You know how you normally count your reps when you do pushups or squats or whatever exercise? Yeah, well get ready to make some adjustments. The way you count reps during the Coast Guard Boot Camp workout (for both Morning PT and IT) is a bit different than your regular 1, 2, 3, 4…
This lesson is very closely related to Chapter 7 in the Coast Guard Boot Camp Survival Guide called “Saying Numbers Properly”. In Coast Guard Boot Camp you will always preface single digit numbers (i.e. – 1 through 9) with zero when saying them. So if you have 5 minutes to accomplish a task, it’s ZERO FIVE minutes. If you want 2 biscuits to go with your breakfast, it’s ZERO TWO biscuits. You get the idea. The ONLY exception to this is when you’re counting the cadence for certain exercises. Let me give you an example using cadence push-ups so you have a better idea of how it works.
First of all, cadence push-ups are a lot harder than regular push-ups because you can’t fly through them. You have to do them at the same pace as you are calling the cadence. The fact that you have to yell the cadence prevents you from being able to do it fast.
It works like this:
You start in the normal push-up position.
Step 1: You lower yourself and at the bottom you pause and yell “ONE!”.
Step 2: Push yourself back up, pause, and yell “TWO!”.
Step 3: Then lower yourself again, pause, and yell “THREE!”.
Step 4: Then push yourself back up, pause, and yell “ZERO ONE!”.
That’s considered “one rep”. For the next “rep” you would repeat these steps exactly, except on Step 4 you would yell “ZERO TWO”. Repeat again, and on Step 4 yell “ZERO THREE”, and so on.
So in the above example the cadence was the “one, two, three” part. For the actual rep, you have to say the zero before the number – just like you see in Step 4 above.
In all other situations while in Cape May, when you are counting it is always “ZERO ONE, ZERO TWO, ZERO THREE, etc”. There are all sorts of other rules about how to say numbers correctly. This is why I strongly suggest reading Chapter 7 (properly stated as ZERO SEVEN) of the Coast Guard Boot Camp Survival Guide so that you can learn it before hand.
For the actual Physical Fitness Test (PFT), you will not have to count your reps out loud. The instructors will have a little counter device that they use to count your reps, but for everyday purposes you will have to sound-off each and every rep that you do. Sounding-off means that you’re NOT simply going to count your reps in a nice, calm voice. You are going to yell them. The Company Commanders will give you more respect if you yell loud enough where they’ll hear your voice over everyone else’s.
Why is this important to know?
The reason is because when you have to scream every single rep that you do on whatever exercise that you’re doing, that makes the exercise that much harder. When you are using your muscles during exercise, particularly during exercise that tests your muscle endurance, those muscles require your heart to pump lots of oxygen-rich blood to them to function. Guess what your body is getting less of when you are forcefully yelling out every single rep? If you guessed oxygen, you’d be correct.
When you’re yelling, you’re not only taking less breaths, but the oxygen from the air is spending less time in your lungs for your body to absorb it. On top of that, you also use your core muscles when you yell that hard. Keep in mind that you will be severly sleep deprived all the time too.
In other words you’re going to burn out a lot faster than you would if you were training at home.
The moral of the story is this: You need to be over-prepared for everything because once you get there, whatever reps you are putting up will go down in number. The yelling of each rep combined with the sleep deprivation and stress will cause you to fatigue much faster. If you can only do the bare minimum (or worse) before you leave for Cape May, then you will be absolutely miserable. Not just a little bit miserable, but VERY miserable. Remember that. Listen to what I tell you!
One last thing I also want to mention is that the Company Commanders evaluate you as a whole. They want a recruit that’s both physically and mentally strong and once they learn your weaknesses they will punish you until those weaknesses are eliminated. In practical terms, this means that if you don’t download and study the information in the Coast Guard Boot Camp Survival Guide then prepare yourself for LOTS of incentive training. My strong advice to you is to show up both mentally and physically prepared by using the Coast Guard Boot Camp Survival Guide and getting your custom 8-week workout program.
You can get a copy of the Coast Guard Boot Camp Fitness Success Program after you purchase the Survival Guide. You can also check out some more FREE lessons on Coast Guard Boot Camp Training by using the site menu at the top of the page. There are all sorts of topics to read about, ranging from swimming in Coast Guard Basic Training to understanding what failing in Coast Guard Boot Camp really means. Read them all so you show up ready on day ZERO ONE.
Oh, and if you found this article helpful, please consider spreading the love with others who you think would benefit from it.
As always, thank you for your support.
Show Up With The Knowledge
Show Up
With The Knowledge