USNA 14-Week Recommended Exercise Routine (2020)

[TexasApplicant]

10-13 pushups every morning before school and once a week I would do around an hour to hour and a half long workout with 600-650 pushups total.

If you reeeally want to get good at push ups, the key is to do them consistently and not on a once per week "binge"

Push-ups builds endurance (and character I suppose), not strength!

I would highly recommend instead picking up a program where you start light at 100 per day and increase by increments by 5 or 10 (I.e. Day 1: 100 Day 2:105/110 Day 3:110/120 etc. etc.) You'll do far more push-ups per week than what you are doing now and easing into it by small increments helps prevent soreness. I started by doing sets of 20's, but at day 39 (290 push ups) I easily do them in sets of 50 good form

By the time Plebe summer rolls around you should be doing upwards of >450 push-ups per day and you'll just love push-ups

(Bonus points if the last set you do is cadence)

 

[Kierkegaard]

I would venture to say closer to 7 than to 6, don't you think? Holding 6's for 4 miles is is pretty darn quick, and it's definitely not a training pace. I don't see many non track/XC peeps holding that.

Yeah, 7 would be good too. Even 8 might be sufficient. However the better one’s cardiovascular conditioning is, the easier Plebe Summer will be.

 

[Kierkegaard]

If you reeeally want to get good at push ups, the key is to do them consistently and not on a once per week "binge"

Push-ups builds endurance (and character I suppose), not strength!

I would highly recommend instead picking up a program where you start light at 100 per day and increase by increments by 5 or 10 (I.e. Day 1: 100 Day 2:105/110 Day 3:110/120 etc. etc.) You'll do far more push-ups per week than what you are doing now and easing into it by small increments helps prevent soreness. I started by doing sets of 20's, but at day 39 (290 push ups) I easily do them in sets of 50 good form

By the time Plebe summer rolls around you should be doing upwards of >450 push-ups per day and you'll just love push-ups

(Bonus points if the last set you do is cadence)

Good call on the cadence pushups. All pushups done during Plebe Summer are cadence. As the saying goes, practice how you play.

 

[smokey%]

Okay, here's just a quick tip, that might help with your shoulder/ shoulder pain. You hopefully are doing other workouts too, but either way, that's a lot of horizontal pushing volume. While it's good, and can help with your pushups, you should be doing a good amount of pulling as well. I'd recommend adding one or two back workouts weekly, with horizontal and vertical pulling. For example, do bent over barbell rows, single arm dumbbell rows, and pullups. Also, inverted rows and rope face pulls will help you. Basically, shoulder pain is often caused by an imbalance in movement in any direction, which can cause certain muscles to strengthen, without their antagonists strengthening equally. Hope this helps!

Do you suggest I start doing those pull workouts now and see if my shoulder discomfort goes away?

 

[smokey%]

If push-ups are causing you pain right now, I’d probably just stop doing them for a bit. Also, is your push-up form correct for the PRT? They won’t count any of them if form is incorrect (such as not breaking 90, only moving head). I’ve seen guys take the PRT before and their head just bobs up and down like a sea lion, and the test proctor calls them out lol

It's been 2 weeks which is a bit longer than I'm used which is why I am worried.

 

[USMC Crayons]

Do you suggest I start doing those pull workouts now and see if my shoulder discomfort goes away?

I would suggest first that you make sure your push up technique is correct. Mixing up your strength exercises is not going to do you one bit of good, if your form is wrong with push ups. Attempting tons of reps, especially if you have not worked your way up to it is almost certainly putting your arms and elbows in the wrong position, and you are going to trash your shoulders doing this.

 

[KrakenMa]

It's been 2 weeks which is a bit longer than I'm used which is why I am worried.

Just curious, if you go to the doctor for something like this (presumably minor overuse injury/pain), do you have to update your DODMERB?

 

[navy27hopeful]

Just curious, if you go to the doctor for something like this (presumably minor overuse injury/pain), do you have to update your DODMERB?

If its an actual injury that would prevent you from doing plebe summer, (something broken, torn, strained, sprained, out of socket, etc,) then yes. They want to make sure everyone that shows up can get through the first week or so without problem. If you go and the doc says its no big deal, then I would say you're good (might be wrong on this tho)

 

[longgrayhamster]

Do you suggest I start doing those pull workouts now and see if my shoulder discomfort goes away?

I'd suggest starting them now. Whenever I start to have shoulder pain, I try to rebalance my pushull ratio and it sometimes takes a week or two, but definitely helps.

I would suggest first that you make sure your push up technique is correct. Mixing up your strength exercises is not going to do you one bit of good, if your form is wrong with push ups. Attempting tons of reps, especially if you have not worked your way up to it is almost certainly putting your arms and elbows in the wrong position, and you are going to trash your shoulders doing this.

I'm 99.99% certain he has good push up form. If not, tons of pushups with the wrong form is going to hurt shoulders for sure.

 

[GrilledCheese94]

Now that we’re less than 3 months away from I-day, I’ve been doing this recommended routine for 3-4 weeks. I have some concerns though. I'm a tennis player, so I spend a lot of time putting stress on my shins (we don't have many clay courts around here). I'm worried that that combined with the amount of running in this routine will impact my shins and could lead to shin splints or other stress injuries. What do you all think? I'm continuing to do both and supplementing with a lot of shin and hip strengthening (plus recovery (heat, massage, ice, etc.)...and running on turf or track for a good chunk of this routine...

Link: https://www.usna.edu/PermitToReport/IV._3._Getting_physically_prepared_for_the_Naval_Academy.pdf

Go to running shoe store and make sure you’re wearing the correct shoes for your height, weight, stride, cushion, and pronation.

I learned the hard way that there’s a correct way to shop for running shoes!

A salty Gunny showed me the way when I was a brand new 2ndLt and I’ve never had shoe related running problems since.

 

[smokey%]

I would suggest first that you make sure your push up technique is correct. Mixing up your strength exercises is not going to do you one bit of good, if your form is wrong with push ups. Attempting tons of reps, especially if you have not worked your way up to it is almost certainly putting your arms and elbows in the wrong position, and you are going to trash your shoulders doing this.

I've been doing this volume of pushups for about 2 months before this happened. This pain started occurring after I did dumb bell chest press for the first time in a while which is why I think this is happening, I probably messed it up with bad form or over did it. Hopefully back workouts will help balance it out.

 

[Ivy22]

I've been doing this volume of pushups for about 2 months before this happened. This pain started occurring after I did dumb bell chest press for the first time in a while which is why I think this is happening, I probably messed it up with bad form or over did it. Hopefully back workouts will help balance it out.

Yup, that’ll do it. Especially for shoulders. Have you been resting your shoulders for some time recently? Ice? Etc?

Getting in shape for plebe summer is good but definitely cause an injury while doing so. That’s good advice for all cadet/midshipman candidates

 

[smokey%]

Yup, that’ll do it. Especially for shoulders. Have you been resting your shoulders for some time recently? Ice? Etc?

Getting in shape for plebe summer is good but definitely cause an injury while doing so. That’s good advice for all cadet/midshipman candidates

Yes I have stopped doing pushups for the past two weeks and have just been running. Thanks to all the amazing info here I will be back in the gym tomorrow doing some exercises to work my back muscles and hopefully we’ll be back to my scheduled programming.

 

[Ivy22]

Yes I have stopped doing pushups for the past two weeks and have just been running. Thanks to all the amazing info here I will be back in the gym tomorrow doing some exercises to work my back muscles and hopefully we’ll be back to my scheduled programming.

(I’m not a PT) It was probably the dumbbell chest presses. I’ve felt shoulder discomfort before with those when I try too much weight. The pulling should help to balance stuff out as others here have advised. Still take it easy on the pulling tomorrow and listen to your shoulders too when you’re doing those exercises. Some of them might have some shoulder movement, so don’t be afraid to stop the workout if something feels off

 

[FutureAcademyDad?]

...Funny thing - during NAPS summer training, we did most of our running around in Navy issued boots...Just goes to show how the right foot gear is important!

Make sure the issued boots fit when issued during I-Day. DD1 just took what they gave her and they never fit right. When she was doing the ball run with 13th Company (8 mile legs), she lost a big toenail.

Not a fun time.

 

[blinkus]

I’ve been just doing gym sessions (5 days a week, PU-PL-PU-PL-Legs) with cardio after (3 days of incline at a “zone 2” and 2 sprint days). Is this solid or should I focus more on just running endurance and doing calisthenics?

 

[Ivy22]

Make sure the issued boots fit when issued during I-Day. DD1 just took what they gave her and they never fit right. When she was doing the ball run with 13th Company (8 mile legs), she lost a big toenail.

Not a fun time.

This 100%! And that goes for all issued gear. Improperly fitting gear is never a fun time and will affect your performance

A good pair of boot socks help out too

 

[ThomasJ]

I’ve been just doing gym sessions (5 days a week, PU-PL-PU-PL-Legs) with cardio after (3 days of incline at a “zone 2” and 2 sprint days). Is this solid or should I focus more on just running endurance and doing calisthenics?

Good for building strength/muscle and getting the benefits of strength training. However, the SAID principle applies. Specific adaptations to imposed demands. Applied, think about what your plebe summer will consist of. Probably a lot of running and calisthenics. I think that what you're doing is definitely solid and would be good preparation, but my plan is to taper down my lifting a little bit and focus more on running and calisthenics. Which sucks tbh, I love lifting. But really, more muscular endurance will probably help during those smoke sessions and such.

 

[GrilledCheese94]

https://www.joinlafd.org/pdf/LAFD_Fitness_Brochure.pdf

The link is a great fitness program that LA City FD developed for firefighter candidates to use in preparation for their fire academy.

The fire service has done a great job in balancing the need for cardiovascular fitness with the need for a necessary level of weight/strength training.

 

[O2 in wisconsin]

My DS is a high school junior working towards class of '29. He runs XC and track. Lot's of calf pain for a few/several minutes during competition and cool down during the 2023 XC season. He ran over 250 miles last summer. prepping for XC season. I took him to a running coach/Dr. of Physical Therapy (not a medical Dr.) a few weeks ago. (prepping for track and summer seminar) Found that his ankle flexibility was low, preventing him from using most of his foot/sole to absorb the impact, transferring the force through his calf, plus the tension in his calf muscles causing pain. DS was running at a high pain level to achieve 6min miles for a 5K. Running coach slowed him to 7.5mph (on a treadmill) to improve his "impact loading score". Shorter strides simulated the effect of lower impact by using more of his foot/sole. This was a $135 session and we learned a lot about running technique, ankle flexibility, and training/acceptable discomfort vs. pain. Plenty of exercise/flexibility recommendations for my DS. The running coach quickly ruled out "shin splints" since the DS pain level would recede a few minutes after a race. Shin splints would be hobbling for hours. The treadmill system/program used by the coach was Runeasi. Finding a coach/therapist near you that uses Runeasi might be helpful to verify/improve your running style in preparation for your Academy/Military career. fwiw, his dad is a retired army officer. For my other son, who doesn't have good success at XC, we found that flexibility in his chest is limited, not allowing his lungs to expand fully. He has problems breathing for the initial mile or so, gets passed by other runners, chest loosens up, he starts getting air, starts passing runners, but its too late for a good finish. Also determined he is 100% "nose breather" so he is limiting air intake. Many exercises to develop flexibility/strength in his chest and include mouth breating. He will require a longer/more intense warm-up before races to get him over the "hump" before the race. He will be running a more vigorous warm-up. The coach laughed because his Runeasi score was 97%. He said "I don't see those scores with my best runners". Usually low 90's. So, with that boy, we need to get air in his lungs. The running coach ruled out asthma since he is breathing fine at the end of a race.

Summary of all this: Treat yourself to a session with a University Level running coach and let him know your military plans. Shoes? He says whatever feels good! He showed the data from a military test: wide selection of shoes for high level military runners, (3) main foot types (flat, normal, high arch), came down to comfort. Have 2 pair of shoes, alternate daily, replace at about 500 miles.

I'm not a runner, so this is what one former successful college runner turned coach/Physical therapist explained to us. He has 20 year standing records at our nearby university.

Good Luck.