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London Selection

General discussions on joining & training in the Royal Marines Reserve.
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letsrole
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London Selection

Post by letsrole »

London selection has been confirmed to be on the weekend on 28th Sept. Anyone going to be joining me?
jsg
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Post by jsg »

Hopefully yes--- I came along to the last presentation. I say hopefully because I am way over the age limit with no military background so need them to apply for an age waiver...have you started training with the holding troop yet? if so what sort of stuff do you do? I was a bit over enthusiastic with trying to get in good shape, so am going to join holding troop as soon as I reckon I can put a decent showing together.
letsrole
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Post by letsrole »

No holding troop hasnt started at Henley yet. It starts as of the 24th of June. What det are you going for, the HQ (London)?

There are quite a few posts on holding troop, iv been to a few (last year) they are pretty hard, mainly short curcuts. If you dig out blind in HT and can prove your worth you could put that towards your application for the wavier/
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Post by jsg »

I went along to the presentation in Bermondsey...re age waivers the impression I got is that if you are scoring pretty highly on the fitness tests then age needn't necessarily be a barrier, I was told it might be better for me not to be scraping through with minimums though. If you are fit and show keen then I am sure they won't reject you out of hand, I wasn't on my own either...there were a few other older guys. Not sure if there are knock on effects for example not being able to do various specialisations above certain ages; but that would be so far in the future it is not worth thinking about - easier to just get fit and pass selection and just focus on that.

I am sure holding troop is a real beasting and they will be looking to see that you are just prepared to dig in -- I have trawled around on the web and was just hoping to be lucky enough to get a few specifics from someone in the know. I wondered how it worked in that there must be quite a range of initial fitness levels...from guys at sub 8min 1.5miles to probably closer to 10min etc.

Frankly I am just looking forward to cracking on, particularly given joining a holding troop must surely give you a better shot of passing selection.
letsrole
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Post by letsrole »

Good on you, there were guys there who were 35 at Henley.

Whats your training programme like at the moment? I have only started mine last week as I have been travelling for the past month. My first goal was to lose a stone when I got back from travelling. I picked up a virus in Africa and crapped out a stone in two days! Start as you mean to go on!
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Post by jsg »

My training programme at the moment has just changed, I had tended to try and keep moderately fit anyway but my focus was more on gym work, so now I am switching to more bodyweight exercises -I train most days. But until recently had basically tried to mix it up rpm, cycling, kayaking, light(ish) weights supersets in the gym that sort of stuff.

I did a quick test on the stuff the marines test and realised I really need to change focus. For example I managed 50 strict press ups (thought I could do around 70), Pull-ups loose form I normally do 12...but strict marines style only 6!...I haven't tended to do much running but did a 1.5mile on the treadmill in 8min 35 and 5 miles in 32:30. (However outdoors on the track my 1.5 mile time was only 9 min 10 secs, so it seems the treadmill is a lot easier).

I suspect however we won't be 100% fresh and switching to very strict form has drastically reduced the numbers I thought I could do. So now I will be doing hill work (going to try and fit in a welsh 3000s jog/walk in the summer), outdoors running (for example I tried a couple of 7 mile runs on the sand this weekend when I was away -- which I found disgusting) and much more focus on their bodyweight exercises rather than doing weights.

I am 36! amd will be 37 when this all starts, so I may be a real long shot -- but I am really hoping to get high scores to get a chance of this age waiver by late september. However my initial enthusiasm trying to run up hills gave me a small strain in my achilles and I am full of cold; so not the best start :)...I was hoping to be training with the holding troop already.

I'm 80kg and 5ft 10 but not a lotta fat, but perhaps it might be easier if I drop 2 or 3 kilos given it is all bodyweight related.

How about yourself - what sort of training are you doing?
letsrole
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Post by letsrole »

As I said Iv only just started training so I'm just laying the foundations as it were at the moment, I dont want to rush into things to quickly then pick up shin splints or something. So Im just running for say 30 mins and dont check what sort of distance im covering. Plus doing circuts of press ups and sit ups. Ill start to bring times down and aim for specific scores probably next month when Iv got a good base to work from. Selection is in 3 months so weve got some time.

Those are pretty good scores youve got there, not much improvement needed, mine are a lot worse! Dont try and train through a cold, it will just drag on, take a few days off- talking from experience here! As I said we have got quater of a year to prepaire! Im not in bad shape either, just need to get my lungs and heart back into the swing of things!
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Post by jsg »

Well good luck with your training, good advice on backing off when you are ill or injured...I have given the same advice myself yet when it comes to ourselves we always seem less good at taking advice (at least in my experience !).

I have a weekend sea kayaking now, so hopefully that should give my body a little recovery.

I am hoping to be joining holding troop next weds and I think you mentioned you start at henley soon; I would be interested in how it goes
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Post by letsrole »

Hi mate, did HT last night.. was quite hard! The PTI said it was only a 'light' session but the four of us at Henley were certainly hanging. As it was the first session it was mainly and introduction to press ups, burpies, sit ups and chin ups with sprints and jogs thrown in.

At Henely were going to be training every other week, but Im looking forward to two weeks time as were going to be speed marching with the phase one recruits over 4 miles.

When do you start?
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Post by jsg »

good on you training mate...my cold is gone but the achilles problem definitely ain't so I am champing at the bit to get on with it.

HT for london is on every weds eve I believe, with the presentation on the first of each month -- so at this rate the next presentation will be on by the time I get there !

But I am 'trying' to be sensible and not make things worse; even now I am still in two minds thinking I should just try going along anyway tonight.
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If anyone is reading this currently doing london holding troop, I would be really interested in what sort of training you guys are doing, how many guys you have etc and whether the training is progressive up to september test weekend...not sure whether to start training semi-injured or whether to come along when I can put in a full effort?!
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Post by letsrole »

jsg, if I were you I wouldnt train through the pain, it can only get worse if you do that. Try a different type of training like cycling as it may put less strain on your injury. I usually get shin splints so do a lot of cycling.

Also if I were you I'd get to the RMR unit pronto as the staff there are full of knowlege on injuries, as they deal with them everyday so they will be able to direct you on your best course of action. The unit PTIs actually go on remidial courses so they will know what to do and what training you should be doing.
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Post by Mitch »

I have a few questions related to RMR London, im not trying to highjack the thread.

I am looking to join Chatham detachment which i believe is RMR London. I won't be able to do this until I come back from a trip to Venezuela which will be mid August. I would like to know if there is a minimum amount of time you have to spend in Holding Troop and is there a maximum number of times you can attempt the selection tests? The reason I ask is because if the answer to both questions is no then I may be joining you letsrole!

Thanks

Mitch
Psychometric test - Passed!
Initial interview - Passed!
TBC
letsrole
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Post by letsrole »

Hey mitch, weve been kicking around these forums for long enough, about time one of us joined up!

Yes Chatham is part of RMR London. No there isnt a set critera for attendance at holding troop, its not mandatory. Its suppose to help you prepaire for selec tion, you dont have to turn up at all if you dont want. Dont worry about your trip, by the time you get back all of RMR London will be on summer leave (as there away for most of August) so dont worry about missing HT then. First one you will probably be able to go on would be Tuesday 2nd Sept, with the selection date on 26th of Sept. So you will get a good 4 sessions in then which would really help your phiz. Get on the blower to Chatham and have a good chin wag with them.

Not sure what you meant by maximum number of times you can attempt the selection test? Are you talking about the selection weekend here?

Would be good to put a face to a name!
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Post by MSI64 »

Am joining RMR London 3rd of Sept just for the fitness.
Im 38 and have been in the Army 15 years and have decided to attempt the AACC next year. The very nice guys at RMR have offered to thrash me for a couple of months :o :o
So I will see you all there!
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