Hey guys - a hello to you all, and a question...

[OodlesOfNoodles]

Good morning to you all.

I'm here with a question, if anybody is willing to have a go at answering. I've done a couple searches already to try and find what I'm looking for but haven't found anything that quite suits my need.

Little background for you to begin with. I'm 20 years old, and looking for a change. I definitely want to join the army, and will be looking to apply sometime around September once my engineering apprenticeship is complete. The only worry I have is on the physical side of things.

I am not averse to hard work and physical graft at all, however at the minute I am not in ideal condition. I'm pretty slim (slim = physically weak), I eat junk food, I drink too much beer and I did smoke (admittedly not a lot, about 5-10 a week, and that was only if I could afford it!). I have also never really excercised much.

I am 110% committed to wanting to join the army, and am putting 110% in. I gave up smoking completely 5 weeks ago, and have no desire to ever want to smoke again. I also gave up drinking 5 weeks ago too. No bull there, I still go to pub and around the town but now I stick exclusively to water. Food is a little harder for me, I've stopped eating the obvious junk food like takeaway pizza/kebabs but as for eating, I'm a little ignorant as to what I should and shouldn't eat so I need to look into that.

Last week I started the army fitness plan I got from my local careers centre. Cardivascular wise, I wasn't as bad on the whole long-distance running as I thought I was going to be - will be at the track on Thursday to get a 1.5 mile time but my time on a rough 1.5 mile run was about 15 minutes. As for strength, I did 8 press-ups in one minute, and 30 sit-ups in one minute.

Now, here comes the question (and I apologise for rambling on and not cutting to the chase): Do you think it would be possible for a guy like myself to reach the fitness/strength standard required of the army by September? Now, I understand this is a question nobody would be able to answer without really knowing me. I'm not really asking for me specifically, but rather a general question - is it possible for a person to go from weak and unfit to fit and strong (strong enough anyway) in 4 months? I know it is based on so many factors, but if I know it is possible for the 'average' ectomorph to get there in 4 months, regardless of how hard the work is it will be a nice motivational boost.

Basically, am I thinking realistically here in thinking I could possibly be prepared in 16 weeks or am I aiming waaay to high?

Responses or insults welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[I/I/LG]

Sure, if you stay focussed and committed then you should be able to get into good shape before Sept. I have seen guys in much worse shape than what you are describing turn things around fairly quickly

 

[soldiertobe]

On the 6th Feb I walked into Army careers at 16 stone 4lbs and probably unable to run 100 metres without passing out. Now I am 12 stone 9lbs and running between 3 and 6 miles 4-5 times per week comfortably. I run at a very good pace that I couldn't even imagine running at 2 montsh ago.

Admittedly I have worked like a trojan in both the gym and on the roads but I have never felt better and the confidence it provides is mental.

Cardio wise I started at the gym but since discovering road running my fitness escalated.......I'd suggest keep running........don't time your 1.5 mile yet (do it every 2 weeks).........run 2 miles steady.........then 3 miles when comfortable with that. I have built upto 6 miles.

The benefit is that it builds endurance and you'll find running 1.5 miles at a faster pace than you ever expected will come naturally and will aid a stronger, quicker finish when your body may be hurting?!

Strength wise I lost because the weight I had to lose, I haven't been weight training. I'm now starting practising my press ups....(see the thread "press up questions) theres some good advice on there.

The benefit you have is time. September is more than enough time to build some upper body strength and if running 3-4 times a week you'll notice you getting naturally quicker. The results I have achieved have shocked me.

Keep focussed mate because it feels fantastic to achieve any fitness goals.

 

[DodgerH]

And if your putting in 110% on other targets,then why not into your fitness......YES it can be done.

Good Luck

 

[5.56short]

OoN, good for you kid. Run or walk everywhere (college/work/shop/with dog) drink gallons of water and eat food that has 2 fists of veg in it and meat. Do a round of pressups, situps, squats and pullups twice a day and add 1 repetition more every day. get your 1.5 mile time down (it will come down in no time) then start stretching out the distances.

You should be fine.

Good luck.

 

[OodlesOfNoodles]

Thanks for the replies. Good to know there is hope for me yet, never really had the motivation to get into shape before since recently and now it's turned into a big focus for me.

OoN, good for you kid. Run or walk everywhere (college/work/shop/with dog) drink gallons of water and eat food that has 2 fists of veg in it and meat. Do a round of pressups, situps, squats and pullups twice a day and add 1 repetition more every day. get your 1.5 mile time down (it will come down in no time) then start stretching out the distances.

You should be fine.

Good luck.

One question about the bit in bold - as far as I understand, when working with building muscle strength, the gains come from your rest period and not actually whilst training - meaning taking a rest period of a day or so inbetween certain muscle groups. By doing a set of those excercises twice a day, will that not hinder muscle growth by not giving them time to repair and strengthen, or am I way off the mark here?

Again, thanks again all.

 

[Mr Happy]

Good morning to you all.

I'm here with a question, if anybody is willing to have a go at answering. I've done a couple searches already to try and find what I'm looking for but haven't found anything that quite suits my need.

Little background for you to begin with. I'm 20 years old, and looking for a change. I definitely want to join the army, and will be looking to apply sometime around September once my engineering apprenticeship is complete. The only worry I have is on the physical side of things.

I am not averse to hard work and physical graft at all, however at the minute I am not in ideal condition. I'm pretty slim (slim = physically weak), I eat junk food, I drink too much beer and I did smoke (admittedly not a lot, about 5-10 a week, and that was only if I could afford it!). I have also never really excercised much.

I am 110% committed to wanting to join the army, and am putting 110% in. I gave up smoking completely 5 weeks ago, and have no desire to ever want to smoke again. I also gave up drinking 5 weeks ago too. No bull there, I still go to pub and around the town but now I stick exclusively to water. Food is a little harder for me, I've stopped eating the obvious junk food like takeaway pizza/kebabs but as for eating, I'm a little ignorant as to what I should and shouldn't eat so I need to look into that.

Last week I started the army fitness plan I got from my local careers centre. Cardivascular wise, I wasn't as bad on the whole long-distance running as I thought I was going to be - will be at the track on Thursday to get a 1.5 mile time but my time on a rough 1.5 mile run was about 15 minutes. As for strength, I did 8 press-ups in one minute, and 30 sit-ups in one minute.

Now, here comes the question (and I apologise for rambling on and not cutting to the chase): Do you think it would be possible for a guy like myself to reach the fitness/strength standard required of the army by September? Now, I understand this is a question nobody would be able to answer without really knowing me. I'm not really asking for me specifically, but rather a general question - is it possible for a person to go from weak and unfit to fit and strong (strong enough anyway) in 4 months? I know it is based on so many factors, but if I know it is possible for the 'average' ectomorph to get there in 4 months, regardless of how hard the work is it will be a nice motivational boost.

Basically, am I thinking realistically here in thinking I could possibly be prepared in 16 weeks or am I aiming waaay to high?

Responses or insults welcome. Thanks in advance.

Mate, I joined at 17, weighed about 11 stone (6'2") and about 5 press ups to my name.

On my selection, I passed out (unnoticed) doing press ups and we went straight into the dredded BFT run I finished second. Upper body has never been might forte but my legs could easily support my thin body and runing was never an issue. I was always one of the fitest fellows around.

Your lack of weight will make running easy. Don't sweat it and don't defer, get in as soon as possible. Delays are the Devils play things.

 

[private---pile]

janurary 12th 2008 - im 19 years old 5 ft 7, i weighed 15.5 stone

now - i weigh 11.8 stone

running isnt a problem in the time scale you have stated. the key, like soldiertobe stated is building up your endurance, it was easy for me because leaving the house running got me away from the girlfriends nagging etc

for a small fee of £50 plus VAT i will tell you a good technique for "learning to run"

 

[Mr Happy]

for a small fee of £50 plus VAT i will tell you a good technique for "learning to run"

Sounds like you'll make an excellent squaddie!

 

[private---pile]

for a small fee of £50 plus VAT i will tell you a good technique for "learning to run"

Sounds like you'll make an excellent squaddie!

did i charge too little???

 

[ballonhead]

You say you are 20 now ? How unfit were you at school or how unfit can you get from leaving school to now that you would have to train for 6 months to do a few press-ups and a mile and a half run ?
£50 a bit excessive , if you do really need help I would do it for £40 but am sure in six months you could work out yourself how to jog a bit, swim a bit, go to gym a bit .
On the muscles thing , dont work the same muscles everyday ( including the heart which funnily enough is a muscle) else you dont give it time to recover and more importantly grow/get stronger. If you need to workout everyday do it in different heart rate zones i.e 70%. 80% etc. Invest in a heart rate monitor (£30) if need be as best £30 I ever spent- apart from in Singers at the four floors of wh***s but thats another story

 

[kingburn_99]

yes!

 

[callum13]

listen mate realistically if you should apply now, by september you will have just done or about to do ADSC and could be in by jan, If you apply september you looking about march time to get in.

 

[OodlesOfNoodles]

You say you are 20 now ? How unfit were you at school or how unfit can you get from leaving school to now that you would have to train for 6 months to do a few press-ups and a mile and a half run ?

I've never been unfit, rather I've always had an average level of fitness and am physically quite weak. Last few years have seen me slip a little with fitness but I'm not so much worried with that side of things, moreso about physical strength.

Comments I've heard from people who have found out about what I want to do have been the same old, same old - "What?! You?! In the army?! Get ***ed mate, you don't stand a chance!"

I'm no stranger to banter of course, doesn't bother me and you can't beat a bit of a piss-take and besides, most of those people have been pretty ignorant anyway - but it did make me wonder if I was 'punching above my weight' so to speak. In one minute I literally only just managed my 8th press-up, and no matter how hard I pushed for the 9th, I couldn't go up and my arms collapsed underneath me.

Just wondering how feasible it is going from weak to the required standard (or further, I certaintly am not just looking at getting in shape for the army, but in general) in that space of time really, especially for an ectomorph, that apparently cannot build strength as easily as other build types.

On the muscles thing , dont work the same muscles everyday ( including the heart which funnily enough is a muscle) else you dont give it time to recover and more importantly grow/get stronger. If you need to workout everyday do it in different heart rate zones i.e 70%. 80% etc. Invest in a heart rate monitor (£30) if need be as best £30 I ever spent- apart from in Singers at the four floors of wh***s but thats another story

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Mr Happy]

again I say it, upper body muscle I have never needed much of it in the army, legs however, by the ton.

I really wouldn't waste time on upper body stuff HOWEVER that was me then, not now, so some of the younger blokes should probably be listened to.

All I'm saying (again) is that you won't get biffed for failing to do 20 pressups, but you will for failing 3miles/8miles. And frankly, once you've joined and am going through it, you'll be soon doing plenty of phys including press ups and pretty soon be doing plenty.

Are you actually expecting to be punching Terry Taliban in the face in a bar room brawl - no, so don't waste your time on your biceps.

 

[ballonhead]

yep- when I said dont work same muscles I meant legs, abs,back, etc and not specifically biceps/triceps . Was just pointing out that to get run fit dont forget to give the heart ( a muscle) a break as it wont recover.
Big biceps arent gonna help you in 90% of the stuff you will be doing in future as Mr Happy eludes to in his terry taliban anecdote. They could however help when having a few beers in town in your tight Bench top in an effort to out-do your mates in the "pulling" stakes but having never had big biceps I couldnt really comment.i

 

[Riggsy]

I know it is based on so many factors, but if I know it is possible for the 'average' ectomorph to get there in 4 months, regardless of how hard the work is it will be a nice motivational boost.

No it can't be done.
So motivate yourself to prove people like me wrong.

Basically, am I thinking realistically here in thinking I could possibly be prepared in 16 weeks or am I aiming waaay to high?

There is no harm in aiming too high. Just a common outcome of feeling disheartened when you fail to reach those aims. The race never starts at the starting line, so I'd advise you set an aim YOU believe you will reach based on YOUR view of your commitment - rather than a realistic overview of what someone else believes you can accomplish.

Yar.

 

[jew_unit]

Thanks for the replies. Good to know there is hope for me yet, never really had the motivation to get into shape before since recently and now it's turned into a big focus for me.

OoN, good for you kid. Run or walk everywhere (college/work/shop/with dog) drink gallons of water and eat food that has 2 fists of veg in it and meat. Do a round of pressups, situps, squats and pullups twice a day and add 1 repetition more every day. get your 1.5 mile time down (it will come down in no time) then start stretching out the distances.

You should be fine.

Good luck.

One question about the bit in bold - as far as I understand, when working with building muscle strength, the gains come from your rest period and not actually whilst training - meaning taking a rest period of a day or so inbetween certain muscle groups. By doing a set of those excercises twice a day, will that not hinder muscle growth by not giving them time to repair and strengthen, or am I way off the mark here?

Again, thanks again all.

Your actually right to an extent. The intensity of the work is important, but so is having time to recover. You will still build muscle but you will have a number of problems with fatigue if you don't rest. Use the army fitness program on the TA website, or use one that gives you one light day followed by one heavy day. Light days should involve long, relaxed runs and light stuff with the upper body. Heavy days should be shorter with real work on defined muscle groups. Take at least one day a week off.

Self control is important but so is rewarding yourself. Comitted you may be, but I think you'll be back onto cake and pies in less than a month if you give them up outright. The best thing to do is set yourself a goal that takes you a couple of weeks to achieve (a run time or a number of pressups, for example) and is not an easy target. When you have done that then you should reward yourself with a Beer or MacDonalds or whatever it is you have given up. Keep it in moderation and only do it every once in a while and it will make both abstinence and motivation much easier for you. Don't have another fag though because thats just plain bad for you. PM me if you want more training advice.

 

[OodlesOfNoodles]

Thanks for the advice.

I know it is based on so many factors, but if I know it is possible for the 'average' ectomorph to get there in 4 months, regardless of how hard the work is it will be a nice motivational boost.

No it can't be done.
So motivate yourself to prove people like me wrong.

There's an awful lot of people like you to prove wrong, the more the merrier.

Basically, am I thinking realistically here in thinking I could possibly be prepared in 16 weeks or am I aiming waaay to high?

There is no harm in aiming too high. Just a common outcome of feeling disheartened when you fail to reach those aims. The race never starts at the starting line, so I'd advise you set an aim YOU believe you will reach based on YOUR view of your commitment - rather than a realistic overview of what someone else believes you can accomplish.

Yar.[/quote]

You're exactly right. I didn't mean to word my question as in to ask if people thought I could do it - absurd as only I know that. Rather, because of my little knowledge with regards to fitness and strength, if it was possible for the human body to adapt as quickly. If I asked if it was possible for a person to lose 5 stone in 2 days short of removing limbs you'd say it was impossible - same sort of thing I was wondering but in a different context.

Admittedly, it was a pretty ****ing retarded question for me to ask, but I couldn't think of anyway other way to word what I was wondering.

Thanks for the replies. Good to know there is hope for me yet, never really had the motivation to get into shape before since recently and now it's turned into a big focus for me.

OoN, good for you kid. Run or walk everywhere (college/work/shop/with dog) drink gallons of water and eat food that has 2 fists of veg in it and meat. Do a round of pressups, situps, squats and pullups twice a day and add 1 repetition more every day. get your 1.5 mile time down (it will come down in no time) then start stretching out the distances.

You should be fine.

Good luck.

One question about the bit in bold - as far as I understand, when working with building muscle strength, the gains come from your rest period and not actually whilst training - meaning taking a rest period of a day or so inbetween certain muscle groups. By doing a set of those excercises twice a day, will that not hinder muscle growth by not giving them time to repair and strengthen, or am I way off the mark here?

Again, thanks again all.

Your actually right to an extent. The intensity of the work is important, but so is having time to recover. You will still build muscle but you will have a number of problems with fatigue if you don't rest. Use the army fitness program on the TA website, or use one that gives you one light day followed by one heavy day. Light days should involve long, relaxed runs and light stuff with the upper body. Heavy days should be shorter with real work on defined muscle groups. Take at least one day a week off.

Self control is important but so is rewarding yourself. Comitted you may be, but I think you'll be back onto cake and pies in less than a month if you give them up outright. The best thing to do is set yourself a goal that takes you a couple of weeks to achieve (a run time or a number of pressups, for example) and is not an easy target. When you have done that then you should reward yourself with a Beer or MacDonalds or whatever it is you have given up. Keep it in moderation and only do it every once in a while and it will make both abstinence and motivation much easier for you. Don't have another fag though because thats just plain bad for you. PM me if you want more training advice.

Thanks for the advice. Giving up alcohol is something I have wanted to do for a while now. I have never been 'addicted' or anything, just that I would find myself drinking it whenever I went out to a pub or around the town, just because it is the social norm. I sort of realised how much of an idiot that made me, and decided to stop - I'd be doing the same thing regardless of my wanting to keep fit or not. Still haven't touched a cig and don't plan on it - the only thing I have struggled with is the junk food thing. Still, I have discovered that there are ACTUALLY some nice tasting vegetables.. no more of that "I don't like it" without trying it.

I may have to take you up on the offer of any advice you have. I've found this past week my results actually diminishing. I know there's no such thing as instant results, but to find myself being able to do about 5-6 less press-ups than when I started and the same run being much harder seems pretty weird to me.

 

[Mr Happy]

I may have to take you up on the offer of any advice you have. I've found this past week my results actually diminishing. I know there's no such thing as instant results, but to find myself being able to do about 5-6 less press-ups than when I started and the same run being much harder seems pretty weird to me

sounds like diet issues...