Military-Exercise Techniques to Lose Weight: Fitness Guide, Part 1

For six months I trained for the United States Army Special Forces (The Green Berets). This is the first of several articles I will write regarding ways to lose weight using military techniques. I will provide various exercises for people of all skill levels, focusing on people with lower skill levels in the beginning. It is important for most people to start here, as a strong base in exercise is required for more advanced forms. It is furthermore important to note that the only expense for the reader will be a rucksack, which can be found at nearly any Army Surplus store. To find an Army Surplus store view your Yellow Pages or visit http://www.fatiguesarmynavy.com/ online.

The first step in this exercise plan is making sure that you have the correct rucksack type for you. In order to be safe a military issue rucksack with a back brace is recommended. It has a tensilary strength of about 150 pounds (don’t worry this will not be necessary unless your attempting high forms of Special Forces training).

With the proper rucksack, we can now begin. This training exercise, if done correctly, will allow most people to drop weight at an incredibly fast rate. It is important to note that this is not healthy; therefore, if your weight is lost at more than five pounds a week, a higher calorie diet is necessary to maintain your health. It is also important to drink plenty of fluids while performing all of these exercises and drink Gatorade to replenish your electrolytes.

During your first week, you will want to start slow with what the military calls humps, forced marches, or rucksack marches. In the beginning, using your rucksack, fill it up with thirty pounds (it will get higher later on). To fill the rucksack you can use one of three things: rocks, sandbags (45 lbs per bag), or gallons of water from milk gallons (a gallon of water weighs 8.2 pounds).

In the first exercise, you will perform a three-mile march. Try to keep a pace of about three miles per hour (a brisk walk). This may push your body in ways that its not use to, that’s a good thing. You should feel a burning in your legs, back, and neck muscles. You can perform this activity anywhere: roads, woods, or running tracks. You may get weird looks from onlookers, but that’s just because those people are jealous that you’re losing weight and being “cool” with your military issue rucksack.

Once you are done with your three-mile forced march, without taking a break if possible, remove your rucksack (you feel a tremendous difference in weight). Now its time for running! If you’re not good at running that’s okay, everyone starts somewhere. Try and run for as long as you can and as hard as you can. If you cannot make the whole mile running or jogging then finish by walking! Now, turn around and walk back (or run if you can)!

Now, it is time for sit-ups and push-ups! Again, if you can do this without taking a break then do it. Do as many push-ups and sit-ups as you can and rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this three times.

This is a basic entrance into Special Forces training preparation. It will help you lose weight! Do this three times per week, whenever you have time. It usually will take about two hours (an hour longer than the normal workout but much more effective!) Later articles will deal with where to go next. For now, master this basic!