Strengh and Fitness

Comando Tom

As there isnt a board for fitness, I posted here. As some of you know im joining the army. Im after some more fitness advice, as I gotta go for my final tests again in just over a month.

I havnt been training for the lat month (completely stupid i know), I went out running today, took some creatine an hour before. My ass cheeks are mega sore now lol.


So what Ill need to improve on is my upper body strengh, and running speed. I only just passed as a Junior last time, and im going with adults now, so its going to be harder.

I know what im doing with my running thanks to J. But I need some help with upper body. I dont know how much I should be lifting, but I must do 15 pullups this time I go (last time was about 7). They have two other tests. One is where you stand on a platform, and pull up on a bar, and the corpral takes an electronic measurment. The other is a frame, with sliding bars, you grab the bar and try and lift it up to a certain height, and he keeps adding more weights on. This is what I need help with the most.

Also, im planning on going a gym, how much would using the rowing machine benifit me?


Ive been doing quite a bit of reading on this forum, and seen you all talk about a lot of products. Here are some things im thinking of purchasing:
Flaxseed Oil Pills
Cod Liver Oil Pills
Zinc Pills
Will these bennifit my fitness?

Also heard a lot about "20 Amino Acids" on Holland and Barrett, is there a product will all twenty ammino's in, or do I have to eat 20 pills a day? lol


If there is anything else you think I should try to keep my stamina up, and anything to help me get stupidly fit fast, please help me out! I emailed the guy at extreme supplements, im waiting for his reply on what shake will turn extrying i got into muscle lol.


Thanks again! Tom

PS, im sure ill think of some more silly questions for you later

zx9rjas

Hello again mate

The pull ups are one you are going to have to concentrate on in the gym as of your trials, perform them each time you hit the gym at the start of your workout to get endurance in the muscles to allow you to increase your reps, also dont just concentrate on one grip width as you will pleteau. Change it every 2-3 workouts.

The other trials you mention sound like you need to work on your power movements to allow to to increase the weight. I am trying to get a mental picture of the exercises you need to do. Please explain them a bit more.

Rowing machines are used for cardio eexercise but they will give you endurance in your biceps and back.

Many protein powders contain all the aminos you need, it is the ratio of each amino that is important as it is better that it is closest to your body's own muscle tissue. Eggs are great if you like them (I cant stand them )

Unfortunately you cant get fit super fast but you can speed up the time it will take with the correct training and nutrition. Ans you cant get enough rest and sleep, these will have a severe eeffect on your progress.



Flax seed and cod liver oil tabs contain essential fatty acids for loads of benefits. They will help with joint lubrication, brain and body health and testosterone production. I find that ZMA pills are better as they mave magnesium in too and they will help increase your testosterone levels too.

J

Comando Tom

Hey mate, how you going? Thanks again for the previous advice, been out running today, and done some sprints! Thought I was going to die lol.



The 2 test are..

One is like a wooden platform you stand, it has a bar you hold onto at the bottom, your posture is like *thinks* you have bent legs and a straight back and your touching your toes, it just you pulling against you own weight. There is a digital read out.

The second is, its hard to explain lol.. Its got a mechanism like those *thinks* ahhhhhhhhhh hmmmmmmmmm..

Its like a metal frame, with two bars going up the side, it has a bar for you to grip on, and it slides up the side two bars, it gets attach to weights somhow.. Thats the only way I can explain it really. Its like picking up weights from the floor, with out stopping, palms facing down, you cant move as its connected to this frame.. Its about 5.8 the height you gotta lift it to, im 6ft to it isnt to hard.

Can you kinda picture it now? I would draw if for you, but I really cant draw!



Ill have to try out the rowing machine then, thanks.

Whats some good basic nutrition to have?


I looked up on Holland and Barrett for the ZMA pills you mentioned, and it said they are anabolic. Will this mean it MIGHT show some sort or steroid when I have a drug test, or is it completely legal?

One more thing, is Holland and Barrett an ok source for the pills I mentioned?


Thanks a lot mate, much apprecicated!

zx9rjas

I'm o.k. mate, cheers for asking.

The 1st one sound like a deadlift to me. In which case you will need to make sure these are at the beginning of one of your workouts. It is a pure strength movement, squats and leg presses will assist you in a good deadlift. If you need help with deadlift explanation let me know.

Does the second one look similar to the one in the attatched picture? And also when you lift the weight from the floor do you keep your palms facing down or do you spin them round to palms facing up when the bar is half way up and then push the bar the rest of the way.#

Nutrition wise there are loads of ffreat food sources to have, I'm sure there are loads of info on the site but I;ll list a few anyway.

Carbs - Oats, rice, pasta, wholegrain breads
Proteins - Chicken, lean beef, whey protein, eggs, cottage cheese
Fats - Nuts, olive oil, flax seed oil

No need to worry about the ZMA showing in any test, they are made from natural minerals and only enhcance your body's ability to produce testosterone unlike steroids where you are adding, for example, testosterone into your body.

Holland and barratt are o.k., I use GNC as they have a 20% discount card (20) on every purchase. If you hunt around on the web I sure you will find loads of sources.

J

Comando Tom

A deadlift explanation would be nice, im not leterate in fitness yet lol.

That picture is pretty close to it, but you stand facing it, starting with palms down, then when it gets to a certain you do spin your wrists around to get it to the top.

Ill go buzz over the GNC for a browse!

Thanks a lot :!: :mrgreen:

zx9rjas

It is what I thought, The army are testing your strength and power in these trials.

I have seen many posts explaining that the deadlift is for the lower back but it is and exercise that primarily targets the gluteus maximus (your ass) and uses the Quadriceps (top of your legs) and Soleus (calves), it uses loads of other muscles such as the lower back too for stabilization.

This is just one place on the web that explains it, I have included it as it has some animation.

http://www.theministryoffitness.com/...s/deadlift.htm

With the other movement, is it like the one shown in the link below (without number 6)

http://www.wsu.edu/~strength/pwrsntch.htm

It looks like you need to work on your power movements anyway as this is what the army are wanting from you, These should be done with light weights to start with to get the correct form (this will prevent injury and make you able to lift more than bad form), when the technique has been mastered focus on 5 reps and work down over a few weeks to using a weight that allows you to perform 3 reps.

When selecting the weight you need a weight that is heavy but not to failure, Use a weight that you would be able to get 2-3 more reps out but stop at 3-5 reps. You need to completing the movement as fast and explosive as you can to work the fast twitch muscle fibres.

Have a look on this site for more power movements that will assist you in your goals and also some handy plyometric training.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/PowerExercises.html

J