Getting Strong for the Corps

[Weston]

I've been putting off strength training for too long now; high school swim season has kept me from working toward my strength goals for the past seven months, but as of Feb 28 I'm officially on my Starting Strength quest to get strong for the Corps! I'm very excited, as indicated by my use of an exclamation mark. After graduation I plan on attending either West Point or the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets (haven't decided which yet), and the physical demands I will encounter in my Army training is the main motivation I have for getting stronger. That and I want to be cool like you guys. I'm writing this first post on the Wednesday of the second week of my training, so I'll just fill you in on my lifts up to now:
Note: all weights are in American pounds, and all lifts are three sets of five reps.

Feb 28
Squat: 175
Bench: 165
Clean&Jerk: 100
Body weight: 175

Mar 2
Squat: 190
Bench: 170
Deadlift: 200
Body weight: 177

Mar 7
Squat: 200
Bench: 180
Clean&Jerk: 130 shot up fast; I was taking it light the first time so it's not unexpected.
Body weight: 180

Mar 9
(the day I'm writing)
Squat: 215
Bench: 185
Deadlift: 240
Body weight: 181.5

I felt great on the squat today, shooting up fifteen pounds was a good deal; I even had a random gym patron judge my depth (I told him to make sure I was going WAY BELOW parallel, which means I was probably barely breaking parallel). My bench suffered, and I failed the very last rep so I'll probably repeat 185 this Friday. Deadlift was nothing special, still just trying to get back up to the 315 I was DL'ing before swim season. I'll be on Copper Mountain all through Spring Break, so I won't get to train again until the 21st but I think my progress will be okay through that considering my super-novice status.

[Weston]

Spring break snowboarding was quite a lot of fun, I gotta say. Lots of fresh powder on Copper Mountain, and the people were nicer than I expected. Almost got a drink at the bar, the bartender girl didn't card me but the manager did. All in all, a week off from lifting couldn't have had a better reason. So what if it f*cked with my gains, we all had a good time. Anyways I got back into the gym today and my progress suffered less than I thought it would:

Mar 21
Squat - 215
Bench - 180 (feels like my progress is too slow here, any ideas why?)
Deadlift - 230
Body weight - 184

So I gained a few pounds over Spring Break, and judging from my lifts it wasn't muscle. I'm not exactly the kind of guy to care about my "figure" anyway, so no biggie, the french toast was just good is all.
The family I went with has a bit of the rail-thin = fit mindset, which they brought up in discussing how I've gotten far too big since swim season ended. They're the typical globo gym junkie types who do bosu-ball backward dumbell crunches and keep their bodyweight at or below 130. I didn't argue their asinine claims that "lifting 315 pounds off the floor does not make you strong!" because they own the condo and, as a result, the trip was free. You'd have done the same.
Let's see if I can attach this Facebook picture correctly on my first try... I'm the tallest guy in the helmet. EDIT:: forget it, I'll link you to the pic if you really want to see it.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php...870698&theater

[nkelman]

Your right, your squat prolly will be higher than mine before I even get back to it.

How come no press in your training? Are you going to do any occupational specific conditioning for the army training?

[The Emancipated Freak]

This is titled getting strong for the Corps but you go on to say you want to be strong for Army training. Which is it?

[Ron_Hendrix]

He's referring to the Corps of Cadets...and by the way, go to Texas A&M, it's a once in a lifetime experience. At least that's what I've been told from all the officers I had that went there, I was just an enlisted peon.

[Weston]

nkelman, I plan on joining an intramural weightlifting team in college, so I put clean and jerk in the program instead of just the OHP to get some work on the technique so I can join without being too far behind in regards to form and such. I'll start doing the Army APFT training (pushups, sit ups, mile run, nonsense like that) about a month before I have to go to college, which I think will be in September.

Ron_Hendrix, my JROTC instructors keep telling me that A&M has more flag officer alumni than all the academies combined... I think they want me to go there too. But I still haven't decided; I've always wanted to live in New York for a few years, plus West Point has a ski mountain (it's also FREE). I'll definitely post my decision when I finally make it though. Just for interest, what's your rank now? And what do you do for the Army?

Since I'm on, this is a good time to update my lifts as well:

Mar 23
Squat: 225 (2plate, what's up!)
Bench: 185
Clean&Jerk: 135
Body weight: 187

So my lifts are right back where they were before I left for Spring Break... not bad for recovering from an eleven day off-period, huh? I've set the following goals for myself for the first of April:

Squat: 250
Bench: 200
Clean&Jerk: 145
Deadlift: 270

I think they're reasonable. I've got three more training days before the first of April, then I hit the gym again on the first itself to (hopefully) hit those numbers. I think short-term goal setting could be a motivation for me; I should do this more often. Anyone care to join in? Set yourself a goal to hit by April first and we'll see if we both get our goals.

In an effort to keep my posts worth reading, I'll link to a Java flash emulation of one of my favorite old Nintendo games, Contra (also known as the hardest motherf*cker in the world to beat):

http://nintendo8.com/game/60/contra/

[Ron_Hendrix]

I was actually in the Marines, I started out in logistics and moved to the military police before I got out in 2008. I had two platoon leaders (2nd and 1st Lt.'s) that went to Texas A&M and were in the Corps of Cadets. They used to regale me with stories about the Corps of Cadets and all the fun they had when they were in school. Texans just seem to find each other and have an instant bond, so it didn't really matter that I was enlisted and they were an officer, it did help that at the time I was planning on going to Texas A&M, but I met my wife and my plans changed before I got started. I actually applied to West Point outta HS and didn't get accepted because I lacked extracurricular activities...oh well, everything happens for a reason. Either is a fantastic school and you'll have friends and connections for life. When do you have to make a decision?

And Contra was bad ass when I was a kid...someone at EMT school showed me a simulator you can download, but I'm not into games anymore, pretty cool that you can still play all those games though.

[Weston]

A&M says I have to decide by May 1, West Point really doesn't mind. I can decide to go the day before Reception day and change my mind and leave the day after. So basically my deadline for decision is May 1. It's a tough one, but when I put it in perspective it really doesn't matter anyway. Either way I'll go straight from college to the Army as an officer for exatly five years, and then I begin my adult life. I'm beginning to realize that it doesn't really matter where you go, just that you do well (by that I mean graduate) wherever you're at. So when I choose, it won't make or break me either way.

Contra is indeed badass... it's been my timekiller these past few weeks and Jesus is it hard! I've only gotten as far as the second boss.

[Weston]

My lifting buddy left me out to dry today... had to do extra rehearsals with the choir. So I lifted alone in my school's gym, which I realize is dangerous but I didn't see any other opportunity to get in a session before next Monday. I didn't hurt myself, which was the first plus. The second plus was that my lifts did very well:

Mar 25
Squat: 230
Bench: 190 (getting close to the 200 mark, I'm excited)
Deadlift: 245
Body weight: 187.5

So it was a good training day, despite my loneliness. I also added in two sets of five pullups with a big-ass chain looped around my neck. I read that weighted pullups are good assistance excercises for the powerclean and clean and jerk, so I figured I'd throw them in on B training days. My forearms are sore as a result.

[Ron_Hendrix]

Personally, I love training in an empty gym, good job. And I know that pullups and chinups will definitely help your grip during the C&J, PC and DL.