get fit for the army poster

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TRICEPS■ Take your right elbow in your

left hand then guide your right arm down above your head to the centre of the back

■ Reach down with your fingers to stretch out the back of your upper arms

■ Hold for 10-20 seconds, then switch sides

HAMSTRINGS■ Put your left leg out in front

of you and bend at the hips, bending your right knee

■ Rest your hands on your right thigh and slowly lean forwards until you feel the stretch in the back of your left thigh


CALVES■ Stand with your left leg

forwards, bent at the knee, and your right leg straight out behind you with your foot flat on the floor

■ Lean forwards slightly until you feel the stretch in your left calf


■ Repeat the stretch but with your left knee bent very slightly so that you feel the stretch in a different part of the calf

LOWER BACK■ Stand in a squat position

with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart

■ Slowly rotate your shoulders to the left until you feel the stretch in your lower back on the right-hand side


UPPER BACK■ Stand with your arms

straight out in front of you, one hand over the other

■ Push your arms out until you feel the stretch in your upper back, without bending at the waist


CHEST ■ Stand with your arms

behind your body, one hand over the other

■ Keeping your chest out and arms straight, lift your palms up until you feel the stretch in your chest

■ Hold for 10-20 seconds

QUADS■ Stand with feet together and shift

your weight onto your right leg ■ Bend your left leg, bringing your

left foot up to your backside■ Grab hold of your left ankle,

keep your hips facing forwards and gently pull your ankle into your body


PRESS-UP■ Keep your feet together and elbows in ■ Your body should form a straight line ■ Brace the muscles in your abdomen ■ Bend your elbows to lower your body and inhale ■ Press back up, exhaling as you go

A strong upper body is vital for general fitness and the ability to take on any physical challenge

CHIN-UP■ Hold bar with your palms facing you ■ Brace your abdomen, pull up with your arms■ Keep your legs together and straight■ Pull your chest up to the bar to clear chin■ Lower down until your arms are straight

TRICEPS DIP■ Start with arms straight and thighs level ■ Keep your back to the block as you lower ■ Keep your elbows pointing back ■ Stop before your upper arms are parallel

with the floor, then press back up again before repeating the exercise

These powerful muscles carry you around and are the foundation of any strong and physically fit body

SQUAT ■ Place feet just wider than shoulder-

width apart, toes pointing slightly out ■ Bend your knees and lower

yourself down ■ Keep knees above toes and push

your hips back■ Do not arch or round your lower

back; stop when your thighs are parallel with the floor

LUNGE ■ Place feet shoulder-width apart ■ Draw back shoulders and

brace abdomen ■ Step forward, bending your

front leg and back knee ■ Drive back upright with front leg

The core’s vital muscles stabilise and transmit strength between your upper and lower body

ASSISTED SIT-UP■ Hold your arms across your chest ■ Keep your shoulders, back and neck straight■ Brace your abdomen and sit all the way up ■ Lower yourself under control ■ Do not allow your shoulders to touch the floor

DORSAL RAISE ■ Lie on your front with hands by your temples■ Use your lower back muscles to lift your

shoulders and chest off the floor ■ Lift slowly; do not bounce off the floor

MID-BACK■ Hold your arms above

your head, holding your left hand with your right

■ Gently lean to your left, pulling your right arm across and down until you feel the stretch in the muscle along the sides of your back

■ Roll slightly towards the floor to improve the stretch


GET FIT FOR THE ARMYThe Army needs its soldiers and officers to be fighting fit. Follow this exercise programme to prepare for initial training

UPPER BODY

ARMY FITNESS REQUIREMENTSSOLDIERWhen you attend an Assessment Centre (AC), you will be expected to complete the following:

■ 1.5-mile run within a set time limit (different regiments and corps have their own requirements, ranging from 9 minutes 40 seconds to 14 minutes 30 seconds)

■ Two exercises assessing your strength, including the upper body and lower back

OFFICERYou will have to complete a multi-stage fitness test (beep test) at the Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB) Briefing, and again at the AOSB Main Board:

MALES FEMALES ■ Beep test level 10.2 ■ Beep test level 8.1■ 50 sit-ups in two minutes ■ 50 sit-ups in two minutes■ 44 press-ups in two minutes ■ 21 press-ups in two minutes

CORE

BEFORE YOU STARTTest your physical ability before you start your training programme so you will be able to see how much you have improved after several weeks. After completing a warm-up, carry out the following tests with a two-minute break between each exercise:

■ Do as many press-ups as you can in one minute. This is your press-ups maximum

■ Then do as many sit-ups as you can in one minute. This is your sit-ups maximum

■ Time yourself running 1.5 miles. This is six times around an athletics track, or you can ask a family member to measure the route in a car. Don’t worry if it is not exact, as long as you use the same route when re-testing later

Write these results down, because you will need to repeat this assessment at the end of each training period for comparison. You will also use half of your maximum press-up and sit-up scores to give you the number of repetitions for some sessions in your training programme (see table at foot of poster).

EXERCISES

STRETCHES

COOL-DOWNFinish all sessions with the following:■ Reduced-pace jogging

or walking for 2-3 minutes■ Hold stretches for 10-20

seconds (see stretch routine above)

LOWER BODY

WARNINGYou should always

check with your

doctor before

starting any

intense exercise

programme

WARM-UPDo the following routine before each session. If you are in a swimming pool, swim slowly at first and stretch at the shallow end of the pool.■ Walk/jog for 2-3 minutes ■ Controlled rotation of shoulders and hips for two minutes ■ Increased-pace jogging or skipping for 2-3 minutes ■ Light stretching for 4-5 seconds on each stretch

You should have a rest day every other day to give your body time to recover. Start with the four-week Level 1 programme. After testing yourself to check

on your progress, move on to Level 2 and then to Level 3. Once you have completed Level 3, continue doing it until you start your initial Army training.

The most intense sessions Sessions requiring medium effort General health-boosting sessionsYOUR WEEK-BY-WEEK STEPS TO FITNESS

■ 10 mins warm-up

■ Circuit training: 2 x 12 of each exercise

■ 10 mins cool-down

■ 10 mins warm-up



■ 10 mins warm-up

■ Circuit training: 4 x 15-20 of each exercise


■ Steady run 20 mins

■ 3 x ½ max press-ups

■ 3 x 8 squats■ 3 x ½ max

sit-ups■ 3 x 8 dorsal raises

■ Steady run 25-30 mins


■ 4 x 12 squats■ 4 x ½ max



■ 2 x 45 secs max press-ups

■ 4 x 15 squats■ 2 x 45 secs max


■ 10-15 mins warm-up

■ Run hard for 1 min, recover for 1 min; continue for 10 mins (75-80% effort)






■ Alternate running hard then recovering for intervals of 1, 2 and 3 mins (75-80% effort)


■ Brisk walk 30-40 mins, or swimming 15-20 mins

■ Brisk walk/jog 30-40 mins, or swimming 20-25 mins

■ Brisk walk/run 30-40 mins, or swimming 25-35 mins

■ Steady run 20 mins


■ 3 x 10 lunges■ 3 x ½ max




■ 4 x 14 lunges■ 4 x ½ max



■ 2 x 45 secs max press-ups

■ 4 x 15 lunges■ 2 x 45 secs max









■ Alternate running hard then recovering for intervals of 1, 2 and 3 mins (75-80% effort)


■ 10 mins warm-up



■ 10 mins warm-up



■ 10 mins warm-up

■ Circuit training: 4 x 15-20 of each exercise





■ Steady run 20 mins (60-70% effort)


■ 3 x 12 squats■ 3 x ½ max sit-ups■ 3 x 12 dorsal

raises

■ Steady run 25-30 mins (60-70% effort)

■ 4 x ½ max chin-ups

■ 4 x 16 squats■ 4 x ½ max sit-ups■ 4 x 16 dorsal raises


■ 2 x 1 min max press-ups

■ 4 x 20 squats■ 2 x 1 min max

sit-ups■ 4 x 20 dorsal raises ■ 4 x 12 triceps dips








■ Alternate running hard then recovering for intervals of 1, 2, 3, 2 and 1 min (75-80% effort)


■ 10 mins warm-up■ Circuit training:

3 x 12 of each exercise



3 x 20 of each exercise



4 x 15-20 of each exercise





■ Steady run 20 mins (60-70% effort)


■ 3 x 14 lunges■ 3 x ½ max sit-ups■ 3 x 14 dorsal raises



■ 4 x 18 lunges■ 4 x ½ max sit-ups■ 4 x 18 dorsal raises■ 4 x 12 triceps dips


■ 2 x 1 min max press-ups

■ 4 x 20 lunges■ 2 x 1 min max

sit-ups■ 4 x 20 dorsal raises■ 4 x ½ max chin-ups








■ Alternate running hard then recovering for intervals of 1, 2, 3, 2 and 1 min (75-80% effort)


■ 10 mins warm-up■ Brisk walk/run

30-40 mins, or swimming 30-40 mins








FITNESS ASSESSMENT■ 1 min max

press-ups■ 1 min max sit-ups■ 1.5-mile run





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RG/LEA/359 March 2013Produced for the Ministry of Defence by Army Recruiting GroupCrown Copyright March 2013

MAXIMUM HEART RATE TABLEAs you get fitter you will be able to exercise faster with your heart rate staying the same, so you can use your heart rate to ensure you are training at the correct intensity. Your warm-ups should be in the ‘LIGHT EFFORT’ training zone, and hard interval sessions should push you into the ‘MAXIMUM EFFORT’ zone. Your heart rate changes as you get older so you will need to find your own maximum heart rate. To do this, deduct your age from 220 to give you a maximum rate for exercising at 100%. Once you have a number, find the corresponding figure on the left-hand axis (below) and look along the graph for your heart rate training zones. Wear a heart rate monitor to refer to when training to keep tabs on how hard you’re working.

EFFORTYou should be able to talk comfortably (60-69% effort) when jogging, talk in short sentences (70-79% effort) at a steady effort, and when running hard your breathing should be heavy and it should be very difficult to talk (80-100% effort).

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115

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145

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190190

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130130

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15 20 25 403530

80-89% HEAVY EFFORT

AGE

90-100% MAXIMUM EFFORT

70-79% MODERATE EFFORT

60-69% LIGHT EFFORT

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get fit for the army poster

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