I want to join the Army. I'm a 5 ft 7 female and i need to get into military standard shape. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Depends on how long you have until you report to basic. I'm going to assume two months.

Stop drinking sodas or tea immediately. Water (with the occasional sports drink, only when you need it) is your new friend.
If you smoke, quit. No excuses, just quit.
If you drink alcohol, bring it down to no more than one drink at night, maximum. And no 'saving up credits' for the weekend.

Start getting up at 5 a.m. (every day... yes, EVERY day) and go for a jog on the days listed, being sure to do no less than 5-10 minutes of stretching/warm-up:
1st week : 1/2 mile x3 days (every other day)
2nd week: 1 mile x4 days (every other day)
3rd week: 1.5 miles x5 days
4th week: 2 miles x5 days
5th week and on: 2.5 miles x6 days
Do not take more than a single day in a row off from running.

Start doing push-ups and sit-ups AFTER your run, or after your warm-up if you are not running. Yes, that means push-ups & sit-ups EVERY day, even non-running days (except for the one day you get to pre-designate as your 'day of rest', where you do absolutely no exercise except normal daily activities.)
1st week : 10 pushups/40 situps
2nd week: 20 pushups/50 situps
3rd week: 30 pushups/60 situps
4th week: 40 pushups/80 situps
5th week and on: 50 pushups/100 situps
And I mean real pushups, not this 'on the knees' stuff. Back straight as a board, chest (and I mean sternum, not your 'chest') comes to within 4 inches of the deck.
For situps, crunches are accpetable. Avoid putting your hands behind your neck; you'll be tempted to 'pull' yourself up withyour hands, causing neck strainand not actually helping at all. Cross your arms in front of your chest, and bring your forearms (not your elbows) up to your knees.

Drink plenty of water, but don't gorge. If you even think you're thirsty, drink. If you haven't had a drink of water in two hours, drink. ['Icky' bodily function description ahead'] An acceptable guide to hydration is the color of your urine. The darker it is, the more dehydrated you are. But pure clear (looks just like water) urine is also something to watch out for. A light yellow color is ideal.

That's good for a start. The rest will happen in basic. But this will give you a good edge.

Answer 2

I joined the U.S. Army and served for 4 years. Best time of my life. You have made the right decision. To get into shape. Start off slow do some push-ups and sit-ups everyday and possibly some weight training. Start off walking and then a slow jog after a week or so. Then do some full on running, as far as you can run. Don't give up, even when you feel tired. Try to get up to at least running 2 miles before giving up. That should whip you into pretty good shape for basic. This is what I did. I joined the Army and didn't leave for Basic for 5 months, so I had plenty of time to train. I was so glad I did. I wasn't one of the females in the back of the formation that were unable to keep up with the platoon. Believe me when I say you don't want to be one of them. Never give up while in Basic, give it your best everyday and you will be fine. Good Luck!

Answer 3

I was in the Marines and unfortunately I did not go prepared. It would have made life there a lot easier. Start to exercise daily, push ups, running, biking, crunches and read up on some of their history like rank structure the more you know the better off you will be. You never want to be the slowest person in the platoon cause they will end up giving you double work while you are there. You didn't mention your weight, try to make sure is is about 15 pounds under the max so as not to get messed with too bad. Air force is different from the Marines but the more physically fit you are the better off you will be. Good luck and I have never regretted join the Marine Corps hope you feel the same about the Air force.

Answer 4

I would suggest you get into some sort of shape before you go to Basic Training. (3-4 months of training on your own: mainly running and push ups/girl push-ups knees on the ground arms extended) Start running your two (2) miles everyday or every other day for the next 3 months.Don't forget to do daily push-ups. I would also suggest not to overlook the mental factor because they are going to break you down in order to build you up. you got to be strong mentally (very Important to understand that) If you smoke quit today. If you are married or have children don't take many pictures (better dont bring any) if you happen to be the sentimental type. Regular Army ,Armyreserv or Army National Guard?? anyhow I wish you the best, GOOD LUCK !! You Know that there's a good chance that after Basic and your MOS you will be deployed chances are better than 50% chance. Take care and good luck.

Answer 5

Go to the local YMCA, and do the things that your recruiter says you need to do.

Bonus points if you can pass the Army PT before you go. This means crunches, pull-ups, push-ups, running.

If you can comfortably run 3-4 miles then you'll actually enjoy that part of the day, while all those around you are barfing their guts. If you know you can do 100 push-ups then you can secretly grin when the drill sgt. orders you to do 20 of them.

My daughter went to the USAF, and she suffered because she didn't get into great shape before she went. Had she been in any worse shape she would've washed out. If your body isn't used to the level of exercise then it will have all sorts of problems -- twisted ankles and knees, pulled muscles, female problems, even bladder problems. You need to have all those body issues worked out BEFORE you go.

Before you go to basic, you want to have the basic memorization stuff done too. You're gonna go thru hell, but at least you'll go in knowing that you already know the rank of officers at a glance, etc.

Answer 6

Don't fret too much about "not being able to do x number of pushups" or "being a little flabby" before going into Basic Training. Your goal before Basic Training should indeed be to try to get into shape by doing exercises like running, jogging, pushups, ab crunches, flutter kicks, situps, etc., but everyone will be trained in BCT. No matter how much you train before BCT, you will be sore in BCT. You will lose weight in BCT. And don't worry, there's even a program called "fat camp" if you come in and can't do the minimum required pushups (or are a little too flabby) to even start BCT.
So don't worry! And BCT will actually be lots of fun.

Answer 7

If you can do about 55 pushups in a minute, 55 situps in a minute, and run 1.5 miles in less than 13 mins, then you should be alright. You'll probably be able to shave another minute or so off your run, after a few weeks into basic training.

Answer 8

Well if you are in the United States then you just go to basic training in San Antonio, Texas. It's the only one in the U.S. and you get to go there free as long as you go with the Military. I'm not sure though if that's for the military or just the Air Force though.

Answer 9

I know three people they always told me that to get in the army you have to get rind of all you belly fat and get muscles but it also depends on what you want to do .For example if you want to fight you have to do what I said if you want to make equipment you don't have to work as hard but it would be a good idea to get in shape.

Answer 10

Army Basic Training will take care of that.

If you really want to work on something, work on running 2 miles, do push ups and sit ups.