trying to join military....

nerich8085
nerich8085 Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have 3 inches off the hips to lose for the military :/ I eat relatively healthy,and exercise. What else or what BETTER can I do to expedite this loss???

Replies

  • markmarkda
    markmarkda Posts: 9
    Are the inches for BMI? When I enlisted they went off BMI or weight for your height and age. I never tried to lose inches in one place but I knew guys who would try to make there necks bigger to get within limit. Body fat percentage is another option. For me I would just run, alot, like 1 or 2 hours a day. You cant run too much when joining the military.
  • Marll
    Marll Posts: 904 Member
    If they are doing tape tests at the recruiter's office just make sure to concentrate on areas that they measure. I can't remember all the places they are supposed to tape females, males it was just waist and neck.

    I think women are measured on wrist, neck, hips, waist and bust. As markmarkda stated, for men, trying to make your neck as large as possible when getting taped was a pretty common occurance. I know I did it because even though I always passed my PT tests with good scores I was too heavy at 5'11" and 185lbs for the Army to just leave me alone. I had a small neck and had to "puff" it out when being taped. The tape test is stupid and inaccurate, but it's what they still use today as far as I know.

    Below is the link to the regulation for the US Army AR 600-9, which should be a very similar guideline for most services (Marines may be more strict and Navy and Air Force more lax)

    http://550cord.com/army-weight-control-program-ar-600-9/army-weight-control-program-ar-600-9-chapter-3.asp#t32
  • stilettofury
    stilettofury Posts: 6 Member
    They have to measure your neck, waist, and hips, and there's some special formula that shoots out your "body fat percentage". This isn't a 100% accurate percentage, but it's army regulation.

    For a short-term fix, if you smear preparation h around your problem area, wrap it in saran wrap overnight, and only "unwrap" yourself when you are about to be taped, it will temporarily take off enough inches to possibly get you to pass. Some people claim that this doesn't work, blah blah blah, but I have personally seen 4 inches come off of a female from this method (this is NOT the right method. It does come back almost immediately).

    If you can just get past the initial tape test, you'll get plenty of PT to drop those 3 inches by the time you finish basic, I promise.
  • miss_september
    miss_september Posts: 153
    Do all branches of the military take measurements?
  • Loseweight1980
    Loseweight1980 Posts: 94
    Do all branches of the military take measurements?

    not all branches do anymore. If you make weight for some, there are no body fat measurements.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Do all branches of the military take measurements?

    The Navy does; my husband deals with it every year :/
  • Cwilbanks12105
    Cwilbanks12105 Posts: 99 Member
    They have to measure your neck, waist, and hips, and there's some special formula that shoots out your "body fat percentage". This isn't a 100% accurate percentage, but it's army regulation.

    For a short-term fix, if you smear preparation h around your problem area, wrap it in saran wrap overnight, and only "unwrap" yourself when you are about to be taped, it will temporarily take off enough inches to possibly get you to pass. Some people claim that this doesn't work, blah blah blah, but I have personally seen 4 inches come off of a female from this method (this is NOT the right method. It does come back almost immediately).

    If you can just get past the initial tape test, you'll get plenty of PT to drop those 3 inches by the time you finish basic, I promise.

    I, too, can attest that it works temporarily. My husband just did this to pass his navy weigh in/taping. I thought he was nuts when he requested I wrap him up in saran wrap (or feeling a bit kinky..) but he dropped a couple inches in his waist overnight.
  • jg627
    jg627 Posts: 1,221 Member
    When I was in the army they only did tape tests if you were over your BMI.
  • Kaylyn221
    Kaylyn221 Posts: 123
    When I joined the Air Force I had to lose weight. I was way over my BMI at the time and I had to at least get down to 132 for my height. I don't know how they do it now when joining but when you take your PT test {Air Force} they take your weight and they measure your waist....
  • momof3and3
    momof3and3 Posts: 656 Member
    Cardio, cardio and more cardio...and than weight training with heavy weights...

    Run, run fast, run hills, run long and slow...but run ( which you will need for bootcamp)...do lunges, squats, side lunges, box jumps, leg press, etc...all will help you lose inches and will make your legs stronger for all the running.
  • Brechin89
    Brechin89 Posts: 92
    I have 3 inches off the hips to lose for the military :/ I eat relatively healthy,and exercise. What else or what BETTER can I do to expedite this loss???

    Well they obviously taped you because you were overweight for your height. So... Now the fun stuff begins...

    Cut back on your calories by 500... Then just do cardio, pushups, and situps. Do it with the intentions of it being a circuit...

    Do this in 2min intervals (pt test is 2 miles 2min of pushups and 2 min of situps... the way you get better at a test is to practice for it)

    So here should be your daily routine...

    2mins of as many pushups as you can do.. Take a 45second break, move on to situps.... Do about 3 sets of these everyday and run 2miles 1 time a day.... I guarantee success...

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