Whether you’re considering a career in the military, preparing for basic, or just want to have the same physical physique as one of our troops, we’ve got you covered. Our service members must be in good physical condition to remain eligible to serve. In fact, failing multiple PT tests within a certain time frame can cause you to be separated from the military.

If you’re looking to get fit or prepare for your future military service, we’ve created a helpful guide to walk you through the steps. Even if you’re not planning to get the true experience by enlisting, you can still achieve the same level of physical fitness by committing to a military-inspired workout routine and lifestyle.

Why You Should Consider Working Out Like You’re in the Military

Training like you’re in the military or with military-inspired workout routines is a rigorous and rewarding way to get fit. Many people enjoy these types of workouts as they offer many benefits, including:

●Full-body focus: Military-inspired workouts that simulate rigorous military training help you get an intense full-body workout. Over time and with enough consistency, you’ll improve your agility, strength, and stamina, which are important to maintain as much as possible as we age. Focusing on your full-body physical health now will help you in the future when you may be less mobile or physically active.

●Psychologically challenging: While it may seem like a bad thing, military-inspired training is meant to be intense and mentally challenging. By pushing you outside of your comfort zone, you’ll likely see improvements in your confidence and motivation. If you do these workout routines with a few friends, you’ll also build on your collaboration skills, which will help you walk away with a greater sense of satisfaction.

●Effective training: The intensity of military-inspired workouts and training makes them incredibly effective. Sticking with these routines can help you burn calories, build muscle, and boost your metabolism. Since these workouts are more intense than some other routines, you may notice results sooner if you maintain consistency.

●Improved health: Working out, no matter how you do it, is good for you. Committing to this routine and being physically active has a wide range of physical and mental health benefits, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, stronger bones and muscles, reduced anxiety, and improved cognitive abilities.

How to Train Like a Service Member

Before you start working out, you need to know how to train like a service member and what makes military-inspired workouts different from other routines.

First, it’s important to focus on your posture, form, technique, and breathing. Going into a workout not knowing what to do won’t and doing it poorly won’t offer as many benefits, and you may find that you end up winded and could even hurt yourself.

Research the exercises you plan on doing to make sure you’re doing them correctly. Practice the movements in front of a mirror or with a friend so you can correct improper form or posture. Whenever you start a workout, remember to focus on your breathing as it will help you stay focused and limit fatigue so you can make it through an intense workout routine.

You also don’t want to overdo it. Since you’re not at boot camp or in the military, you don’t need to push yourself beyond your capabilites. Instead, start with realistic goals, such as completing a certain amount of repetitions or running a certain distance. As you get used to the workout, you can start to increase the intensity and update your goals. When you pace yourself, you reduce the risk of injury or burnout, allowing you to stay consistent.

While you want to pace yourself, you also don’t want to stay in your comfort zone. You should be trying to challenge yourself since the nature of these workouts is to be intense. Don’t stick to the same routine every single day but push yourself so you can achieve greater results. Add another workout, increase repetitions, add more weight, or any other challenge that will benefit you in the long run.

Finally, you must stay committed and motivated. Service members are dedicated to their fitness routines so they can prepare for PT tests and perform at optimal efficiency when they’re called to serve. You’ll need to have the same level of commitment and motivation to achieve the same results.

If you’re having trouble sticking to the program, find something that motivates you, like a long-term goal. If you’re preparing to enlist, use that as your motivation to keep going. You can use any goal that works for you, whether you’re trying to lose weight, want to improve your health, or are preparing for a triathlon or another event.

Best Workouts for Military-Inspired Fitness

Now that you know the steps you need to take to work out like one of our troops, you can get started with the actual exercises. Most military exercises focus on building endurance, strength, and agility to keep our service members combat-ready, which means your exercises will aim to do the same.

Ideally, you’ll want to eventually get to a point where you’re working out around five days a week to maintain the physicality you’ve developed. However, you don’t need to start at this intensity, especially if you don’t have a regular fitness routine. Instead, start at two or three times a week with rest days in between. Regardless of how often you’re working out, remember to start with stretches to warm up your muscles and reduce the risk of injury.

When you’re creating your workout routine, remember to look up each exercise so you can perform them correctly and know how many reps to start out with. Try out these exercises when you start building your military-inspired workout routine:

1. Burpees

Burpees are an excellent workout to include in your military-inspired workout routine since they incorporate your entire body. Service members need to keep their entire body in peak physical condition to handle the challenges they’ll encounter during missions, field operations, and deployments.

Burpees will be challenging at first, especially if you’re not working out. Over time, they’ll start to become easier, which is when you can add an extra challenge by incorporating plyometric jumps at the end of the movement.

2. Push-Ups

Push-ups are a standard exercise in many routines, but they’re a classic in military training. This workout is an excellent way to build strength in your core, triceps, and chest. You can always increase your reps if they become less challenging, but you can also modify your push-ups to target different muscle groups.

3. Planks

Core strength is critical for service members, helping them move their bodies more efficiently and safely. Building core strength also reduces the risk of injuries and relieves back pain. Planks are a great way to build core strength and increase stability. You can modify planks to your fitness level or to increase the challenge, including using your hands or elbows or lifting your leg from the ground. You can also increase the amount of time you plank to make it more difficult as you get used to the exercise.

4. Mountain Climbers

Service members are often expected to walk across difficult terrain, especially when they’re on a mission or deployed. Mountain climbers are an exercise service members can use to improve their capabilities and mobility while navigating this challenging terrain. This exercise increases the heart rate while working out the legs, arms, and core, increasing stamina and endurance. Adding this exercise to your workout routine can help you prepare the way our troops would.

5. Jumping Jacks

We’re all familiar with jumping jacks as they were standard exercises throughout our childhood. However, jumping jacks also play a vital role in military training. This exercise helps work out the full body while improving overall stamina, which service members need to complete their missions and other operations. You can easily increase the reps of jumping jacks you do as the exercise gets easier, ensuring you’re continually building your strength and endurance.

6. Weight Lifting

You’ll want to incorporate a good deal of weight training into your workout routine, whether you focus on this on specific days or do it every time you work out. Service members build up a lot of strength throughout their careers and rely on it to carry their heavy gear and equipment.

You can find a wide variety of weight-lifting exercises to help you build your strength, including deadlifts, bench presses, bicep curls, shoulder presses, dips, squats, leg curls, and calf raises. You can create your workout routine with specific weight-lifting exercises if you want to work on specific areas or rotate exercises on different days for a full-body effect.

7. Cardio

And last but not least is cardio. Service members need to maintain their stamina and endurance so they can perform when they’re engaging in critical military operations. Cardio workouts are a great way to build stamina and endurance, and there are many different cardio exercises you can choose from, such as swimming, cycling, running, rowing, and more.

What to Do if You Injure Yourself While Training

If you experience an injury while you’re training, the first thing you should do is consult with a healthcare professional. Depending on the severity of the injury, you may need physical therapy or other treatments to recover.

However, minor injuries and exercise fatigue are usually treated at home through anti-inflammatory medications and the RICE method. This method stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. You’ll want to rest the injured area, use ice to help with swelling, compress the injured area with compression bandages, and keep it elevated to help with inflammation.

However, you don’t want to confine yourself to bed rest when recovering from a minor injury or exercise fatigue. You’ll want to maintain a small level of physical activity when possible, which is referred to as active recovery. Active recovery helps you recover from high-intensity exercises by encouraging you to use non-strenuous movements, aiding in muscle recovery by maintaining blood flow and preventing lactic acid build-up.

Don’t Forget to Focus on Your Nutrition

Whether your goal is to get fit, lose weight, or prioritize your health, it doesn’t stop at working out. If you’re eating poorly, you won’t get the same benefits from your intense workouts as you would with a healthy diet. It could take you longer to reach your goals and it will be harder to maintain the stamina, strength, and endurance you’re looking for.

If you’re not already, you should fill your diet with nutrient-rich foods and proteins. Protein is especially important as it plays a vital role in repairing and growing muscles. Stick with healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk products, and protein-rich foods.

Since eating and exercise go together, there are a few tips you can use to maximize the benefits you gain from your workouts, which include:

●Eating a healthy breakfast: If you decide to start your day with a workout, you don’t want to go in with an empty stomach. Instead, aim to finish a healthy breakfast at least one hour before you start working out. Eating whole-grain cereals, bananas, yogurt, and other healthy foods can help give you the energy you need to work out for longer periods and at greater intensity.

●Snacking correctly: Generally, you can eat a small snack right before your workout or during a break. Snacks are unlikely to give you any extra energy if you’re working out for less than an hour, but they can provide some energy if your workouts go more than 60 minutes. You should also plan to eat a snack if you’re working out hours after eating, and some healthy options include yogurt, fruit smoothies, granola bars, or sports drinks.

●Watching portion sizes: It’s a good idea to avoid overdoing it when you eat before you exercise, or you could feel slowed down during your workout. If you eat a big meal, wait at least three hours to work out. If you want to eat something before a workout, stick to snacks or small meal portions, which you can eat between one to three hours before a workout.

●Eating right after exercise: After your workout, you should aim to eat simple carbohydrates and proteins within two hours when possible. Eating these foods helps your body recover, preventing muscle fatigue and soreness. Foods you can eat after a workout include whey protein shakes, smoothies, yogurt, fruit, and pretzels. The key is to combine a fast-digesting protein with simple carbohydrates for the best results.

●Staying hydrated: When you’re planning your meals and snacks for your workout, don’t forget about drinking fluids. If you’re not drinking enough water while participating in high-intensity workouts, you could quickly become dehydrated. Aim to drink at least two to three cups of water before your workout, around half a cup every 20 minutes during your workout, and two to three cups after your workout. You should also be drinking water regularly throughout the day to maintain your daily water intake requirements.

Start Your Military-Inspired Training Right With the Bags From MLC

Our troops use a wide variety of bags to help them during their career, including during their workouts. Gear up just like one of our service members would with a high-quality gym or locker bag from Military Luggage Company. These high-quality bags can carry your essential gym gear, including a change of clothes, toiletries, water bottles, snacks, and more.

And if you’re looking for even more gear to help you in your other applications, we’ve got you covered. We have a wide range of products to choose from, whether you’re considering a career in the military, planning your next adventure, or enjoy traveling frequently. Take a look at what we have to offer, or contact us with any of your questions!