Stew Smith Fitness News — pullups

If you are considering joining the Marine Corps, you may ask yourself, Am I ready? If this is you, the new GOOD ENOUGH series is designed to answer those questions for you as you journey through the process of getting TO and THROUGH challenging selection programs.  To get TO the training - Ace the PFT plus other related events:Scoring well on the PFT and other related / common exercises seen in training is a must.  The following scores are borderline maximum or close to the maximum scores.  If you want to know what GOOD ENOUGH is - it is that -...

(Part 2 of this article - What is Good Enough - Strength Numbers) Throughout your journey into the military and perhaps as you move into a special ops selection, you will hear people describing their PT scores as “good”, “great”, “optimal”, or even the occasional “PT animal”. But what is “Good Enough”? Of course, all of these scores are relative to the person, programming, branch of service, and the person evaluating these scores and abilities of candidates.  As a tactical fitness trainer with decades of this type of training, this article is going to try to add some objectivity to...

  A Starter Kit for Teens Seeking Special Ops Program in their future.    #1 - Do Your Research:                                           So You Wanna Be a Frogman? Well are you ready?  Are you preparing yourself?  Have you ASSESSED  your performance?  Identified Weaknesses? Have you already enlisted in DEP and trying to pass the PST? Are you wondering where to start? How about this - do your research.  You should know what the PST is and practice it long before you walk...

The term “tactical” does get used a little too often to maybe differentiate something that is normal as “military grade” or just “tacti-cool”. About ten years ago the term “tactical” was used and applied to a genre of fitness that I had been focused on for decades – military, law enforcement, and fire fighter / EMT fitness.  Comparing tactical fitness to normal athletics has been discussed. Comparing tactical fitness as another form of “sports specific” training is also a path many subscribe to. However, the similarities and differences are real and are easily confused. I look at it this way....

Life gets in the way of the best intended plans to exercise often enough that it is not uncommon to miss a few days of training. When life happens, and you absolutely miss the full workouts you had planned there are some ideas that will help you get back into it depending on the amount of time in between workouts. If just busy and not ill, the challenge to get back into the weight room is typically a battle of the mind and balance of mental stress. Getting over this hump quicker than not can prevent a downslide of your...