Stupid PT

[colt1rgr]

Being a Ranger is all about "ENDURANCE". Its good to work all aspects of fitness but the bottom line is ENDURANCE work is where the money is. For endurance, most runs should be 40-50 minutes in length. Anything over that and your body has depleted its glycogen stores and begins to burn muscle. Its okay and good to occasionally (once a week) go out and smoke yourself on something long and taxing (long run, long ruck) as long as you follow this with A. A day of rest and B. Plenty of recovery treatment.

Running with a rock does nothing more than trash your knees. Throw that bad boy in a ruck and have at it, but jog don't run, use the rocking chair heel to toe method.

It doesn't do you a bit of good to tear your body down when you are trying to build it up. Here's a hint "Stairmaster". (1) hour on the stairmaster at a medium continuous pace works wonders for endurance, leg strength and your core! There's hard and there's stupid. Train smart!

[Baseplate]

YOu will know when you are doing some stupid PT about 30 seconds after you blow out you knee

[RangerX]

I will leave Sam the stone behind.

Since you named it, now you HAVE to bring everywhere with you. Never leave a buddy behind.

Thank you for the tip on the Stairmaster. Sadly, I do not have access to a gym or any equipment besides the ground and a pull-up bar.

I bet you have access to some stairs. Bleachers work well.

[Baseplate]

Ranger Baseplat,
Great! Now if only I could figure that out 30 seconds before...

Ranger RangerX,
I guess I should learn to keep my mouth shut. At least I did not tell you what I named all of my other rocks. :D
Thanks for suggesting stairs, but I am not exactly surrounded by those either. I will try to find some even if I have to run to town. What about rucking stairs?

Do you have a local high school? Those ususally have bleachers. I don't know what kind of shape you are in but I wouls say wait on rucking the bleachers until you can ruck 12 miles in 3 hours with 35 lbs

[Silverback]

JUMP ROPE!

[rgrwest]

Ranger Baseplate,
Thanks. Why didn't I think of that. I am not in incredible shape, but I started hiking when I was 10 so 12mi in 3hr with 35lb is not bad at all.

Ranger Silverback,
Thank you.

Hiking and Footmarching are two different things. Do it with BDU/ACUs, Military boots, LBE (Load Bearing Equipment - ammo belt, canteens etc) and a Kevlar Helmet. Not hiking brother...just sayin'

[Jim Diegz]

NotQuitting, I'm not a Ranger but I have run cross-country for a good part of my life and am familiar with running.
Depending on your time frame a good way to improve your endurance is to build-up mileage through a variety of workouts each week. I usually look to increase my mileage total per week by 5-10%. When starting out this percentage can be much higher as your body adapts to serious physical conditioning. Speeds of the workouts are relative based on your initial workout and can be adjusted with distance. Technically, you can push your body harder and faster for longer distances, but you're also prone to more injuries. Along with this information I log my daily resting heart rate, total rest per week (summing the total rest from each workout), and my average per mile pace for each workout and for the week. All of this helps you to see your progress and find patterns in performance.

For example, my 1st week of training from my log is:
6/19/2010 Friday - 1 mile in 7:30 + 8x400m in 1:45 pace - 3 mins rest per rep
6/20/2010 Saturday - 1 mile in 8 + 4x800m in 4:00 pace + 2x400m in 1:45 pace - 3 mins rest per rep
6/23/2010 Tuesday - 1.5 mile in 11:06 + 4x400m in 1:25 pace - 2 mins rest per rep
6/24/2010 Wednesday - 1000m in 4:06 + 800m in 3:30 + 8x400m in 1:30 pace - 3 mins rest per rep
6/25/2010 Thursday - 1.5 mile in 11:42 + 1 mile in 7:40 + 4x400m in 1:45 pace - 2 mins rest per rep
Totals for the first week = 15.625 miles | Avg Per mile Pace = 7:09 | Total Rest Mins = 100

A more recent week:
8/23/2010 Monday - 5 mile in 37:37 (felt really comfortable)
8/24/2010 Tuesday - 6.9 mile on the bike in 29:10 (resting sore foot/arch) ** Not Included in weekly totals **
8/25/2010 Wednesday - 5x1000m in 3:55 pace - 3 mins rest per rep
8/26/2010 Thursday - 3x1.5 mile in 10:49, 10:26, 10:19 - 2 mins rest
8/27/2010 Friday - 3 mile tempo run in 21
8/29/2009 Sunday - 60 minute long slow recovery run - approx 7 miles
Totals for the recent week = 22.6 miles | Avg Per mile Pace = 7:31 | Total Rest Mins = 16

Use a variety of different distances and repititions to continually shock your muscles and system. My mileage has increased, the total amount of rest per week has dropped significantly, as well as my average per mile pace has improved. The most recent week is slower due to a lack of speed workouts (shorter distances/higher reps).

I believe smart PT, at least before basic, is all about knowing your body and pushing it daily, but working to prevent injury as well.

[colt1rgr]

Stud you don't need a fancy gym. "the push up, the sit up, the 2 mile run" did quite well for us for a long time. Pull ups added to that rotation will get you everywhere you need to go. No stairmaster, no problem, just as mentioned above, Bleachers are excellent and add "walking lunges". If Jesus descended on a cloud to PT, HE would start off with walking lunges (at least after a good 5 mile run)

Here is another tidbit secret for you

STRETCH! Stretching before a run is good after a light warmup BUT stretching AFTER a run is mandatory! You don't, you WILL get injured, just a matter of time.

[Flesh Thorn]

If Jesus descended on a cloud to PT, HE would start off with walking lunges .

I always figured he would do the Turn and Bounce.

[Bravo57]

If Jesus descended on a cloud to PT, HE would start off with walking lunges .

I always figured he would do the Turn and Bounce.

BWAHAHAHAHA

No way! He would do star bursts