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These 10 military workouts can help soldiers stay strong and ready to perform at optimum levels whenever needed!
There’s no denying that exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle.
And when you’re a soldier or even just a cadet in training, staying fit and healthy is not just a choice — it’s a necessity. To keep everyone’s safety, you must be someone your unit can trust and depend on.
Below, we’ve listed 10 of the best military workouts that can help soldiers stay strong and ready to perform at optimum levels — anytime, anyplace!
Running
Running is one of the simplest exercises a person can do. It boosts your cardiovascular system and strengthens the leg muscles, heart, and lungs.
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The special forces do running exercises a little differently than most. They increase the level of difficulty by wearing weighted backpacks over their shoulders when they run.
To maintain a healthy body, it’s recommended that people run at least 20 to 30 minutes per day. If you’re a beginner, warm up with a 15-minute jog before you proceed to a full running pace.
Forearm Plank
Plank exercises strengthen the abdominal, back, and shoulder muscles — all of which protect the spine. It also helps improve your metabolic rate, posture, and muscle definition.
It’s recommended for beginners to hold a plank for at least 30 seconds.
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To properly do a forearm plank, get down on all fours as if you were going to do a push-up. Lower yourself to your forearms and rest your weight there.
Make sure to keep your chest, abdominal, and thigh muscles activated throughout the entire 30 seconds.
Note: Ensure your body stays straight throughout the duration of the exercise.
Pushups
Movies like to portray this type of exercise as a common punishment in the military, but it’s a great workout that activates the body as a whole. There’s absolutely no need for equipment when you’re doing this workout. Still, it works in different parts of the body, like your thighs, abdomen, triceps, biceps, shoulders, and chest.
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To do a pushup, simply get on your hands and feet. Make sure your arms are positioned exactly below your shoulders.
Slowly lower yourself, careful not to let your chest touch the floor. Push yourself up, making sure that both arms push at the same time.
Repeat 10 – 12 times for 1 set.
Pro tip: For beginners — especially women — you can do this on your knees until you build enough arm strength to finally do it on your toes.
Reverse Lunge
This military exercise works the lower body muscles and makes them leaner and stronger. It activates your core, glutes, and hamstrings. Since this exercise doesn’t put too much pressure on your joints, it’s perfect for people with knee problems/injuries.
To properly perform reverse lunges, stand up straight with both hands on your hips.
Take one big step back with your left leg. Now, lower your hips until your right thigh is parallel to the floor and your right knee is directly over your ankle.
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Note: Make sure your knee is bent at a 90-degree and doesn’t go over your toes.
Return to a standing position and repeat the same steps on the opposite leg.
Chin-Ups
Chin-ups are great for strengthening your biceps, triceps, and upper pectoral muscles. They also make the shoulders firmer and more solid. This is an advanced exercise, so if you’re trying this at home, you need someone to spot you if you’re doing this for the first time.
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To perform chin-ups, simply look for a steady bar where you can hook your palms and hang off. Firmly grasp the bar then pull yourself up and down. Each pair of upward and downward movements is one set.
Beginners can start with as little as 8 to 12 reps for one set.
Crunches
A strong core is important when you’re doing different types of workouts like the military does. Crunches can tone the abdominal muscles and give you more control over your core.
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You can do crunches with your legs straight out in front of you, or you can also do them with bent knees.
Squats
This is another great lower-body exercise that can be performed without any equipment. Squats strengthen the thighs and hamstrings.
To do squats, stand with your feet spread a little wider than your hips and your toes facing forward.
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Drive your hips back, as if you’re trying to sit on a chair. Keep your back straight and your knees bent.
Go as low as you can without falling over and without your knees going past your toes.
Pull yourself back up into a standing position and repeat the movement from the top. Aim for at least 8 to 12 repetitions per set.
Deadlifts
Deadlifts are great for building muscles and burning fat — but only if you do it right. You can do deadlifts with a kettlebell or a regular weighted bar. If you don’t have any of these, a heavy bag can do the trick.
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Learn how to properly perform a deadlift with this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytGaGIn3SjE
Make sure to pull it all the way up to your chin while keeping your legs apart and your back straight. Aim for at least 10 to 12 repetitions per set.
If you want to improve your muscle-building, this guide can help you find the best meats for building muscle and getting lean.
Swimming
Swimming is a highly effective workout that activates the entire body. Besides its cardiovascular benefits and low body impact, it also offers a variety of positive psychological effects to the athlete.
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For Soldiers, swimming can be a great change of pace from their usual physical training routine.
Beginners can start with two laps of any or alternating strokings, keeping an easy pace for a warm-up. You can follow this up with two laps of kickboarding. Once that is over, do five laps of freestyle at a moderate pace.
Note: Be sure to rest in between each lap of freestyle strokes.
Do two more laps of freestyle strokes at an easy pace, followed by two laps of moderate intensity kickboarding.
Rope Climb
Rope climbing is a great full-body exercise that helps increase strength, agility, and coordination. With this exercise, you can expect to improve grip strength, bicep and tricep strength, hand-eye coordination, as well as core, shoulders, and back muscles.
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Here’s how you can properly perform a rope climb:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2jlaDK5wpg
Notes: It’s recommended that people use 1.5″ – 2″ thick manilla rope for climbing exercise.
Try and challenge yourself to climb the rope as fast as you can.
Wrap Up
These are just some of the few military exercises that can help you stay fit and ready for action whenever it’s needed. If you’re looking for more options, there are a plethora of workouts available for you online. See more here to get started.
Best of luck with your drills, soldier!
What about lgbt specific exercises for the americans? Also expect “alien” to become an official gender in the US. Laugh now but it’s on the way…
I think there were at least 1 or 2 in the photos.
I wish i had the time to do exercise, instead i am either working, sleeping, eating, dtinking coffee, or jacking lmao