Help with CFA

<p>Hey guys, my CFA loooms ahead and i have a few questions about it. First of all, when should i take it? i was planning on doing it mid-november. Also, i am overweight and the pullups are really killing me(i cant do any!!!)... ive been working out everyday for about 1.5 months, and there has been definite improvement, but is there anything more i can do? i work primarily upper back, arms, chest and shoulders...</p>

<p>do pullups every day all the time, it is the only way to get better at them...i only did four or five last year and apparently that really hurt my application</p>

<p>at marion we have to do ten after every meal and this has helped me out immensely as i am up to 12 or 14 now</p>

<p>haha you see, i would do that, but i cant even do 1 pullup... i can barely move up a few inches... i do lats like crazy tho</p>

<p>Reverse pullups are a good technique to build up strength (hang at the top and slowly let yourself down).</p>

<p>I would recommend to you this page:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/pullups.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/pullups.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The negatives (as in the previous post) and assisted pull-up are probably what you are going to need to do for a while until you can do one or two real pull-ups.</p>

<p>haha i saw that article, that dude is a former navy seal right? thats badass... but still, ive faithfully done that exact regimen along with more workouts for over a month and still no dang improvement... oh wait, i can now pull myself up a few inches, lol but nothing significant.</p>

<p>This may be telling you the obvious, but work on weight reduction as well as strengthening your upper body. Set a weight goal and a schedule for getting there. Then write down what you eat each day and what excercise you do each each day. Compare the two lists and see if you are reducing the "intake" list and increasing the "outtake" list. Go for walks and runs. Get a partner if you can to help you keep motivated.</p>

<p>It will be tough. But you knew that already.</p>

<p>Wish you success and thanks for persuing a career to serve our great country.</p>

<p>hmm yea thanks, well if all ends well, i wanna finish west point, join the 101st airborne for a year or two, then go off to med school. btw, is there an army corps of medics or something? how does that work out if i go to med school after west point?</p>

<p>You should do a lot more research before accepting an appointment, should you get one. There is indeed a Medical Corps, and up to two percent of the graduating class can go on to medical school after graduation from West Point. Good luck getting in shape.</p>

<p>yea, i wanna be a doctor badly, and i wanna be a soldier... thats why i wanna do air assault for a year or so, and then go to med school, if wp lets me do that.</p>

<p>Here's a link to a great training program...</p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Official-Academy-Workout-Fitness-Guides/dp/1578260108/ref=sr_11_1/103-9394776-9689428?ie=UTF8%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.amazon.com/Official-Academy-Workout-Fitness-Guides/dp/1578260108/ref=sr_11_1/103-9394776-9689428?ie=UTF8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I think that West Point Admissions considers pulls ups to be the indicator of upper body strength. It is something they take seriously. I agree with one of the previous posts that weight loss and practice is what it takes. More importantly, it takes time. You are not going to be able to go from no or one pull ups to nine in a two week period. Start now working seriously everyday and by November you should be able to do the nine or so pull ups. Good luck and hang in there...</p>

<p>Went to the mess hall on my knees</p>

<p>I said, “Mess SGT, Mess SGT, feed me please!”</p>

<p>Mess SGT said with a big ol’ grin</p>

<p>“If you wanna be Airborne, you gotta be thin”</p>

<p>put yourself on a high lean protein, low fat diet and the muscles will build and the fat will go away, and then the pullups will start to happen.</p>

<p>the one problem with that is that im vegetarian... so im not too sure what i would be able to eat. However, i try to eat about only 1000 calories everyday, which im hoping should help m lose weight.</p>

<p>NO NO NO NO</p>

<p>all you'll do is end up hurting yourself. that kind of dieting is extremely risky and very bad for you. you'll be too tired to do any sort of effective workout</p>

<p>take a look at this and see if it helps, and if anything, you can look up "high protein vegetarian diet" on google or something </p>

<p><a href="http://www.andrews.edu/NUFS/vegathletes.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.andrews.edu/NUFS/vegathletes.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>also, if you're a vegetarian that eats fish, thats a goooood source of lean protein...if you're not, then nuts/legumes/ that kind of thing will get you the protein you need.</p>

<p>caloric restriction is a bad way to go. your body needs fuel to excersize!</p>

<p>i dunno, ive been doin it for a couple weeks, and its alright so far... plus i workout everyday... that link is pretty sweet tho, ill look at up</p>

<p>oooh also, protein shakes are good for vegetarian diets. if you're milk sensitive they also have soy protein, which I use and love.</p>

<p>ok, 2 things wrong with that.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>dont work out every day. you need to give your muscles time to rest, and on those days they regenerate, rebuild, and repair themselves, building muscle tissue. </p></li>
<li><p>you just said earlier that your current plan <em>wasnt</em> working out so well, so maybe its time to switch things up, add some calories, and do harder workouts with breaks in between</p></li>
</ol>

<p>when i say work out everyday, i do something like an a, b system. on a days, i do arms back and chest. on b i do legs and shoulders. is that still bad?</p>

<p>and i only said that stuff wastn goin well cuz the progress is very slow, i guess im just impatient.</p>

<p>ooooh. hmm. i dont know if thats bad or not. it still seems like you should give yourself a day or two off during the week...but maybe I would just do that because I am lazy. </p>

<p>I'm impatient too, I've been working for months to do 1 pullup, using a weight assisted pullup machine: <a href="http://www.e-weightloss-fitness.com/back_exercises/weightloss_diet_2378.JPG%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.e-weightloss-fitness.com/back_exercises/weightloss_diet_2378.JPG&lt;/a> much like this...</p>

<p>i'm up to only 20 lbs assistance, but its still going slowly. just keep working! you can do it!</p>