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Thank you to SSgt Seitz from OST Denver for this motivating guest post! In the Denver area and curious about opportunities with the US Marine Corps? Reach out to the team to learn more! Why is so much emphasis placed on physical fitness in the Marine Corps? If leadership is 50% of your grade at OCS, why should it matter if you can run 3 … Continue reading Why Candidates Must Show Leadership in Their Physical Fitness
Candidate Question I’m looking for specific goals to train for OCS. Not the minimum benchmarks  or averages, but high goals which would prepare me fully for the physical challenges at OCS. Specifically things like How many pull-ups should I be able to do to excel and not worry? Push-ups? Planks? Run 3 miles? 1 mile? CFT score? Bench? Curl? And any other areas you feel … Continue reading Specific OCS Physical Fitness Goals for the Overachiever
Tactical Strength and Conditioning (TSAC) Conference The National Strength and Conditioning organization’s TSAC Program is an educational program designed specifically to optimize mission/job performance for tactical athletes and tactical facilitators. Dr. William Kraemer, PhD, CSCS,*D, FNSCA, and Tunde Szivak, MA, presented at the 2013 TSAC Conference on the integration of women into the world of modern war fighting, and discussed their physiology and social/psychology. Click for … Continue reading Female Tactical Fitness Lecture: “Integration of Women into the World of Modern Warfighter”
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
