The few, the proud, the Marines. When you hear that statement or think about what it takes to be a Marine, bravery and heroism certainly come to mind. In addition, people also comment on the physical conditioning and training that Marines undergo during bootcamp and PT. Think about it, an entire cross-section of the fitness industry has been modeled after the “bootcamp” style training; and with good cause. Marines train day in and day out to achieve a level of fitness that will someday save their life or the life of another. What kind of secret training programs and equipment are they using to transform ordinary people into Marines?
Keep reading and I promise to reveal the secrets I used to transform my training and body in preparation for bootcamp, where I excelled in physical challenges and PT tests.
But, before I do, let’s take a trip back in time to when I was a bulky high school football player. For those who might not know, bulky is a nice way of saying fat-ish, like husky, big boned or in my case a linemen. Sure I was strong but I thought a workout was incomplete unless it included bench press and curls. I was more concerned with benching more than my buddies or my arms looking good in a cut-off than improving overall fitness. And when it came to cardio the only running I was doing was the mandatory wind-sprints after football practice and even then I tried to get out of it.
However, as my senior year came to an end, total body strength and conditioning became my focus. Having recently enlisted in the Marine Corps, I had only a few months to prepare before arriving on the yellow footprints in Parris Island and the bulky lineman build wasn’t going to cut it.
After talking with my recruiter and mentor, a former recon Marine and certifiable “freak of nature,” he informed me that my beach body, curls for the girls workout was a thing of the past. I was so excited to begin training with my recruiter, thinking that he would grant me access to the top-secret contraptions and workouts that would transform me into a Marine. Wow, I could not have been more wrong!
The secrets that he shared with me, the same ones I am going to impart onto you today, a workout program that utilizes your own bodyweight and versatile training tools like a kettlebell are all you need to achieve an elite level of fitness. What sets a Marine apart from some guy who is half-assing a workout in their basement before taking a spoon to a pint of ice cream? Well everything. That was a poor example.
What I am trying to say is that anyone spending hundreds of hours in the gym or hundreds of dollars on supplements or exercise machine is wasting their time and money. You have all the tools you need or could acquire them for next to nothing. What they lack, what I had to learn, the top secret of training like a Marine…
DEDICATE yourself to transforming your life and your body.
COMMIT to your goals and follow a plan that will keep you focused on those goals.
BE CONSISTENT in your training.
If you have or can come to live by these concepts you can make a significant change in your body and overall level of fitness with 10 exercises, in addition to running and rucking.
You might be getting ready to call me on bull-shit, and I don’t blame you I thought the same thing. I was expecting some government issue formula of sets and reps, backed by scientific research. But I became a believer when I was able to lose 60lbs and get in the best shape of my life, banging out 30 pull-ups at a time, adhering to the concepts I just shared.
So, if you are willing to give up on the magic pills and powders and want to ditch your personal trainer here are the 10 exercises you will need to transform your body and improve your fitness.
We used pull-ups, dips, push-ups, sit-ups, kettlebell swings, bodyweight squats, lunges, jump squats, burpees and flutter-kicks.
Yeah, that’s it. Don’t believe me? The workout below is one of the first training sessions I completed with my recruiter. Grab your gear and head to your local track, sports field or park. Give this workout a try and let me know how easy it was in the comments section. Enjoy!
Warm up:
Dynamic movements and stretching
Run 1 Mile
Training:
(1) 8 rounds
5 pull ups
10 Dips
20 push ups
(2)6 rounds
Kettlebell Swings @ 2 minutes
rest @ 20 seconds
(3)
Ruck 3 miles w/ 50+ pound weighted pack.
(4) 1 round
100 lunges
100 sit ups
100 jump squats
100 push ups
100 flutter kicks
Cool Down @ 10 Minutes
Check our more of our workouts at the training tab above!
