A Military Physical Fitness Training Plan to Help You Meet Your Goals
Getting in the Best Shape of Your Life
Are you getting ready to start basic training, but are worried you won’t pass the military fitness exam? Are you looking to lose weight and shape up with a time-proven workout? Whatever your goals are, this military fitness training plan is exactly what you need to get physical fit fast.
Preparing for the Military Physical Fitness Test
If you are preparing for your Military Physical Fitness Test, don’t wait until boot camp to get your body in shape. Many people arrive at basic training wholly unprepared and soon come to regret it. The basic army fitness test has rigorous standards, but knowledge is power. Once you understand the minimum requirements, you can work to exceed them.
Basic requirements for the Army test:
- Over 50 pushups in 2:00 minutes
- Over 60 situps in 2:00 minutes
- Over 6 pullups
- Running 2 miles in 15:00 or better
- Running 5 miles in 40:00 or better
- 16 mile hike with gear in 5 hours, 20 minutes or better
- Completing a 15 meter swim with gear
With dedication, you can train to exceed these goals with a few simple exercises.
The Workout
The key to improving your fitness quickly is working your muscles to failure. When you push your body to the limit with each exercise, your muscles are forced to recover and rebuild more efficiently to keep up.
In order to work to failure, you’ll want to do supersets of each exercise in the following manner:
- 10 pushups
- 10 situps
- 10 pushups with your arms wide
- 10 reverse crunches
- 10 pushups with your arms close together
- 10 double crunches
Repeat this cycle 5-10 times, or until you absolutely cannot do another rep. When you’re lying on the floor exhausted, you know you’ve done it right.
Although this workout only takes about 15 minutes, you’ll have done more reps than you probably thought possible, pushing your muscles farther than you ever have before. When you train to failure, you get the biggest gains in the shortest amount of time. Each time you do this routine, make sure you push for the maximum possible number of reps. Also be careful to eat plenty of protein after these workouts, so your muscles with have the nutrients they need to repair themselves afterward.
When it comes to the cardio portion of the test, programs like Couch to 5K are very useful for someone who is not currently a runner and wants to get started. The main idea is to work running into your cardio workout slowly by running only a minute or two at a time until your body adjusts. Before you know it, you’ll be running for 10 minutes at a time, 20 minutes at a time, until you’re running a full 5K. The main idea is to start slowly and be consistent!
Stick With It
The most important thing to remember with any workout routine is that you have to stick with it in order to be successful. You’ll have good days and bad days, but any day you work out, you are moving one step closer to your goals. Remember, you are ahead of the game just for having started. Good luck!
Resources
Military.com
Coolrunning.com
