Army BCT: A Case Study

I joined the Army! Here is some of my experience and 7 Tips to physically & mentally prepare yourself for Army BCT

First things first, hi and hello… I am BACK from Army Basic Combat Training (bit if a misnomer if you ask me) and I am ready to share my learnings, give my .02 on the training as far as the physical output and nutrition… AND my 7 best pieces of advice for those going to BCT.

Firstly, I am in the Army National Guard. There is HUGE stigma against guardsmen in the Army because, we lack commitment, are not as physically fit (-_-), and only serve on the weekends… well obviously those statements are a MASSIVE generalization and in my experience can apply to active duty and army reservists as well as guardsmen… In the end I know high and low quality soldiers in each extension of the Army. But I digress.

The drill sergeants can be intimidating and they WILL get on your nerves no matter how much you tell yourself they won’t. The culmination of all the stress pissed me off at times, even WHEN I knew that was their plan all along.

Basic training is a game that you CANNOT win, you just play along, try your best and eventually it ends.

The intimidation factor fades quickly if you choose to remember that they’re all just actors filling a role. If you choose to act on emotions it has potential to be a LONG 10 weeks.

To set the stage going into training I weighed 168lbs — I’m about 5’8”

Prior to getting up in weight there I was comfortable at 160— I was squatting ~350 benching ~245 and deadlifting ~435 (Chill, one day I’ll be strong like a real powerlifter).

Just before leaving I decided to go on a nice 4 mile run in anticipation for the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) which includes a 2-mile run. I was able to run 4 miles at a 7:40 pace after 6 YEARS of no running (Cardio is ~FAKE~ … *not really*).

I felt in good shape and was ready for whatever the Army had to throw at me. But alas, I was honestly disappointed with the LACK of organized exercise, and even regular “corrective” training were mostly isometric holds or moderate rep ranges of bodyweight exercises.

Now don’t get me wrong, when we got smoked… we got SMOKED. Pushed past failure to the point where a GOOD number of people either sustained injuries, faked injuries or started crying. Keep in mind we had a GOOD smoke session maybe 10 times in the cycle.

The problem is once you do max effort on an exercise and you PHYSICALLY cannot complete another rep, the physical gain is minimal— although the mental benefit of those session — UNMATCHED. People need them. Here for it. Too many softies in my opinion.

In 10 weeks of training my company did MAYBE 15 sessions of ORGANIZED training to improve physical fitness and performance. I was disappointed to say the least, but I enjoyed the runs or circuits we did do… it broke up the monotony of actual training.

I learned to love the struggle of the ruck. It was physically and mentally challenging to push the pace with the 50lb rucks. It was my favorite exercise overall—hard work for a LONG time and I will be playing around with this while I am back— stay tuned.

Then was the eating situation… or lack there of.

I am a snacker AND I do not skimp on food— I buy LOTS of high quality foods on a regular basis and meal prep so I never miss a protein or calorie goal. BONUS— I LOVE coffee :)

This may have been the largest adjustment… No protein, LOTS of sugar, minimal salt, overall poor quality foods. 3 meals a day— no snacks ever. OH and no coffee, EVER (Pro tip: I would chew the instant coffee grinds with sugar when no one was looking)

The most time I ever got to eat in the cafeteria was 10 minutes. The least amount of time was <3 Minutes, the average time allotted to eat for me was about 6 minutes. To be fair I never felt starved.

I only ate with a spoon (most versatile utensil—taking this to the grave).

I learned to SHOVEL food down my throat.

In my civilian life I walk an average of 18k steps per day (I work on my feet) so there probably wasn’t much added daily movement to contribute to weight loss, except on rucking days.

In the end I believe lack of time to eat contributed the most to my weight loss.

I performed well on the ACFT with a score of 586 placing 3rd in a Company of 220 (588 and 591 were 2nd and 1st respectively).

I was able to improve from starting training adding 12 push-ups for 54 hand release push-ups, dropping my run to a 12:40 2-mile. I also maintained a 340 deadlift and gritted through a 3:40 plank (all mental here). I attribute the improvements in the push-up, plank and run to losing weight. The deadlift got harder each time with less mass on my frame.

My training agenda has shifted towards building mass now that I am back. Although my body fat is down, my muscle mass and overall strength has dropped TREMENDOUSLY as well.

After that I will work toward the 600/600 ACFT score! Working through more of a circuit training style I believe I can achieve this which should lead me into a nice transition back to powerlifting.

If Army BCT is in your near future, here are my 5 tips to excel among your peers:

1. This may seem obvious… Start training… YESTERDAY. My training could not have been further from what basic training asked of me, yet the simple fact that I had done any regimen at all prior to made me a standout. If you’ve never run— give it a shot on a free beginner program. That exposure will keep you healthy when everyone falls into the trap of shin splints. Find a style of resistance training that is enjoyable for you and be disciplined and consistent. There are TONS of FREE programs available *SPOILER* we will be releasing some freebies as well

2. If food is as big a deal for you as it is for me, enjoy your food within reason before you leave. I would not recommend my gaining in anticipation of losing method. regular weight maintenance is just fine! Many people gained weight while at training and felt hungry! My experience is not the only one.

3. In training SALT your food heavily for hydration. Hydration is not just drinking liquids, without the minerals to retain them you will be a leaky faucet and it is EMBARRASSING to be the first to ask to use the latrine mid 3 hour brief or worse— in formation. Instead of eating overly salty food I actually put a packet in my chocolate milk to make it like a ~devine~ salted dark chocolate drink.

   

4. Choose fewer sweets, they are everywhere, you will feel MUCH better AND perform better if you stick to high protein and carb meals vs the hyper palatable sugars offered— they’re tempting of course in stressful times, but you won’t regret heading my warning… THIS INCLUDES GATORADE AND JUICE.

5. DON’T STRESS ABOUT THE COLORS— I cannot stress this enough, you WILL get a “class” on nutrition and about the bullshit grading scheme the Army uses for food… Green for Eat for High Performance, Yellow for Sometimes Avoid and Red for Avoid. I can’t tell you how many arguments I got in about how the GREEN rated Vegetarian Pizza with tons of cheese and sauce and crust thicker than my thigh was not high performance foods— overall the scale is bullshit and disregard. Which leads me to ask —>

6. ACTUALLY TRY— For every good capable soldier who cares and WANTS to be there, there are four who don’t care at all and will try to scrape by. Do NOT let these one’s bog your headspace and drag you down. Show up, get out what you put in. Be the fucking example and TRY. You will improve. Plus— if you are the dude who drops every time the drill sergeant walks away I WILL JUDGE YOU, your fellow trainees will hate you when you inevitably get them punished AND they WILL let you know. Go out there and do your best and people will notice.

7. Leave expectation at the door. I went into training with expectations and my experience was totally different than what anyone could’ve told me. I watched the preconceived notions of others hold them back from achieving more whether t was thinking they WERE physically fit OR just believing they were better than the next trainee. Respect others, expect nothing, earn everything.

Hopefully my experience could be helpful and my future time with the Army will leave me plenty to speak on. If you have any questions about the experience or would like a deeper dive into my tips follow for more and reach out directly! If you liked this post and want to see more like it please give it a like.