Reply With Quote10 and then 7 and then 3 days before the test. And that's all.
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Running
For those of us that have to run...military...when during the week would you recommend running?
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10 and then 7 and then 3 days before the test. And that's all.
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Assuming you're Active Duty, you'll have to run whenever they tell you to, and then manage recovery around it as best you can.
If you've got one of those jobs in Department 3 (Department 1: Surprises. 2: Practical Jokes. 3: Fairy Godmother) where you get to set your own schedule somewhat, or where you're trusted to manage your own physical fitness, then prioritize strength. If you haven't gotten a job in Department 3 yet, make it a life goal. No, really.
Running requires conditioning, which is a metabolic adaptation (vice structural), and therefore comes on quickly and drops off quickly.
If your conditioning is naturally good due to genetics or age or whatever, then Coach Rip has it nailed to the wall: Run a few times as the test approaches to make sure your body remembers how. My last test I ran on T-14, then T-7, and it came out just fine.
If your conditioning is generally poor for whatever reason, and you can get away with it orders-wise, Coach Rip still has it right: Save the running for a few near-test sessions, and work conditioning in other ways. There are ways to work on conditioning while lifting heavy that don't require you to bounce up and down on your ankles for miles at a time. I like interval sprints on the C2 rower, for instance. I'd imagine you can throw some in after each lift (meaning, each prescribed workout) and get some decent conditioning impact without detriment to strength.
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I forgot to mention that right now, and for the foreseeablefuture, I am in department 3!
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Definitely the place to be. That means, hopefully, that you can manage your own conditioning and not be surprised by APFT day.Originally Posted by David Sanders
Once your LP is over you may want to consider cyclical tapering on your strength work. For instance, right now, I'm going full-bore for a competition, and the scale be damned, and I'll only run if it's to catch a beer truck. Once that competition is over in January, I have considered doing strength training in semiannual cycles, with an intentional taper near APFT times so that I crush and dominate rather than just throwing a 240 at it or whatever.
I saw you dropped a line in Nutrition, too. Good. If you can keep your waistline agreeing with AR 600-9, then the rest is just a matter of conditioning.
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I dont want to compete. I just want to be strong. I want to squat 400 plus, DL 550-600, and BP 350. After that I hope I will be happy with maintaining....we will see. One question was not answered and it is very important for me to get some experienced feedback, "Will increasing my baseline strength to where it should be with minimal to no running help me improve my running come enough so thay I can taper strength training as you mentioned and ramp up running pre APFT/ACFT?
P.S.-Starting strength would be an awesome starting point for many Soldiers in preparation for the mew ACFT!
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Disregard my question. I am reading PPST3 as we speak and have found tge answer.
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Love that book. Dig in, brother.
As for the ACFT thingamajig: I've been talking deadlifts with the guys in my battalion for a couple months now for that reason. I'm teaching them the conventional deadlift, figuring that should translate okay to the hex-bar dingus they'll have us use for the final test.
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I have a hex bar. I train conventional and then test periodically and generally lift about 10% more weight on the hex. I'm more concerned about the leg tuck and hand release pushup due to a bad less than ideal shoulder situation.
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