Running and Pull-ups

[Midshipmanjosh]

One thing that i found with helping with the pullups is doing a pyramid. I went from doing about 13 at a max to doing 16 at a max the other day. Today i did a pyramid to 10 (2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2) without a problem. Hopefully i get 20 in a week or two.

Also, i don't know about the rest of your, but im not one of those blazing jack rabbits who get on here and post run times around 18 min. But one technique that i have been practicing to shave time off my run is this.

Start the first lap jogging with a partner, sprint the 2'nd lap and then let your parter walk and you keep running, when you lap your partner again, sprint the next lap, ect.

I cut 1.5 min off my run time in only a week. I have been told though that for the long term, this is a bad practice. But if you have 2 weeks to prep for the PFT...

 

[NickPollock19]

here's the deal, if you want to truly more than double the amount of pullups you can do, do the armstrong pull up work out. i was only able to do 6 pull ups that were dead lock when i started, and 3 weeks later i did 15 for my first pft, and a month after that i did 24. If you do the armstrong pullup program, you will get the 100 pts for pull ups, it should be the easiest 100 points for the pft. to train for getting the situps, pump out 120 sit ups as fast as yo ucan every day, do not skip, for about 2 weeks. After that, time your self to 100 and i guarantee you will do 100 in about 1:45 or 1:50. With running, all you can really do is run more and more. Just keep this in mind, it helped me cut 2 minutes off my run the day of my last PFT, the mind breaks down before the body. If you are "hurting" your brain is just telling you that soon your body will truthfully be hurting, so don;t stop, don't slow down, just go faster and ignore the signals, you will cross the finish line soon enough.

Hope this helps,
-nick

 

[NickPollock19]

oh, here is the link to armstrong.
http://www.4mcd.usmc.mil/AOP/OSOHyattsville/Armstrong Pullup Program.htm

follow it religiously, don't wuss out on maximum effort sets, the only person it will be hurting is yourself.

 

[NavyOCS]

I have been doing a workout routine that will for sure increase your pullups and overall upper body strength. It took me a good three to four attempts to even finish this workout. Its looks easy but just try it.

Its a pyramid...

1 pullup, 2 pushups, 3 situps(marine corps crunches)
2 pullups, 4 pushups, 6 situps
3 pullups, 6 pushups, 9 situps
You see the pattern for every pullup do twice the pushups and 3x the situps up untill you reach 10 pullups, 20 pushups and 30 situps... and then back down you go to 1 pullup, 2pushups and 3 situps

 

[aero]

This is my first post here. But anyway I am doing the Armstrong program and it really does work. I have went from doing like6 to doing 18 in no time. But here lately (last month or so) when I really exert myself I get these terrible throbbing headaches for about 20 minutes and then they go to a dull ache for the next 30 minutes or so. It just happened on the pull ups at first and now it has progressed to the morning pushups as well. I talked with a doctor and he said they were classic case of exertional headaches and he said they should not have that big of an impact and they should just go away. Has anyone had these? Or heard anything about these types of headaches? Do they go away? Any advice would be great.

 

[Pheidippides]

Exertion Headaches

Yes they do go away... I had them for awhile also and just keep going on to the point where I hated to workout because I hated sitting there and my head be killing me and sometimes I felt really dizzy. I talked with a personal trainer, doctor, and nutitionist. They all said the same thing... What have I been eating lately and why was I so stressed out. A lot of thing play into your personal performance in the gym and on the road. Working out is like 80% mental and the rest physical. He said to watch what I eat... no more caffene, careful with my sugar intake, and start eating more carbohydrates... my personal life needed some work too... stress had to be eliminated and I changed the time when I was working out from 5pm rush hour to early mornings and getting to bed a lot sooner than before, these helped me but he said everyone was different and there is no one cure for everyone. Within a week I completely forgot about the headaches and was seeing an increase in my work performance, energy level and exercise intake.

 

[makoslim]

biggest things, to remember, DONT time your PFTs on a 3 mile course (use one to submit your package, but after your in, dont use it!) you need to time yourself on a 3.2 mile course because that IS what you face there. you will have a very very sutle uphill grade for one small portion of it (you go over this section three times) the rest is pavement, gravel (small posrtion again) and dirt. the dirt section is the best because it is through the trees, and there is no wind, but the long strait away that gos by the barrakcs/parade deck tends to have wind rip through it, it can go for you or against you, our first PFT at 188 was coincidently a tail wind.

Crunches! although this thread dosn't include them, make sure you are doing them right! my OSA told me to put my hands down on my elbows, DONT do that, also dont put your hands down anywhere near your elbows. You have to have your hands either under your arm pits, or on your UPPER tricep, or any combination there of when you get there. I went from doing 100 crunches in 65 seconds on my preship to only doing 85 when I got there!

Pull ups, they are money, but as long as you can get a 225 and do more than 8 pullups you will be fine when you first get there (it gets harder after that, but youll get stronger while there) Im sure Ill get a lot of guff for saying that, because I know that pullups are "money" at 5 points a pop, but you wont even be talked to if you get a 225 PFT and no score lower than 8 pullups, 75 crunches, and a 24 minute mile (granted, youll never get accepted with that, it is all you need for your first PFT).

Dont let this info make you slack off, work your ass off, and try to get taht 300 PFT, it will only make things easier for you when you get there, because it is not easy!

Also walk fast for long periods of time before going, walking and running use different muscle groups, and they will walk you fast from the barracks, or classrooms to and over the bridge to the chowhall, my shins burned for the first couple days of this, and I tend to walk fast anyway, so make sure you walk get your shins in shape!

Good luck to you all, I wish things had been different for me, but I just couldn't cut it mentally.

 

[CUBoulder]

Just did my preliminary PFT. 100 crunches, 10 pullups and 24 min (minus 1:30 for altitude). It is about a 223. I am starting the armstrong pull-up program tommorrow and then starting running hardcore. I will just keep up my ab routine that I have been doing for 4 mo. My recruiter wants me at a 250 minimum for the app. Going for a aviation contract...and taking the ASTB over, this time actually studying for the flight portion.

 

[perchul]

Get stronger while your there? I can't think of anyone who got stronger when they were there, your run time will improve on the second pft..but for many on the third it will slow some. A few days before I arrived I could do 32 dead locked pullups by the last pft I think I only had 2 more then 20 left in me and it was the same for everyone as far as pullups.

 

[Midshipmanjosh]

good points. Thanks for the tips on the crunches to mako. That is actually one thing that i have been wondering about. I was doing them with my hands in my armpits. The the guys who i was working out with (already been to ocs) told me to do it differently. Oh well, i was hitting 100 either way.

 

[makoslim]

Get stronger while your there? I can't think of anyone who got stronger when they were there, your run time will improve on the second pft..but for many on the third it will slow some. A few days before I arrived I could do 32 dead locked pullups by the last pft I think I only had 2 more then 20 left in me and it was the same for everyone as far as pullups.

Yes, i have been told by friends who went through that your body starts breaking down muscle arround week 6 for energy, but for the people who go in with realy low pullups, this will improve. if you are a buff stud, you are going to loose a lot of muscle because your aren't doing the type of workouts to build it, you are building strength endurance while there. the guys who can't do as many pullups, will go up with the routine of pyramid puch and pulls you do there. This issomething that will happen regardless fo weather you are in OCS or not, if you change from a pure strength workout ot an strength endurance workout, things like your pullups will go down, however if you go from being a puss to the strength endurance, the step up in difficulty will improve your score. im not saying you will go from 8-20 while there, (never gonig to happen), but you can improve a few pull up points. As for the run times, everyone I know whos gone through has improved on both the 2nd and final PFTs. How many people get slower times on the final PFT? (in your calss that is, was this a majortiy thing, I didn't hear anything about that). Any way, I guess you'll get stronger was a bad choice of words, but in some cases little things will be able to improve.

 

[HarrierMech]

Lots of good info on improving your pull ups and crunches, but does anyone know of a good running program. I have been stuck at the 22-23 min mark for the 3-mile run. I try to mix it up by doing distance one time and then sprinting the next time. When I really hit this workout hard, for about 4 weeks, I only lost 30 seconds from my previous PFT run time. If anyone has a good program, or does a workout that has helped them, please send the info this way. Thanks

 

[KBayDog]

You really can't go wrong with any 5-K training program, such as the ones on www.runnersworld.com or other websites. Find one that looks interesting, and give it the college try. (Most are 6-8 weeks long.)

Fortunately, you are at a speed that pretty much guarantees you will drop time quickly. For example, when I was a "non-runner," I ran my corporal's course PFT in 21-something. I got hard into running that year (probably because that's when I started seriously considering a commission), and dropped my time to the low-17s in what seemed like no time. I really haven't lost that speed, and it has been almost seven years! Even with my limited opportunities to train this year, primarily due to TBS, I am still easily sub-18.

The key is to RUN. Just like pullups, the only thing that will make you faster is to go out and run.

Running doesn't have to be work, either - there are PLENTY of recreational running groups that meet, socialize, run interesting trails (not your typical base-loop runs), and make running fun. These "fun" runs will help improve your times tremendously.

Also, if you are so inclined, start training for a 5-K that is two or three months down the road. By having a "serious" goal in mind, you will prepare mentally and physically for the race. This off-duty improvement will translate to faster PFTs.

Good luck!