Joining the Army! HELP!

Hi Kristi!
When do you go into the service? A lot of recruiters will have workouts with the new recruits to help them get ready for training, look into that and take advantage of it because it will be the closest thing to what you will have to do on a daily basis once in the Army.
PT usually consists of push ups, sit ups, and running....lots and lots of running...depending on who is leading daily PT there could be other exersizes added in for cardio or strenght training but for your PT tests its those 3 exersizes and you will have a minimum amount of pushups and sit ups to do and will have to run your run in a certain particular time depending on your sex and age...im sure you already know all this though LOL
My suggestion if you cant work out with a recruiter is to just practice those 3 exersizes, push ups,sit ups and R U N!
Good luck

I've been in the Army for 10 years. Basic training isn't as difficult (physically) as many assume. Alot of basic training actually molds and prepares you physically (and mentally) for life in the military. As far as initial preparation, I would do what is suggested here. You need to get with your recruiter and find out what is expected, at your age group, to meet the APFT standards; weight, body fat % (if thats an issue), and the test itself. The APFT is made up of 3- events, pushups and situps in a 2-minute time period for each, and then a 2-mile run. Your graded on a percentage. So the more pushups and situps you do in a 2-minute time, or the quicker time on a run, the higher score you get. I would suggest having someone time you in all the events, if you haven't already, and see where you stand on each. Then start to focus on your weakest events. Don't over do it!!! Alot of people freakout and run their *kitten* off, which can result in injury. The last thing you want is to suffer an injury before you ship out. If you can find a way to maximize your score before you ship out, you'll find that the phsyical hurdles will be practically non-existent, and you can focus your 9weeks of basic at sum of the more important tasked based skills.

I would try and focus more on endurance, cause you'll be doing alot of that. Drilling, patrolling, ruck-sack marching. You walk and stomp all over the place. You'll be double-timing to every training area. Some days you'll be on your feet all day long, with little rest and time to take a load off.

The main thing is to just dig deep, work hard, and stay calm. Basic training is just a game. Its a mind game. Everyone F**Ks up. Everyone gets in trouble. Everyone gets smoked. Its just how the game is played. Be open-minded and allow yourself to be molded, like the drill sergeants will be more than happy to oblige. They aren't there to wash you out or make you fail. Their job is to break EVERYONE down to the lowest common denominator, so that every recruit is working on an equal plane. Then build you back up into a strong and disciplined soldier; as cliche as that all sounds.

The best advice I can give you is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS keep attention to detail. Listen to whats being put out. Listen to instruction. Take notes; in a small notepad or mental notes. This will keep you ontop of your game. Before you know it, 9 weeks will be a blur and you'll move onto AIT to learn your MOS skill.

Good luck,

ole sarge

p.s. here is a site to get you started, cause ole sarge takes care of even his future soldiers. These are the numbers you should be achieving at 60%. Which is above active-duty standards. I don't recall what is the minimum standard for Basic Training, but at the very least you should be doing better than 50%. Plan on that.

http://www.apft-standards.com/

Female Age Group: 22-26

Pushups - 60% = 17
Situps - 60% = 50
2-mile Run - 60% = 19:36

Word up. Thanks for the friends request. If you need anything else, hit me up with a PM. I'll try and point you in the right direction.

Yea I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, in the army, especially during training, you don't always have the resources to eat organic, clean and healthy. You do live off a balanced diet that I'm sure many nutritionist-elites would turn their nose up at. The fact is, you'll spend 9-weeks of basic in total muscle failure. You'll never be a 100% recovered nor be given ample time to recover, cause you are constantly being pushed and torn down. Eating calories is your only friend. And what they serve at the DFAC is what you get. There's no getting around that.

The killer, is the times when you aren't in training or not overseas, and nobody there to really keep you accountable on eating right and exercising. Alot of the time, you'll have to take it upon yourself to maintain. You just have to be diligent in doing so, just like everyone else on here. Luckily, for military folks (active duty especially), you have a pretty regimental lifestyle. You are always given opportunities to do PT and thats just part of your schedule. Which is kinda nice.

Deployments are kind of a weird beast. Everyone, for the most part, looks forward to deployment cause you always lose weight. There are a few exceptions, haha. You'll find yourself eating pretty sh!tty, or not eating enough. Sometimes, you may go weeks without having an opportunity to workout, depending on your job. Its honestly, not a very healthy lifestyle, but you gotta make do.