Getting in shape, 2 months till AF basic traing

epox4life · February 14th, 2007, 04:57 AM

I'm 18 and at the beginning of January I decided I wanted to join the Air Force. My dad warned me that I should take at least 6 months to get in proper shape... I ended up going to MEPS on January 16th.

I am now set up to leave for basic on April 17th. Anyways this is the reason I need to get in shape, plus I think it will be good for me.

I have a few pictures so far mainly working on my arms, as of now all i've done is pushups, situps, and some running. I am wanting to join a gym if it will help, possibly get a hold of some weights.

Right now i'm... 5'6" / 140lbs (started at 134) steadly gaining.

January 6th

January 16th

Febuary 8th

Will keep updating to this. I know I need a lot of work seeing as I used to build computers for a hobby, I didn't get much exercise.

Any advice like exercises I could do that don't require equipment would be helpful or if I do end up going to the gym, I will have no idea what to do, like what you think would be a safe place for me to start.

epox4life · February 14th, 2007, 05:29 AM

February 14th

rangerboy · February 14th, 2007, 11:26 AM

The military is primarily with total body fitness, specifically cardiovascular endurance.

While getting bigger I think is a goal we all share, your concerns (at least from now until you graduate from Basic Training) should be to focus on total body endurance. If you gain too much mass without spending plenty of time doing cardio you will find it increasingly harder to run (believe me I've tried it).

Your PT Requirements are going to be push-ups, sit-ups and running. And the ONLY thing that makes you better at them is them.

Good luck

**orientalkid** · February 14th, 2007, 12:11 PM

dips, chins and sprinting will help a lot.

rangerboy · February 14th, 2007, 12:14 PM

Good Call. I forgot about those.

**Doughboy** · February 14th, 2007, 12:48 PM

Here u go pimp :
20 Levels of Bodyweight Exercises
over 80 bodyweight exercises there ^

I got at least 2 ebooks and about 3 or 4 compilation ebooks with bodyweight stuff too. If you want any PM me and ill pick the best ones out for ya.

Good luck

**cujo66** · February 14th, 2007, 01:28 PM

Going into basic I thought all the lifting I did was going to benefit me, it didn't make that big a diff.
Push ups, push up, and then do some more push ups.
And running.
As long as you can knock 20 out at any time on the push ups you'll be fine, and from the pics posted you look like you hould have no problem.
Don't worry about bulking up prior, because your gonna lose it. In basic thin guys add bulk, bulky guys thin down.
If you wanna be on the safe side, find out what the passing standards are for the final PT test for basic, push ups sit ups run, and work on passing it before you go.

**Insex** · February 14th, 2007, 02:49 PM

Welcome to EF epox4life. Enjoy your stay and good luck to you in your endeavors.

I recommend that you buy the book The Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness by Stewart Smith. If you can do all of the workouts in that book, then you'll pass all of the tests in basic with flying colors. You can find the book here:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide...e=UTF8&s=books

epox4life · February 14th, 2007, 02:53 PM

Thanks for all the advice guys, running (cardio) is really something I need to start doing everyday. The recruiter gave me this packet with the standards in it so here they are.
For push ups i've just been doing 3x20 for 3 times a day... should I be giving my body a day to recover?

minimum grad standard - 2 mile = 16:45min. / 1.5mile = 11:57min / pushups = 45 / situps = 50

honor grad standard - 2 mile = 14:15min. / 1.5mile = 8:55min / pushups = 62 / situps = 70 / pullups = 4

extraordinary - 2 mile = 13:30min. / 1.5mile = 8:08min / pushups = 75 / situps = 80 / pullups = 10

**cujo66** · February 14th, 2007, 03:35 PM

You can give your body a rest, but once you're in, they'll be times you'll be doing 3 x 20 push ups in five minutes. And you will do push ups all day, everyday. By the time you graduate you'l lbe able to do push ups standing on your head, and chances are, they'll make you do some version of that at some point too.

epox4life · March 15th, 2007, 06:44 PM

march 15th - what do you guys think? fat loss? muscle gain? anything...

epox4life · March 26th, 2007, 01:35 AM

Just for fun. I know it's not all about the arms.

rangerboy · March 27th, 2007, 10:36 AM

How are you doing with endurance. I think your progress looks great, but keep in mind, you'll be doing pushups until your eyes bleed.

Focus more on your triceps, lats and chest.

epox4life · March 27th, 2007, 07:08 PM

I can do 42 push ups in one set now, compared to 2 months ago when all I could do was 30~. 50 is my goal before April 17th.

I don't get winded as easly when running now, although 2 miles is still rough for me.

Used to have higher blood pressure 140/86, but now after a couple months of no caffiene and more exercise it's down to 127/78.

rangerboy · March 28th, 2007, 11:25 AM

Back in the '90s I had an NCO who told me to do the following:

PT:
Push ups 3x15 four count (up&down, up and down=1 rep)
1 Set Regular, 1 Set Widearm, 1 Set Diamond
Situps 3x20 four count (same as above)
Flutter Kick (lying on your back with your hands under your tookus with your feet alternating between 6-18 Inches off the ground) 3x15

Make sure you alternate the Push ups, sit-ups and flutterkicks...
THEN do what is called a "5-minute drill" which is simply alternating push-ups and sit-ups for 30 seconds each for five minutes.

On top of all this, he reccomended doing an additional 100 push ups a day in sets of 10.

**johnny_on_the_spot** · March 29th, 2007, 10:47 PM

i had taken a training class for school, it was circuit training and stuff, but we had like sit up and push up test, never really tried them in under a minute before... well i reeled off over 50 push ups in a minute (most in the class too), but basically i got that from doing bench i can assume, but i had hurt my back before the summer, so i altered my routine to do 3X20 with less weight (started the summer barely being about to do 135 this way, by the end of the summer, i was doing 165 this way), apparently all the reps helped with push ups... figured i would mention it incase you were tired of doing straight push ups... good luck to you and thanks for defending our country!!!

---johnny

epox4life · March 30th, 2007, 09:52 PM

Those flutter kicks are not fun talk about burning. anyways thought i'd throw a back picture in here don't have an older one to compair it with though.

Wacker · April 24th, 2007, 09:49 AM

I think you have good genetics on your side based on the results you have made in your body shape just from doing situps, pushups, and running. Great job, and good luck.