Physical prep for plebe summer

Dad2020

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Son has always been an athlete, (swim, cross-country, wrestling) and keeps in good shape with weights as well. He has been preparing for plebe summer by switching off running 5 miles one day and swimming 4 miles the next. He'll go to the gym and do rope climbs or climb the rock climbing wall when he isn't lifting.

He wasn't seeing much progress lately in his push-ups, so we asked around and Stew Smith gave him some great advice: stop doing push-ups and pullups every single day. He referred us to his article on improvements in these areas and I wanted to make sure we shared the links he gave us:

http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/dailypulluppushups.htm

http://www.military.com/military-fitness/fitness-test-prep/pt-progression-series-1-the-pyramid


Good luck to everyone whether they will be there this year or next.
 
I am pretty sure one of the very first things my plebe said to me last Summer on his first call home was "I should have done more pushups."
 
The amount of push ups we did was incredible. I think at anytime throughout the day we were dropped for 100 of them at a time. My guess is we did 1,000 on upper body days. At PEP the lead tries to rotate body groups and then tells detailers what to crush them with them in the hall. You can never go wrong with lots of core body exercises and cardio. Stew's workout books have been used by many and are very good. He crushed many plebes every morning while running PEP. He never told you how many of anything you were doing and set a very high standard.
 
Dad2020, sounds like he will be more than prepared! 4 miles is a long swim.
 
Indeed Hoops. He said they had to "Make the walls sweat" in Bancroft plenty. He heard "On your face" all too often during first set. :p
 
Son has always been an athlete, (swim, cross-country, wrestling) and keeps in good shape with weights as well. He has been preparing for plebe summer by switching off running 5 miles one day and swimming 4 miles the next. He'll go to the gym and do rope climbs or climb the rock climbing wall when he isn't lifting.

He wasn't seeing much progress lately in his push-ups, so we asked around and Stew Smith gave him some great advice: stop doing push-ups and pullups every single day. He referred us to his article on improvements in these areas and I wanted to make sure we shared the links he gave us:

http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/dailypulluppushups.htm

http://www.military.com/military-fitness/fitness-test-prep/pt-progression-series-1-the-pyramid


Good luck to everyone whether they will be there this year or next.

We live in Seattle. I remember going back to Patuxent for K negotiations that involved an aircraft test program . Jeez! for a guy from Seattle it was like an "alternate universe". I was thinking of walking very close behind people to "draft them" as they cut thru the ambient water in the atmosphere back there.

Now, I have a daughter whose grown up in Seattle with no experience with Hi Heat&Humidity in the 2020 class. She will arrive in shape on I Day having finished her competitive season just 2 weeks before, but the Humidity!! any suggestions on getting her ready for that?

Also, noting the reference to push-ups; what do the girls do? Std. pushups would be pretty challenging for most (given weight/muscle distribution), but "Girls Pushups" are just a joke.
 
I did not grow up in humidity and it hit me like a wall, but everyone adapts to it. She will drink more water than she ever imagined. I am old enough that Bancroft did not have air conditioning. So we could sweat the walls by pretty much standing there. I am also old enough we sweated pennies to the wall also. Women do the exact same push ups as the men. I can't remember doing anything different than males during Plebe Summer in fact when it came to PEP, E Course, O Course, etc (The PRT scoring tables and minimums are different). We did pull ups, if you sucked, you got assisted ones. Eventually we all hit our limits and had to have assisted ones.
 
Living where we do, he is used to high humidity and temps in the summer.

He's been doing Stew's workout and is progressing nicely. It's up to him to be ready. I'm just trying to find him resources when he tells me he has a struggle.
 
I'm thinking we will cut back on the running for now. He's running 5 miles a day in addition to lifting weights and doing Stew's workout. He is pacing at 8:30/mile for 5 miles and wasn't sure if he should push to go faster over the distance or not. We may start substituting more swimming and get in more rope and rock climbing.

The PS packet recommends working out on a local obstacle course. Where in the world do they have local obstacle courses??
 
Don't worry about the obstacle course. If he can do a pull up, chew gum and walk and climb a rope, he will be fine. 5 miles is great. I would throw in a few practice PRTs to see where he stands. Sounds like he is doing everything right and will be fine. Swimming is great as it gives the legs a break.
 
Don't worry about the obstacle course. If he can do a pull up, chew gum and walk and climb a rope, he will be fine. 5 miles is great. I would throw in a few practice PRTs to see where he stands. Sounds like he is doing everything right and will be fine. Swimming is great as it gives the legs a break.
Will he be allowed to climb the rope without his legs? He can do both, but it's faster if he just uses his arms. He said he figures for safety reasons they will ask him to do it with legs
 
In the USMC we could do whatever we wanted. At USNA they will do the O course once Plebe Summer. They will brief them on the course, show them the different methods to make it through, then run it for time. It's usually a bunch of new 2ndLts. And time is just a pride thing, it's not really used for anything. He might do it a few times during the academic year or summer for training and then sea trials. Honestly, it's not a big deal and nothing to worry about. It's also different climbing a rope after completing all the obstacles, so it's important to learn the correct method of using your feet. Also in the USMC, we would climb it with gear, so not even the beasts could hand over hand that. Sounds like he is great shape, that is the important part.
 
I'm thinking we will cut back on the running for now. He's running 5 miles a day in addition to lifting weights and doing Stew's workout. He is pacing at 8:30/mile for 5 miles and wasn't sure if he should push to go faster over the distance or not. We may start substituting more swimming and get in more rope and rock climbing.

The PS packet recommends working out on a local obstacle course. Where in the world do they have local obstacle courses??

Earlier you noted he was swimming 4 miles every other day...and he's going to swim more? Thats 280 lengths of a traditional 25 yard pool, not to mention the time it takes, easily 2 hours+. I think he's good, unless there is some prize for most physically prepared plebe. Perhaps he wasn't seeing improvement because he's TIRED. Just a thought.
 
4 miles is a crazy amount of swimming. I lived with a swimmer and pretty sure they didn't do that daily! Plebe Summer swimming is more basic strokes, treading water, floating, jump off platform, get comfortable in the water. Heck the most you might swim there is 400 meters at any one time. Swimming during the academic year is more intensive but not 4 miles. Sure the guys training for screeners and those selected for dive school, BUDS, EOD swim a lot but it's a unique stroke and trained for.
 
DS's teammate did the EOD screener this spring - 24+ hours in the pool. They are going more for time in water (endurance) than distance, I think. DS's swim test to validate plebe swimming in January was to swim a 200 in less than 2:30 and tread water for a certain period (10 minutes maybe?). OP's DS will be fine even if he doesn't swim again until plebe summer!
 
Just Dad, girls should do just fine with pushups. I coached girls for years in gymnastics who could hold their own or better guys. Core strength is critical. Try to have your daughter add some plank holds for at l-2 minutes per set focusing on good form (no knee bend or lower back sag). When doing pushups it's much easier to push a tight body than a loose one. Also, pushups from the knees aren't really a joke if done properly (tight, flat core all the way to floor and up..tight!), but when doing from knees increase the number. You're decreasing the load, so you increase the reps, similar to what you would do weight lifting. Doing this kind of pushup builds the smaller stabilizing muscles of the shoulder which a standard pushup doesn't hit as well. I personally think adding these helps to increase the number of standard pushups. My guess is if your daughter shows up with good core strength and good general form she'll be just fine with pushups!
 
Will he be allowed to climb the rope without his legs? He can do both, but it's faster if he just uses his arms. He said he figures for safety reasons they will ask him to do it with legs
He is in great physical condition and that is wonderful! Remind him that he is not going for American Ninja Warrior, at least not this summer! :D
 
DS's teammate did the EOD screener this spring - 24+ hours in the pool. They are going more for time in water (endurance) than distance, I think. DS's swim test to validate plebe swimming in January was to swim a 200 in less than 2:30 and tread water for a certain period (10 minutes maybe?). OP's DS will be fine even if he doesn't swim again until plebe summer!
Editing this with a correction and new information: you need a 3:30 at your plebe swimming validation test in January to validate (not 2:30 like I said earlier); passing the 200m plebe swim test requires a 5:12 time (that's the slowest you can swim and still pass); a 3:30 time gets you a B on the test; a 2:58 gets you an A.
 
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