Behind the Cover: A Marine Corps workout to rival CrossFit
December 12th, 2011 | Behind the Cover Fitness Marines | Posted by Gina Cavallaro
The certified trainers at Semper Fit — the Corps’ in-house health and fitness promotion group you see at the base gyms — have designed a kick-ass workout program that they think will satisfy even the most demanding physical fitness disciple in the Corps.
The program is called High Intensity Tactical Training, or HITT, and it will be ready to go in about three weeks. It’s got a library of more than 600 exercises that have been combined into 60-minute workouts meant to be done three times a week. Marines who took part in the beta test done this past fall are already believers and some say they expect to do much better on their next PFT and CFT because of it.
The Semper Fit trainers are not discouraging the use of programs like CrossFit, but they do have some really good points to make about HITT and the differences between it and commercial workout programs. The story starts on Page 22 in this week’s issue and even has an example of three of the workouts.
Also in this week’s issue you’ll read about new rules for backpacks, Bold Alligator 2012 and there’s a story that will tell you even more about what expect if you get an assignment to Australia.
Maj. Gen. John Toolan loves him some CFT
April 1st, 2011 | Afghanistan Camp Lejeune Combat Fitness Test Fitness General officers Leadership | Posted by Dan Lamothe
As outlined earlier this week, Marines in Afghanistan have a new commander, Maj. Gen. John Toolan. He has taken command from Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, who led troops in Regional Command-Southwest for nearly a year.
Marine Corps Times news editor Tony Lombardo pointed out this photo to me earlier this week. It shows Toolan during a Combat Fitness Test carrying Sgt. Michael Taggart, the noncommissioned officer in charge of II Marine Expeditionary Force’s special security office. It was taken Dec. 10 at Camp Lejeune, N.C., before II MEF (Forward) Marines deployed to Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
Toolan has been in the Corps for nearly 34 years. Y’know, just for anyone complaining about the CFT.
Behind the Cover: Surprise weigh-ins coming this summer
March 14th, 2011 | Behind the Cover Fitness | Posted by James Sanborn
Chubby Marines and lax commanders beware. The commandant of the Marine Corps has you in his sights.
This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story is about the commandant’s plan to crack down on lax enforcement of body composition standards with surprise weigh ins to be conducted by the Marine Corps Investigator General this summer.
Any Marine outside of standards should be in the Marine Corps’ Body Composition Program or Military Appearance Program the commandant has said, but it doesn’t look like that is always the case. While touring the fleet with Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent, he’s seen too many who don’t fit the image of a squared away Marine.
The IGs investigation this summer should reveal just how many out-of-regulation Marines aren’t in one of the remedial programs. The Marine Corps may be the most fit of the services, but there are still plenty of Marines on the heavy side with thousands enrolled in the BCP program every year.
Officials emphasized that there are no changes to regulations in the works. But, the IG said it is possible the commandant could reconsider standards and their enforcement based on the findings of their report.
Read about what to expect in this week’s Marine Corps Times on newsstands now. Or, subscribe here.
Inside a ‘moto run’ with Sgt. Maj. Kent
March 8th, 2011 | Fitness Leadership The Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the Marine Corps' senior enlisted Marine, leads Marines near Stuttgart, Germany, in exercises after a motivational run Tuesday morning. (Photo by Dan Lamothe/Staff)
PANZER KASERNE U.S. ARMY BASE, Germany — Perhaps you’ve heard: Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent likes to run.
The longtime marathoner and senior enlisted adviser in the Marine Corps led Marines with the headquarters of Marine Corps Forces Africa and Marine Corps Forces Europe in a motivational run early Tuesday morning. The pace was pushed to something far quicker than most Marines expected to see in a simple early-morning run.
A group of about 40 Marines and your faithful Marine Corps Times correspondent stepped off at about 6 a.m. from the headquarters aboard this base, which translates in German roughly to “tank base.” That’s what the Nazis used it for during World War II, long before the fall of Adolf Hitler’s regime.
It’s a far different place now. Many of the roads are still cobblestone, but the base has plenty of modern facilities, including a relatively nice PX store. However, that didn’t save them when Kent turned on the juice as Marine running cadences were sung with few interruptions.
“That’s the fastest moto run I’ve ever done,” said one gassed gunnery sergeant after it was over. A few other Marines were escorted into a van after they couldn’t hang with the main pack.
For what it’s worth, I hung in there. As a desk jockey civilian journalist, I was the only one who wasn’t wearing a Marine running suit during the event. I won’t pretend to be ready to dominate a Combat Fitness Test tomorrow, but I had several Marines behind me in the pack and finished in plenty of time to take the photograph you see above.
It’s the small victories, friends. It’s the small victories.
Members of Marine Corps Forces Europe and Marine Corps Forces Africa whip through pushups with Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, the Corps' senior enlisted Marine, after a motivational run Tuesday morning near Stuttgart, Germany. (Photo by Dan Lamothe/Staff)
Sgt. George Lockhart to leave Corps, start MMA gym
January 6th, 2011 | Fitness MCMAP Mixed marital arts | Posted by James Sanborn
Sgt. George “Loaded” Lockhart, one of the Marine Corps’ top martial arts instructors, has said he plans to open a gym this summer with rising UFC star Brian Stann.
Lockhart, who is set to leave the Marine Corps in July, said he and Stann, a former Marine captain and Silver Star recipient, hope to co-manage the gym in Alpharetta, Ga., near Atlanta.
The two of them are both quickly earning names for themselves in the UFC — Stann as the underdog fighter who crushed Chris Leben in a New Year’s Day victory and Lockhart as a diet guru who helps fighters drop weight in the days before their fights.
Lockhart has worked with a handful of fighters including Stann, Jon “Bones” Jones, and may soon help former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans prepare for an attempt to reclaim his title from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua during a May fight.
He has harnessed his notoriety by launching a fitness business called “For Fighters by Fighters.”
While Lockhart has been mostly conditioning fighters, he is no slouch in the octagon himself. He has several professional fights under his belt and was invited to compete on Spike TV’s “The Ultimate fighter.” He was first invited in 2009, but was unable to participate after his request for six weeks of leave for filming was denied. He was invited back in 2010 for the show that will air in 2011, but the Marine Corps has not announced an official decision.
Either way, Lockhart is a man to watch. He is determined to break into the UFC one way or another, he said.
Behind the Cover: MARSOC’s new sales pitch
October 12th, 2010 | Behind the Cover Camp Lejeune Fitness MARSOC Recruiting Training | Posted by Andrew deGrandpre
In this week’s print edition, on newsstands now, staff writer Gina Cavallaro takes readers inside the Corps’ new special operations warm-up course at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Called the Assessment and Selection Preparation and Orientation Course, or ASPOC for short, it represents Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command’s latest effort to curtail a 46 percent attrition rate among Marines looking to become elite critical skills operators. The commandant has challenged MARSOC leadership to cut that rate to 20 percent — a tall order indeed, and one the command is taking very seriously.
This three-week course, conducted at Lejeune’s Stone Bay training facility, eases candidates into the spec ops mindset and incrementally works them up for the rigorous physical demands that accompany MARSOC’s initial screening, and subsequent assessment and selection process. Additionally, participants get ample face time with active-duty operators, who provide detailed glimpses into the spec ops lifestyle.
“You used to come to assessment, you had a few days to check-in, get your things sorted out and then we’d roll you into our screening validation,” Col. James Parrington, commander of the Marine Special Operations School, tells Marine Corps Times. “For an individual who isn’t at his peak level of performance, it would be a shock to the system.”
Parrington and others within the command hope, too, that the course will help erase longstanding apprehension among quality Marines who may feel that making the cut is simply too tough. It is tough, they say, but it’s not impossible. With more focused preparation, MARSOC has identified a means to give CSO candidates the leg up they may need to become the best of the best.
Cavallaro teamed with staff photographer Sheila Vemmer for this assignment, putting boots on the ground at Stone Bay and hanging out — in the rain — with Marines slogging their way through the first ASPOC, which wrapped in early October, and the instructors on hand to coach them. It’s a detailed, gritty look at the new first step to joining MARSOC.
Behind the Cover: Getting ripped with the gunny
September 14th, 2010 | Behind the Cover Fitness | Posted by Dan Lamothe
When Marines are talking, here’s one insult that carries a lot of weight: “Fat body.”
With that in mind, Marine Corps Times offers you up the story of Gunnery Sgt. Ken Young, who cut his body fat percentage from 19.5 percent to 6.8 percent, dropping 30 pounds in the process. And here’s the most impressive part: He did it in 12 weeks, working out 3.5 hours per week.
Gunny Young, 35, offers up his plan in complete detail to fellow staff writer James K. Sanborn. He also offers up the following quote about what led him to take action:
When I graduated from boot camp, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. I loved that I would want into a story and people would ask if I was a Marine. But later, I started to worry when people asked if I was in the Marines or the Army. Finally, when somebody asked if I was in the Air Force, I realized I needed to do something.
A wakeup call? Sounds like it.
Behind the Cover: Changes needed to the CFT?
August 10th, 2010 | Behind the Cover Combat Fitness Test Fitness | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Since it was first introduced in 2008, the Combat Fitness Test has taken its place as a part of Marine Corps life. And while it’s still dreaded by some Marines, an analysis of data released by the Corps shows that high scores are relatively common.
That leads to another dilemma, captured in Marine Corps Times’ print edition this week: Should the Corps make the CFT harder? Marine officials aren’t ruling the idea out.
A full breakdown on how Marines have done on the test so far and what is possible in the future is available on newsstands now.