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Not sure if this belongs here, but here's a fun thread full of observations, news stories, anecdotes, musings, data and other alternative facts about the current state of the military: U.S. military deathwatch - Forum of Trivial Conversation - My Posting Career
Not really on point but it all goes to show a sad state of affairs.
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Obviously, some of our military are standup and competent. I'm talking about the x% (and growing?) that are not. Otherwise, you are correct. All I know about the military is whats reported in the news, on the internet and by others. Candidly, as a Mercan, I'd rather be wrong than right, pal.Originally Posted by Joe Leppo
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This is the kind of fat, faggoty lawyer charm that will get you elected to Congress.
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At least he is not a pussy, like the members of our military. He has the balls to lift barbells up and down, and type on the internet about it. Those military "warrior lol" pussies are only good for putting their life on the line in physical combat. Some of them are also something-something gay, single moms, lesbian something.
You are in the presence of a real warrior, Brahms. A modern day Achilles. A courageous defender of our country, freedom, and bald eagles. For He lifteth, while living safe and sound in his home, with food, cat videos, and drink all around Him, and thusly He hath shown courage above others. A True Warrior.
Starting Strength Coach
And under a pseudonym, no less. It takes guts to belittle our servicemembers and degrade the lives of entire groups of people you know nothing about, but to do it anonymously?
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The scenario that MAJ Whittemore describes must have happened to thousands of guys, including me. I remember vividly as I was attempting to drag people clear of a blown-up Humvee that I just wasn't able to move fast enough because the dead weight seemed so heavy. I felt extremely weak, but had never thought of myself as weak before that moment (although the concussion wasn't helping). After all, I could run a 20 minute 3 mile at 6'2", 215 lbs, which put me at borderline fat for the Marines.
One of my greatest regrets and retrospective frustrations about my time in the military is how I wanted to be stronger and knew I should be stronger, but had zero effective information on how to get that way. At 19 and full of testosterone, we lived in the gym in the ITC portion of Camp Fallujah, before and after patrol. All of us assumed that doing the Ronnie Coleman Olympia routine of the month from Flex or whatnot would make muscles grow out of our ears. We hit the weights religiously, always increasing reps and variety of isolation exercises, and almost never increasing weight. I was actually the only one to even try to squat, and was looked at as hard-core because I went ATG with a whopping 135 lbs. None of us knew, and all of our leadership were runners. If you went to a regimental gym for squad PT in garrison, your squad leader would be ripped a new one. After all, Marines need to run more, not fool around with weights. Chins and pushups to failure were encouraged, but anything else "wasn't preparation for combat". The only reason I heard about SS was while I was doing Crossfit WODS on my own, post-military, because all I knew was that a good workout left you smoked.
The troops under the command of the Ryan Whittemores and the Mac Wards and the Damon Wellses of the world are some lucky sons of bitches. I know parts of the military are a bit different than a decade ago, but there are still kids out there wearing tree suits that are plenty tough, and all they need to "see the light" is to be exposed to real, effective training.
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I am chastened. I painted an ugly and unfair picture with my thoughtless and my unkind words. Henceforth, I will think more carefully before I post. Thanks.
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If I remember right, the Coast Guard test has you do 29 pushups in a minute, 38 situps in a minute, and run a mile and a half in 12:54 or less. There's no additional points for exceeding the standard. And if you're not on the boat crew or boarding team you don't even get tested.
Thus far the most physically challenging thing I've had to do was carry 40- and 50-kilo bails of cocaine (no handles) up the ladder from the main deck to the flight deck on a cutter. At the time I had a 1rm deadlift of around 275lbs, so it was a struggle for me. But it was more than just a struggle for the runner types;it was a herculean effort requiring two people, grimaces, and tiny steps. I would be all for a 405 deadlift minimum, at least for anyone at an operational unit.
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Not that it is worth much: When I was drafted to serve in ther german army after high school I thought about signing up for longer (but not for long) and borrowed some material to prepare for the NCO assesment. One of the manuals for leading and training infantry squads and plattoons had a pretty thorough chapter on physical training and actually stressed how important strength is to overcome obstacles and to move heavy equipment through difficult terrain. They even did a solid job explaining how strength training works (supercompensation, muscle fibers, how the body adapts) and showed you how to set up and periodize strength cycles. As the big and tall guy that had to carry all the heavy stuff all the time I paid attention to that chapter and was eager to learn more. Problem was: they didn't show you what exercises and equipment to use and I don't think they even mentioned barbells. The NCO's I talked to didn't know what to do with that information either and only knew the calisthenics and stretching stuff they learned. Really weird. We had guys on base that could help you with your running technique, teach you how to optimize your technique on the obstacle course, teach you simple T&F and gymnastic stuff. But all you saw in the weight room were the typical half assed half squats in the smith machine and endless sets of bench presses & curls.
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