Info needed regarding running and weight loss.

[ceazur]

I am going to take my ASVAB and Enlist into the Marine Corps this coming Tuesday. I won't be shipped to Parris Island for a month or two. To get into boot camp I have to run a 1 1/2 miles in 13 1/2 minutes. I can currently do that ,but just barely. I would like to be at the 2 1/2 mile mark if thats possible. I am currently do HIIT in the morning, later i walk with 35 - 50 lbs. on my back for 2-4 miles, then jogging 1 1/2 miles around lunch. Later in the day i'll usually bust out another half mile jog. Is this good or any better ideas to build endurance?

Also I am not too bad over weight ,but I am lanky. Hips are my downfall and i have currently been eating about 1000 cals worth of breakfast and maybe another 500 throughout day while drinking loads of water. Is that cool? I mean this is going to sound hilarious ,but I am 6'3'' about 180lbs. Im not very muscular but I'm not weak by any means. It's just hard for me to gain mass. And I went down almost 25 lbs on most free weight exercises over Christmas holidays and it killed my motivation for weight lifting. With college schedule I was not able to catch back up. So any questions? Answers? Dirty Remarks?

P.S. I can post pictures of what ever ,and I will accept any info or criticism provided about running, weight loss, or the Marine Corps recruit training with a smile so don't hold back.

[AaronJMUSMC]

Run, run, run. Your run time is horrible. I enlisted in the USMC at the age of 24, I was 6 foot 210lbs and I could run the 1 1/2 in like 10 min. Now 2 years later I run 3 miles in under 18 min. I wouldn't worry about hiking with weight. Just run. Also your diet sounds like crap. Eat 6 small meals a day. Lots of protein, good carbs, and low fat. Don't drink soda or gatorade or any of that crap. Just drink water. Stay away from alcohol and cigs. If you have more questions on boot camp check out leatherneck dot com.

[methusaleh]

In addition to "run run run"...

EAT, EAT, EAT!!! You are never going to gain any amount of appreciable strength on 1500 calories a day! Up your protein intake to at least 1g per lb. of bodyweight each day. At 6'3" and 180 that's pretty darn skinny IMHO, and not just aesthetically either. I like the idea of the ruck runs/walks, but trying to gain strength on the diet you mention is senseless...

[ceazur]

Well atm Im not actually trying to gain strength. I mean im not 'not' trying to gain it ,but Im looking for endurance because boot camp is 13 weeks of 12+hr plus days of High intense training. I really wanna lose 2 - 3% body fat and be able to handle those long days. I will gain strength while there and afterward. The military helps with diets and workouts to fit your ideal body composure.

[ceazur]

Could someone fill me on the primary stuff i asked and/or help me figure out the best exercises for core muscles. In boot camp we will be doing push ups, sit ups, crunches, and sprints. I get winded quick with sprints so trying to increase my longevity would be awesome.

[ceazur]

Oh and could you help me with this final question. I will probably be in boot camp in two months so I wanna lose like 4% body fat or as much up to that point as I can. So is it better for me to eat as little as possible? (because i can go without food and it makes me feel more successful with attempting to lose weight) or should I try to eat 5-6 meals?

I mean I wanna lose this weight and Im doing mad cardio and Eating healthy foods.... (eggs, turkey sausage, chicken, lettuce, tomato, and other stuff) but whats your input..

[allenzo]

I would not worry about the endurance to much due to the physical activity in basic training and AIT (or what ever the Marines call it). But if you really want to, I suggest starting off slow an building up. Try starting out with 2 miles a day with a goal to beat 15 min. Build up the distance until equally until you reach about 4 miles in about 30 to 35 minutes. To give you an example when I went to basic my 2 miles run initially was 20 minutes(terrible, do not like running but could do 80+ pushups in under a minute). My final PT test had a 2 mile time of below 15 minutes. But like AaronJMUSMC said you have to run and change your diet. Eat alot of vegetable, meat and fruit. Stay away form candies and snacks since you will not get them in boot camp anyway. I would also suggest that you add some type training (plyometrics, cross fit, P90X, or similar) because along with cardiovascular endurance you will also need muscle endurance to complete training.

[ceazur]

Thanks i just noticed that aaron had posted. I will stop the walking with weight.. (I was trying to simulate the gear with the weight) I know my running time is weak ,but that's what I'm asking help for. I'm trying to build endurance and stamina. What can I do to help increase my distance time. Like does distance speed come from quads or calves or both? should I destroy lunges or weighted calf raises? Diet wise, should I try to eat a healthy 1800 calories or should I stick to my 1000 cal's. I feel better about myself when i eat less rather than eat the 6 meals. Plus as of now Im in college so its hard to fit in healthy snacks throughout the day.. i figured eating breakfast then something later in the day would better simulate the boot camp pattern.

[ceazur]

What does this diet look like. I'm not counting calories tho since I can't keep up with a college cafe's nutritional info.
meal 1. 7:15 A.M. eggs and sausage
(I think college has powder eggs and sausage should be turkey)
meal 2. 9:15 A.M. banana

meal 3. 12:00 p.m. turkey sandwich on wheat with mustard only

meal 4. 2:30 p.m. banana or some kinda of grain bar

meal 5. 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. - turkey sandwich on wheat with mustard only(only mon - thurs) on weekends I will sub the turkey sandwiches for chicken and vegs)

Thats the best I can do. take in that i cant tell the cafe what to make and dont have the money or time or hardware to cook.) I live in dorms..

I also am not into weight lifting atm since I am trying to prepare for boot and we will only do exercises that require our own body weight.

[SOUTHCAR27]

you are better eating the six meals and 1000 calories isn't enough..........

If you search around this website you will finad all the answers you need, start by researching eating healthy so you understand why you need more calories than 1000. You have plenty of time to cut that time way down before you go. GOOD LUCK

[ceazur]

yeah i have about 2 months to get my shet together... I wanna lose a couple unneeded pounds.

[candleboxx]

did you read anything or just post...sigh. some people.

[ceazur]

candle, how do i say this... stfu?

[oufinny]

You are not eating enough and with your workout schedule need to closer to 2000-2500 calories. Don't get mad that people are trying to help and you don't like their responses... you think we are tough, you are in for a wake-up call at basic then! Eat more, more often and that will actually help INCREASE your metabolism. If you don't have the money to eat perfect that is understandable, it is not cheap, but you can at least get 5-6 meals in a day even if the food is not the best choices.

[bikeswimlive]

Your college should offer free fitness assessments as part of their PT/Nutrition programs. Get one and get your maintenance cals calculated. Eat atleast that much when you are training hard. Eating 1000 cals will only shut down your metabolism.

[Zee916]

The best way to get faster at the three mile is to run the three mile. Run it flat out 3x a week. Slow jogs are not gonna do much for building endurance.

I would not stop walking with weight. I did not go to USMC boot, but I did go to USMC OCS last summer and the ruck marches were BY FAR AND AWAY the hardest thing we had to do physically. The running, crunches, pushups are pretty easy if you are in decent shape at all.

Also, don't worry about going in super light weight. In 5 weeks at OCS I went from 168lbs to 138lbs. No matter what you do out there, your gonna lose alot of weight.

Do not run everyday. Your muscles need rest from running just like when you lift weights. I found out the hard way when I tore my calf muscle 12 weeks before shipping.

I think your best plan of attack is a lot of high pace runs and tons of pushups, situps and pullups because that is gonna be the base of most of the workouts. I can't street pullups enough. Get good at them.

Good luck at boot.

[ceazur]

The best way to get faster at the three mile is to run the three mile. Run it flat out 3x a week. Slow jogs are not gonna do much for building endurance.

I would not stop walking with weight. I did not go to USMC boot, but I did go to USMC OCS last summer and the ruck marches were BY FAR AND AWAY the hardest thing we had to do physically. The running, crunches, pushups are pretty easy if you are in decent shape at all.

Also, don't worry about going in super light weight. In 5 weeks at OCS I went from 168lbs to 138lbs. No matter what you do out there, your gonna lose alot of weight.

Do not run everyday. Your muscles need rest from running just like when you lift weights. I found out the hard way when I tore my calf muscle 12 weeks before shipping.

I think your best plan of attack is a lot of high pace runs and tons of pushups, situps and pullups because that is gonna be the base of most of the workouts. I can't street pullups enough. Get good at them.

Good luck at boot.

About time i got some detailed advice. Thanks bro. Im in pretty good shape and im not worried about boot. I could go in now and go through it fine. Im just trying to make it easier on myself if you understand what im saying. I was walking a couple miles with about 50lbs on my back and I stepped wrong or something because my achilles tendon bruised or something. now when i run it sends a sharp pain up my leg, so im stopping unwillingly for a few days and icing it a few times a day.

[bikeswimlive]

About time i got some detailed advice.

Almost everything here has been good advice. You just didn't want to accept any of it.

[AaronJMUSMC]

You're about to piss me off kid. I give you MY advice and what do you do? You question every little thing! If you don't eat more then you will not lose weight because your body will go into "starvation mode" and it will retain your fat at all costs. Jesus Christ, read the next part carefully! Eat 5-6 SMALL meals EVERY ****ing day. Here is an example of a diet since you want everyone else to do the work/research for you...

Meal 1 = Lean protein and a complex carb (such as 4 hard boiled eggs only 1 yolk and 1/2 cup of plain oatmeal. I swear to god if you ask "can I eat Quaker Oats that come in the package with the tastey fruit" I will lose my mind. Eat the PLAIN oatmeal, that other crap is packed with sugar.

Meal 2 = Lean Protein and veggies (for example, 1-2 can of tuna and some raw broccoli

Meal 3 = Lean Protein and complex carb (for example, chicken breast and sweet potatoes)

WORKOUT

Meal 4 AKA Post Workout AKA PWO = 60g whey protein shake

Meal 5 = Lean Protein and veggie (for example again, 1-2 can of tuna and some green beans)

Meal 6 = Fat Free Cottage cheese

These meals should be spaced around 2 hours apart. Now you don't have to follow the actual food examples, they are JUST EXAMPLES of some of the things I eat. You can sub. fish, steak, ground turkey, etc... All green veggies are good and don't eat too much fruit.

As far as training goes, you don't need to be lifting weights too much, at least not heavy. You will lose a lot of muscle and fat during boot camp. Oh and another thing, STOP talking about what boot camp is going to be like. You have no ****ing idea what it is going to be like. I don't care how many d-bag recruiters you talk to or how many friends of your older bro that are Marines tell you. You don't know **** until you go there and do it. One more thing on that topic, Take the Semper Fidelis signature down, you don't rate to use it because you are not a Marine, you haven't earned the title so you can't use our sayings. When you get to boot camp, you will be a lower life form than the grass that you aren't allowed to walk on!

Now for the running part, I disagree with some of the above statements. One post said "if you wanna get better at running 3 miles, just run 3 miles" well that is right and wrong. Really IMO if you wanna get better at running 3 miles then you need to run 4 miles. You wanna make 3 miles easy, get used to running longer distances. You said in your last post that you are in good shape and won't have too much trouble at boot camp. Well I will tell ya what, the slowest guy that I work with is about 15lbs. over his max weight and he runs a 21 min 3 mile. The ****tiest Marine is typically in the same shape as an above average athlete in the civilian world. Now if you wanna be a bad ass like yours truly, you will join the infantry. Sure a Marine is a Marine right? WRONG, infantry is a REAL kick in the ****. Last week I hiked 22 miles with a 60lbs flak, 7 lb M4, kevlar, and a 50lb pack. Then once we finished the hike, my Platoon Sergeant said "We need to be bigger faster and stronger than the enemy" so you know what we did? We dropped the flaks and packs, staged the rifles and went on a 6 mile boots and uts run. Now that is some motivating ****. Honestly we all hate our lives Mon-Fri, but you do it for the guy next to you, MAYBE someday you will understand. I wish you good luck, but do me a favor, DONT question my advice. Take it or leave it.

[ceazur]

No aaron I was not referring to what you told me. I appreciated it ,but never got a chance to say thanks. But as far as calling me KID. Thats uncalled for just because Im uninformed about the subject I inquired about. And as far as the other people who just reworded what you said, you could have just saved that. People make too big of deals out of little **** that doesn't matter. I asked for advice, information, or testimonials. Im through posting on these forums since people want to act like E-Thugs. So thanks for the wisdom some of you shared. And to the others, go **** yourselves.