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Surviving Spouses | Physical Fitness
Do you want to be as fit as your soldier, sailor, marine or airman? Check out our physical fitness links and maybe you'll outscore them on the PFT. Hooah4Health's Army Physical Fitness Test page Physical Fitness & Body Evaluationby Zecharia Gilbert I have been a member of the Army National Guard for a little over nine years now. I have always done well when it comes to physical fitness tests (APFT). Over the past few years I have opened new doors to my body and what it needs and desires to be at an even higher state of functionality. I have seen so many of my fellow soldiers fail on APFT’s and not being able to pass weigh-in. So what exactly do we need to know and do in order to prepare our bodies for the test and our jobs? The first thing that we need to do is evaluate our bodies. Our bodies are unique; there are not two that are identical, with the exception of twins. By evaluating our bodies, we can identify what kind of diet we need to maintain and what kind of workout plans to develop. The first thing that we need to know is what our body is composed of: Muscle mass, water weight, body fat, and our calorie burn. By knowing these, we can begin to develop an eating and physical fitness plan. What your muscle mass will tell you, is how much protein you need to intake every day in order to maintain muscle mass. If your muscle mass is 150 pounds (average for men = 150lbs and women = 100lbs), you should intake 150 grams of protein per day. This will feed your muscles adequately and keep you feeling fuller. Your calorie burn at rest will tell you how much you need to exercise in order to slim down. I, burn approximately 2200 calories per day, so if I want to loose weight, I would deduct 500 calories per day to loose weight safely. Men are not to go below 1500 calories per day of intake and women are not to go below 1200 calories per day. Anything lower is not safe. I do suggest you consult your physician before developing this plan though. What this tells me is that I can loose weight without exercising. If I only burned 1800 calories per day as a man, I would definitely have to work out to loose weight. So, jumping into a diet is not always the best way to go about loosing weight. You need to properly fuel your body to loose weight! The Army has always had a height and weight chart that says if you are “X” inches tall you can only weigh “Y” pounds. Let’s first put that all aside, because everyone knows that body types differ. For instance, I am 68 inches and weigh 175lbs. Now, for the Army, I am over-weight by 1 pound, but on my last APFT out of 300 points, I scored 289! I am also a current holder of the Army Physical Fitness Award. I have always been big on sports and weight lifting. While weight lifting, my body weight has been as high as 185 pounds. When it came time to conduct an APFT, my score went down to 272. Why did it go down? By carrying more muscle mass, it actually slowed me down. I had stopped most cardiovascular exercises and concentrated on building muscle. Now, I concentrate almost solely on cardiovascular exercises, like basketball and lift weights about once or twice per week. The result was my current score of 289 points on the APFT test. My body type told me that I needed more cardiovascular exercise and a proper diet. Some people may need just the opposite, more weight lifting and less cardiovascular exercise. Again, you should consult a physician or a body trainer in order to achieve your goals. After evaluating my body and what I need to use my body for, I was able to develop a diet plan and a physical fitness plan that helped me excel in my goal, a better APFT score, and of course a better body. I was able to get into the pants that were mistakenly ordered for me through the Army (Size 27 –31 inch waist), and I have been wearing tighter clothing all this past summer that I never felt comfortable wearing. With this information, I am sure that you can develop a fitness and diet plan to meet whatever goals you are trying to achieve. Here are some resources that I have accessed in order to obtain my goals: http://www.herbalife.com/ & http://www.mensfitness.com/ . If you have any questions or would like to order Herbalife, please feel free to email me at: shapeworkszech@yahoo.com . Good luck! |
