Looking for a good workout routine to get me ready for basic training for the Army!

micahannettetaylor
micahannettetaylor Posts: 1 Member
edited September 2022 in Fitness and Exercise
I’m a female 18 weighing 192 trying to get a BMI of 27%.

Replies

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,630 Member
    edited September 2022
    My basic training was Air Force not Army, but I'm sure a lot of the same basic principles apply. You'll be doing a lot of running and calisthenics: pushups, jumping jacks, etc. My recommendation I made to my son who's also trying to get ready for the Army:

    Set up a 2-mile track. Using an actual running track at a school or gym is easy but not required. Start jogging at an easy pace. Every 100 meters stop and do 10 reps of calisthenics, alternating between pushups, crunches, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers. On a track, 100 meters is the distance around each curve or straight-away, so jog one straight side, stop when the corner begins and do your reps, jog around the corner and stop when it goes straight again, do more reps, repeat.

    Do this routine five days per week. Each day for the first week, keep your jogging pace the same, but increase the reps by five...10 reps Monday, 15 reps Tuesday, and so on. If you can't maintain a jog the entire time, walk when needed, but make it a fast-paced walk.

    Week two go back to 10 reps, but increase the pace of the jogging slightly, or if you had to walk the first week then focus upon jogging only, even at a slower pace. Tuesday keep this newly increased pace but do 15 reps, and so on.

    Week three go back to 10 reps, but instead of increasing the jogging pace, add another lap / quarter mile.

    In this manner you can continue to improve until you're doing 3 miles per day, stopping every 100 meters for 25+ reps of calisthenics.
  • michael6186
    michael6186 Posts: 27 Member
    Priorities of work:
    1) Weight
    2) Entry Level Standards
    3) Maintenance of standards while maintaining healthy weight and building on general fitness and other testable events.
    4) Consideration

    1) I would recommend first, focusing on making sure you're at an appropriate weight that will allow you entry into the Army. They use height and weight standards I believe so make sure you are within those.

    2) Find out what the entry level tests and standards are. You need to be able to pass those before worrying about the rest of boot camp.

    3) Once you are at an acceptable weight and can pass the entry level tests then you should work to maintain those while building on general fitness that will help you stay injury free. You'll likely do a lot of repetitive motions such as the aforementioned running and calisthenics. So it's wise to build a large work capacity while making sure you can recover each day. Don't neglect your mobility and flexibility as those will help you to stay injury free. Once you have these things in place, look at what other testable events you have to look forward to in training and see that you can pass those too. These are less important than the other recommendations I've made as you'll have time in training to get ready for these events but if you can be ready for them then you put yourself in a better position to not only pass them but also do better overall.

    4) Considerations - I personally don't know you well enough to prescribe you a fitness plan but I will recommend that you build a large aerobic capacity and muscular endurance. Boot camp is a game of endurance mostly, to include mental endurance. Don't get caught up with aesthetics. You're looking for performance.

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