NASS Experience??

yrangd

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2015
Messages
61
I was recently accepted into session 1 and plan on attending.

My problem with summer seminar (and service academies in general) is the physical exercise. I'm not in the greatest shape, but I am currently working on it.

I would like to ask previous attendees how their experience at summer seminar was (taking the CFA, PT, etc.)?

What was the procedure like for the CFA?
How was the diffculty level of PT?
How was your general experience at summer seminar? Any advice?

I really would like to get the CFA over with, but I am having trouble with pull-ups (I heard that it counts more than the arm-hang). Is there any way I can quickly improve pull-ups? I can't even do one...
 
yrangd, You have several months to work on this, so you have some time. The best way to work on pull ups is to practice them! Most gyms have machines that let you take some of the weight off your body, (Pull up assists) so you can practice good form and keep challenging yourself and decreasing the amount of assist until you are doing them will all your body weight. Lat pulldowns and reverse pull ups are very helpful too. There are several CFA workouts on google, any of them would help. Just start a routine and stick with it. Don't neglect the running portion! Just remember, if you can't do a pull up during NASS, you still have until Dec 31 to retake it! My DD couldn't do a pull up either, and she was so tired from attempting one that she only did 4 secs on flexed arm hang at NASS. She was not happy with that, so she worked hard, retook it, and ended up doing 2 pull ups. She is now an appointee to class of 2019.
 
I'll be going to session 1 this summer too :) i can't do pull ups either, but i've been working with a few friends who are going to SS and they've gotten better each day! just keep working, and do a lot of push ups.
Also, we will do PT every morning in the form of PEP
 
Go to your gym teacher at your school and ask them to help you. Then practice practice practice practice.
 
yrangd, I've been there and hope what worked for me will work for you. When I was a 23-year-old woman, I applied for a wildland fire hotshot crew and was accepted. The acceptance package told me the fitness criteria I would need to meet on day 1 in order to be on the crew. All of the crew, men and women, were expected to meet the same criteria. One of the criteria was to do 7 pull-ups. I thought I was in decent shape from working outside all the time, but like you, I couldn't even do one. There was no gym in the town where I lived, but luckily, I had an old clothesline in the backyard, and the clothesline post worked for me to practice pull-ups on.

What I did was grab the bar and jump up to get my chin above the bar, then lower myself down as slowly as I could. In the beginning, I just did this to the point of fatigue. Pretty soon, I could do one pull-up, then two. I would just do as many pull-ups as I was able to...then, switch back to jumping up above the bar and slowly lowering until the point where I couldn't control lowering myself. When I reported, I was able to do 10+ (I wanted to make sure I could still do 7, even on a bad day.) I did the second highest number of pull-ups of the crew that showed up. The person who did the most was also a girl. Many who showed up, both men and women, had not taken the preparation packet very seriously and thought they could just do everything without much preparation. They didn't realize that what you could do when you were fresh wasn't similar to what you could do when you were already tired. Some failed. Determine that you will not be one who fails. Don't use the excuse "women don't have much upper body strength" and not try to do the best you can. I am a small-frame woman in her mid-40s who doesn't have a gym membership, and I can still crank out at least 5. Since I started doing them, I have never allowed myself to reach the point where I couldn't do any. I don't want to feel weak again. Realizing I couldn't do any made me feel weak.

You probably don't have a handy clothesline like I did, but they sell a bar that you can put in the doorway. That's what I use now. I think it's called an Iron Gym or something. You can find them at sporting goods stores or on Amazon. You just put it up in the doorway when you want to use it, then remove it when you're done.

You have plenty of time to ace the pull-ups. Just determine that you will. You got this.
 
I'm in the same boat for session 2. I feel like I'll be the slowest, weakest person there, or fail the CFA or something
 
DS couldn't do more than one pull-up when he learned he got into NASS--we bought a pull-up bar for his room and he did pull-ups everyday--by the time he went to NASS he was up to 18! Just start training now! Everyday! You can do it! Do not worry there were many there that were with DS that were not in the best physical shape--those that were supported and cheered on those that weren't.
 
  • Like
Reactions: d22
When are we meant to hear about the NASS results since I haven't heard anything yet:(
 
They said everyone will hear within two weeks after application closes so maybe next week

Sent using the Service Academy Forums® mobile app
 
Back
Top