Blog
Many thanks to a gracious Second Lieutenant at TBS who took part in a Q & A session with us to share advice after his recent graduation from OCS. Feel free to follow up with any questions or comments of your own below! How would you characterize your overall experience at OCS? My experience at OCS was that of an up/down adventure. There are good days, … Continue reading Q&A With a Successful OCS Graduate
Candidate’s Question I’m thinking about doing OCC-R in two years once I finish my bachelors. Problem is that I’m 6’2″ and 258 right now. I know I have plenty of time to fix myself and get in regs so I’m not too worried about that right now. I do have some questions though. 1. What is a suitable replacement for Fartlek right now? I’ll be … Continue reading Armstrong Pullup Program Too Much? Customize It Like This
The Endurance Course is a 2.5 mile obstacle course through the beautiful woods of Quantico. And passing it in a time limit is a mandatory requirement for completing OCS. Check out this superb run-through of the OCS Obstacle Course and Endurance Course by our good friend and fellow Marine Tyler: Here’s how it works: First, candidates run the Obstacle Course (O-Course) in boots and utes … Continue reading The Endurance Course: What You Need to Know
This is a guest post from Chad Howse. Did you wake up with a pumpkin pie-induced hangover this morning, feeling more like a butterball than a man? You’re ready to slough off that tryptophan haze and get yourself moving again. You want to do a full body workout that’s really going to make your muscles burn. But maybe you’re a college student home for the holiday … Continue reading Burn Off That Pie, No Equipment Necessary: The Stair Workout
Warmup (3:00) 2:00 Jogging Ten burpees Five pullups Twenty mountain climbers The Fartlek Workout (15:00) Sprint 60 meters Max set of pushups in 45 seconds, alternate diamond and wide hands every 10 1:00 Run, high-tempo Max set of pullups, alternate palms in and out every 4 pullups 2:00 Run, medium tempo 45 seconds of crunches, 45 seconds of flutterkicks 1:00 lunges Max 1 set of dips … Continue reading The Full Body Twenty Minute Fartlek Workout
Candidate Question: Currently I am accepted for PLC for the first increment of Summer 2013. I’ve been training hard, achieving a 293 pft score, and been training long/short distance Fartleks; so I feel as though I have established a fine base in getting ready for OCS. My question here is when should I lower my training quantity before my ship date approx. in late May? … Continue reading Candidate Q: Need to Taper Workouts Before OCS?
Some of you have expressed an interest in example workouts. A Fartlek is a very simple workout to understand, and is a staple of Marine OCS. Fartleks rock because you can completely tailor it to your own body and needs. Maybe this flexibility leads to analysis paralysis for some? Anyways–get your butt off the couch and try this one out! Each workout station is separated … Continue reading Burn some fat! Try this example no-gym Fartlek workout
Fartlek is a word that translates into “speed play”. The basic concept of this system is to train the body using different intervals of rest and speed. Normal Fartlek sessions tend to consist of about 3 to 4 miles, running about ¼ mile or more then resting before doing it again. The course you are going to familiarize yourself with at OCS is a twisted representation of this concept.
This is a great example of a Fartlek course you can do on your own time in preparation for OCS. Feel free to mix in other exercises found on this site.
The OCS course will consist of running to pre-marked exercise stations along Quantico trails. Each station is marked with a specific exercise and number of repetitions. The repetitions increase as you progress through training. Below is an example of exercises to include in your own Fartlek course, as well as, some recommended distances to space them out.
Each station should have approximately 400m to ½ mile between them. Each exercise should count between 10-20 repetitions.
Box Jumps
Pull -Ups
Crunches
Wide arm push-ups
