working out in the military

[importeater91]

how do you guys work everything into our hectic work schedules...like eating all your meals, working out and your 8 hrs of sleep in...im in the marines and i find it hard to get my 6 meals in a day that i need...half the time we dont get time for breakfast, lucky if we get lunch most days...so alot of the time its dinner and a small thing to eat between dinner and bed...i try and keep food in my room so if i have time through out the day i can stop in real quick and grab something...not really sure if im making any sense but i guess my question is how do you guys that are in the military manage to get by? right now were doing a work up for afganistan and i just got back from a 3 week field op from up in virginia and in the begining of november ill be gone again for 3-4 weeks to NY ...you would think that they would want you to get all your meals in and workout enough to get strong but honestly since ive joined ive went down in everything ALOT and its kinda disapointing

[JDawg1536]

Like you said in your closing thoughts, "you would think".... Thinking and military are comparable to oil and water.

[importeater91]

yup thats so true

[CSAR]

I shoulda bought stock in PowerBar, MuscleTech, and Chiquita, 'cause we ate so many PowerBars, Me soTech bars, and bananas. Better than an MRE and healthier than a Snickers. Plus, they're easy to carry around (except for the bananas). I normally wouldn't advocate such things, but workups and deployments don't allow for regular, stable schedules. We also did personal PT at odd times, like while waiting at an airfield for a ride, between training evo lutions, etc. Anytime you're sitting around waiting is good for personal PT time.

[importeater91]

i always thought that eating power bars all the time isnt good for you that real food is alot better....do you think if i started eating some power bars, it would benifit in my situation?

[CSAR]

Of course real food is better, but are you going to carry a fridge with you? Don't forget, most food spoils without refrigeration. And real food gives off scent and attracts insects. Tactically not feasible. Plus, I seriously doubt that a PowerBar is any worse than that heavily processed crap they put in an MRE.

Eat real food when you can. But when you're out and about, hoppin' and poppin', lootin' and scootin', etc., take something that's tactical and won't spoil.

8 hours of sleep? I never heard of such a thing in the military. Are you a grunt or a POG?

[Doc M]

You need to focus on calorie consumption and not worry so much about being on a "schedule". It's simply not going to happen while you are enlisted in the Corps and as much as you would think they want you to eat clean and healthy, they honestly could give two shits about it. Make do with what you can get your hands on and run with it from there. I did the same thing as mentioned above, Powerbars, Protein bars, anything that I could pack around and that was easily accessible in the field or on an op. I ate as much as I could as often as I could and made up PT as time allowed. You are burning so many calories that it's gonna be really difficult to keep the physique that you want, so bust through it until things settle down.

How long have you been in and what's your MOS?

Good luck!

Doc M

[Jenseno9]

I'm also interested in this thread. I plan on joining a branch of the military in the next month or so.

[importeater91]

when were in the rear i can get 8hrs of sleep in if i wanted too...when were in the field im lucky to get 4 hrs of sleep in... yeah im a grunt, 0311. im what you guys would call a boot, ive only been in the fleet a few months....im in a weapons CO though so we dont PT as much as the line companys do. which i kinda like because i like doing it on my own time. i would like to do a cycle when i come back from deployment which will probaly be around dec of next yr, were leaving in march/april. would a cycle even benifit me? i know while im on ill see all the gains and stuff, but would i loose alot of due of the military life style? if i did cycle i was thinking of doing Test E 500 mg/week for 12 weeks, and of course proper PCT. i was told that i shouldent do that much, to only do 250. he said 500 is usually what BB use. but i read on here is that 500 is what people are doing for there 1st cycle.

[importeater91]

I'm also interested in this thread. I plan on joining a branch of the military in the next month or so.

what branch? i got friends in them all...well not in the navy any more, he just got out. the military isnt what it seems most of the time...i thought it was gonna be alot different. boy was i surprised lol

[Jenseno9]

I have talked to Army and Marine recruiters. I was leaning to exactly what you are doing. But in the last month thinking about doing the reserve thing and try to finish up my college I have 2 years left. I'm older (25) and have a lot of financial responsibilities and the Army recruiter told me about the college loan repayment plan and signing bonus. So if I did the reserve Army thing I want to do 3 yr with airborne. If I decide active I'd want to do Marines. I still want to talk to the Air Force about their special ops.

ps. As you should know ALL Military branches are capitalized. A Marine like yourself def should know that!

[CSAR]

You shouldn't cycle, because you won't be able to keep your diet and lifting properly scheduled and consistent, which is essential for a cycle. I'd focus on getting your BF% down and improving your cardiovascular condition. I was a Navy HM attached to a Recon platoon and became harder than a woodpecker's lips pretty quickly. Once you get out, then would be a great time to cycle - you'll be older, have more muscle maturity, and able to maintain a proper diet and lifting schedule. Just my 2 cents.

[importeater91]

yeah thats what i figured what id have to do...what can i do to get bigger...right now im 6'-0" , about 185lbs gonna be 24yrs old...not sure my body fat...i look skinny with my shirt on but im a lil soft in the mid section...my goal is to get toned up in my mid section(which isnt gonna be hard for me) and i also want my upper body to get bigger...i know food makes you bigger but thats hard for me as you know already...i dont want to be real skinny like i was when i got out of bootcamp...any suggestions?

[CSAR]

Well, like I said before, anytime you're sitting around is personal PT time.

Chest/Shoulders/Triceps:
Have someone hold your feet at their waist and do pushups.
Wide-grip pushups.
Shoulder-width pushups.
Diamond pushups.
Do pushups wearing your gear & ruck.
Dips (if you can find anything around you to allow them)
Side laterals with your rifle/carbine.
Upright rows with a ruck.
Overhead extensions with a ruck.

Legs/calves:
Grab a couple of full rucks or your swim buddy and do squats.
Lunges with your ruck.
Stiff-leg deadlifts with your ruck.
Standing leg curls with your ruck.
Calf raises with your swim buddy or ruck.

Back/biceps:
Deadlifts with a couple of rucks.
Bent over rows with a ruck.
Pullups (if you can find anything around you to allow them).
Reverse-grip pullups.
Wide-grip pullups.
Curls with your ruck.

Abs:
There are so many ab exercises you can do, it's ridiculous.

Being in a weapons company, you should be able to use ammo cases, mortar tubes, M240B's, etc. Plus, sandbags are great!!

Don't worry about getting huge at this point. Work on what you already have and build up your foundation. It'll be slow, but you'll grow. Once you get out and hit the sauce with a proper diet, you'll explode!!

[importeater91]

thanks for the info man i appreciate it...tryed doing squats with a MK19 reciever but SGT stoped me...never thought of sand bags...theres a bunch scattered all around here maybe i can snag a couple ....im not really looking to get huge, i just want to fill out...ill just stick with what im doing, get as much food as i can in. like you said doing pt on person and when were sitting around should help too...when were in the rear we do alot of hurry up and wait and stand by...BTW is 500 mg of test E alot to be taking for a first cycle?

[spywizard]

in a word.. beef jerky.. if you can do it youself, you'll save the sodium, but you might need it anyway..

good luck..

[Glow2004]

US-marines ?

[importeater91]

US-marines ?

yes im in the marines