111 1.     Be motivated:  It is not my job to motivate you to serve your country.  You have to be motivated and understand that your fitness level could be the difference between life and death for you, your partner, or a victim you are attempting to save.

2.     Upper Body Strength – Make sure you can do pushups, situps, and even pull-ups of some form as these exercises will help you climb fences or rope, jump walls, and handle an opponent if needed.  Practice with weights, walls, ropes, and fences.  Do not assume that you can accomplish these skills without practice.  See PT / weights Articles

3.       NO MINIMUM STANDARDS - It is your job to use or create a plan that will prepare you well within the minimum physical standards of the unit you choose to serve.  Minimum standards never helped anyone excel in training.  Minimum standards are like getting a “D” on academic work.  It is passing but getting through to the next level or training is going require much more work.  Statistics show the better you score on the entrance fitness test, the better you are at completing the course of instruction well.

4.       Be able to run – You do not have to have marathon experience, but a minimum of 15-20 miles a week is a great base to handle your training programs without over-use injuries like shin splints, stress fractures, joint tendonitis, and others.  See running articles / Prevention Injuries

5.       Know the Specialty Tests – Each unit has certain tests you will have to pass – it is your job to do the research and find out what is expected of you during and after training.  For instance, if you are planning on joining the Navy, practice swimming.  If you want to join the Army, run and put a back pack on and walk fast (ruck march).  Many law enforcement agencies require some form of obstacle course or job related standards test, so practice running stairs, sprints, climbing walls, dragging a body.  See ideas in Fitness Store or Article Archive.

6.       Be a Team Player – When you are going through training, you will be assessed on how well you work with others.  Following orders as well as developing ideas and sharing them with your team are critical skills that you should be able to perform without thinking.  If you are in high school, play team sports, join the band, do community action groups.  Do something that will help you learn these skills now.

7.       Learn the ranks – This is a little less physically demanding as it sounds, but if you do not know the ranking system as well as other historical information about your unit, its famous people and its heroes, it is likely you will pay the price in pushups and other extra physically demanding duties.  There is a saying in many training programs, “If you are going to be stupid, you better be strong.”

8.       Eat Right for energy (not drink) – Eating good carbohydrates and protein rich foods like fruits, veges, lean meats is the best tool for energy to exercise and prepare physically for training.  Too many people rely on energy drinks which are really just caffeine and sugar to spike your central nervous system, not provide proper sustainable fuel for workouts.  See Food plan for ideas