Preparing for BCT and Academy

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HSmadi

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Dec 12, 2014
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Can anyone share any advice and/or tips for appointees to help prepare for Basic and the academy? I am mostly asking on the physical aspect; what sort of training should we do to prepare ourselves? Any specific movements or training schedules?

Also if there are any other tips in regards to being well equipped on all aspects, I would love to hear them.

I appreciate all help, as for the next 5 months all I can do is wait and prepare for June 25th!
 
HSmadi, follow the workout recommended by your appointee packet. You may not have this yet, but will get one soon. For now, run regularly is most important. Enjoy your senior year and your friends.
Seek out your local parent organization. These groups commonly have a get together for nominees or appointees. Our local group does both a nominee brunch and an Appointee dinner. This is a great chance to ask questions of current cadets, grads, ALOs and/or parents.


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Run, push-ups, sit-ups, flutter kicks. Those are the most common PT tasks in BCT.

For males, min passing for the 1.5mi run is 11:15, but you don't want to be on the knife's edge of passing! 7:45 is max. Respectable is generally under 10:00.
Also remember, minimum scores for each even on the PFT will still fail. Shoot for the maxes wherever possible.
 
raimius said:
Run, push-ups, sit-ups, flutter kicks. Those are the most common PT tasks in BCT.

For males, min passing for the 1.5mi run is 11:15, but you don't want to be on the knife's edge of passing! 7:45 is max. Respectable is generally under 10:00.
Also remember, minimum scores for each even on the PFT will still fail. Shoot for the maxes wherever possible.
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Will pull ups be a part of any fitness testing at the Academy?
 
Male or female you should be working (like a maniac) one pullups, pushups, situps/crunches and running...and not a mile run, think 3 miles...not super fast, but less than 30 minutes any day, any time.

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
Do you eventually get used to the physical load? When I was at SS last year, the day after Doolie for a Day, I couldn't move! I was SO sore! And they told us that they took it super easy on us! Does your body begin to get used to it? Did any current/former cadets find that at during BCT, they went from sort of in shape to really in shape? (I am hoping that is the case for myself if I get appointed and go to BCT)
 
baileydb said:
Do you eventually get used to the physical load? When I was at SS last year, the day after Doolie for a Day, I couldn't move! I was SO sore! And they told us that they took it super easy on us! Does your body begin to get used to it? Did any current/former cadets find that at during BCT, they went from sort of in shape to really in shape? (I am hoping that is the case for myself if I get appointed and go to BCT)
Click to expand...

Yes you do get use to the physical load; if people didn't no one would make it through BCT! My DS did BMT at the Prep this past summer, he was sore all the time but pushed through it and at the end he told me that was the toughest thing he's gone through yet. He was a 126lbs stick going in and now he's 154 lbs and none of it is fat so he went from sort of in shape to really in shape. For now do your workouts and mentally prepare yourself and you'll be fine.
 
You will acclimate to the level of physical activity you frequently do. Don't expect BCT to make you Superman. The BCT physical requirements will help out of shape people a bit, but they are a "high average" kind of workout. If you do PT intensive sports, it probably won't seem much more than being in season. In fact, quite a few football players have to retrain a bit afterwords, since BCT tends to focus more on cardio type events vs. strength.
 
My son's fitness was high going into BCT, but it didn't feel like it at the start. No matter you're level it's still terribly hard, they push till it gets hard enough to suit them, the Cadre! They're in the business of pushing, not making it comfortable. Altitude is the wild card, and takes much of the summer to get used to it.
 
The only physical thing going for me is that I am used to the altitude!!
 
The fitness plan usafa gives you is pretty decent. It'll get you into overall good shape. I would really focus on what raimus said. While we would occasionally do other exercises, the vast majority of time was spent doing push-ups, flutter kicks, squats, jumping jacks, running, and burpees.
 
For BCT, lots of running is key, especially with the altitude. There were some kids who got one of those masks to wear to simulate the high altitude while running. However, a few almost suffocated themselves the first time they used it because they did not read the directions first. Key: READ DIRECTIONS and ADJUST THE MASK ACCORDINGLY before first using it. I do NOT advocate getting this mask, only that there were kids who did get one and used it. I never heard how helpful it was in the end. (And I don't remember the name of the mask)
 
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