Good to know @MarkKO and I aren’t the only ones on here
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Friday 28th April
Leg Day
Back Squats
20kg x 10
40kg x 3
60kg x 3
75kg 3x3 - 1 second pause in the hole
Front Squats
60kg 3x5 - normal stance/wide stance/narrow stance. All reps done slowly with 1 second pause in the hole.
Seated Calf raises (superset standing Calf raises)
37.5kg 3x20 (80kg 3x10)
37.5kg x failure (80kg x failure dropset 40kg x failure)
Ab roll-out 3x10
5kg medicine ball russian twists 3x50
1st leg day in awhile that I didn’t feel like I was going to die at the end! The lower volume 3x3 was a bit of a tester for future workouts when I will only have time for 1 full body BB workout a week. Pausing in the hole gave me confidence so I will probably keep doing it that way for awhile.
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Saturday 29th April
RAAF Test
My score (RAAF entry level standard)
Beep test - 10.4 (7.5)
Full ROM chin-up - 11 (n/a)
Flexed arm hang - 24 seconds (30 seconds)
Push-ups - 41 (25)
Feet held set-ups - 46 (60)
2.4km run - test tomorrow (12minutes)
It is about 3 months before I go for my psych test/Job interview/physical examination (due in August) for the Australian Air Force. I’m not entirely sure how long after that I will be required to pass a fitness test with the numbers in brackets above but I am making sure that I am well prepared.
My Beep test and Push-ups are well above the standard and it will be interesting how I do in the 2.4km jog tomorrow. Sit-ups are a weak point for me but I’m sure I will be able to build them up quite well.
As I am already around the level required, I will continue to do a full body barbell session once a week. This is to maintain my mass and also for enjoyment and sanity reasons.
Building up a decent jogging/aerobic fitness I feel will be one of the harder obstacles to overcome in the next few months. I will slowly build myself up to a good level to acclimatise my body.
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Sunday 30th April
RAAF Test
2.4km run - 12.31min (12min)
The run this morning was not easy. I remember now why I dislike running… But Ive got to get better at it so just gotta suck it up!
I have a general plan of my next 3 months of training. A large focus on running (duh) and also bodyweight movements. The 1st month is a bit of a tester to see how I respond to the running, I’m already feeling it in my calves and Achilles tendon so a slow and steady approach is much needed.
Month 1
Monday
2.4km run (untimed)
Push-ups 2xY
Sit-ups 2xY
Tuesday
Gym Conditioning - KB Swings, Goblet Squats, Ab work, chin-ups
Wednesday
Rucking (light weight, low mileage)
Push-ups 2xY
Sit-ups 2xY
Thursday
Off/recovery
Friday
Hill Sprints
Push-ups 2xY
Sit-ups 2xY
Saturday
Barbell Workout
Sunday
Off/recovery
Y = starting at 20reps, increasing by 1 rep each time performed.
Barbell Workout
Squats 3x3 (paused in hole)
Deadlift 3x3 one week heavy 3x5 one week lighter
OH Press 3x8
Pendlay Rows 3x8
Chin-ups 3x5
Squats superset with lateral raises
OH Press superset with inverted rows
Progression on lifts as per feeling / performance
And that’s the plan! Im looking around to try and get a pull-up bar for home so I can do them more often but I think for the 1st month this will be fine.
I will do another full RAAF Test at the end on May to evaluate.
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Monday 1st May
Gym Conditioning
Bike Lv6 80rpm x 3minute
16kg kettlebell goblet squats x 20
16kg kettlebell swings x 20
Hanging Leg raises x 20
Chin-ups x 6
Did this circuit 3 times
Bike lv6 80rpm x 3minute
So as is typical when I make a plan, things usually go a awry straight away. This weekend I am going down to NSW for my sisters bday part on Friday. I’m leaving straight after work so that means moving my training days back 1day and not having a rest day on Thursday. Oh well!
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Tuesday 2nd May
Rucking
10kg bag for 20min
Push-ups 20x2
Sit-ups 20x2
Single leg raises 20x2
Exhausted after hedge pruning for 2.5hours in the arvo so I just went for a quick walk. Im so not motivated to do walking or running… Give me the gym any day. Oh well gotta do these things.
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Wednesday 3rd May
Barbell Workout
Back Squat
20kg x 5
40kg x 5
60kg x 5
77.5kg 3x3 - paused in the hole. All squat sets superset with lateral raises 6kg x 10 for a total of 50reps.
Deadlift
60kg x 5
112.5 x 5 - was meant to be 107.5kg! No wonder it felt bloody heavy. I stripped off 2.5kg and continued
110kg 2x5 - felt heavy. Nearly failed the last rep.
Standing OH Press
20kg x 8
35kg 3x8
Pendlay Rows
57.5kg x 8 - sloppy
55kg x 8 - still sloppy
50kg x 8 - much nicer
Loved the workout with the bar! Didn’t leave the squat rack for the whole hour. Having 4 taxing compound movements wasnt easy though. By the time I got to Pendlay Rows, I was exhausted. Oh almost forgot, I had to sit down at the end to catch my breath so I did a few curls.
12.5kg 2x20
There is no way I can put weight on all the movements each week doing it this way, but that’s why I love doing experiments like this. I don’t need to get X strong by next month or massive by Christmas. It’s all a learning curve 
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What you could do is leave out DL or squat on alternate days. You can never row enough.
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I definitely won’t get rid of my rows. Especially with the volume of Push-ups I am doing in prep for the RAAF. I think the heavier than expected deads took its toll. I also did standing Press instead of seated which is a bit more taxing.
I’ll keep this for the next few weeks and reassess. I may have to go back to deadlifting once a fortnight though (damn!).
What not do what you did twice a week, one day with squats and one with DL? You could also have one day where you do Pendlay rows and one where you do plain BB rows for higher reps.
If I had it my way that is exactly what I would do. Unfortunately ADF training doesn’t care If I can Deadlift 140kg. They do care if I can’t run every day for the duration of the training though.
I have the rest of my lift to battle the iron, but I only have a certain amount of time before I go down to Victoria. I have to prioritise running and Rucking over squats and deads 
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How long is basic at Wagga? It’s something like right weeks isn’t it?
12 and a half weeks. Than profession training is about 6months after that. I’m going into a combat role so I need to be more fit than most. I’m so keen to get out of my rut!
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ADG? I hear their training is close to what the snipers and SASR do.
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Very wise indeed, focus on your current goal and specialise your training based on that. Plenty of time later to do other things as you say. Good luck with it.
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Yeah the training is pretty full on from what I’ve heard. It’s done up here at Amberley so it’s not too far from home.
Last year I wanted to go in as an air defence officer. They weren’t so keen. I have had leadership experience in the past but not ‘officially’. The last 6months or so I have been in a more managerial role and it has made me realise that I would prefer to be one of the boys and not the boss.
Advanced combat training is one of the major reasons I am signing up. Guess I never grew out of wanting to be an international badass one day hahaha
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I don’t like to have ‘weak link’s’ but in my pursuit of mass and the enevitable love afar with the barbell, I have let my aerobic fitness suffer! Gotta get it back now. Unlike being big and strong, being quick and endurance-y comes pretty natural to me, so it shouldn’t be too tough!
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Thursday 4th May
Hill Sprints
3x200m sprint/jog intervals @ 90%
Sit-ups 2x21
Push-ups 2x21
Single leg raises 2x21
Last workout before I go down south for the weekend. The Sprints felt good but I feel a bit gumby doing them. It’s been years since I’ve really done any sprinting so it should be good for me. I left the house without anything. No phone, wallet or keys… Felt a bit odd but somehow free!
Monday 8th May
Rained Out!
Was meant to go for a run but consistent rain has made that annoyingly convenient to call it off 
So I instead made my usual situp/push-up/glute-up a bit longer and tougher with the introduction of my Esky (chillybin for you kiwis)!
Sit-ups 3x23
Feet elevated push-ups 2x23 (Push-ups 1x23)
Feet elevated single leg raises 2x5 each leg (single leg raises 1x10 each leg)
My 1st 2 sets of sit-ups where feet unheld whereas the last set was feet held.
The esky push-ups where actually quite challenging and worked my upper chest well. I’m a chest dominated presser and it was a good angle to really work my anterior delts.
The leg raises on the esky are more of an isolated hammy movement until the top where I pause in a sort of glute bridge. I never really isolate any of my upper leg musles, tending more to use a full ROM on compounds for overall mass. I really felt the tension in my hamstrings and glad I decided not to put my esky away after the weekend!
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Tuesday 9th May
2.4km run
Its the same place I ran my ‘test’ basically a small neighbourhood square that I mapped out on google maps to be 2.7km around it. There is a convenient street at exactly 2.4km.
I have a weird relationship with running. I used to be a distance runner and soccer (football) player (Left Wing) and found it easy when I was younger.
Now I find it difficult to get out the door. Unlike gym, which I normally have to slow down to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything! Once I start jogging to the start of the neighbour block it’s pleasant enough, but between 500m and about 1.5km it’s a real struggle and grind. I feel like stopping (not aloud to stop) but the weird thing is
It’s downhill!!
Once it tapers out and slowly inclines I actually get into a better rhythm and I don’t feel like stopping and usually run home hard despite the Incline.
I’m sweating a heap and glad I went for the run. I think the log is helping. Need to keep up running to make it easier so the added motivation should help!
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