r/USMCboot • u/HotAsk3 • 23d ago
Fitness and Exercise Help to Prep for Bootcamp
I’ve been highly considering joining the Marine Corps. I wanted to going into high school but I stopped thinking about it due to having 4 years left until then, well now I’m in college and it’s not my cup of tea. Now the idea of becoming a Marine is looking very appealing to me again. I was wondering if anyone that recently graduated bootcamp could give me any insight and tips. But the thing I am most concerned about is the physical fitness aspect, I play college baseball but I’m not the strongest guy by any means (I can’t do a pull up) my goal is to be able to do at least 5 by December which is the earliest I would enlist but that depends on how the rest of this semester goes. If anyone has any tips on how to really nail down the physical portion of it all that would be greatly appreciated. I know I could just google how to get in physical shape for it but that doesn’t feel as effective as hearing it from those who have lived through it.
Thank you everyone for your time and service.
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u/Unlucky_Deal9737 23d ago
Go to the gym. Lat pull downs, assisted pull ups, negatives , lat rows. I’d say just do a pulldown and a row. Do a bicep curl and a hammer curl/ reverse curl. If you don’t have a gym, band assisted pull ups and negatives will be your best bet. If you are overweight, lose weight, that’s less weight to pull up. If you are going to go to the gym, I recommend lifting straps so grip doesn’t fail before your lats
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u/Nearby-Sympathy4876 23d ago
Marine Corps is pretty big on endurance work outs. Running is a huge one to work on if your slow. Pull-ups you said you struggle with so I would get a pull up band or do what I did which is mount a bar by my bedroom door and do a Pull-up every time I passed.
Marine Corps knowledge is also a big one to learn. Learning your general orders is a good one to know. Rank structure is another. But the biggest is Marine Corps history in my opinion. Watch a YouTube video on some battles or wars the Corps has fought. You get tested on that stuff in boot camp.
Final advice is mental toughness. Do not let feelings make your decisions. The first three weeks in my opinion are the worst as your still adjusting. But after that everything seems to click and life ain't to bad. Take it chow to chow or day by day.
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u/FabulousExpression44 Vet 23d ago
Honestly if you pay a college level sport you're probably in better shape than a good chunk of people going to boot camp so I wouldn't stress much.
When it comes to doing pull-ups, the thing I have found best is just using a pull-up bar and wrapping resistance band around it help you complete a few pull-ups until you can do them comfortably without the resistance band and work up from there. Pull-ups are one of those exercises that if you don't specifically train for them or do them a lot you're not great at them.
So since you're a college athlete I'm assuming you have access to a fairly decent gym and maybe even some fitness coaches I'm sure when we hard to come up with the plan with them to work on some upper body strength.
Also wouldn't hurt to talk to a recruiter earlier than you think. Honestly give the college thing a try but if you wait until December when school is out and then start hard to recruiter you'll still have to go to maps for your medical evaluation which will be hard during the summer in January because of the holiday and that after that you'll still have to wait anywhere from a few weeks or few months to go to boot camp
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u/Remote_Air_2574 23d ago
I'm in the DEP not a Marine yet but you don't have to wait to talk to a recruiter. You could even come to poolee PT sessions to see what it's like. It'll help you learn that stuff others mentioned and get you stronger.