hey

[MJL]

hey everyone

Recently applied to join the royal marines. Just wondering if anyone could give me some good exercises to improving upper body strength and core strength. My running isnt to bad at the moment and i know i can improve, 3 miles in 18m 29s. 13 miles in 1hr 44s. and 1.5 miles in 9 min flat. I do however need to improve my upper body. Im bashing out the push ups and pull ups and hitting the gym, but im not really clued up on the ins and outs of gym work such as ideal number of reps and sets etc. is it best to do high weight low reps or low weight high reps etc? interval training? OR am i over complicating the matter and just need to get my head down and crack on doing my max each time! Are protein shakes worth getting as well? if so what ones etc? Questions question questions....

any info/hints/tips would be greatly appreciated.


MJL

[coopesh56]

hey, im in the same situation as you my running is ace but my upper body isnt so good.
At the moment im just focusing on the upper body and stomach.
i usually do i mixture of push ups and sit ups in which ill do high reps ( mabye three sets of 30 throughout the work out) and also vary the types i.e triangle push ups and crunches.

However i also use the weight machines at the gym to help build strength by doing low reps and high weights. in my opinion its just about doing a mixture of both.
recently ive also found swimming useful as it helps to improve fitness and stamina in arm muscles.

With regards to the protein shakes i find them usefull, im built like a kenyan marathon runner lol so i find it difficult to put muscle on etc. i usually have a weight gainer shake an hour before a weights work out and then a protein shake afterwards to help recovery. a good website to buy it cheap is www.myprotein.co.uk

hopes this helps, it might not be the best way to do things but it works for me, feel free to pm me etc.

coops

[EagleEyes]

Remember High weight low reps for building size and high reps low weight for gaining strength. Thats what everyone at my gym worked on anway.

[Wholley]

MJL,
First of all Welcome aboard.
I don't know how old you are but take it a little easy on yourself.
Protein shakes are a waste of money IMHO.
Just aspire to be the best at your PRMC and the training team will get you through RT.New Zealand is fun innit although I mostly saw it from inside a bar in Huntly

[just_me]

I can't remember where I heard it (except for the above post) but concerning weights I always do low weight, high reps as its supposed to build muscular endurance (or some crap like that ).

[ofens]

Your run times sound very good, keep that up.
As far as upper body etc goes, with PRMC and RT in mind don't complicate things with long boring weight training routines and things. Just do lots of functional and relevant exercises (the kind you will be doing in PRMC and RT!) ...
-Press ups
-Pull ups
-Sit ups
-Burpees etc.
Squats and lunges will really help also, trust me on this!

Other stuff is useful if you need to focus in certain areas but functional relevant stuff is most important.
Good luck

Comments above on training are just my opinions and ideas based on my experience, I'm not qualified in any way to instruct.

[MJL]

thanks for the replys guys! i guess il just stick to bashing out those press ups! (happy times). Going to start putting burpees into my routine though, thanks Ofens. I have just completed the application form stage so the way i see it i have a good 6 - 8 months to get my upper body to the required standard and beyond!

Oh yeah, Wholley, from what i can rememeber NZ seemed to be a bit of alright!!

MJL