Working out at OCS

[kung]

Hi guys,

Just a quick question for those that have gone through Navy OCS. I'm prior Marine Corps and go to the gym everday. I know in Marine boot camp we never had any chance to go to the gym, but we also never had liberty and weren't allowed to stash things in our vehicles. Does anyone know if we have a chance to go to the gym and if we can bring supplements? I think I'm going to in the first class in March 2008. Thanks.

 

[eddie]

 

[sundevil_av8r]

Working out should be the least of your concerns. You just don't have time. You may have time during candio phase depending on your billet. Supplements are not "allowed," but neither is a lot of stuff people bring. I wouldn't recommend them anyways, especially if you are an sna or snfo.

 

[Kickflip89]

Holy God

You'll have plenty of time to work out on your own...but not at a gym. Your class usually does an evening PT session on their own so they can work on pushups / situps without their DI around. During candio phase you can go for a run or go to a gym when you have time. However, for the first 6 or 7 weeks (and sometimes more) you'll be getting smashed up pretty good by the DI pretty much every day in addition to morning PT.

And as far as supplements go, most classes are allowed to buy protein bars at some point, you just have to ask your DI for them. I've never heard of a class being authorized anything other than that.

 

[Tom]

Any second of free time from scheduled activities is usually spent trying to sneak a nap in, prepare for RLP or study for a class. PT is hard enough and I doubt your workouts are similar to OCS PT sessions.

 

[kung]

Thanks to all for their response. I figured we wouldn't be able to hit up the gym, but I wanted to make sure before leaving my supplements at home. I've been to Marine Corp boot camp and been the Marine Corps for 6 years so I kind of have an idea what PT is going to be like. DIs can only PT us so many ways. I lost a lot of weight in Marine boot camp and I was hoping I wouldn't lose my size while in OCS. No big deal, just curious. Thanks again.

 

[Tom]

Thanks to all for their response. I figured we wouldn't be able to hit up the gym, but I wanted to make sure before leaving my supplements at home. I've been to Marine Corp boot camp and been the Marine Corps for 6 years so I kind of have an idea what PT is going to be like. DIs can only PT us so many ways. I lost a lot of weight in Marine boot camp and I was hoping I wouldn't lose my size while in OCS. No big deal, just curious. Thanks again.

Oh how wrong you are. I've known Marines who went through basic and later went to Navy OCS. It doesn't compare because it is much different (I got this statement from DI's at OCS). Believe whatever you want though.

 

[kung]

Tom,

Why don't you enlighten me on how pt is different between boot camp and ocs? I know boot camp and OCS is completely different, but I'm just talking about the pt aspect of it. I am not saying that I know how OCS pt is, i'm saying that I have an idea of what to expect. Marine DI's go to the same school so they conduct the pt in similiar ways.

 

[Spekkio]

I'm shocked that someone would think that he's not going to get enough of a workout at OCS. I can understand your concern if you body build, but even still...would you REALLY have the time and energy to lift after all that?

 

[BigRed389]

It's possible. At least in the 3 weeks of candi-o phase.

Unless your class is freaking stupid, you should only have to do 1 hour of PT a day at that point. It'll be hard, but it's only an hour and some people want/need more. Especially those that want to go SpecWar.

A couple of us did take time some evenings to do Crossfit workouts, while others would swim(particularly aviators worried about passing API swim).

Point is, by then, your body should be pretty well adjusted to the daily beatings, to the point where it's actually not that bad unless your class "earns" a particularly rough one.
Some classes also PT'd before candi-o phase, before taps. You can get pretty creative.

 

[STLEngineer]

One of my roommates at OCS was Specwar. He did lose weight, but not a ton. His main problem, he said, was getting the calories he was used to (surprisingly because later on you could load up your plate).

He did complain all the time about wanting to go run more and PT in a gym, but he wasn't too bad off at the end of it.

 

[BACONATOR]

Yes you can work out in the last 2-3 weeks around the time you become a candio and have no more graded evolutions left to worry about. NO YOU CAN NOT take supplements, so don't even THINK about bringing any. NO you will not lose size. I got stronger at OCS. I went from benching 150ish after lifting weights for a while before OCS to lifting 180 after OCS and not touching a bench for 4 months. You do the math.

Hope this helps.

Oh, and from MANY prior-enlisted marines: the PT may not be the same as boot camp, but OCS sucks WAY more than boot camp.

 

[sundevil_av8r]

Yes, and as you can see bogey_spotter got extremely massive there too. his nipples are huge!

 

[Herc_Dude]

Yes, and as you can see bogey_spotter got extremely massive there too. his nipples are huge!

Oh, I know man. His muscles are so huge man. Have you ever seen a bigger man, man? Oh, man...

 

[IRfly]

I don't know if it's changed in the past couple of years, but there were people in my class who would go to the gym/track before the candi-o phase. For us, PT really dropped off in intensity and duration after our mid-PFT (bad weather, various holidays, and a lot of other random crap that I really don't specifically remember) and there were a lot of guys who worked out on their own.