When you arrive at Lympstone you will be taken to a new £7million accommodation block which has decent hot showers and lots of locker space. You will need to take your own coat hangers and a padlock. Though if you forget and have any valuables, the PRMC training team will keep it for you in a lock box in their office. When you get to the block you are weighed and given a cutlery set, water bottle and mug for the mess.
You are told to get yourself some gear and boots from the store cupboard – make sure that you get a pair of boots that fit well or you will regret it on the assault course or run when you have to drop out because of serious blisters. Also, make sure you bring a pair of decent double layered socks, these prevent blisters and make sure you wear them when you are trying on your boots. At the end of the course you will have to tidy up this store cupboard so make sure you keep things in order when rifling through the kit, trying to find a combat jacket that fits and doesn’t have a broken zip.
After this you just hang around until everyone arrives before being allowed to go and get some scran (food). The food at Lympstone is delicious and I would recommend you stuff yourself with carbs, the next day is going to be tough.
I am not going to focus on any of the lectures, as these are quite straightforward. You have one on Pay, Banking Facilities and the Realities of Training, plus “Meeting the Diamonds”. You also do some drill but this isn’t excessive and is limited to very basic movements.
Day 1
You will be briefed on what lies ahead of you over the next two days, pay attention and make sure you know your bib colour and number. This is how you will be addressed during gym tests.
Gym Test 1
Before I went on PRMC I achieved 12.8 on a 20m-bleep test, however, in gym test 1, I actually got 11.7. One of the other guys in my room got the same score but before PRMC got level 13. I don't know why this is but they may have increased the distance to throw you off a bit. Also, don't under estimate the importance of a good score on the bleep test. If you get lower than level 11.5 you will probably get binned no matter how good the rest of your scores are.
Following on from this you start the press-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups.
You need to get as close to the maximums as you can on this, don’t think that because you can do 40 press ups and 60 sit ups you will be ok. Some guys still failed after getting what I thought were pretty good scores.
Swim Assessment
This is the easiest of all the activities on PRMC. You jump off a high diving platform and swim breaststroke for about 25 metres, then get out. It's as easy as that. If they spot any weak swimmers they just tell you how to improve. As they say in the green bible, it’s an assessment not a test.
You then have lunch, you will be starving but make sure you don’t over indulge or you will regret it on bottom field when it starts crawling up your throat while you are sprinting.
Bottom Field
This is tough and was without a doubt the most intense physical activity I have ever done in my life. It doesn't matter how fit you are, they will find your breaking point and push you over it - this is where most of the guys dropped out this is where your determination and spirit will pull you through. I won't go into what it involves but you need to practice pushing yourself to that point where you think you are going to be sick and then carrying on.
This is followed by the High Obstacle and Assault Course. When you do the timed run on the assault course give it everything you've got - they want to see a time of about 3:30 minutes. I held myself back here by jogging up the hill to the gate instead of sprinting and then taking it slowly in the tunnel, as I didn't know what would be coming up afterwards - now I regret it but I am sure I will have many chances to prove I can get a better score than 4:09.
Weapons Acquaint
You get to see some of the weapons you will use in training and as a Royal Marine. Pay attention, I was asked these during my interviews.
Day 2
3 Mile Run
This is pretty straightforward really. You run 1.5 miles along a quiet tarmac road, to a car park as a troop and then turn around and run back at your own best effort. Forget about running at 7-minute mile pace, this was much faster. I believe that it was done at about 6-minute mile pace, as did the rest of the lads when I spoke to them afterwards. The problem with this run is that you have too much time to think about giving up. The scenery all looks the same and your mind has nothing to think about other than the burning in your legs. I knew I could complete the distance as I had done more than double this in training but when you are tired, stiff and full of breakfast it becomes a bit more difficult. You just need to focus. We lost about 4 or 5 more guys on this run. The run is immediately followed by a surprise, which I won’t spoil for you.
Gym Test 2
After lunch you do gym test 2. This is a test of your ability to work as a team and is designed to see how hard you can push yourself again. It is also the make or break – if you are average or have been doing badly on the course, this is your chance to show your mettle. Likewise, if you have done well and aren’t leading the sprints, or you don’t look like you are putting your maximum effort in, you may get binned.
It involves 5 stances in which you spend 3 minutes on each one. You get your rest by marking time while you wait your next turn. It is non-stop for about 45-60 minutes.
Tips
1) Get lots of anaerobic training in - you will spend a lot of time sprinting. I would recommend hill sprints to get your Vo2MAX up as well.
2) When in the gym listen to the PTI's and never touch your face - if you do you will end up doing extra push ups, tuck jumps, press-ups etc and you can't afford to be wasting your energy on extra exercises.
3) In the gym you aren’t allowed to walk at all and you constantly mark time, so practice keeping yourself going for about 2 hours non stop.
4) Don’t eat too much at lunch or you will regret it.
5) Practice 6-minute miles.
6) Practice press up circuits. Doing 10 then 9 then 8 and so on. Hold the press up position for 5 seconds before each set and then about 20 seconds when you are finished.
7) Always give it your absolute best effort. Never hold back.
Focus on the task at hand, don’t think to yourself, “After this they said it will be over”, because it probably won’t. We had to do extra sprints, press-ups etc for owing the PTI because one person was told they didn’t put enough effort in, or we didn’t listen when given a detail.9) You shower 4 times a day but they have a drying room that you can hang your wet towel in. If you take 2 towels you can rotate them, thus always having one dry towel – well, almost dry.
10) Don't stuff yourself at breakfast or lunch.
I hope this is a useful guide to anyone going for PRMC and wish you the best of luck.
All the best,
Ben
