Considering Air Force, but need help with prior training?

[Miobassplayer]

Hello, my name is Taylor. I am a 15 year old girl who is considering joining the air force. I am currently out of shape and I want to train myself to make basic training easier than it would be without prior training. I only work out about 3-4 days a week doing a cardio workout for about 45 minutes and do weight training in gym. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Cartman]

i dont know much about your airforce but i can help you with your workout.
first of all, doing too much of anything can get you hurt, so watch out for over-training which can cause Stress fractures. the most important thing about training is nutrition. you need to eat healthy and smart, dont just take supplements
without cunsolting a specialist of some sort (gym trainer, nutritionist and such). what kind of cardio workout do you do?
im guessing running so ill answer accordingly, dont run too much. like i said before, stress fractures is a painfull injury and it will destroy your workout (as a result you cant run for a while). you are 15 years old so you have alot of time ahead of you until you can join the airforce (i think, because like i said, i dont know much about it). consulting a specialist about your workout and nutrition is very important ! you need proper guidence or you can be seriously injured.
good luck, and if you need anything else, ask.

 

[Rollo]

If weight is a problem, I would say the most crucial thing is diet. A trainer once told me that 80% of weight loss is due to diet. From my proceeding experience, I believe he was correct. Make sure it is a healthy diet too. I was overweight in high school. I probably dropped 50 or 60 pounds to join the Army. Don't do crazy diets! For example, I ate nothing but grapefruits every day for 2 weeks. I haven't touched a grapefruit since (that was 10 or 11 years ago). The best thing I ever did was set a calorie goal for myself. I ate like 2300 calories a day while weight training 4 days a week and doing cardio 5 days a week. Push yourself in cardio. Make it a balanced diet that includes all the food groups. You will probably have to do less than 2300 calories, I don't know what an acceptable caloric intake is for a female on a workout routine.

The U.S. military is all about measurements. I don't know what they measure for females, they would surely measure wasteline (around your belly button or just below it, not your pants line), your bust, and I think your forearms. I only saw one girl get taped, I don't remember much from it. Getting "taped" means getting measured. A recruiter will tell you what they measure so you can track your progress and have a better idea of where you stand. You should be able to find a body fat calculator online somewhere. A recruiter will take your measurements to ensure that you are in compliance before you go to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) to enlist. If some of this info is too basic for you, I'm not trying to insult your intelligence but I don't know how familiar you are with the process.

If your weight is not a problem, then you don't have anything to worry about. You have plenty of time. Stick to a workout routine, the PT test is really all that matters if you're not worried about your weight. Find the Air Force PT test standards online somewhere and see where you're at. I assume it is just like the Army in that it is push-ups, sit-ups, and a run. Running was my problem, I couldn't run to save my life in high school, but you learn fast in the military. The PT test to get in to basic training are probably easier than they are to graduate, because you should improve while you're in basic obviously. You'll take that test at the reception station at Lackland AFB, assuming it is the same process as the Army of course.