Showing posts with label Military Fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military Fitness. Show all posts

Should You Become A Soldier?

should you become a soldier join military

It is an undeniable fact that the youth of every country is greatly fascinated by the life of a soldier. A soldier’s life is full of adventures. They are the real assets of any countries. They join the army and are always ready to sacrifice their for the sake of their country defense. This blog similar to Huffpost is instrumental that will help you assess whether you can become a soldier if you possess the following features: 

Physical Fitness 

Physical fitness is essential for a soldier to participate in many military activities. Military physical training of a soldier starts just from the day he enters the army. Even his selection in the army is easy if he is already physically strong. The long hour’s duties on borders, assigned duties at war places, withstanding in harsh weather conditions, makes a soldier’s job as one of the toughest things to do in the world. Such duties can only be well performed if you have a strong body. 

Patriotism 

Being patriotic is one of the important features in a person who wishes to become a soldier. A true soldier loves his country and puts the interest of the country above his interests. He has to be selfless. Even he has to spend a great deal of time away from their loved ones. 

Mentally And Emotionally Strong 

If you want to serve your country and want to be a soldier, you have to be mentally and emotionally strong. Mental fitness is as important as physical fitness for a soldier. Staying away from family for unpredictable days, watching people killed during war times, very high, or very low weather temperature may emotionally de track anyone. But a true soldier is trained to manage these fears, emotions in such hard times. Therefore, emotional strength gives you a great opportunity of becoming a soldier. 

Obedience 

During military training, soldiers are trained to obey the commands given by their seniors. They cannot question them or deliberately disobey their commands. Disobeying may results in serious consequences during training and if such behavior is not changed, it may lead the soldier expelled out of the army. The reason is that during wartime, the commands by senior officers have to be followed at every cost. If any of the soldiers disobey during war time, disastrous consequences may happen that may lead that group of an army to their tragic defeat. 

IQ Level 

If you have a high IQ then you have better chances to be a soldier. This is because, the soldiers not only fight in wars but they also play their role in developing countries where they work as facilitators of their government’s foreign policy, military exercises, and humanitarian relief missions and taking part in peacekeeping operations. Such strategies need a person with a good IQ level. One has to be witty while making strategies and plans for such affairs. 

Punctual 

A soldier has to be quite punctual in his routine. Punctuality is a powerful quality that motivates a soldier to complete any task on time. Military training trains a soldier by giving them the limited time of eating, talking, taking a bath, or even tying the shoelaces. Such training helps a soldier to be punctual at all times. Thus you should practice being very punctual if you wish to become a soldier. 

Family History 

If you have to say one, two or even more people in your family already in the army, then you may have better chances of getting entry into the army as a soldier. The interviewer may observe your personality and attitude of an army person if you had been following your family members of the army. 

Discipline 

Discipline is the trait that is directly related to a soldier. Without discipline, you cannot become a soldier. You have to practice discipline in your daily lifestyle. We see unique discipline during soldier parade. A sense of unity we witness when we see such graceful parade by our army soldiers. 

To conclude, we can say, being a soldier seems so charming and fascinating but in reality, it is very challenging and a job of great national responsibilities. We sleep peacefully while our soldiers are awake performing their duties. We cannot deny that a soldier safeguard’s the honor of his country. Thus you have to adopt the above-mentioned characteristics to become a soldier.

Does HIIT Exercise Work Or Is It A Marketing Ploy?


Frugal Fitness Workout Question:  Does High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) work or is it simply a marketing gimmick?

Frugal Fitness Answer:

I have a unique perspective on this because my degree is in exercise physiology and I spent 10 years as highly credentialed personal trainer / nutrition consultant… but I’ve transitioned to a career as a digital marketing manager full time over the last 5-6 years. 

Anyways, High Intensity Interval Training as an exercise technique works very well. It's a staple in military style workouts that also carry over into fitness boot camps, sport practice training, group exercise classes, and other common formats. And depending on the equipment you use (or lackthereof) it can be a very frugal workout option. It’s an efficient way to burn calories, boost metabolism, improve endurance, and build lean muscle. Great for people short on time and/or training for some sports. Not quite as ideal for bodybuilders, powerlifters, or strictly endurance athletes like marathon runners. It depends on your purpose for training whether you should utilize HIIT for a portion of your workouts, or possibly the majority of your workouts. 

But fitness marketing companies of course will exaggerate its benefits and claim it to have miraculous effects. It’s a great workout strategy for many people but it’s not necessarily the best option for everyone and it’s certainly not going to reverse years of inactivity and poor nutrition within a matter of weeks or even months. 

Also keep in mind that “high intensity intervals” are relative to the person performing the exercise. What an elite athlete considers low intensity training could easily be considered high intensity for a sedentary or middle-aged person.

Hopefully this is helpful when deciding whether to incorporate HIIT into your frugal workout sessions.

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Free Home Chest Workout

wide-pushups-pronated-even-pecs-frugal-workout-chest-home-routine-free

Enjoy this free home chest frugal workout to strengthen, tone, and build up your pec muscles. It's also great for building up some muscular endurance. Not everyone has a full home gym or gym membership so doing a comprehensive total chest training workout isn't possible. This is the next best thing that doesn't require any equipment, just your body weight and a couple items around the house. 

x = 1 set

Do modified pushups (from your knees instead of toes) if necessary

1x Warmup set of 15-20 Pushups

3x Wide Pushups pronated grip (knuckles facing forward)
3x Wide Pushups neutral grip (knuckles facing outward)
2x Close Grip Knuckle Pushups neutral grip
2x Incline Pushups (feet up on stair, chair, or bench)
3x Chest Flies (use gallon jugs of water or similar for weights)
3x Incline Chest Flies (add mid-upper back support if needed)

1x Burnout set of 20+ Pushups

You could also through in some dips here and there if you have some makeshift parallel bars, such as 2 stools or raise stable chairs to hold you up. 

Make sure to stay even and that you aren't compensating on your stronger side or you could end up with uneven pecs.

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Free Home Boot Camp Conditioning Workout

Free Home Boot Camp Conditioning Workout Frugal Fitness Fit Fat Loss Lean Toning Metabolism


Burn fat, build endurance, and increase your lean muscle with this free home workout. Alternate exercises, minimize breaks between sets, and use a step / stair for your bodyweight dips, upper body stepups, and even pushups. No actual equipment needed!

1x 30s Jumping Jacks (Warmup)

3x Pushups
3x Bodyweight Dips
3x Burpees
3x Jumping Jacks
3x Situps
3x Upper Body Stepups
3x Planks w/ Alternating Leg Raises

30 Second Plank (Burnout exercise)

Add even more of a challenge by throwing in some jump squats or alternating explosive lunges!!

It won't take long but it will burn a ton of bodyfat!

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Warrior Dash Domination w/ Reebok #GetAfterIt RealFlex


Hey Frugal Fitness Fans! I just recently ran my second Warrior Dash in Thomson, CT thanks to the good folks at Reebok and FitFluential. The first Warrior Dash I ran was in June 2012 and in all honestly I wasn't in the best running shape. It was also about 90 degrees that day and due to a little stupidity, ended up having to run back and forth from my car to the race a couple times to get my registration all set up. So needless to say, I didn't run it too well and I was looking for redemption. This race allowed me that opportunity to GET AFTER IT!

So a few factors really helped me run a lot better this time around. It was more like 70 degrees today and therefore a lot less stifling. I also was in much better running shape this time around, which really makes all the difference for me. The obstacles are fun but for me they were almost a break. I have muuuch greater upper body strength than lower body endurance. And finally, my dynamic new Reebok RealFlex shoes and high quality Reebok shirt and shorts helped give me the edge I needed to take minutes off my last time and finish in the top 10% of my race group! No injuries, just a knee abrasion and some sore legs the next day! Not too shabby and well worth it! Definitely burned some bodyfat as well during the race. 


After the race, I enjoyed a plethora of free samples from sponsors Monster Energy and Bare Naked Granola, so I was lovin that of course. It is always a really fun atmosphere at these events and I talked to a lot of great competitors during and after the race. While I was still covered in mud, I decided to head over to the Reebok tent for an interview with the local rep Sam who was manning the product and informing the masses about their awesome shoes. He was a really cool guy who obviously shared my passion for Reebok RealFlex and Zig-Techs. Check out the video below I did with him at the tent talking about Reebok and the Warrior Dash! A great race and great time overall, if you haven't tried it out I encourage you to do so immediately!



WARRIOR DASH RECAP VIDEO & 
INTERVIEW W/ REEBOK:

My First Warrior Dash Race Recap (June 2012)

#GetAfterIt

  

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Military Fit: Real Strength, Performance, & Toughness

This is REAL weightlifting, saving someone's life
There is a group of people that make me, and most of my fellow fitness experts, look like wimpy and out of shape bums. These are the men and women of the military, especially the United States military in this case since they are the ones I am most familiar with. While I've always been considered pretty fit and athletic, these individuals blow me out of the water in nearly every category and are the ones that should be considered truly fit and strong.

What exactly do I mean by this? Well first off, most people in the fitness industry, and even many elite/professional athletes, are very specialized in their area of expertise. For example, I've been a pretty good mid-distance or distance runner in the past, but at that time I wasn't that strong. I've been very strong at times while focusing on powerlifting, but admittedly had pretty poor endurance at that time. I've been able to add a large amount of muscle mass while focusing on bodybuilding, but often at the expense of endurance or functional movement. A yoga master might be very strong, balanced, and flexible for their bodyweight but watch what happens when you hand them an 80 lb dumbbell or have them play some pickup football. A marathon runner might be able to run for hours straight at a high speed but can they deadlift twice their bodyweight or do a couple pullups? 

For the men and women of the military, they don't focus on one singular objective, especially at the expense of another area. They need to be strong, tough, and function at optimal performance in all areas, all the time! They don't care about packing on an extra 5 lbs of muscle or looking good at the beach, they are more concerned with being able to do their job, help people, and survive. Military fitness is about being strong enough to help protect themselves and others. 

Soldiers don't do these to look good for the beach
These truly tough individuals need a difficult mix of strength, power, endurance, agility, performance, and both mental and physical toughness for them to do what they do and protect the world. They need to be able to thrive in jungles, tundras, cities, desserts, and countryside in all conditions and an innumerable variety of tasks. They might have to walk for 20 miles straight, or pick up a wounded soldier on their back and sprint to safety,  or engage in hand to hand combat. They might have to do these and a hundred other things without the aid of 3 protein shakes a day and fresh fruits and veggies, things that us civilian fitness gurus take for granted. And they often have to stay in shape while on tour with makeshift weights and workout equipment (or just their bodyweight), making them the true Frugal Fitness masters. 


Sometimes I feel dumb or guilty teaching or attending "Boot Camp" type exercise classes (unless taught by ex-military, which I am not) because I feel it could almost be portrayed as insulting to the men and women of our armed forces. What I do and have the people in my class perform is usually a joke compared to what the military experiences in basic training or beyond. I certainly don't mean it to be insulting to any real military, and hope if anything just gives the people in the class the tiniest idea of what people in uniform do on a daily basis without a massage or trip to the spa afterwards. Definitely no fancy $5 protein fruit smoothies after their workouts.


While I still consider myself to be a fit individual, I don't kid myself by comparing what I do to anything close to somebody in the active military. I greatly appreciate their hard work and sacrifice to be in the best shape possible so that they can better help improve the lives of many in the world. I hope you appreciate that too by supporting them and thinking about what they go through while you are doing your own workouts.


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Breakfast, Lunch, Workout, Go!

By Maria Waldron, Author of A LIFE TO BRAGG ABOUT

ALLLL BYYYY MYYYSEEELLLLFF. Yes, I am really singing along to Celine Dion. Don't hate.

Anyway. Part of being married to the military is dealing with your spouse's frequent, last minute trips out to the field. In the Army, being "in the field" can mean anything. In this case, the hunk is off jumping out of perfectly good airplanes at night, going through a land navigation course, "rucking" back to the starting point all just to do everything again repeatedly until Monday night. Sounds fun, right? NOT. He's been gone since 4am this morning so I can't imagine how exhausted he must be. 

In my case, I actually don't mind the absences every now and then. While my husband and I used to be one of those annoying couples where we were glued to each others sides all the time, since his time in the Army I have really come to appreciate when he leaves. I get time to myself to workout however long I want, pamper myself, and watch trash TV. All the things I don't really do when he's around. I make a good Army wife :) 

Of course I miss him like crazy however. Going to bed knowing the love of your life is jumping into trees at night is never fun! 

Breakfast
Today's breakfast was a tall stack of protein pancakes. Unfortunately, not having the hunk around means not having delicious Sunday brunch. Nevertheless, I am always happy when there are protein pancakes on my plate ;D


Can't forget the gobs of maple syrup to go along with the thickest, fluffiest pancakes ever. The key to fluffy procakes (yes, that's what I'll call them from now on) is to not skimp on baking powder. Those things will fluff up like magic when you're generous with baking powder. 

Lunch
Lunch? What lunch? I skipped lunch today - oops. I did however snack on carrots and hummus and had an apple with PB but that's about it. Hey, we can't all be perfect all the time. Just pretty close to perfect, right? Yeah I'm winking at ya right now ;) 

Dinner
What to make when you're temporarily single but not trying to mingle? Breakfast! I love breakfast for dinner so tonight I made a sweet potato, onion and kale hash topped with broiled eggs in my handy dandy cast iron skillet. Um. YUM!



 These pictures don't do the meal any justice. Everything tastes better in a cast iron skillet but it's hard to get good photos from an iphone with no natural light.



Yup, you read that right. I searched all weekend for the DSLR camera that I wanted and they were out of stock everywhere I checked. I may have to just bite the bullet and order it online. Ordering expensive and fragile things online give me the heebie jeebies and I'm sure I'm not alone in that feeling.

Oh well.

Workout
When I'm all by my lonesome is when I get the best runs in. Today I made my way over to a popular trail here at Bragg which is notorious for its 2 mile trek through the pretty woods and then it's 2 mile hill that goes straight up and is comprised of red clay. Soft, red clay. Which is good for your joints but harder to run in. Very, very hard. Before you get to the red clay, you hit sand and running on sand is also difficult as your feet sink and you have to work harder to pick up your stride.

And what do you do when you come across this during your run? Run through the water? Turn around?
Not this big baby! I ended up running on the side where all of the rocks were. I'm not badass enough to run through the water, I didn't want to ruin my shoes haha. 

For the record, here's the 2 mile red clay hill. This is after I reached the top and it's hard to tell how steep it is.

I noticed that on the way back down I was booking it. I'm so much faster when I'm alone and in my own world. I love it!

And now I'm off to finish some laundry, paint my nails and watch my guilty pleasure, Desperate Housewives! Hope your Monday is kind to you tomorrow :)

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Team Red White & Blue Military Veteran Assistance Program

Contributed by Michele Gonzalez,  wife, mother, ultrarunner, and FitFluential Ambassador. A former Captain in the US Army, she is now a stay at home mom who is currently training for a sub 3:10 marathon and her first Ironman (NYC – Aug 2012). Her blog, NYCrunningmama, focuses on her training/races, as well as pregnancy  & motherhood. To learn more about Michele, follow her on Twitter or Facebook.


A little background…
US troop fatalities in combat decreased by more than 15% from 2010 to 2011 (437 to 368).  At first glance this statistic sounds promising, however, if you do a little more research you’ll learn that while the number of US deaths have decreased, the number of amputees have risen by a staggering 22% from 2010 to 2011 (205 vs 240) and is more than 17% higher than the previous all-time high in 2007 (205).
(I won’t go into detail as to why the number of amputees are increasing at an alarming rate, but if you would like to learn more, you should read this article)

Why am I putting up all these statistics?
Do you ever wonder what happens to all of the veterans when they return from Iraq or Afghanistan missing one or two legs and/or one or both of their arms?  Or to those vets who return with “invisible injuries” – post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or mild-traumatic brain injury (TBI)?  Immediately upon their return, they receive amazing around-the-clock medical care from fantastic military hospitals.  But then what happens?  Continuing their career in the military is a longshot (amputees are typically medically discharged).  Some return to their hometown. Others stay close to Army or Navy bases.  But ALL need to start their lives over – trying to live a normal life – while learning how to survive/cope with one or more major limbs missing from their body or with whatever serious injury the war dealt them.
Enter Team Red, White & Blue - a nonprofit organization whose vision is to transform the way wounded veterans are reintegrated into society when they return from combat and exit their position.  Although Team RWB is a fairly new organization, it is growing by leaps and bounds with members all over the U.S. and beyond participating in everything from long-distance running events to triathlons.

Major Mike Erwin, a West Point Grad and three-time veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, founded Team RWB in 2010 as a way to ease the transition by offering wounded vets everything from daily phone calls to baby-sitting help and job-placement assistance.  The organization matches civilians with wounded vets transitioning from military to civilian life.  ”We’re connecting people who want to say thank you to a veteran beyond just writing a check,” says Erwin. [source: Runner's World]



The team relies on runners and triathletes to help spread the word and raise funds. Last year, 3,000 athletes raised more than $400,000 for Team RWB by competing in everything from 5-Ks to ultras. Ultimately, Erwin wants to get more vets running. “It’s the most under-prescribed medication,” he says. For vets with traumatic brain injury and PTSD especially, running can rebuild them psychologically and socially, he says. “It’s that powerful a tool.” [source:Runner's World]



There are MANY ways to get involved with this amazing organization. You can sign up to be a athlete and fundraise for the program.  You can volunteer to be an advocate to offer your time to enrich the life of a wounded veteran and his/her family. You can donate to the organization (all donations are tax-deductible).  You can wear the eagle and help spread the word about this charity (more clothes and accessories coming soon!)
For more information on Team Red, White & Blue check their:
Website -> http://teamrwb.org/ 
Twitter -> @TeamRWB
Facebook -> Team Red, White & Blue
Team RWB Triathlon
Team RWB Apparel -> Race GearAccessoriesTriathlon Gear (currently unavailable)
Upcoming Team RWB Races
Note: There are many charities that provide similar opportunities for wounded vets.  My husband and I support the following in addition to Team RWB:
Wounded Warrior Project
Brendan Marrocco Road To Recovery Trust 


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I hope you enjoyed this article about how to live healthier on a frugal budget and maximize your performance!

Interested in more articles about frugal fitness? 

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