I apologise in advance for this being quite a lengthy and detailed post, but if there are any military/ex-military guys out there who could help me out I'd really appreciate if you could give some of your time to read this and offer any suggestions.
Hello all,
So I've been out of action for the past week due to what the doctor told me is a stomach bug, basically leaving me without an appetite and feeling super weak.
However, looking forward, at some point within the next year, I plan to join the British Army, specifically the Parachute Regiment (Paras), and so when I return to training in the next week or so (provided I'm well enough), I want my training to be geared towards exceeding the physical standards for entry to the Paras, which are as follows (at least in the most recent source I've seen):
Regarding the specific exercises that I'd need to do for the Paras:
Monday
Please feel free to tear into this plan as much as you like, or to just tweak it here and there. Now that I just look at it written down, I'm feeling perhaps a third run in place of the Saturday swing session? Also something to ensure my sit-up numbers stay high, but without actually having to do them all the time since they hurt my coccyx (leaning towards trying to fit hanging leg raises in there somewhere, maybe a few sets after the runs?). Obviously I'm also going for an approach which allows me to stay fresh in order to allow for high training frequency and quality, hence the lack of puke-inducing circuits and runs.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out, and I apologise again for the lengthy post.
Harry
Hello all,
So I've been out of action for the past week due to what the doctor told me is a stomach bug, basically leaving me without an appetite and feeling super weak.
However, looking forward, at some point within the next year, I plan to join the British Army, specifically the Parachute Regiment (Paras), and so when I return to training in the next week or so (provided I'm well enough), I want my training to be geared towards exceeding the physical standards for entry to the Paras, which are as follows (at least in the most recent source I've seen):
- Press-ups: 55 in 2 minutes
- Sit-ups: 55 in 2 minutes
- Chin-ups: 10 (no time limit)
- 1.5 mile run: 9 minutes, 40 seconds
Regarding the specific exercises that I'd need to do for the Paras:
- Press-ups: I've not tested my max press-ups in quite some time, but based off my work in the past doing TGUs and one arm pushups prior to that, I imagine I'd definitely get 40+.
- Sit-ups: Last time I tested (at least six months ago) I got 60 if memory serves me correctly, but that was without ANY sit-up training, and if at all possible, I'd like to keep sit-up frequency to an absolute minimum since they REALLY hurt my tailbone.
- Chin-ups: 10 is easy, I can do 15-17 on a very good day (and this is without chin/pull-ups being a major focus of my training), so would like to get as close to 20 as possible by the time I go for selection.
- 1.5 mile run: I'm pretty comfortable getting under 10 minutes even on a fairly bad day, and when I really push myself on a decent day I can get in the 9:20-9:30 range, but want to improve this because I've read on online sources that the directing staff like to surprise candidates with a 3+mile 'warmup' before doing the 1.5 mile test run which has to be done in under 9:40.
Monday
- 1.5 mile run (50-60% effort)
- GTG one arm pushups (as many sets as possible while fresh; logic here, if I can train to the point of being able to do say 10+ OAPUs easily, doing them with two arms will be really easy)
- GTG weighted pistols (pistols create very strong, never-quit legs (at least in my experience), making everything easier)
- S&S as written (swings and get-ups)
- GTG weighted pull-ups (I find pull-ups harder than chin-ups and that improving pull-ups leads to improvements in chin-ups)
- GTG weighted pistols
- S&S swings (skipping get-ups in order to remain fresh for OAPUs)
- GTG OAPUs
- GTG weighted pistols
- 1.5 mile run (75-85% effort)
- GTG OAPUs
- GTG weighted pistols
- S&S as written
- GTG weighted pull-ups
- GTG weighted pistols
- S&S swings
- GTG OAPUs
- GTG weighted pistols
- S&S swings
- GTG OAPUs
- GTG weighted pistols
Please feel free to tear into this plan as much as you like, or to just tweak it here and there. Now that I just look at it written down, I'm feeling perhaps a third run in place of the Saturday swing session? Also something to ensure my sit-up numbers stay high, but without actually having to do them all the time since they hurt my coccyx (leaning towards trying to fit hanging leg raises in there somewhere, maybe a few sets after the runs?). Obviously I'm also going for an approach which allows me to stay fresh in order to allow for high training frequency and quality, hence the lack of puke-inducing circuits and runs.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out, and I apologise again for the lengthy post.
Harry
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