Getting in shape for the Navy

BioQueen

Hello!

I'm graduating from my university this year, and I am taking a gap year before going to medical school. I am shooting for the Navy medical school scholarship, so by the time I finish residency I will be working for the Navy.

They expect me to be in shape too haha.

I've lost 30 pounds and would still like to lose another 15. But right now it's less about the weight loss, and more about getting fit for their demands. I was just wondering if there is anyone out there who is trying to get into the armed services, are serving, or have served, and have any suggestions on how to best go about getting in good physical condition, and not just about losing weight.

Thanks!

bebdinosaur

Excellent choice! I definitely don't regret joining

As for meeting the Navy's demands...
The Navy PRT consists of a 1.5mi run OR 500yd/450m swim with 2min each of push ups and situps. For females 20-24 years at the minimum standards for passing, is 50 situps, 17 pushups, and a 15:15min run time or 14:00min(yd)/13:15min(m) swim time. Of course, you'll want to strive higher than that if you can, as it looks much better on your record.
For me, the pushups and situps are not a big deal, but I'm a pretty slow runner so I definitely have to work hard on that. I can't really say much for swimming, but definitely work on running, because even if you decide to swim for your PRT, you'll probably still do some running during PT with the Navy (you probably won't have to swim for PT unless you really want to). Besides running, a workout that utilizes your own body weight would definitely help out. I think Insanity from Beachbody is an excellent work out for this. It may or may not be a bit extreme, but it has definitely helped me out. There are certainly other workouts out there, or you can always design your own routine. Doing straight, no-frills pushups and situps is always a good idea too.

Any work out would be beneficial. Besides making the standards for the PRT, you'll want to be able to keep up for mandatory PT sessions (formation running sucks!) I can't say what officer training will be like, whether it be OCS, NROTC or the Academy, but I'm sure there will be quite a bit of PTing involved- so be prepared!. For boot camp in 2008, I believe the longest run we ever did was 20min. That may seem like a piece of cake, but some people still struggled. I think standards are higher for officers though lol.

Hoped this helped

NavyIT85

I am a CFL (command fitness leader) for my command. After training, the standards aren't actually higher for officer's in the sense that they are not required to be more fit (except maybe pilots/spec war)

depending on your current fitness level, working on running 2-3 miles to train for the running, and strength training will help with pushup/situp. The swim is discouraged in most cases and often only authorized if you have an injury or something preventing you from being able to run.

To get my pushups higher, I started out just doing as many as I could 2-3 times a day for the 2 minutes... I try to do them with a kid on my back or something while I am home, but that's more out of playtime with them, that still benefits me .

For situps, there is really only one way to get better... do more! Just keep doing them... after a set or 2 of push ups, do some situps/crunches/leg lifts, anything that works your abs.

For the run, be sure to take 2-4 days a week to work on distance... look into the "Couch-to-5k" program ( http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml ) . My wife used it, and I am currently using a modified version of the 10k-to-half marathon program. Don't forget to work on speed here and there too... 1-2 days a week, do shorter faster runs. Try doing negative splits for like 2 miles, where you increase your pace by about 20-30 seconds every .5 miles. ie: Start at a 8.5 minute mile pace, then at 1/2 mile mark, increase to 8 minutes mile pace, so on and so forth.

Good luck, you will never regret your decision!

edit: I should mention that when i decided I wanted to join I weighed around 300 lbs. I got down to 230 to make tape, then lost another 10lbs in boot camp... after a couple years of being stagnant, I was back around 235-240. I recently deployed and convinced myself that I need to come home to my family in the best shape of my life. I weighed 195 the day I stepped off the ship in Hawaii. My uniforms looked awful, but I felt GREAT (it has since been worth every penny to replace them... some 2 sizes smaller).

ejohndrow

I actually have a mock PRT tomorrow-good times. Anyway there are a few threads on here and there is a group as well, of active duty and reservists in the military.

You've gotten a lot of good info from NavyIT85, and jedaniels already.