a snack in between each of those^

Always eat 3-4 fruit pieces a day(apple, banana's, etc)
Always stretch everyday(you would be surprised how much this helps)
Drink water/milk, stay away from sodas
Run when you can

And..it's not bad to fit in a snickers or twix here or there :nuts:

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I can't think of anything else to say i kind of rushed what i typed, but if you got any questions feel free to ask me. Hope it helped..I'm going into the Navy also. Just cut a few pounds because after boot camp you will drop about 20-30 pounds or gain 20-30 pounds depending on how they guide you, so don't worry as much. Really.