Hi guys. I'm signing a REP63 contract at the end of August and then I'll be in RSP / not ship out to OSUT until late November, possibly even December. For the past six months, I've built up an okay strength base, focusing on squats, deadlifts, with a little work on benchpress and OHP. I'm 168 and 5'10" but I intend to gain 10lb before leaving in muscle mass. At the same time, I've also focused on building a strong aerobic base, getting comfortable running out past 7 miles at an 8 min. / mi. pace as I never played a sport in high school and didn't have the running base some of my friends got from high school XC. The past month and a half I've also gained about ten pounds (from 158) while also losing body fat (8% estimated body fat).
Once my classes end at the end of this week, I intend to ramp up my training with a pretty intense training program I've made, using materials from mountain athlete, some running books (Jack Daniels), THOR, and some other reading. Right now I go to the gym MWF with the fourth day thrown in usually on Tuesday or Thursday, while running TuThFSa, with Friday and Saturday both being LSS's in order to practice the endurance needed at SFAS. My goals are to hit about 180 in weight, run a sub 35 min 5 mile, and of course max or come close to maxing the APFT. I'm in the low 250s right now with pushups being my weak spot so I intend to do a ton of upper body training the next 9 weeks to really get that in check. I also want to improve on my front squat and deadlifts, while also get my benchpress and OHP to something at least respectable as my 1RM for bench press is only a bit above 200, which is where I'm front squatting for 8 reps easily.
My first week in my SFAS prep training plan is here if anyone is curious:
Monday:
AM: (Lower body and abdominal work)
5 Rounds 90s rest
1. Broad Jump 2. Back Squat-10x5 at 60% 3. Ab-wheel rollout
4 Rounds 90s rest
1. Box Jump 2. Front-squat @ ramping 8x4 3. Dead-bugs
5 Rounds 90s rest
1. BB Front Lunge 2. 20 V-Ups 3. Ab wheel 4. Farmer Carries
PM:
3 mi. Tempo Run or 30min recovery run
Tuesday
AM (upper body and oblique work):
1. DB Row 2. Bench-Ramping to 10rm 3. Single-Arm Farmer’s Carry
1. DB Row 2. Single-arm DB press 3. Side planks 30sec
5 Rounds 90s rest
1. 25 Pushups 2. 10 Pull-ups 3. 5 Ab-wheel 4. DB Reverse Lunge 5. Farmer Carries
PM:
Sprint 400m x8-12 under 1:24 w/ 1:30 of rest
Wednesday
AM:
1. Broad Jump 2. Front Squat-55/60/65/70/75% x5 3. Ab-wheel rollout
Speed Deadlift-15x1 at 60%, very short rest
5 Rounds 90s rest 1.
1. Clean-Grip Reverse Lunge 2. 20 V-Ups 3. Ab wheel 4. Farmer Carries
PM:
45min LSS
Thursday
AM:
1. 10 Pull-ups 2. Overhead-55/65/75%x5 3. Single-Arm Farmer’s Carry
1. 2 from F Pull-ups 2. Incline DB press 3. Side planks 45 sec
EMOM 20 Pushups for 4 Rounds them max reps for 1 min
Tabata Assault Bike or Versiclimber 30/30s for 5 rounds (anaerobic conditioning)
Friday
AM:
1. Broad Jump 2. Back Squat-Work up to 10rm 3. Ab-wheel rollout
1. Box Jump 2. Front-squat @ ramping 8x4 3. Dead-bugs
5 Rounds 90s rest 1. DB BSS 2. Ab wheel 3. Farmer Carries 4. 20 V-Ups
PM:
60 min LSS
Saturday
AM:
1. DB Row 2. Bench-5x10 at 60% 3. Single-Arm Farmer’s Carry
1. DB Row 2. Single-arm DB press 3. Side planks 1min
5 Rounds 90s rest
1. 25 Pushups 2. 10 Pull-ups 3. 5 Ab wheel 4. DB Reverse Lunge 5. Farmer Carries
PM:
Ruck or LSS 75 Min
Basically, the strength training follows a format of three clusters, with the first two being clusters of three exercises of one antagonistic movement, a primary movement, and an ab or oblique exercise. The third cluster is either a total body circuit, a circuit of accessory movements for either lower or upper body, or sometimes just calisthenics work. Running is very much focused on distance as you can see besides one tempo run and a sprint day. The reason for this is because doing lots of sprint work while doing a lot of lower body strength training is not really effective. This is also why my one sprint day is on an upper body day. Everything else is for time either at a half marathon or easy pace (a little bit slower than half marathon pace).
Before I started studying for finals I was working out at about this tempo so I don't think overtraining should be an issue provided I eat a ton of protein, sleep well, and avoid doing stupid stuff like ramping up my speed a ton at the end of an LSS.
Everything is most importantly progressive with weights getting heavier, circuits getting harder, times for 400m intervals getting shorter, and running distances/time spent running getting longer. The most important thing that I didn't put here is mobility work. I try to do mobility work every day, even on Sundays when I don't work out or do anything strenuous. I want to make sure I'm strong sure, but I also want to make sure that I won't get injured, especially during the first couple days of SFAS (log PT) as that will just make things much more difficult than they need to be. That's also why I'm running so much for distance and not time is that I want to make sure my body can handle a lot of exercise day after day. At the same time, having a solid strength base seems essential to success during team week so that's not being ignored.
Anyway, I'm curious to see what everyone else is doing. I just try to be really meticulous as I don't really like to waste time once I get in the gym and I'm not gym-smart enough to just wing it.
