PRT Don'ts

I passed the PRT this past Friday, with a Good-Low instead of a Good-Medium. I'm calling this my DON'T because of what I had to do to get out of failing and ending my Navy career on a bad note.

Since April, I focused a lot on strength and ignored all cardio and even a consistent eating habit. When the Virtual Meet came around, I weighed in at 240 lbs and I barely pass bodyfat at 229 lbs/20% BF by Navy measurement. And I had less than a month to get there. I had made some changes after the Virtual Meet: I started to run a few times a week. I started to lift heavy to keep my neck but then switched to Westside For Skinny Bastards III. I started to hit the heavy bag more. In my last week, I ditched the running and started doing lunchtime sessions on the elliptical trainer cranked up to level 15. My back seemed to be getting thicker, and the workouts were great.

On October 3, I woke up and weighed in at 239.5 lbs - - - measurement was on the morning of the 4th. Panic!!! I had a real strong cup of coffee that morning for my only drink, and didn't eat at all. I did 35 minutes on the elliptical at level 15 for lunch and a 1 hour session in the evening at level 7. I weighed in at a surprising 233.5 just before bed. The morning of the 4th, I woke up and weighed in at 232.5 lbs. I drank nothing and attempted to do a 1-hr elliptical session at level 15 but after 30 minutes I felt like I was beginning to bonk - - - I shortened it to 45 minutes. Then I did my two 20-minute sessions in the sauna. I took a shower and felt like a small child was sitting on my chest, and that worried me.

All that, and for what? I came in at 230 lbs but barely passed at the 22% borderline the Navy specifies - - - worse than last time. My neck dropped to 16.5 inches and my waist was 38 inches. Someday, I will remember that when the water goes the muscles go flat. And I had overdone the aerobics. And I felt like crap, with the run to be on the next day.

I started drinking a 50/50 mix of Gatorade and water to put all of my fluids back and by 3 PM, I was at 242.5 lbs. But I felt like my belly was going to pop from that and the big breakfast I had after the weigh-in, because until my water levels were back to normal, I couldn't pee or poop. That evening, I was talking to my wife after dinner and she suggested I have a strong cup of coffee. I did that, and started downing a lot of apple juice since a lot of it has a mild laxative effect. That did it, too well: my stomach finally calmed down at about 2:30 in the morning.

On the morning of the 5th, I weighed in at 237 then headed to the Reserve Center to run and do the pushups and situps. I told the trainer that I hate running by myself because I couldn't pace off of someone (boy, when you're not a consistent runner, this is what happens) and he mentioned that I was allowed to use the treadmill as an alternative. That was a godsend: the LifeFitness pro models have Fit Test programs for the Armed Forces: it sets a 1% incline and you tell it what armed force, how much you weigh, your gender and speed, and you're set. I set it at 6.5 MPH and just used the last 30 seconds to sprint - - - I never had to walk at all. It didn't go so bad, the running work I had done had worked well , I wondered why my dumbass hadn't done it sooner.

On Monday, I will be on a consistent AND sensible program of weights, fat loss, and running. This was the last time I would use extraordinary means like this to pass. I put my body through a lot for very little gain, and at great risk.