Either way, get over yourself. The simple truth is the vast majority of us won't keep them anyway. So, here, have another doughnut. Might as well quit before you even start.
Oh, are those fightin' words? Darn right.
Are you really determined to make this year different?
The problem, experts say, is that most of us have great goals, but no real plan to meet them.
Good plans need solid specifics. Think of it like war planning: Who's the enemy? Who are your allies, and how can they help? What are the best weapons and tactics to bring to this particular throwdown?
Luckily for you, we've got the experts to help you pin down those details — from Military Muscle columnist retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bob Thomas to the military's running doc, Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. (Dr.) Mark Cucuzzella, Army wife and dietary expert Faye Krause and all the others throughout the fitness world who have contributed to reports by PT365 contributors Jon R. Anderson, Patricia Kime, Rachel Barth and Sara Davidson.
Go to pt365.militarytimes.com for all of these articles and more from 2014.
Here's a war chest of full of ideas, strategies and science — 52 of the best PT365 nuggets from this year — to help make your plans and win your fitness fight through 2015 and beyond.
BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE 1-MINUTE WORKOUT
1. Don't even say you have no time to squeeze in a quick workout.
High-intensity interval training hit a new low recently with a study that found that even extremely short bursts of intense exercise just a few times a week could produce real fitness improvements.
Test subjects pedaled as hard as they could on exercise bikes for 20 seconds, resting for two minutes, then repeating twice more for a total of one minute of intense pedaling per session. Doing this three times a week for six weeks raised endurance levels by an average of 12 percent. Most also saw lower blood pressure and increases in mitochondrial activity. Men in the study also had better blood sugar levels.
START THE YEAR OFF RIGHT
2. Set your mind for the long term.
You cannot — cannot — safely reach your goals in mere days. Or even weeks.
3. Seek out a professional.
The trainer fees at military establishments are usually zero, but check with your gym personnel because different branches may have different setups.
4. Set a definite goal for May/June.
Shoot for a 5K or other race in a specific timeframe or aim for a specific dress or trouser size.
5. Be accountable to someone.
This could be your trainer, or better yet, get a workout partner. You'll see better results.
6. Chart some times for review.
To get to your final destination, you need to take stock of where you are on your fitness journey — always as it relates to your stated goal. Let things get stabilized and wait 30 to 45 days prior to your first review as to where you are versus your goals; then assess every month, especially if gaining strength is a goal.
7. Understand that you'll probably take some steps back.
A professional or partner can help, especially after the first few weeks of burning enthusiasm cools. Sit down and examine your goals. Are they still achievable? How do you get back on track if you've fallen off? Examine the gains, even small ones, that you've made.
8. Look for fun events to use as measuring sticks.
Color Run 5Ks, mud runs with friends, "volksmarches," kayaking or canoeing, adventure races — many such events are "for any fitness level." The best ones are always group events.
9. Start training for fall marathons now.
Air Force Marathon race director Rob Aguiar tells people to stop talking about it and "shut up, get out of my office, and go walk. Start there." Then sign up for a race, pick a training program and stick with it.
GET OUTSIDE
We're rarely hear it, but spending 30 minutes a day alone in peace and calm is quite healthy. This is where an unplugged easy run or walk — outside — comes in. Use the often-prescribed 30 minutes of movement for the also-needed 30 minutes a day of calm. No music, conversation, trainers prodding you — just you spending 30 minutes with yourself.
11. Visit a national park for free.
While active-duty troops and dependents can get a free annual pass, not all of us are so lucky. Jan. 19 is the first of nine days in 2015 in which admission is waived to all parks. The full list: Jan. 19, Feb. 14-16, April 18-19, Aug. 25, Sept. 26 and Nov. 11.
If you're a fan of fitness apps such as RunKeeper but want something that works better in the mountains along with the visual bragging rights of 3-D tracks of your out-in-the-wilds exploits, this is just what you've been looking for. It brings together the routing ease of Google Maps with the detail of a topo map and will pinpoint exactly where you are on a 3-D mountainside.
STRATEGIES
13. You need to warm up.
As a rule, give yourself five to 10 minutes to warm up at an easy pace. Use light, springy steps — no speed is too slow. You're waking up the fascia, the connective tissue in your tendons, which must glide and spring. If you wonder why you feel awkward running right out the door in the morning, this is why.
Now is the perfect time to work on your weaknesses and vulnerabilities, perhaps strengthening your feet, which are the foundation, learning better movement, getting more mobile in the right places, and landing softer. You must be willing to back down in intensity and distance while your structure strengthens.
Ultramarathon champ Army Sgt. Kyle Curtin says his secret to blister-free running — as well as long-haul road marches and hiking — is "a good layer of Vaseline. In trail running, your feet are going to get wet. But Vaseline is water repellent, so the water isn't actually getting to your foot." And he wears Injinji toe socks, Altra's Lone Peaks shoes and gaiters, plus he super-glues the insoles into the shoes to prevent any slippage.
16. Make it tougher with a stability ball.
You can make exercises such as the Y-T-L-W-I raise more difficult by balancing on a stability ball. Marine veteran and Navy Reserve 1st Lt. Clayton Kolb was surprised by how much more difficult it made the raise on the facing page, shown in the "I" position.
17. Use positive affirmations.
Often the second person, "you," is more powerful. Create your own affirmations and repeat them daily. The best ones are those you make up. A few examples.
- You feel powerful.
- You are relaxed and focused.
- You are getting strong and healthy.
Marine Maj. Misty Posey went from zero pullups to 30. She nailed her first by doing lots of negatives, getting up on the bar and slowly lowering herself down.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maj. Misty Posey
Marine Maj. Misty Posey, 36, told us how she went from zero pullups to 30. She nailed her first by doing lots of negatives, getting up on the bar and slowly lowering herself down.
19. Get an extra boost at the end.
To push yourself a little bit extra at the end of a workout, add burpees (go for 10), ball slams (15-20 reps with a 15- to 20-pound ball) or jumping rope (150 jumps).
DRILLS
Here's a way to increase hip strength and mobility with a band while doing a common exercise. Use a closed-loop band (that's in a circle).
- Sit on the floor, knees bent at 90 degrees, and hook one end of the band around your left heel.
- Draw the band across your lap, and hook the other end around your right heel. Keep the toes of your feet pointed up.
- Perform a normal bridge, keeping your shoulders on the floor and raising your hips (against the resistance).
- Lower your hips to the floor and repeat.
21. Upper spine conditioning and improved rotation for people who sit a lot.
Do this daily (5-second hold, 15 reps, 3 sets):
- Put a broomstick or PVC pipe across your upper back.
- With trunk upright, kneel down on your right knee with your left knee at 90 degrees, foot on the floor. Brace your abs throughout the stretch.
- Rotate your right shoulder toward your left knee and hold for 5 seconds.
- Slowly return to center, repeat for required reps, then switch to the other side.
22. Stronger back.
Certain exercises can be worked in both the strengthening and treatment phases for those with back pain, including curl-ups (the alternative to situps/crunches in which you place your hands under your lower back), pullups, treadmill with a backpack, planks and medicine ball throw-and-catch.
23. Explosive power in hip and legs.
For the side hop (shown above), set up two cones or other objects about 20 inches high and two feet apart. Make sure your feet pass over the tip of the cone rather than just in front or behind the tip, common at the start. Make sure you explode on each jump.
- Stand to one side of the cones, feet close together and pointed straight ahead.
- Flex your knees into a semi-squat, with arms cocked back.
- During the sideways jump over the first cone, your arms should rise to about shoulder height and feet should almost touch your glutes. You're not aiming to "just make it over the cone" — you want to clear it by a good margin.
- Land between the cones, immediately perform the same motion over the second cone, then reverse.
- Reset your position when you land back at the start. As you gain ability, you can make two to three trips back and forth before resetting.
24. Planks are the gold standard for core strength.
Nothing is better. Try the front variety as well as the side. You must be unfailingly strict and stop anytime your hips drop from level. Increase hold time for the progression.
25. Make regular pullups harder.
Army Sgt. Matt Mortensen holds the USA luge team's record in weighted pullups; he can do a pullup with an extra 155 pounds tied on. "Once you can do three or four sets of 10 standard pullups, then you can start adding weight," he says. To start, add 15 to 20 pounds and work in sets of six reps. "Once you get to a place where three or four sets feels easy, then add another 10 to 15 pounds. Keep aiming for sets of six, and just keep increasing the weight as you go." Rest periods should be two to four minutes, he says, "and drink plenty of water."
NUTRITION
26. Know what you're drinking.
When it comes to alcohol, find out the calorie count. It may surprise you. A glass of champagne has less than 80 calories, a glass of red wine up to 120 — down a few glasses, and the difference adds up. Light beer can vary from 55 to 120 calories. Among the lowest? A shot of vodka, gin or scotch with soda water — 55 to 70 calories.
"The best advice I got when I first started [bodybuilding] was to eat more" — and to eat cleaner, replacing chow hall meals with home-cooked fare, says natural bodybuilding champ Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Truman Ward. "I have to constantly take in protein to turn into muscle mass," he says. "Plus, I did not realize how crucial it was, if you really want to sharpen up, lose weight and get defined, that you cannot be afraid of carbs. They just have to be complex carbs."
28. Too little salt may be bad for you.
The Agriculture Department recommends that adults keep daily sodium intake under 2,300 milligrams, and under 1,500 mg for those 51 or older, who are African American, or who have hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease. According to the new research, these recommendations may be too low. The sweet spot for optimal health may be 3,000 to 6,000 mg per day, say researchers with the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, Ontario, Canada.
If you're not used to eating before exercise, you can train your gut to tolerate food. Start with small amounts and gradually add more. Before lacing up, for example, you'll want to eat foods high in carbohydrates, low in fat and fiber and with moderate protein. This will give you energy for your workout without the stomachache. Try to drink two to four cups of fluids leading up to your workout. Good options are oatmeal with milk, fruit and nuts; turkey sandwich with fruit; cottage cheese with fruit and crackers; toast or bagel with peanut butter and jelly.
30. Pack fuel for long runs.
For less than an hour, plain water is fine. If your run lasts longer, you'll need to consider taking some mid-run fuel. Think about what's easy to carry and — if you're going to be out long enough — what will be OK unrefrigerated. Good options are sports bars or beans, gels, fruit, pretzels, gummy candy.
31. Eat a carb/protein snack within the first 30 minutes after a workout.
The optimal carb-to-protein ratio is 3-4:1 — three to four grams of carbs for every one gram of protein. Good options are chocolate milk, smoothie made with Greek yogurt and fruit, pita bread and hummus, and beef jerky.
MILITARY PT
32. Shake up unit PT with rock-paper-scissors runs.
A reader contributed this twist on high-intensity interval training that puts some fun into unit fitness drills: Do quarter-mile sprints with the first two across the finish line playing rock-paper-scissors. The winner picks a body-weight exercise for 10 to 50 reps. Run and repeat for 45 minutes.
33. Start your unit's CrossFit conversion.
Those who have done it say success usually hinges on three key factors:
- Coaches. Certification can definitely help. The street price to certify a Level 1 coach is $1,000, though military units committing to large-scale train-ups have gotten discounts down to about $650 per coach.
- Gear. Any box has basic needs. Among them: an Olympic free weight set and bumper plate holder, flat bench, squat rack, pullup bar, dumbbells, kettlebells, Concept II Rower, climbing rope and gymnastics rings.
- Mindset. Competitiveness has its place, but too much will ruin your program. Good leadership ensures troops don't push themselves so hard that they sacrifice good form for more reps.
34. Sports to improve pushups/pullups.
Doing pushups isn't the only way to get better at pushups. Push yourself further with these alternatives:
- Crew/rowing. "Even though it's a pulling action, something likecrew or rowing is still going to help strengthen the shoulder girdle muscles that are so important in doing pushups," says Buck Blackwood, director of athletic strength and conditioning at the Air Force Academy.
- Rock climbing. Hit the wall at your local climbing gym once or twice a week — even for just half an hour — and you'll start to see real gains in your pullups and pushups, says Army Staff Sgt. Ken Weichert, a fitness expert for the American Council on Exercise and master fitness trainer for the National Guard.
35. Sports to improve your run.
Bored with the same few miles of pavement? Try these alternatives for variety:
- Hiking/backpacking. Staff Sgt. Weichert, the ACE expert, starts people on flat trails but soon points them toward the hills, adding weight to a rucksack.
- Biking. Weichert says you can even make biking your primary method for building cardio stamina, but he recommends focusing your workouts on actually running through the last two weeks before your PT test.
- Swimming. Laps at the pool will cook an average of 7.2 calories per minute, Weichert says. Add some butterfly strokes, and you'll start seeing results in how many pullups you can do as well.
36. Sports to improve situps/crunches.
Any sport or activity that makes you clench your gut will help with situps and crunches. "It's called midline stabilization — anything that causes tension in your abdominals," says the Air Force Academy's Blackwood. It's all about working your core. And even some of the slowest-moving sports can do that — just ask any golfer. The same kind of rotational forces that make golf a good core workout apply to racket sports such as tennis as well.
PT365 RUN PLANS
Go to www.militarytimes.com/pt365runplans for the 16-week Marathon Plan and 12-week Half-Marathon Plan for established runners. Try the 16-week 5K & Beyond Plan if you're new to running.
If you're new to any fitness program, we highly recommend seeing a fitness specialist and going through the Cooper Institute five-step process for "breaking down barriers" or something similar. Your pre-assessment should include:
- Medical screening.
- Fitness and nutrition assessment.
- Goal setting.
- Exercise and nutrition prescription tailored for you.
- Discussion on adherence: How can you make activity a daily habit?
38. Wake up the springs.
Running is mostly elastic, and the more we brace the foot, the smaller the springs become. Wake up your springs — the small but mighty muscles solely in the foot, those originating in the lower leg that cross the ankle and sling the foot, and the larger Gastroc/Soleus, Achilles, plantar fascia, and long flexors of toes — by jumping rope and doing jumping jacks, burpees and mountain climbers. Do just enough for a little fatigue, not to failure.
39. Intervals help build relaxed speed.
Repeatedly cover a set distance or time interval with a recovery interval between each. Choose a distance or duration that you feel comfortable repeating. These can be measured in minutes or laps. The goal is to feel a strong effort but far from all out.
40. Basic yoga can complement run training.
Some basic poses you can incorporate into your running routine will increase strength, flexibility and balance as well as help prevent injuries, hamstring tightness and more. Try the low lunge, tree, pyramid, bridge and reclined pigeon poses.
41. Find the right balance.
No matter how much you plan, you'll still miss runs. A training plan is just that, a plan. Life will sometimes trump training, and that's OK. If you're a slave to your training plan and try to make up missed runs or squeeze in a few extra workouts, you're likely to get injured or burned out.
42.Yin yoga relaxes soft tissues that get tight from running.
In yin yoga, poses are held for three to five minutes so that the muscles relax, allowing you to work into the connective tissues including the fascia, which surround muscles; tendons, which connect muscles to bones; and ligaments, which link bones to bones. By putting gentle stress on the connective tissue, we allow it to slowly relax, increasing flexibility and restoring some range of motion if it has been compromised.
43. Give yourself enough time to taper.
"Your hardest long run effort should be done three weeks prior to your marathon," says Army Maj. Dan Browne, a 2:11 marathoner and head coach of the Army World Class Athlete Program's track-and-field team. Three weeks is enough time to recover from that hard effort to perform well on marathon day. Browne recommends a 15- to 20-percent decrease in mileage each week leading up to your race.
IN THE GYM
44. Indoor rower.
Legs, back, arms, core — they're all involved. Set the resistance between four and six since that is as close to being on water as you can get. If you haven't had instruction on the proper technique, get some. This is one exercise for which proper technique is critical for a productive session.
For an alternative to the "long, slow, dumb" treadmill grind, take a long look at your gym floor and pick four to five cardio machines that require different muscle groups — examples include treadmill, indoor rower, step mill or VersaClimber and elliptical. Do 6-minute sprints on each machine.
Considered to be the best "total body" lift, it hits almost all the muscles and is at the top of the charts for developing overall strength. It's also one of the easiest to do incorrectly. Many lifters don't get close enough to the bar, and when they reach down to grip it, their back is out of alignment. First check point is to look down and see that the bar crosses over the balls of your feet.
47. Viper Rope Trainers.
These no-nonsense fitness machines require you to constantly pull against resistance, quickly elevating your heart rate. You can target cardio, strength, endurance and power all in one machine. If it's your first rodeo, set the resistance level at 1 or 2.
Jacobs Ladder won't let you loaf like other machines.
Photo Credit: Mike Morones/Staff
It has all the low-impact benefits of treadmills, ellipticals and bikes while keeping the back neutral — and keeping stress off the low back and hip and knee joints — all while imparting a higher workout effect. You can't just loaf along on a Jacobs Ladder like you can on other machines.
49. Battle Ropes.
These are great for increasing stability. Stretch the ropes out to full length and kneel in front of the handles. It's critical that you kneel tall and upright, have your shoulder blades back and glutes set, and that you maintain that posture throughout the exercise. Move both ropes at once, up and down in a quick motion. Do 15 seconds of work for three sets, with 30 seconds of rest between sets. For the progression, go into a lunge — while not letting your back knee touch the ground — and whip the rope in an alternating hand style. A further progression is to jump and switch legs during the 15 seconds of work.
GEAR
50. Buying a weight vest.
A weight vest is relatively inexpensive, simple to use, portable and allows for a wide range of applications. Choose a vest that that comes with all the weights you will need versus an empty vest you fill yourself with your weight plates. The pockets on the latter are always a bit big, which allows for more slop. A cheap vest will last only a couple of workouts before the zippers start to snag and then break or the pockets start to tear from the jostling of the weights.
51. Surge takes resistance training to a new level.
This water-filled, active-resistance cylinder can hold more than 50 pounds of water. You can use it three ways: 1) Work like hell during exercise reps to keep the water from sloshing. 2) Move the tube back and forth to intentionally slosh the water. 3) Purposefully get the entire force of the water moving in total from one end to the other. There's a body reaction for you.
52. Foam rollers are for everyone.
In the past, foam roller massage exercises were for elite athletes. Now the rollers are being touted for everyone, and every sports store carries them. Think of this bottom line: Consistent use of foam rollers will help you get well faster if you have an issue and keep you healthy longer. They also improve blood circulation in the skin, give you better spine mobility and lengthen tight muscles.
Foam rollers are widely available and have a range of benefits.
Photo Credit: Mike Morones/Staff
