PT

[roger29]

Damn!!! So I have been trying lower my body fat over break, and coming back just taking an APFT, I went from a 260 to a 210! I wasn't lifting as much but was doing PU/SU and running along with cardio...why the dramatic drop in score?!?!

Would it be feasible to bring it up to a 280 again by the next test? What do you all suggest? Any PT tips?

[The Sharaffe]

Yes. No matter what secret everyone seems to have, here's how to do good on the PT Test

1) Do Push ups for 2 minutes (Just like the PT test, no knees) every other day, wait awhile..than do a push-up workout to MF. Than come back to it a few hours later, and do it again.
2) On the off push up days do inclined sit ups, at least 200. take 2 minutes and attempt to pass with an incline. Increase the incline each week. After the 2 minutes do 200 sit ups.
3) Run every other day Alternating between long and slow, and fast and hard. Never run less than 2 miles.

Throw those in on top of whatever work out you do for your own enjoyment and I promise you you'll get back to at least a 280. Take it from a fat man with a good PT score

[Ckim715]

I do organized PT from 0700-0800. After PT is released, I usually run for another 20-30 minutes on top of that.

I haev a break from classes, from1500-1700, so I hit the gym until about 1645. What I do is after every set of whatever workout I do, I drop and do pushups till muscle failure.

[roger29]

Cool, thanks for the help guys... Right now I am working on this weeks pt plan. I do organized pt 0700-0800 m-thur. Basically Monday is PU/SU impr., Tuesday sprints, Wed Combat related pt, Thursday distance runs. On top of that, I gonna start lifting everyday and do my own PU/SU improvement. What I am concerned about is how often I should do the PU/SU imp. If I am lifting chest on monday, is it bad to do PU the next day? Will I get losses from that? Also, I am thinking about finishing up everynigth with a set of like 50 PU and SU, is that too much on top of everyday PT? Also, besides running everyday, I plan on doing like 45 mins on the bike? Again, too much? What should my diet be like if I am trying to loose weight?

[MoJo]

Here is my PT advice:

Just for reference, I usually do around 110 pushups, 113 situps, and I run a 9:51 2mile.


PUSHUPS
The key to increasing pushups is weight lifting, and doing a lot of pushups. You should do an incline-press/bench-press type of workout every other day. Do 3 sets of 10-12 reps on a couple of different chest machines at the gym. On the off days, do pushups. This will really hurt for the first few weeks, but it'll make you stronger.

After a month or so of this, start doing pushups EVERYDAY. When you are strong enough, start doing decline pushups, slow pushups (10 seconds down, 10 seconds up x 20.)

Remember, you are lifting weights to increase your base strength and build muscle. You do the pushups to work the individual pushup muscles, get the correct form, and build endurance.

SITUPS

Find a decline bench, and do situps on those every other day. Once you get strong enough, start putting a 10-25lbs weight behind your head and do as many situps as you can. Concentrate on your form, and vary it up by doing slow situps. Don't use your momentum by jerking your body, rather go slow. That way you'll get the maximum benefit in the shortest amount of time.

Also do crunches to work your upper abs, and leg-lifts, flutter kicks to work your lower abs. When you do these, keep your legs straight, bend at the waist (lying down during flutter kicks makes it easier) and alternate between leg lifts and flutter kicks. You WILL NOT get stronger abs if you don't use weights or do situps on a decline.

RUN

Unless you're a freak and ex-NCAA Div 1 cross country runner like me, you're not going to have the time or energy to run 10-12 miles a day :)

Here is a proven, and highly effective running program based on as little mileage as possible.

2 days a week, go for a nice steady 30 minute run. 1 day a week, do a track workout. By that, go to a 400m track, and run 2 laps as a warmup. Stretch, and then do 400-800m repeats. Shoot for 5-10 of these, with a 2-3minute rest in between each one. 1 other day a week, go for an hour long run.

The key to running is and always has been consistency. It takes about 3 months to see some really significant improvement, so you really need to keep it up and not slack off for even a day.

As far as weight loss goes, drink less soda, and just don't eat as much. As a serious runner, I will tell you that I am hungry 24x7...but you just get used to it after a while.

[The Sharaffe]

Ok, well Mojo isn't human with a PT score like that, to run that fast I'd have to unhindge my spine and do the second mile on all fours.

[MoJo]

Ok, well Mojo isn't human with a PT score like that, to run that fast I'd have to unhindge my spine and do the second mile on all fours.

NAH, anyone can run around a 10 minute 2 mile if they train hard enough.

I started off running around 11-12minutes back in high school, and after running 5-10 miles everyday for 2 years I was there.

[Sammy Sandbag]

NAH, anyone can run around a 10 minute 2 mile if they train hard enough.

riiighhhhttt....

[roger29]

Alright, cool guys, thanks for the help. 280 by March? Possible? Gonna try!

What do you all suggest for diet? If I am working extra hard, should I allow an increase in calories?

[MoJo]

Alright, cool guys, thanks for the help. 280 by March? Possible? Gonna try!

What do you all suggest for diet? If I am working extra hard, should I allow an increase in calories?

Unless you run a lot, don't increase in calories. Calories burned from weight lifting/pushups is negligible.

For every mile you run, you want to eat an additional 100 calories in order to maintain your current weight.

For every hour of weight lifting, you will only burn around 200-300.

If you want to lose weight, you should end up at around 2000 calories per day...that's the total caloric consumption subtracted by your workouts. So, if you eat 3000 calories, and you run 10 miles, then you will end up at 2000.

There are 3500 calories per pound...so this diet plan means a 1lb loss of weight per week. Don't dip down more than this or you'll suffer from malnutrition and go into the eating disorder phase. I've been there myself and it's not fun.

Some easy tips:

Don't drink so much juice, go for the wheat bread, drink lots of water, absolutely no junk food, drink lots of milk, and uh prepare to be hungy. Going from 145lbs to 135lbs 4 years ago, was harder than the Army Mountain Warfare School. Now I'm at 170lbs and loving it.

[MAJ. Payne]

Here's an idea based on the principle of volumization training(that is:less work over a longer period of time = more work in the long run) . Every so often throughout the day, say every couple hours, drop and do 30 to 40 push-ups. By the end of the day you will have done something like 300 push-ups that day. Do this every other day to allow for recovery and watch your push-up score skyrocket. It worked for me and it can work for anyone. I went from maxing out around 60-65 reps up to about 80 reps in a little over a month. And I still do my normal wieght training routine as well. This does take a lot of discipline though, but after 2 weeks or so it becomes habit. Now if I could only get my run time down...

Also, as far as diet goes, Mojo is pretty much right on. Another good tip is NO carbs after 7 p.m. Eat food high in carbs that late and they just end up getting stored as fat. Unless of course your running a marathon the next day. I recommend getting most of your carbs early in the day, as they are the first source of the body's energy and will be burned off as the day goes on.