ED wrote:don't start beasting yourself like some clowns on here are advising. You'll only get injured
I dissagree ED. I beasted myself before depot, and i passed. I think its good to find your pain barrier and try to over-ride it before the PTI's find it. After all, depot is one big beasting, and so proper prior preparation prevents piss poor performance
Stick with the hill sprints para_hopefull. It worked for me.
I think what Ed suggested sounds like a good way to go for a decent build up to when you actually get to the start line at recruits. True, dont beast yourself sensless day in day out before your even there because you will become overtrained and if anything performance times may ,if anything, get worse. What I suggested was to chuck in some lung busters here and there maybe only one session a week or so. You NEED to KNOW how far you can carry on when your breathin like your arse is hanging out. I personally felt that because I trained hard on the lung busters I was more than ready for them when the staff chucked them at us on recruits.
ED's advice seems pretty sound to me, beasting yourself day in day out will only lead to a loss of fitness and injury, your body needs time to recover. if you want my advice i would say do 1 run per week 6-8 miles steady pace, 1 run per week 4-6 miles moderate pace and 1 very hard interval/sprint/hill session per week initially and always try to run off road and don't run on consecutive days. on the days you aren't running if possible do some form of low impact cardio, set the intensity by how you feel on that day and your fitness will improve.as you get fitter and your body adapts then maybe add another run and gradually increase the length and intensity of your training.1 or 2 days rest per week depending how you feel.
p.s i'm no expert, but i started off with a similar training regime to you - now i have shin splints.
1 good cv circuit session a week 3 fast runs (the aim is to improve your fitness so never be in your comfort zone) and one long steady swim so could be something like this
monday bpfa aim for under 9 30 on run over 50 for sit ups and press ups
tuesday circuit session (could even be body pump or a spin class)
wednsday fast 45 min run(aim for 6 miles but work up to this)
thursday swim i length legs i length arms i length full stroke repeat 6-10 x
friday intervals 10 min jog warm up 8 x 100 m sprints 10 min cool down
saturday 40 mins stretch all muscule groups
sunday long steady run at about 60% mhr
when you are on the cadre you will have to step this up and obviously each week you will increase intensity a little but follow the basic structure of this and your fitness will improve , dont go running with weight until you have done a few tabs with the staff you will only do your knees in personaly id say load up a rucksack and get up the hills just walking to get your body used to carrying weight or fast marching with weight but no running id sack the adrian weale programme as it was designed over ten years ago for all arms p coy not TA which is a much longer drawn out process (you dont have 3 weeks beat up then test week you have 8 weekends plus your own time and motivation to sustain fitness)you have 4-6 months to build up to p coy levels use it to build up graduly to avoid overtraining or injury good luck on the cadre its good fun
sloth wrote:1 good cv circuit session a week 3 fast runs (the aim is to improve your fitness so never be in your comfort zone) and one long steady swim so could be something like this
monday bpfa aim for under 9 30 on run over 50 for sit ups and press ups
tuesday circuit session (could even be body pump or a spin class)
wednsday fast 45 min run(aim for 6 miles but work up to this)
thursday swim i length legs i length arms i length full stroke repeat 6-10 x
friday intervals 10 min jog warm up 8 x 100 m sprints 10 min cool down
saturday 40 mins stretch all muscule groups
sunday long steady run at about 60% mhr
when you are on the cadre you will have to step this up and obviously each week you will increase intensity a little but follow the basic structure of this and your fitness will improve , dont go running with weight until you have done a few tabs with the staff you will only do your knees in personaly id say load up a rucksack and get up the hills just walking to get your body used to carrying weight or fast marching with weight but no running id sack the adrian weale programme as it was designed over ten years ago for all arms p coy not TA which is a much longer drawn out process (you dont have 3 weeks beat up then test week you have 8 weekends plus your own time and motivation to sustain fitness)you have 4-6 months to build up to p coy levels use it to build up graduly to avoid overtraining or injury good luck on the cadre its good fun
Nice one! I would say that the course in "Fighting Fit" was the ordinary 16 week course for those who wanted just to get fit, not the 8 week P Coy build-up prog further down in the book. That looked a tad too hard for someone in my shape! He even said not to attempt it until you were doing 9:30 on the BPFA. So I've some way to go yet!
You in 15 Coy by any chance?
Remember, knowledge is power, unless you forget it all.
Don't mean to sound negative but have you ever thought you might be aiming too high?
I mean 12:35 is a terrible time for a BFT even for non Infantry recruits. I'm not just saying this to be a dickhead but you've got to knock 3:05 min off your run time just to even scrape in for the Paras and considering guys only usually knock about 1:30min off there time during training I'm sure you can see how much of a tall order that's going to be!
I met a lad at RSC who had previously gone for the Paras but couldn't get fit enought to pass the BFT he admitted it and accepted he wouldn't be fit enough to get through para depot. He decided to join one of the Line regiments and thats worked out well for him.
Like I said I'm not trying to get at you but the fact is there are a lot of people who will just never be fit enough to get through Para training, and TA Para is even harder for those who struggle with their fitness as you have to do all your training yourself AND on a part time basis.
Once again I'm NOT trying to give you a hard time but some times you have to look at things objectively.
However whatever you decide you should always keep trying to get as fit as possible as the fitter you are the healthier you are.
I see what you're saying. I've actually thought that myself, and the way I see it, it would be best just to get fit first, then see if I can progress further. They (TA Paras) aren't too bothered whether you're doing 9:30 in the BFT at the start of the cadre. Weekend 8 is a test weekend to see if you can progress to Catterick for CIC & P Coy and there they want to see you getting the times, as their recruits are being handed over to the regular Paras for 2 weeks, so they don't want to be looking bad obviously.
I have no idea whether I'm gonna be fit enough for the Paras, but there's certainly no harm in trying. I'll lose loads of weight and get fit in the process, so why not? If I'm not good enough for Para Reg then so be it.
Remember, knowledge is power, unless you forget it all.
Boxingmad wrote:I see what you're saying. I've actually thought that myself, and the way I see it, it would be best just to get fit first, then see if I can progress further. They (TA Paras) aren't too bothered whether you're doing 9:30 in the BFT at the start of the cadre. Weekend 8 is a test weekend to see if you can progress to Catterick for CIC & P Coy and there they want to see you getting the times, as their recruits are being handed over to the regular Paras for 2 weeks, so they don't want to be looking bad obviously.
I have no idea whether I'm gonna be fit enough for the Paras, but there's certainly no harm in trying. I'll lose loads of weight and get fit in the process, so why not? If I'm not good enough for Para Reg then so be it.
Good for you mate, that's a good approach to have!
I must admit when I read my own post back I was half expecting a quick F... Off
Anyway best of luck and I honestly hope it does work out for you as you seem like a lad who's got his head screwed on the right way.
Boxingmad
The fitness you want to acheive will come in time if your dedicated enough, 9.30 might seem impossible to you now but it won't in 6 months time - stick at it mate.
rc
Cheers mate. Cadre starts sometime towards the end of Jan, so some work over Xmas will hopefully stand me in good stead for it and not look like a twat fizz-wise.
Remember, knowledge is power, unless you forget it all.
You'll only get injured
It worked for me.
