Exercise

axxe

Active member
Does anyone have any advise on how I should workout?? I'm going to join the Marine Corps when I turn 17. I turn 16 in 20 days (February 8). I'm the most fit person I know, except for my older brother whose in the army. I do Martial Arts, and Parkour all the time, but I'm told boot camp is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done. I hope you guys can help me... Thank you.
 
I reckon the best training you can do is to train your mental state. If you can manage to never give up and never quit, you can go the distance. Purely on physique you can not win, everybody breaks sooner or later. And reconcile yourself with the fact that it might quite possibly, be the hardest thing you will ever do! Good luck!
 
It's about mental strength rather than physical strength. It's something you really really really want otherwise you will not pass basic training.

Have you thought about being in the military is not just about getting a nice uniform? It's also about that you one day maybe will be sent to war. That one day you may have to take another man's life. That you might one day return as an invalid or come home in a zinc coffin.

Boot camp is not the worst you will experience in the service.

But if that's what you want, then go for it. Just remember that basic training has it as one of its aims to test whether you have the mental strength or not.

Whatever you choose, good luck with it.
 
Do lots of pushups and situps. Running is also important. As for the mental thing yea its what you need to worry about. What seperates troops from civilians is when our bodies start to fall apart or when our situation gets critical our minds scream at us to keep pushing forward.
 
What seperates troops from civilians is when our bodies start to fall apart or when our situation gets critical our minds scream at us to keep pushing forward.

I beg to differ here! It is what seperates the winners from the losers; to carry on when things get tough. I am not in the military, but I am preparing for a 50 men full contact kumite. I already know it is near impossible to win and that is what makes me train even harder! It is about being willing to stand up after being knocked down again and again and again. Never quit is a frame of mind anybody can master, when willing to suffer... Just my tuppence worth!
 
I beg to differ here! It is what seperates the winners from the losers; to carry on when things get tough. I am not in the military, but I am preparing for a 50 men full contact kumite. I already know it is near impossible to win and that is what makes me train even harder! It is about being willing to stand up after being knocked down again and again and again. Never quit is a frame of mind anybody can master, when willing to suffer... Just my tuppence worth!

Ted, you are basically right.

But the mental training of soldiers is more about overcoming fear. Combat is a different environment than most people are used to. A violent confrontation is very traumatic to most people and even though soldiers are trained for it, combat still traumatizes the best. A fight for one's life can change a person forever in the most fundamental way. Boot Camp is a really stressful environment for a recruit for several reasons. The drill instructors try hard to scare and intimidate the troops. In this way the recruits become more familiar with fear and how to deal with it. A person gets used to taking orders instantly and without hesitation from an NCO or officer during peacetime. When a person is scared he can become more malleable to this persuasion because it is habit.

Combat is a very stressful environment and can cause people to have nervous breakdowns. When a person has such a breakdown on the battlefield this can be exceedingly dangerous because a wide variety of unpredictable things can happen. When a person 'loses it,' he loses all rational control. The person can turn on a friend just as easily as an enemy and that can get very dangerous. You must have the willingness to undergo basic training but the key to being a soldier is to learn to handle fear. When a person gets scared it is always easier to fall back on training which has been pounded into a person's head from day one on what to do and what not to do. And to achieve this knowledge is a way for a person to overcome his fear. If you backed into a corner and knows the only way out is through that guy with a gun then that fear becomes a real powerful force.
 
I already figured that this must be what AZ meant. And I am very happy I don't have to fight a guy with a gun and intent on killing me. Than again, I do know that funny feeling you get just before you have to fight. And I can remember fights I even felt a healthy dose of fear... Sometimes I reckon man isn't designed to fight, but history proves me wrong...
 
Very good post GHR, spot on in my regards. The military is a trial of mental warfare in the deepest depths. With all do respect Ted, I have been showing up to wrestling meets since I was 11 or 12 years old. It doesn't compare in any real way. We aren't saying you couldn't be a soldier if you wanted to be one, but you aren't one.
 
Nothing like somebody who never even tried telling "how it is."
I'll add that the majority of folks in the military never experience the extremes described in a couple of posts.
However, all, including the girls have put themselves in potential position for it by participating in the endeavor.
They can take pride in that as long as they live.
 
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