Go Navy, It's Your Birthday

In honor of the US Navy turning the big 239 on Monday today’s blog post will discuss ways to prepare one for the upcoming Navy Physical Readiness Test (PRT). Sailors perform the PRT which consists of a 1.5 mile run along with a 2 minute push up and curl up test twice each year. These sailors can also choose to do a 500 meter swim for time instead of the run. Like the civilian world some people really enjoy exercise and training while some prefer to join the 3 mile per year club and only run when forced to do so.

Regardless of these differences, listed below are a few simple tips to help you with the components that comprise the PRT along with many other military and public service readiness tests There is a bit of a crossover effect as certain military branches or agencies share test components such as a timed run. The Army requires a 2 mile run while Marines are required to run 3 miles.

The Run

Wear running shoes: Your Air Force Ones (The shoes) may give you a ton of support and jump height on the basketball court; however these or a set of worn out shoes from years ago are not only going to slow you down but they can also create extra stress and damage to your feet, knees, hips, and back.

Fix your form: A few simple fixes to your running form can make a big difference in how quickly you reach the finish line. Erratic (and weird) arm movements and excessively slapping or stomping of your feet into the ground every step is a waste of energy and tires you quickly. A good drill to correct “loco arms” is to do a few short runs with a focus on having your wrists lightly brush your ribs while keeping a 90 degree bend at your elbows.

Push Ups

Do more push ups: Yes, doing more push ups will make you better at push ups. Any easy way to increase your daily push up volume is to spread a few sets out throughout the day. Maybe during commercial breaks or in line at Chipotle.

Add variety to these push ups by varying your hand (wide or elevated) and foot (elevated or single leg) positions.

Shore up your core: Spend some time doing plank and push up position plank (PUPP) variations to increase endurance so that you have the stability to perform long sets of push ups.

Curl Ups

It would be foolish of me to say “go bang out curl ups all day”. The most important concept of training for this event is to focus on training the abdominal and low back regions equally via a variety of training methods to increase the stability and endurance of all of the surrounding musculature. Listed below are a few videos to help:

Half Kneeling Pallof Press

Bear Crawl with Full Exhale

Plank to Side Plank to Plank

Take these words and set sail on your path to the upper echelon of physical readiness, no matter your branch or agency and have some cake for big Navy.