Monday, February 8, 2010

Day 1

"Ranger Abs"

This seemingly innocuous title belittles how crushingly difficult this workout was. Although it only took about 15 minutes, it was easily the most difficult core workout I have ever done.

The routine was as follows:

100 Flutterkicks (4 count Ranger style, not the wimpy single count infantry kicks)
100 Leg Raises
100 Scissors
100 Situps
100 Flutterkicks...

...without stopping, as fast as possible. I hit muscle failure halfway through the scissors, took a 2 minute breather, and reached muscle failure again while finishing the flutterkicks. This was the first time in a while that I experienced true muscle failure where I kept pushing until my legs and hip flexors began to spasm.

Needless to say, this ab workout was a serious gut check (no pun intended). On the Army Physical Fitness Test, I have always scored poorest on the situp portion, as my abs are fairly weak compared to my pushup strength and running.

I'll try to conclude each day's blog with a quick update about my weight and nutrition.

Day 1 (Phase 1 Workout) Starting Weight: 158.5 pounds
-Feel good, motivated, trying to get plenty of water and not so much coffee.


-Phil

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Day 1

So Folks - If you're stumbled onto this blog, you're probably wondering what my blog "Road To The Ranger Tab" is. Here it what it is: It is the chronicle of my personal journey towards earning the United States Army's coveted Ranger Tab.

I decided to start the blog and journey on this day because in exactly 4 months from today, I will be done with my first year of teaching at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Four months is the recommended minimum amount of time that Ranger candidates should spend physically and mentally preparing for Ranger School. I should make one thing clear: I am unsure at this point whether I am going to go to Ranger School either this summer or next summer, but I figure either way I need at least 4 months to prepare.

I have a former Navy SEAL mentoring me through this process. The first big "step" he and I are working on is physical preparation. Starting today, I begin my mentor's "Phase 1" workout. This is a 10 week workout program designed to build the very high level of physical fitness needed to pass Ranger School. The "Phase 2" workout will be for the remainder for the 4 months and is designed to help me pass the specialized Ranger School events, like ruck marches, airborne training and the notorious, grueling obstacle course known as the Darby Queen. At least for the next 10 weeks, though, the blog will focus on my trials and tribulations of the Phase 1 workout.

In order to help motivate myself, and share the results of this journey with those following me, I will post workout statistics, pictures, and general musings about how everything is going.

Thanks for following,
Phil