This Full-Body Military Fitness Workout Requires a Buddy

Workouts designed for teamwork can be a fun and effective way to push yourself while building camaraderie. This partner workout engages two people in a series of exercises that prepare the body for load-bearing and movement-based activities common in military training, such as log PT, equipment carries, and personnel carries.

Full-body warm-up: Begin by increasing your body temperature and preparing your muscles with a half-pyramid of pull-ups, push-ups and squats. Choose to complete between 5 and 10 warm-up sets. Doing 5 sets totals 15 reps of each exercise; 10 sets totals 55. The structure looks like this:

• 1 squat, 1 push-up, 1 pull-up, jog 50 meters
• 2 squats, 2 push-ups, 2 pull-ups, jog 50 meters
• 3 squats, 3 push-ups, 3 pull-ups, jog 50 meters
• Continue until you reach 5 to 10 reps of each exercise

Perform the following series for as many rounds as is appropriate for your fitness level — aim for 5 to 10 rounds:

• 10 burpees and 10 sandbag thrusters (a squat-to-overhead press) each at the start line
• 50-meter bear crawl, while your partner completes a 50-meter farmer’s walk carrying 40- to 50-pound dumbbells (or kettlebells) in each hand
• Switch roles and return to the start line
• 10 burpees and 10 sandbag thrusters each
• Fireman-carry your partner 50 meters; then your partner carries you 50 meters back
• 10 burpees and 10 sandbag thrusters each
• 50-meter walking lunges: One person lunges while carrying dumbbells to the 50-meter line; the other lunges them back
• 10 burpees and 10 sandbag thrusters each
• 50-meter sled pull, while your partner sprints 150 meters (3 x 50 meters); switch roles and repeat
• 10 burpees and 10 sandbag thrusters each
• Finish with 4 x 50-meter sprints together (race each other)

After 5-10 sets of the above, cool down by repeating the warm-up in reverse order:

• 10 squats, 10 push-ups, 10 pull-ups, jog 50 meters
• 9 squats, 9 push-ups, 9 pull-ups, jog 50 meters
• Continue decreasing to 1 rep of each exercise

Equipment needed: Pull-up bar, 50-meter open space or field, two 40- to 50-pound sandbags, sled loaded with 100 pounds, two 40- to 50-pound dumbbells or kettlebells.

Substitutions and modifications:

• If using sandbags with handles, you can replace dumbbells/kettlebells for farmer’s walks and lunges.
• If you don’t have a sandbag, use dumbbells for the thrusters instead.
• No sled? Tie a rope to a sandbag and drag it as a substitute.
• No partner? Replace fireman carries with 100-meter farmer’s walks or sandbag carries.

For more workout ideas suitable for all fitness levels, check out the hundreds of articles in the Military.com Fitness Section. They are designed to assist beginners and advanced athletes of any age with fitness test preparation, mental toughness, goal setting, strength training, nutrition and stress management skills.

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