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

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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

Good Luck

 

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.

 

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.

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.

 

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"

 

did i charge too little???

 

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

 

yes!

 

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.

 

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.

Thanks for the advice.