It took what seemed like forever, but here it is, part 2 of Fire Up Your Endurance. This involoves the Category II exercises for another 9 weeks; they are significantly harder and they do push your body to its limits. If you persevere, however, the rewards are enormous.
As with part 1, I have edited some sections of the text so it is not heavily military-centric, the workouts themselves have been left as is for maximum benefit. The great thing about them, is that they can almost be done anywhere, which is particularly the point if you are travelling or on vacation… No excuses!
Category II Workouts
Category II is a more intense workout designed for those who have been involved with a routine PT schedule or those who have completed the requirements of Category I. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WORKOUT SCHEDULE UNLESS YOU CAN COMPLETE THE WEEK 9 LEVEL OF CATEGORY I WORKOUTS.
RUNNING SCHEDULE II
| WEEK | DISTANCE/DAY | PACE | DAYS | TOTAL/WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-2 | 3/5/4/5/2 miles | 8:30 | M/Tu/Th/F/Sa | 19 miles |
| Weeks 3-4 | 4/5/6/4/3 miles | 8:30 | M/Tu/Th/F/Sa | 22 miles |
| Week 5 | 5/5/6/4/4 miles | 8:30 | M/Tu/Th/F/Sa | 24 miles |
| Week 6 | 5/6/6/6/4 miles | 8:30 | M/Tu/Th/F/Sa | 27 miles |
| Week 7 | 6/6/6/6/6 miles | 8:30 | M/Tu/Th/F/Sa | 30 miles |
| Weeks 8-9 | For weeks 8-9 and beyond, it is not necessary to increase the distance of the runs; work on the speed of your 6 mile runs and try to get them down to 7:30 per mile or lower. If you wish to increase the distance of your runs, do it gradually: no more than one mile per day increase for every week beyond 9. | |||
Push-up and Dip Station by fresh-airfitness, on Flickr
PHYSICAL TRAINING SCHEDULE II
| WEEK | PUSHUPS | SITUPS | PULL UPS | DIPS | DAYS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-2 | 6X30 | 6X35 | 3X10 | 3X20 | M/W/F |
| Weeks 3-4 | 10X20 | 10X25 | 4X10 | 10X15 | M/W/F |
| Week 5 | 15X20 | 15X25 | 4X12 | 15X15 | M/W/F |
| Week 6 | 20X20 | 20X25 | 5X12 | 20X15 | M/W/F |
These workouts are designed for long-distance muscle endurance. Muscle fatigue will gradually take longer and longer to develop doing high repetitions workouts. For best results, alternate exercises each set, in order to rest that muscle group for a short time.
Once you have met the Category I and II standards you can proceed with a pyramid workout; it will provide varity and will maintain your muscle endurance.
PYRAMID WORKOUT
You can do this with any exercise. The object is to slowly build up to a goal, then build back down to the beginning of the workout. For instance, pull ups, situps, pushups, and dips can be alternated as in the above workouts, this time, choose a number to be your goal and build up to that number. Each number counts as a set. Work your way up and down the pyramid. For example, say your goal is “5 repetitions”:
NUMBER OF REPETITIONS
PULL UPS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
PUSHUPS: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 (2X number of pull ups)
SITUPS: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3 (3X number of pull ups)
Swim Meet by brahul90, on Flickr
SWIMMING SCHEDULE II
| WEEK | SIDESTROKE | TIME | DAYS/WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-2 | Swim continuously with no fins | 35 minutes | 4-5 days/week |
| Weeks 3-4 | Swim continuously with fins | 45 minutes | 4-5 days/week |
| Week 5 | Swim continuously with fins | 60 minutes | 4-5 days/week |
| Week 6 | Swim continuously with fins | 75 minutes | 4-5 days/week |
At first, reduce initial stress on your foot muscles when starting with fins, alternate swimming 1000 meters with fins and 1000 meters without them. Your goal should be to swim 50 meters in 45 seconds or less.
STRETCH PT
Since Mon/Wed/Fri are devoted to PT, it is wise to devote at least 20 minutes on Tue/Thu/Sat to stretching. You should always stretch for at least 15 minutes before any workout; however, just stretching the previously worked muscles will make you more flexible and less likely to get injured. A good way to start stretching is to start at the top and go to the bottom. Stretch to tightness, not to pain; hold for 10-15 seconds. DO NOT BOUNCE. Stretch every muscle in your body from the neck to the calves, concentrating on your thighs, hamstrings, chest, back, and shoulders.
NUTRITION
Proper nutrition is extremely important now and especially when you arrive at BUD/S. You must make sure you receive the necessary nutrients to obtain maximum performance output during exercise and to promote muscle/tissue growth and repair. The proper diet provides all the nutrients for the body’s needs and supplies energy for exercise. It also promotes growth and repair of tissue and regulates the body processes. The best sources of complex carbohydrates are potatoes, pasta, rice, fruits, and vegetables. These types of foods are your best sources of energy.
Carbohydrates, protein, and fat are the three energy nutrients. All three can provide energy, but carbohydrates are the preferred source of energy for physical activity, It takes at least 20 hours after exhaustive exercise to completely restore muscle energy, provided 600 grams of carbohydrates are consumed per day. During successive days of heavy training, like you will experience at BUD/S, energy stores prior to each training session can (and do) become progressively lower. This is a situation in which a high carbohydrates diet can help maintain your energy.
The majority of carbohydrates should come from complex carbohydrate foods that include bread, crackers, cereal, beans, peas, starchy vegetables, and other whole grain or enriched grain products. Fruits are also loaded with carbohydrates. During training, more than four servings of these food groups should be consumed daily.
Water intake is vital; stay hydrated. You should be consuming up to four quarts of water daily. Drink water before you get thirsty!!! Substances such as alcohol, caffeine and tobacco increase your body’s need for water. Too much of these substances will definitely harm your body and hinder your performance.
