Marine Corps Workout Tips

If you want the body of a Recon Marine without the boot camp, pre-dawn wake-up calls, and the imminent possibility of going into a combat zone, incorporate the following elements of a U.S. Marine Corps workout regimen into your training program. In the process, plow past exercise plateaus and achieve a strong, sculpted physique with intervals, core, circuit and plyometric training.

Interval Training

Whether in training or in combat, Marines run several miles a day, and they're not plodding away on a treadmill either. Bret Paquette, a Reconnaissance Marine who served in Iraq and now works as a personal trainer in Scottsdale, Arizona advises people to get outside and run in generally hilly areas, which provide a natural interval training program without pressing any buttons to adjust the speed or incline. Up the ante of these runs by spontaneously dropping down and doing 20 push ups, pull ups on a tree branch or crunches. Even without a drill sergeant barking orders, this type of training shocks your body into new levels of fitness. "Working out is supposed to be a challenge, not a familiar routine," says Paquette.

Core

Stabilize your whole body with the mark of a Marine physique: a solid core. It provides a median between a strong upper and powerful lower body. Challenge your core by changing your abdominal exercises weekly. If you do the same uninspired ab routine (read: crunches) all the time, you'll get the same uninspiring results. So change it up with exercises that target all of the abdominal and spinal erector muscles.

Circuit Training

"In combat there are no breaks," Paquette says. To get the body of a Marine, don't take any either, particularly in the weight room. Instead of resting after each set, move to another exercise station. Aim for no more than three seconds between stations. After completing the first set of exercises, repeat. This allows individual muscles sufficient recovery time but maintains an elevated heart rate for fat burning benefits.

Explosive Movements

Marine exercise regimens build strength and power by doing full-body, explosive movements. Incorporate this into your workouts with plyometric training, which stretches a muscle before performing a jump, as seen in squat thrusts. However, to prevent injury, The American Council on Exercise recommends performing plyometric jumps only if you possess strong athletic conditioning and have a relatively-soft landing surface, such as grass, gym mats or a hardwood floor.