Military - women especially question

sgmomma
sgmomma Posts: 299 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So, at present I'm currently seriously considering joining the airforce. I'm in fairly decent shape but if i go ahead an decide to enlist what exercises should i do to prepare myself for bootcamp?

Replies

  • jaimewaterbury
    jaimewaterbury Posts: 1
    GOOD AMOUNTS OF RUNNING, PUSHUPS, SITUPS, BEING ABLE TO LIFE 70LBS. GOOGLE THE AIR FORCE PT STANDARDS AND LOOK UP WOMEN AND YOUR AGE BRACKET. MAKE SURE YOU CAN DO ALL OF THE ITEMS IN THE TIME AMOUNTS LISTED.
  • sgmomma
    sgmomma Posts: 299 Member
    I can do the running i'm a distance runner and the push ups and sit ups...i just wasn't sure what else I should be looking at. :) thanks
  • escloflowneCHANGED
    escloflowneCHANGED Posts: 3,038 Member
    GOOD AMOUNTS OF RUNNING, PUSHUPS, SITUPS, BEING ABLE TO LIFE 70LBS. GOOGLE THE AIR FORCE PT STANDARDS AND LOOK UP WOMEN AND YOUR AGE BRACKET. MAKE SURE YOU CAN DO ALL OF THE ITEMS IN THE TIME AMOUNTS LISTED.

    Why are you yelling?
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
    Overall fitness, but as a distance runner, you might try adding a backpack for a while! Remember, you'll probably have to run with a pack in Basic. pushups and sit ups should be fine as long your core is in good shape.
  • galenofedgewood
    galenofedgewood Posts: 146 Member
    Airforce? Picking up your coffee cup.

    Ha! I kid.

    Like previously mentioned, overall fitness. If you can do pullups, etc, you're probably golden for all of basic and the follow on courses.
  • Scarlett_Belle
    Scarlett_Belle Posts: 145 Member
    Not sure for AF but in Navy we did exercises like carry dummies (150lbs) on strechers thowing medicine balls back and forth lots of circut training. Lunges, squats, and those wierd tension cords with weights. One thing- best advice I got was make sure you can do above and beyond the amount required for the MINIMUM age group as that will be the highest and also because odds are you will get sick in BC so it's better to have that safety net.
  • ttippie2000
    ttippie2000 Posts: 412 Member
    There are smart phone apps you can download for military fitness. They cover the specific requirements for entrance and detail how they administer the tests.
  • ksavy
    ksavy Posts: 271 Member
    I am active duty Air Force now. Really just making sure that you are good for the running, push-ups, and sit-ups you will be fine. Running is more of a speed than a distance event. It is a 1.5 mile run. So maybe so some speed work with running rather than all long distance runs. We have a lot of people having problems with sit-ups because so many of our younger Airmen are coming in with weaker cores from not being active as children/teenagers. As long as you practice those three things you will be fine.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
    Really, if you can run, do push ups, and sit ups you are all set for AF basic. You will be most likely be given a fitness test in the beginning to make sure you are ready for basic. It sounds like you will have no issues with this. The rest of the conditioning will be provided by them. If you do ruck marches then they will start out shorter with a lighter pack. Everything increases in intensity as you go along. They would have too many injuries if they expected people to come into basic already fit.

    If you really want to take the pressure off of yourself, look into doing body weight exercises and some solid strength training. Look into compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and the bench press. All of those will help with your functional strength for activities like climbing, carrying others, and hand to hand combat skills (if the AF has that). Keep up with your running for endurance.
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    First, make sure you can meet the PT criteria, at a minimum.
    http://www.afpc.af.mil/affitnessprogram/

    Second, make sure you can go above and beyond those requirements - you will not just make it there and stop.

    Third, learn what the physical requirements are for your AFSC (job you pick). Most require the ability to pick up a small amount of weight, but others can require more.
  • alikonda
    alikonda Posts: 2,358 Member
    I am active duty Air Force now. Really just making sure that you are good for the running, push-ups, and sit-ups you will be fine. Running is more of a speed than a distance event. It is a 1.5 mile run. So maybe so some speed work with running rather than all long distance runs. We have a lot of people having problems with sit-ups because so many of our younger Airmen are coming in with weaker cores from not being active as children/teenagers. As long as you practice those three things you will be fine.

    ^^Yeah.

    Just got out of the Navy, myself. Honestly, if you're in decent physical shape, you're going to be fine. When I first joined the military, I remember being shocked that people couldn't do 65+ situps in 2 minutes because that's pretty basic core strength. Unless you're going to be in the Marines or Special Forces, I feel like the standards are not very high...for a majority of military positions you'll depend more on mental strength and ability to function on no sleep than actual physical ability.
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    Airforce? Picking up your coffee cup.

    Ha! I kid.

    Like previously mentioned, overall fitness. If you can do pullups, etc, you're probably golden for all of basic and the follow on courses.

    Balancing coffee cups AND blue folders is a delicate art. Being able to pick up a box of printer paper and walk it down the hall is a plus too.
  • sgmomma
    sgmomma Posts: 299 Member
    Thanks.. I'm also enjoying the humorous responses.... I do kettlebells too so I think I'm be ok... I'm just worried about the mental aspect and being away from my family for 8 weeks
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    Thanks.. I'm also enjoying the humorous responses.... I do kettlebells too so I think I'm be ok... I'm just worried about the mental aspect and being away from my family for 8 weeks

    You won't miss them so much as you'll wish you were anywhere but there. Looking back (15 years ago, sheesh!) I enjoyed basic. It was nice being able to not have to think for myself and just be told where to go and what to do. Just go with the flow, write letters, and don't take the yelling personally. Oh, and study for your ASVAB if you haven't been already.
  • sgmomma
    sgmomma Posts: 299 Member
    See and i'll enlist with a higher rank as I have a degree. Hopefully will have a meeting friday with a recruiter...I'm still a bit on the fence...but we will see how it goes
  • Scarlett_Belle
    Scarlett_Belle Posts: 145 Member
    I was an absolute homebody before joining and had never been away from home more than a week in my life. The time flew by and sadly didn't really think about my family. You are kept so busy, always going that as soon as you lay your head on your pillow at night you pass out. Boot Camp hands down was the best sleep of my life.
  • alikonda
    alikonda Posts: 2,358 Member
    I was both really fit and really optimistic when I joined. Every day of indoc/basic I was getting yelled at for smiling too much because, although I was exhausted, all I was thinking was "Wow! Where else would I get to do ALL these things in one day? PT session, martial arts, water workouts in pool/river, and obstacle course...." I still really don't like getting yelled at, but focusing on how cool half the stuff we were doing helped a lot. And all the previous responders were absolutely correct in saying that you'll sleep amazingly and won't have time to miss family.


    ETA: For what it's worth, if I was to do it over again, I would absolutely go Air Force. :wink:
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    See and i'll enlist with a higher rank as I have a degree. Hopefully will have a meeting friday with a recruiter...I'm still a bit on the fence...but we will see how it goes

    If you have a 4-year degree, I hope you're not meeting with an enlisted recruiter.
  • jppd47
    jppd47 Posts: 737 Member
    Give your self a PT test. In all honesty shoot for the max for your age group before you get in. Then your good to go, with no worries about PT time in basic and your career.

    Sounds like your doing good all ready fitness wise. Just keep it up!
  • RaineMarie
    RaineMarie Posts: 158 Member
    If you have a 4-year degree, you should definitely consider going to OTS and becoming an officer. I commissioned out of law school, and I went through OTS. I dont know what enlisted basic is like, but my OTS didnt really require much of anything other than being able to run for a half hour, do pushups, and do situps. I mean we did obstacle courses and stuff, but functionally if you can do those three, you'll be good. And thats all the PT test cares about. I had a personal trainer for 5 months before going to OTS because I didnt workout consistently during law school, but in those 5 months I went from not being able to do any pushups, to being able to max my pushups out on the PT test. It's really not that difficult.
  • sgmomma
    sgmomma Posts: 299 Member
    I'm 30hrs short of my 4 yr my plan is to get that finished an get to go ots... I'm planning on NOT meeting with enlisted recruiter atleast not first. ..bc I want to go ots
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    I'm 30hrs short of my 4 yr my plan is to get that finished an get to go ots... I'm planning on NOT meeting with enlisted recruiter atleast not first. ..bc I want to go ots

    FYI, in my experience with being enlisted and applying to OTS... you have a much better shot at trying as a civilian than as enlisted. You can apply within 9-12mos (forgot which one) of completing your degree. There are only so many prior enlisted slots available and it's really competitive with all the fluffing and stratifying we do to ourselves.
  • alikonda
    alikonda Posts: 2,358 Member

    FYI, in my experience with being enlisted and applying to OTS... you have a much better shot at trying as a civilian than as enlisted. You can apply within 9-12mos (forgot which one) of completing your degree. There are only so many prior enlisted slots available and it's really competitive with all the fluffing and stratifying we do to ourselves.

    ^^YES. If the enlisted recruiters get their hands on you, that's it; they have enlisted quotas to fill and the process of enlisted->officer is long and ridiculously bureaucratic. I knew a number of enlisted guys on my ship that had full degrees and didn't go officer due to some confusion/misinformation...and none of them made it through the gauntlet to transfer. (Still breaks my heart how we waste potential....*sigh*)

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