Enrollment and Training Journal

[owa]

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Note
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This will hopefully be a frequently updated enrollment journal and fitness log.  Hopefully things stay on course and I'm able to keep people up-to-date from here, until I am apart of the Canadian Forces, and perhaps beyond.  I shot Roy Harding a Private Message and he encouraged the idea of a journal, and so I hopefully will not disappoint anyone who chooses to read this.

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Biography
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My name is Alan Trainor, and I live in Stratford, PE.  I'm 20 years old, and I currently attend the University of Prince Edward Island.  I'm in my third year (second year if you look at the credits).  I'm majoring in History and minoring in English.  I wanted to be a High School teacher.  I still can be, but I have a new priority in my life.

It was the end of July that I made up my mind about the Canadian Forces and decided to go through the process.  One of my friends left to join the Navy, and that got me thinking.  I had always thought about it, but it was a "last resort" -- much like the RCMP -- to me.  Now that I know more about the military (my knowledge is still very limited though), I know how stupid and offensive that point of view is/was.

A lot of people have said that I should finish my degree before joining; that way I can become an officer.  Although I appeciate what they're saying, I don't think they understand where I'm coming from.  I want to join the Infantry as part of the Regular Force you see, and although it would mean more pay as an officer, I'm not one to be worried about pay.  I need to get out of Prince Edward Island.  I need to do something that matters, and I want to be on my own.  University will always be there if for some reason things don't work out.  The way I see it, I want to join so I can make a career out of this.  Perhaps that means serving for several years before I go back and finish my degree.  Perhaps I never want to become an officer and so I never go back and finish.  I can worry about that when I get there.

Regardless, I'm very excited for the process to finish.  I have my recruitment forms, but I haven't sent them in yet.  The concern for me, at this moment, is my fitness.  I have a clean bill of health, and my criminal record has a grand total of ZERO offenses.  The worst thing I have is a ticket for driving an unregistered car; which was just a dumb mistake on my part.

I simply need to get in better shape before I go to BMQ.  I'm not in awful shape, but I'm not in fantastic shape either.  I plan on spend between now and April training, working, and attending University.  It's after final exams that I hope to go.  Part of my problem is also that they are not hiring Infantry until April 2010; so in any case I had to wait until then.

Really my only dilemma is when I should put my application in.  I've heard some horror stories of really long wait times.  I was thinking about putting it in sometime in January.  Any opinions on this would be appreciated.

In any case, I have at the very least 7 months to get ready physically.

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The Training
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My routine is rather simple:

Day 1:  Chest, Back, and Shoulders/Upper Body
Day 2:  Legs
Day 3:  Arms
Day 4:  A Fullbody Circuit Day
Day 5:  Full Cardio

It doesn't matter when these take place just as long as they happen sometime over the course of a week.

It should also be noted that on all days cardio is present, but just at lesser degrees.  On Full Cardio day, it's essentially an hour dedicated to cardio in various forms.  Circuit day is a full body marathon.  Good stuff.

I should note that I've been training since the beginning of August.  The cardio day is new to this week though as I just started back at school and it fits into my schedule very nicely.

I'll updated this with a workout log; starting with todays!

September 21st, 2009 - Day 1 - Upper Body

1.  Bentover Row: 60X10, 60X10, 80X8, 80X8, 100X4
2.  Medium Grip Bench Press:  115X7, 115X6, 115X5, 115X4, 135X2
3.  Medium Grip Pulldowns:  50X10, 50X10, 60X8, 60X8, 80X2
4.  30 Degree Incline Dumbbell Hammer Press:  20X10, 20X10, 25X8, 25X8, 40X3
5.  Pulldowns Supinated Grip:  50X10, 50X10, 60X7, 60X6, 70X3
6.  Parallel Grip Standing Shoulder Press:  20X10, 20X10, 25X6, 25X6, 35X2
7.  Stairclimber:  12 Minutes, 170 Calories Burned.

Note:  Whatever my numbers are for this week, I plan on rolling with all next week.  I made some decent increases this week, and I want to stabilize it completely before I push harder.

Note #2:  I also did pushups after supper...  17 was my max.  I want to be doing double that.

Note #3:  Incase anyone has trouble reading my log above I'll explain it here...  The first number is the pounds lifted, while the second number (following the X) is for how many reps.  I try to do five sets of everything while progressively adding weight.  Hopefully by the final set I do less than 5 reps before hitting failure.

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End
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Hopefully this will ultimately prove useful for someone other than myself.  At the very least it will provide some history for me to look back on when I'm all done.  I would hope that it will prove useful for other people though.

I'll update this "journal" as things go by.  Feel free to post, critique, ask questions, whatever you feel like doing!

 

[BlueJingo]

I do wish I had that much time on my hands to have a detailed work out regime.

Good on you for your efforts.

 

[owa]

I do wish I had that much time on my hands to have a detailed work out regime.

Good on you for your efforts.

I am lucky because I get free gym access to my University's gym (free in the sense that it's part of my tuition).  Inbetween classes I have free time, so instead of being the lazy pile of dung that I'd usually be, I just go to the gym.  It works for me, but I realize I am lucky in this regard so I try not to take it for granted.

I'm very curious to see how adding the cardio effects my overall energy.  I'm taking in less carbs than usual (lowered my carbs a bit, lowered my fat, lowered my calories, and upped my protein).

And thanks for the encouragement.

 

[BlueJingo]

...being the lazy pile of dung that I'd usually be...

Ah... So you are changing your self image. Good for you too, i wouldn't want to be a pile of crap either.
;D ;D

 

[owa]

Ah... So you are changing your self image. Good for you too, i wouldn't want to be a pile of crap either.
;D ;D

Hahaha, of course!

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September 22nd, 2009 Entry
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Things went well today.  I'm a little exhausted though.  I had a sub-par sleep.  I haven't been a good sleeper for years, and it's one of the problems I have with consistent training.  I've tryed all kinds of things...  Pills, Melatonin, sleeping more, sleeping less, using music, eliminating all noise, adding a gentle hum, reading before sleep, etc.  I just haven't been able to overcome the feeling of being completely exhausted/fatigued when I awake.  It tends to relax as the day goes on, but I still haven't really overcome it.  I am sleepy when I go to bed though...  Strange...  Anyway, I'm gonna search the boards later for maybe some recommendations.

September 22nd, 2009 - Day 2 - Legs

1.  Squats:  95X8, 95X8, 115X6, 115X6, 135X3
2.  Leg Press:  200X8, 200X8, 230X6, 230X6, 250X4
3.  Romanian Deadlifts:  135X7, 135X6, 135X4, 135X4
4.  Bulgarian Split Leg Squats:  20X8, 20X8, 20X5, 20X5, 20X5
5.  Standing Leg Curl:  25X8, 25X8, 35X5, 35X5
6.  Bike:  12 Minutes, 91 Calories

I was not happy with my workout.  I was pleased with my squats and my leg presses, but I prefer doing Squats and RDlifts first and second respectively, but some guy was using the bar for deadlifting, and he had built an entire workout around using it.  I was at the gym for 50 minutes, and he used it the entire time on and off.  Real jerkish I thought.  I ultimately had to setup one using a different bar, but there's a bigger type of 45lb weight that is nicer to use for RDlifts simply because they land nicer on the ground...  Mostly just a mental thing...  Anyway my point is that I try to do my most important exercises first because that's where I get my biggest gains.  I was exhausted after getting a personal best on the leg press machine that I couldn't go as hard as I could.

Although, I am happy that I hit 250 on the leg press.  The week before I had:  190X8, 190X8, 210X6, 210X6, and 230X3 so I find it was a big improvement!

In general, I hate leg day.  Glad it's over, but I didn't have the type of day I should've had, so I'll have to hit it even harder next week.

 

[Lavitz]

I know what it's like feeling tired most of the time. One of the side effects to my allergy meds is restlessness, so I usually feel tired whenever I first wake up, but it seems to get better throughout the day. I have an easier time falling asleep when I have a fan running, and I haven't really tried anything to fix it (other than changing from Singulair to Reactin, but it didn't help with my allergies).  Once and a while (Maybe once a month if that) there will be a night where I just can't fall asleep at all and usually fall asleep around 6 or 7 in the morning for only a couple of hours. It's not something that hinders me at all so I don't really worry about it, but it sucks feeling tired no matter how long you sleep for. I've heard that you sleep in 3 hour cycles, and adults need between 6-8 hours of sleep while teens need 8-10 hours, and sleeping too long can actually make you more tired.

 

[owa]

I know what it's like feeling tired most of the time. One of the side effects to my allergy meds is restlessness, so I usually feel tired whenever I first wake up, but it seems to get better throughout the day. I have an easier time falling asleep when I have a fan running, and I haven't really tried anything to fix it (other than changing from Singulair to Reactin, but it didn't help with my allergies).  Once and a while (Maybe once a month if that) there will be a night where I just can't fall asleep at all and usually fall asleep around 6 or 7 in the morning for only a couple of hours. It's not something that hinders me at all so I don't really worry about it, but it sucks feeling tired no matter how long you sleep for. I've heard that you sleep in 3 hour cycles, and adults need between 6-8 hours of sleep while teens need 8-10 hours, and sleeping too long can actually make you more tired.

That blows man.  I don't have a good excuse other than the fact that my body seems to hate me.  I did have a great sleep last night.  I went to bed at 12 and woke up at 7.  I didn't need to be up until 8:30, but instead of going back to sleep I got up and prepared for the day instead of getting half-way into a sleep cycle before my alarm went off.  Helped out a lot.

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September 24th, 2009 - Day 3 - Arms
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1.  Close Grip Incline Bench Press:  95X8, 95X8, 95X6, 95X3
2.  Barbell Preacher Curls:  25X6, 25X4, 20X6, 20X4
3.  Dumbbell Skullcrushers (Hammer Grip):  15X10, 15X10, 20X6, 20X6, 25X4
4.  Standing Rope Curls:  40X10, 40X10, 60X8, 60X6, 85X3
5.  Wrist Curls:  15X10, 15X10, 20X8, 20X8, 25X6, 25X4
6.  Reverse Grip Curls:  30X10, 30X10, 50X8, 50X6, 50X4
7.  Bike:  12 Minutes, 92 Cal

Another bad day.  Next week I'm going to up my protein intake to speed up muscle recovery and I'm probably going to munch on more food in the morning before workouts.  It's frustrating because I've been making gains in some areas and I seem to be loosing in others.  I think this is because my body isn't too impressed with going 4 or 5 times in a row.  All through August I would throw in days off inbetween some workouts.  Usually did Chest, dayoff, legs, arms, day off, circuit, day off... Or something close to that.  But this week and last I've been going 4 days in a row.  I'm hoping if I speed up the muscle recovery time, I can get over this hump by October.  We'll see.  I'd rather not have to mess with my schedule.

Oh well.  Tomorrow is circuit day.  Should kick my ass, but it's always fun.

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Random Thoughts
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I've been on here a lot lately reading as much as I can.  I'm beginning to wonder exactly why I want to be in the Army, and the Infantry of all things.  I'm not some sort of junkie for hardwork or war.  I'm sure most people in the Army feel the same as myself in that regard.  I do know that I'm getting sick of this constant grind of day-to-day life.  I think about my future and I don't see myself doing the same monotonous stuff I see my parents doing.  I'm already sick of school and what that brings.  Is the Army the fix to my boredom?  I don't know, but that's not my reason to join the army --- I don't want a boredom fix.

I really just want to do something that matters.  I want to be apart of something.  A team.  I take a lot for granted, and I want to just give back.  I believe in fighting for my country, fighting for other people, and helping in whatever way we can in whatever situation we're thrust into.  A lot of people don't like that we spend money and resources to fight "other people's" battles.  I don't agree with that sentiment in the least.  I suppose that's because I don't look at it is fighting anothers battle, it's more so that we're helping a good cause...  The right to freedom and human rights of all individuals in the world.  Enforcing that equality, and that peace is something I feel is important.  I want to do that.  I want this to be my career.

Some people I know are question my ability to take orders, or that I'd not be able to handle being told what to do --- especially if it's a stupid request.  I thought about that, but it doesn't seem like something that would bother me.  I'll admit, I'm a twenty year old who sometimes says too much or who thinks a little too highly of his opinion, but at the end of the day I've always respected my superiors.  On top of that, things like BMQ don't scare me because I know it's a game.  What seems stupid on the outside is really, for all intents and purposes, a special task handed down by someone above me.  I can be thickheaded, but I'm not stupid.  They just want to make sure I'll do whatever's asked of me.  If I can't scrub the shit off my superiors boot, how can I be expected to escort a truck full of refugees?  It just makes sense to me.

Plus there's something romantic in having someone telling you exactly what you need to be doing, and having my response be to do that job as perfectly as possible.  Or so it seems to me.

 

[chrome1967]

"Plus there's something romantic in having someone telling you exactly what you need to be doing, and having my response be to do that job as perfectly as possible.  Or so it seems to me."

Maybe you should just get married.  :nod:

 

[owa]

"Plus there's something romantic in having someone telling you exactly what you need to be doing, and having my response be to do that job as perfectly as possible.  Or so it seems to me."

Maybe you should just get married.  :nod:

Heh.  I have no intentions of ever starting a family

 

[Lavitz]

One thing I would recommend is to drink chocolate milk within 30 minutes after your workout; "It has double the carbohydrate and protein content, perfect for replenishing tired muscles. Its high water content replaces fluids lost as sweat, preventing dehydration. Plus it packs a nutritional bonus of calcium, and includes just a little sodium and sugar -- additives that help recovering athletes retain water and regain energy."

Source: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/superfoods/chocolate-milk-after-workout/

 

[MrJimi]

Good on you for striving to be healthy for BMQ. From what I can see, it looks to me that you're in  great shape already considering what you're able to lift. Have you considered more cardio and less strength? I say this because it is my understanding that a quick recovery time is crucial to success at BMQ, and the longer and more sustained cardio you can achieve, the less time your heart takes to get back to a resting rate. How is your endurance with running?

BTW, my wife is from PEI, love the place. One of the friendliest spots in the country.

MrJimi

 

[owa]

Good on you for striving to be healthy for BMQ. From what I can see, it looks to me that you're in  great shape already considering what you're able to lift. Have you considered more cardio and less strength? I say this because it is my understanding that a quick recovery time is crucial to success at BMQ, and the longer and more sustained cardio you can achieve, the less time your heart takes to get back to a resting rate. How is your endurance with running?

BTW, my wife is from PEI, love the place. One of the friendliest spots in the country.

MrJimi

Yeah, I plan on hitting cardio at some point so that I can handle the challenges of BMQ's more endurance based tasks.  I figure I have at least seven months to get in prime shape.  My goal right now is strictly weight loss while building a base for bigger lifts and cardiovascular stuff.  I'm not looking to get huge, so no worries ;D

The hope is that I'll shed 20-30 pounds.  Have some muscle on me, and then be able to hit the cardio side of things more effectively than if I can right now.  My running, surprisingly (at least to me haha), isn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I was going for nighttime jogs periodically through the summer, so I was pleased and I don't feel far off from being able to meet all running standards for BMQ...  But hopefully I won't just meet standards...  I'll actually surpass them by a lot.

I hate relying on my weight to determine things, so I only weigh myself once in awhile.  I'll probably weigh myself Monday morning, and then not again until sometime at the end of October...  It's a mental thing.  Gives me a bigger boost if I go, "Hey, last time I checked this it said X, but not it says Y, that's such a huge loss!" I'm sucker for gimmicks!

I'm glad you enjoyed PEI.  It's a beautiful place during the summer, and I'm an Islander at heart, but I'm getting a little tired of the place at the moment.  Lots of nice people though!  You couldn't have picked a better place to find a wife 

Lavitz:

I might try that.  I usually drop down to the meal hall for a post-workout meal and they've got Choc. Milk, so I might grab some!  Thanks for the tip.

But time for bed.  Gotta do a circuit tomorrow after my classes.  Then it's off to taking care of hellions at a Youth Center, haha.

 

[Dante_Of_Canada]

Do some weight lifting with your triceps, it'll help get your push up count higher, me too at first I was maxed out at 20 , but recently I've come to learn it all mental, if you think you are tired, you might not be tired at all, just keep going down till you actually cant lift at all, also, screaming while pushing up can also help.  Im doing 30 max rep (which I will try to max at 35 in the upcoming day) but not all at once, I do 20 one shot, then 10 more very slowly but surely.
Now I can do 20 no problemo. Im planning on trying 25 non stop, then go till 35 by taking my time keeping proper form.

I honestly have to say, I don't do much of a huge workout, my workout consist of push ups and side plank + abs + jogging 3 times a week + 4 weight lifting exercise( biceps curl, concentration curl, triceps , shoulder) , Im thinking of getting a chin up bar so I can get better biceps + lat for my back.
Only thing that has me worried is my vision, I don't know if Im v3 or v4, if Im v4, my choice of artillery will be screwed up.

Anywho, I suggest you apply 3-5 months before April 2010, because it takes 3 months minimum according to a recruiter in Calgary to do the Apt test/ medical/ interview + backcheck.

Also, considering you still have plenty of time to train, you should eat healthy + good sleeping habit to maximize your  results.

Cheers! And best of luck!

 

[Dante_Of_Canada]

Sorry for double post, but you could also try this, do max push up you can do in CF form, then go wider and do a couple more, and go wider and more push ups till you can't at all.

 

[AndyRad]

@ dante (no means to hijack owa) i never thought of that for pushups... ill try that. good luck to you owa on your joining

 

[owa]

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October 1st, 2009 Entry
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Sorry about a lack of entries.  I've been sick for about 5 days now.  It's been rough.  I started feeling better today, but I've got a splitting headache.  Just trying to recover fully before I start hitting the gym again.  It has been seriously brutal.

On the brightside, I weight myself on Monday and I was down to 192.  I was 205-207 in the beginning of August, so I'm pretty pleased with that.

I will weigh myself on the morning of Halloween.

I would LOVE to be down to 180 haha, but being below 190 will be good enough!

I was severly disappointed because when I got the good news, I really wanted to get back to the gym and hit it hard for four or five weeks before I weighed myself again.  Now, I lose a week, but it's a marathon, not a sprint, so no big deal.

 

[owa]

I haven't updated in awhile, and I apologize.  I was worrying about papers and exams for the last three weeks, and the work load doesn't get any easier from here, but I thought I should provide some updates!

I was going to weigh myself on October 31st, but I got sick a week leading up to that and didn't do the types of things I would have liked to have done.  Because of this, I decided I was wait until the end of November to check my weight.  Plus it gives me something to shoot for; which helped last month, so it'll help again.

For those wanting to know about my diet up until this point it's pretty simple and pretty standard:

Breakfast:
- Coffee
- Three Eggs
- Two Pieces of Toast
- An Orange

Snack:
- A Banana
- Protein Shake

After Gym:
- Protein Shake
- An Apple

Supper:
- Whatever the Mom cooks.  I tend to avoid eating carbs as much as possible at this point.  So if she makes potatoes, depending on how hungry I am, I'll eat a little bit or I'll avoid it altogether and stick with the veggies and the meat.

Snack:
- Protein Shake
- If I'm still hungry I'll sometimes make a sandwich (this is a bad habit haha).

Pretty simple.  I only drink water, diet pop, and a cup of coffee (sometimes two). Uh, I still drink beer on the weekends.  I usually have somewhat of a cheat day on a weekend.  It's not the cleanest diet, but it works for me, and I'm okay with losing at a slower rate.  Ideally I'd like to lose 4-5 pounds a month between now and April.  Seems pretty doable in my opinion.

I'm really starting to look forward to this whole Canadian Forces thing.  I have a buddy doing Officer Training, another who's in the Navy (just got back from Vancouver), and another who is working with the reserves until they can send him to BMQ after this year at University (they wanted him to do weekend BMQ, but he was really adament about doing it all in one swing).  Anyway, the point about all of it was that they're having a lot of fun.  They're really pleased that they decided to take this route, and it's true that only one of'em is in the combat arms (the guy doing Officer Training is training for the Combat Engineer trade), but they all said that it's rewarding with good pay and you learn a lot.  They're all very enthusastic about their jobs.  I think my excitement will translate to the exact samething.

Wanna see something hilarious?

I crap you not, this is me on October 31st at the Halloween pub:

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs069.snc3/13655_170173086236_515601236_3281584_7817652_n.jpg

This is me November 2nd:

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs049.snc3/13655_170831651236_515601236_3290304_7637663_n.jpg

I've had long hair since grade 8.  I'm in my 3rd year at University (to put things in perspective).  Went for the white trash mohawk.  Haha.

I'll update more later when I have time!

EDIT:

That's actually a lie.  I know another girl in the Navy who is working over in Halifax.  She digs it too.  Although, if I remember correctly, she said she was the only girl (probably an exageration) and that was sort of disappointing for her!

 

[Dean22]

Looks good, the only thing I would suggest is changing the three eggs a day thing.

Change the three eggs to maybe two unbroken eggs or maybe three egg whites. Unbroken eggs actually have far less cholesterol in them because of the way they are processed in the body.

The recommended cholesterol intake of a human per day is 200mg. Each egg is 200mg so three eggs is about 600mg.

I am not trying to say your diet is wrong, it could be working for you but once I changed my eating habits about eggs I noticed the difference personally.

 

[owa]

Looks good, the only thing I would suggest is changing the three eggs a day thing.

Change the three eggs to maybe two unbroken eggs or maybe three egg whites. Unbroken eggs actually have far less cholesterol in them because of the way they are processed in the body.

The recommended cholesterol intake of a human per day is 200mg. Each egg is 200mg so three eggs is about 600mg.

I am not trying to say your diet is wrong, it could be working for you but once I changed my eating habits about eggs I noticed the difference personally.

It's something I'll consider.  I find my breakfast really helps me get through rough mornings, so it's tough to change it.  Plus, the protein and energy they give me is just fantastic.  I'll look for some alternatives as far as morning food is concerned (see I want to avoid too many carbs, so it's tough to find good alternatives).

But thanks for the tip.  I'll see what types of changes I can make so that I eat eggs less often.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

Eggs are ok, seperate the throw out all but 1 of the yokes.  That is where all the crap is.  Keep the protein (whites).

:2c: