All right, here's some advice. Most of it is for those who are consciously trying to lose weight, but a lot of it has to do with general health and wellness, too.
1. Watch what you eat. Specifically portion size. This is one of the main reasons for the rising obesity problem in the US. We super/biggie size everything, not just fast food.
2. Make sure your cardio workouts are at least 30 mins in duration. Our bodies burn carbs, fat and protein, in that order. The first 20 mins or so of a tough cardio workout burns through the carbs (quick energy), so if you stop there, you haven't burned any fat yet.
3. If you don't already do it, start hitting the weights for some resistance training. Lean body mass (muscle mass) burns more calories at rest than fat. What this means is that on top of converting fat to muscle, you'll eventually end up burning more calories just by sitting and sleeping than you do now.
4. Plan your workouts to get the most out of your effort. Building off of #2 and #3, it's a great idea to do resistance training before your cardio workout. This will help deplete your quick energy stores early on in your workout so that by the time you get to your 30+ minutes of cardio, you'll start burning fat faster than you would if you started your workout with cardio.
5. Drink water. Lots and lots of water. They used to recommend 64oz daily, but now most dieticians are recommending that you drink at least 50% of your body weight in water every day (IE, if you weigh 150lbs, drink no less than 75oz per day). Other than the obvious fact that water is a necessity for life, water is an extremely important element in the fat-burning process. If you're dehydrated, your body won't burn fat as fast. Furthermore, our bodies process water similarly to how we process food. If you try to lose weight by skipping meals or otherwise starving yourself, your body will hold onto fat instead of burning it because it needs to conserve energy. Similarly, if you're dehydrated, your body won't flush the water out of your system as quickly as it would if you were to stay hydrated. This means you're retaining water weight.
Note: Wrestlers and boxers do crazy insane workouts to sweat out all their water weight to make the next lower weight class, but it's only a temporary fix to a long-term situation, and it's done under the close supervision of an experienced coach and qualified trainers.
6. Specificity, specificity, specificity! If you aren't familiar with this concept of physical fitness, it's fairly simple: in order to get better at a certain event, you have to design a workout program that will help you improve in that particular event. Here are some VMI Fitness Test-specific examples:
a. The best way to get better at pullups is to do pullups. If you can't do any, either get a buddy to help you with assisted pullups, or do negatives (start by doing a flex-arm hang, and lower yourself as slowly as possible). Once you can do 2 pullups, it's easier to see quick improvement because you can do several max sets every day. If you do five sets of 2 pullups every day, after a few days you'll be able to do 3 or 4.
b. If you can't quite make that 60 situps in 2 mins, do as many as you can in 1 min. Do pushups for 1 min. Then do as many situps as you can in 45 seconds, followed by as many pushups as you can do in 45 seconds. Then 30 seconds, then 15. It sounds simple, but if you're giving it your all (
really doing as many as you
really can in the allotted time), this workout will smoke you. The pushups will allow your abs a little break between sets, but it will be an active rest so you're maximizing your workout time.
c. The only way to get better at running is to run more. You can improve by either running faster, or running longer. A good running workout plan will include both. If you only ever run 1.5 mi, you'll never reach your maximum potential for a 1.5 mi test, because your body will be used to giving out right around that 1.5 mi mark. One day, do six 400s (lap around the track) at an all out sprint, with a two minute recovery break between each 400. It's a total of 1.5 mi, but you have effectively sprinted the whole way. The next day, run 3-4 miles focusing more on distance at a steady pace than on time.
That's all I've got for now. It's only a beginning. There are plenty of resources online (
www.coolrunning.com, Stew Smith's fitness articles at
www.military.com, etc.) and tons of books out there that are geared toward helping people max the armed forces PT tests.
Do pushups,
Jackie M. Briski
VMI Class of 2009