Tips on training

Hi all,
I'm fifteen, and will be 16 in 9 months and want to join the Royal Marines.

Can anybody please help me with training as I'm not sure how much i should do and how often?

Help will be greatly appreciated

Luke.

 

If you have a butchers at some of the threads on this site you will find various training tips and advice that maybe of some use. If not PM me and i'll see what i can do for you young man.

NB

 

Here is a rough circuit of what I was going to try:

Mon:
Sit-ups for 2 mins
Press-ups for 2 mins
Pull-ups (as many as possible)
Approx 1 hour of P.E. in school

Tues:
1 hour circuit training (light weights, press ups, sit ups, shuttle running etc)
Approx 1 hour of P.E. in school

Wed:
1 hour rock climbing
3 mile run
Sit-ups for 2 mins
Press-ups for 2 mins
Pull-ups (as many as possible)

Thurs:
REST DAY

Fri:
5 mile jog
Sit-ups for 2 mins
Press-ups for 2 mins
Pull-ups (as many as possible)

Sat:
5 mile cycle
Sit-ups for 2 mins
Press-ups for 2 mins
Pull-ups (as many as possible)
3 mile jog

Sun:
Alternate weeks, either paintball or REST DAY

What sort of changes would you reccomend making to this circuit to help improve my fitness, working towards the PRMC.

Luke.

 

Luke your best bet is Arrse www.arrse.co.uk (an Army website) which has a lot more people with PT know-how, and previous threads on this kind of thing.

 

Your best advice is to tell us what you're doing now and as bootnecks we'll advise!!



Cheers


Steve

 

Polishing windows, brightwork and wooden floors is a great way of developing your arm muscles - a bit boring at the time though - and good preparation for all the bull you'll get when you join-up! :lol: Do you wear trainers/soft shoes at the moment? You might find it helps to toughen your feet by getting used to wearing proper (ie hard) shoes for walking in - boots will be less of a shock (and might cause fewer painful blisters later) that way. You can also get some practice in polishing those (black) shoes to reduce the impact of the culture shock when you join up.

If you have any chance of staying on for A levels and going to university before joining - do so - the more mature you join the better it will be.

Steve (the Civvy)

 

I would increase the run say about a ten miler. With a good pair of hiking boots eventually but first get your fitness levels up.

No mention of long distance walking?? Look out for a good local walking group Ramblers Association to name one.

I lead walks from ten to eighteen miles. And when they have been on a ex bootie walk they always go home fully refreshed.

Your skills as a bootie include map reading and compass work and what better a way to learn than with a walking group.

Look out for long distance walks there are plenty about.

http://www.ldwa.org.uk/

Long distance walking group have walks from twenty miles to the annual hundred miler. Do not be put off by the old codgers in the groups, many are ex forces and can still show the way to the young uns who arrive.

My old area has a thirty five miler once a year which is fun, monies raised help the fire brigade benevolent fund and the fire brigade mountaineer section who take kids out into the mountains. The challenge is to walk the trail in a day. Nothing hard about this walk! Good cause and fun at the same time

http://www.frodsham06.co.uk/

 

Cheers guys,
Hadn't thought about the long distance walks or the boots, normally I just run in running shoes but will look for some boots.

Greendeath - At the moment my training is onyl small, about 2 hours in school and sit-ups 5 times a week.

The training i posted up earlier was just a rough idea I had after viewing a few of the physical tests on the royal navy site.

I'm going to try to incorporate your ideas into my training to try and reach my full potential so thanks again guys.

Luke.

 

Happy memories. Night marching is good fun too, especially on a cold, rainy night.... :lol:

 

Alright mate

I posted a couple of training tips that might be of interest to you.

http://www.rumration.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=817.html

Getting your feet accustomed to wearing issue boots is a good idea, however stick to hill walking and general milling around in them - DONT go running in them, as this is a sure way of buggering your legs. You will do plenty of boot runs in time, but at the moment the most important thing is to work on your CV training and upper body strength.

Stick to running (in trainers), hill sprints, circuit training, cycling and swimming. For upper body workouts, leave the weights (for now) and work on bodyweight exercises, ie: Press-ups, Sit-ups, Pull-ups, Handstand shoulder-press etc. Give it a year of this and then start incorporating weights into your program.

There are some serving and ex-bootnecks on here who have a lot of experience, so dont be afraid to ask questions. They will always give you advice if they can.
Im a soon-to-be Recruit with the RMR, but I do have a fair bit of experience in fitness training. If you need any more advice from me, feel free to PM me.

Good luck mucker

Spenny

 

Luke

heed the advice given mate. AAC made an excellent point about getting through your A levels first. This will stand you in excellent stead when you eventually apply. Also. As i mentioned in my PM your a young lad so your bones will not have fully developed yet. DONT RUN IN BOOTS and DO NOT DO ANY WEIGHTS as yet. Stick to the running and as has been pointed out get yourself outside with a map and compass with some friends and learn to navigate from A-B as this is a basic but essential skill that you will need to learn. Good luck, PM if needed

NB

 

Hey guys, i'm in much the same situation (ie 15 wanting to join after A-levels). Just want to know when is it a good time to start weights?

 

I depends mate, but generally I would say no younger than 17. To be honest using your bodyweight for training is far more beneficial, especially in the Royal Marines.

Google: Hindu pressups and have a look at them. Also try a handstand against a wall and do inverted press-ups - its great for the shoulders.
Other than that, loads of standard press-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, running and circuit training.

Good luck

 

When I signed on the dotted at eighteen I had been into weight training for a while and my body strength was really good especially on the regain on the cat crawl from the deck.

Not forgetting the wall! And other exciting things.

We had a room over a pub and a few weights nothing fancy!! Just starting with an empty bar is enough at first it is the reps not the weight you want to look at

Press ups I used two chairs apart and go down as far as you can. No expensive equipment needed. This was used by my father in his Charles Atlas workouts. Where I first got the taster for training Does anybody remember that?? In the days when Arnold Schwarzanegger was a twinkle in his fathers eye.

Civvy I was a milkman/farmer and would easily churn out ten miles a day walking over fields etc so the walking was a breeze.

Build up to a regular fifteen mile walk weekly or longer enjoy the countryside take in the fresh air and get fit.

Map and compass there is bound to be a local walking group around if you mention you are looking to go in HM Forces and would like a few pointers on map compass work they will be happy to oblige.

Always remember the most dangerous thing around is an officer with a map!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Cheers guys, i will start now doing press ups hindu style! Also, I've heard there is a difference between the way the royal marines do press ups and the way most other people do press ups. Is there actually a difference and if so does anyone know what it is?

 

Hey Nutty Bag, does this mean all those who joined the Andrew at 15 and had to double everywhere... IN BOOTS... can claim damages from the MOD? :roll: Nutty (the other one, that is) - get suing, with £50K under your Naval money belt you could buy yourself a swimming pool - and make up for the lost pension money!

 

just remember you should really train for the PRMC, dont think about training for the commando training too much.

doing all these runs in boots and stuff is very well, but remember the commando training is designed to improve your fitness from a person who can run 3 miles in 22 mins in trainers to walking 30 miles in full kit.

you dont need to be able to pass the commando tests as soon as you complete selection.

you get like 8 weeks at least before you join up, so do stuff like boot running and really long hikes in that time.

be fit for the PRMC, by all means. but practicing running and endurance and press ups and things will give you a better chance at passing then being able to walk 30 miles in boots.

remember boots are a lot heavier, and you could quite easily do your legs some damage. the PTI dont expect you to be a soldier when you start training. they will be able to tell you the best ways to run, walk and operate in boots. the fitness is progressive, and tried and tested so you can be sure it works.

just slapping on some new boots and sprinting round increases your chance of pulling muscles and stuff. unless you have real experience in that sort of training, you wont know when is the right time to make the change. you may not be physically ready, slap on some boots, and then spend 2 months recovering and losing a lot of CV fitness mainly because you want to be a fully trained marine before you even start training.

not to mention you will put on a lot of weight on your legs because of the extra weight of boots if you train in boots a lot.
if you keep gaining weight you will have to go mental on body weight exercises because your heavier and cant achieve the same amount of press ups or chin ups.

if you want to take more steps towards training like a marine with weights and boots and stuff, at least do it after you pass prmc.

at the end of the day, training is there because they dont expect you to be fully fit soldiers from day one. if it was so, you would have about 6 weeks training.

focus one running, try to get to around 6 - 10 mile runs, then just keep doing a similar distance, and get it done in a quick time.
telling your instuctors at the PRMC that you can do gymnastics is iron boots wont gain you any points to pass, but coming first in the 3 mile run will.