Last second strength gains (Page 2)

ideal for the situation, but I have a 1mi sprint in quick succession and I don't think I'd be able to break my record on my hands.

I think this was my problem last time; I fully extended back down and it was impossible to get back up. I'll do a set tonight and tomorrow morning and take really good care of my arms/back 'til test day.

Thanks everyone for the helpful execution tips.

OK let's assume you do knock out the 4.  Are you ready for the physical demand that are going to come soon after this?  I assume you will be entering WP soon after the test?

Those 4 pullups will look like a walk in the park...

(Really, this is the minimum?  4 pullups... wow...)

Don't over think it.  If I read correctly I think you said you can already do 3.

I think it's mental.  Just do it.  Do 4 pullups and walk out like you own the place.  And don't stop...you're talking 10 seconds of physical exertion.  You can beat this mentally.  Get plenty of rest, eat well, stay hydrated and you'll do it.

BTW I went through that West Point deal but never got a congressional nomination, only an alternate.  But enjoyed the process and its beautiful up there!  Ended up in ROTC.

Assuming all goes well, I'd be leaving in June. Yes, 4 pullups is the minimum. I've done field training exercises, rucks, climbs and all sorts of agility stuff that Army would have you do. It wouldn't be enough for Ranger school or something difficult like that, but it's more than enough for basic. You don't get tested for pull-ups once you pass the fitness assessment, from what I understand, and I've always been able to compensate with my other skills & muscle strengths. Running & physical endurance is the limiter for MOST candidates, but those conditions are a walk in the park for most of us running around on these forums.

Push-ups, abdominals, sprints, running, all are well above average. Its just pull-ups I fail at :P

Increase the minimum any more and you'd be cutting out finely chiseled Greek machines like myself. Honestly though I've been jealous of the guys who can pop out 6, 8, 12+ without even working that hard for it. Lots of track & field guys as well as football and basketball people were generally the top players here..

We're talking about officer material here... that may be setting the bar high

Ha! 

So you have to sprint 1 mile right after the pull ups? You may wish to skip the supplement. That stuff will get your heart rate going nuts if you do cardio. It is only meant to be taken before lifting, not cardio. I don't take it unless I know I will only be lifting. And then I don't take it if I want to sleep in the next 4 hours.

If you think you need to take it to get to 4 try taking it tomorrow and then running to make sure it isn't going to give you an infarction. 

Rest until the test.  Then show some mental discipline and make your minimum number of pull ups and then some.     Overcoming adversity and performing well with  less than perfect conditions is the mark of a quality soldier. 

There's no drug testing, I've taken the CFA a few times before. I'm not worried about the run, a 6:30 isn't hard to pull off.

Definitely resting and eating extremely clean. I have two minutes to do the pull-ups, but after I knock out 3 or 4 I've had a hard time just hanging on (metal bar, my hands get sweaty). Plan to counter that is putting some antiperspirant on my hands. Would hanging on the bar allow my muscles enough recovery to do another pullup?

There's no supplement that will help you.  I'm not sure what CFA is, but it's not going to make a difference. Your issue isn't an energy system problem.  Well, theoretically, Creatine could help in that it helps muscle recovery, but you don't have enough time to load up.

Are you allowed to come off the bar during that two minutes?  If so, then it's a cake walk. Two minutes is a LOOOONG time to do four.   

Hanging will keep some of the muscles engaged, so it's only going to be of marginal help, but yes, it will allow some resting.  You'd likely be better served trying to keep some kind of momentum and just bust the four out right off the bat.  Use the methods described earlier about trying to feel which muscle group you're wanting active to be pulling with.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd skip the antiperspirant.... if anything, it'd probably be like putting a lubricant on your hands and make it harder to hold on.  The issue with holding on isn't the sweat, it's weak forearms.

As for form, watch this. Skip ahead to 1:20 and start watching.

It's not just you - antiperspirant sounds like a really bad idea for the reason you stated. 

Haha chalk on the hands is what you want. 

I wish we were allowed to get off the bar. I'd be able to max the score (18) if we could do that. No, its definitely sweat. My hands drip. Its like putting baby oil on your hands  chalk is definitely something to look if its okay. The anti perspirant is a dry one and I've done it before in the past and its helped loads.

CFA = candidate fitness assessment.

Good job!

What's the basketball throw for?  Knocking Al Qaeda off of monkey bars? 

I've wondered that myself. It's written down to be to test the ability to "Generate shoulder girdle power and total body coordination from a stationary position" since you have to be kneeling. Seriously though, I think your explanation makes more sense :P

Congrats! Glad you passed!

Well done.  Let us know if you get accepted. 

First, congratulations on passing your test.

That being said, you really did dodge a bullet by barely managing to only do the minimum. 

I attended Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School at Pensacola way back in 1975.  The biggest disqualifier back then was, you guessed it, pull-ups.  We all did an In-PT test when we first reported: pull-ups, sit-ups, 1.5 mile run, swim test, obstacle course, etc. If you were sub-PT in any area, then you did extra work on that specific exercise for an hour every afternoon until you could pass the test while everyone else enjoyed a bit of "free" time.  All this was done under the close supervision of student officers. In other words, if you couldn't do your pull-ups, then you got to practice them for an hour straight in the Florida sun every afternoon with a guy screaming in your face the entire time.

You still had to pass an Out-PT test at the end of the program, but being able to meet the requirements at the start made your life a lot more pleasant.

As trmat79 alluded to, keep in mind that it's not just being tested against a minimum standard, you're continually competing against your fellow classmates.  Every week we had a peer vote where you had to rate the top three and bottom three candidates in your class, with the results posted.  Being in the bottom three was not where you wanted to be.

For me, the run was the biggest challenge.  I made the time by two seconds during my In-PT test and then puked for about five minutes, until it was time for our class to run in formation over to the obstacle course and run that.

A military career can be very rewarding, but it is also a difficult and very demanding one.   

Best advice I can offer is to start working on your pull-ups or any other weaknesses you may have.

Good luck in the selection process.  I appreciate your desire to serve.

Mark

PS - FWIW, I had a lot of upper body strength from football and wrestling and was able to do 10 pull-ups.  As I recall, 8-10 was about average for our class.  We had to use strict form, which meant going all the way down to a dead hang.  My one claim to fame was that I was able to do the most push-ups in our class: 97, but I still caught flak because most classes had at least one guy who could break 100.