I have lifted weights more in the first
few weeks of this trip to Iraq than I ever have before.
The lower operational tempo is a contributing
factor. In the "old days" I would go outside the wire
for days or weeks at a time sleeping in the dirt and living off the
land or living in a Patrol Base or Combat Outpost that was just a rented
house with a pallate of bottled water stacked up in once corner and
boxes of MREs in another.
The other contributing factor is that
every Company sized installation now has a nice little gym.
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| The
gym at JSS Sharquat in Northern Saladin province, Iraq |
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Because the equipment varies from place
to place (I'm on my 4th gym in 3 weeks) and there may not be a soldier
around to spot me, I try to stick with dumbbells. The only problem
is that on dumbbell incline press I need 100 pounders and most of the
smaller gyms only go up to 80 or 90 pounds.
But at least there is a gym!
In this end-stage operating enviorment
I work out in the morning, eat breakfast, read the Bible, figure out
what is going on that day, jump in an MRAP, bounce around in the back
of the MRAP, eat lunch with important local Iraqi, head back to the
base.
I keep a few low-carb protein bars in
my cargo pocket while on missions and a tub of whey protein at whatever
little base I'm living at.
The only other downside is the food.
At the big bases there is plenty of protein at the DFACs (chow halls.)
At a little place like Sharqat some meals
are mostly carbs.
The whey protein is a must.
I still log my workouts like I recommend
people do in my book. Overloading over time is important even
when in a combat zone.
My workout is a simple four day rotation.
Day 1--Lats, rear delts, traps
Day 2--Chest
Day 3--Biceps, Triceps
Day 4--Delts
The unpredictability of Iraq imposes
days off.
If I was at a larger FOB for a year,
I could do a serious cycle through the Phases of the System. But
with moving every week and eating 1 Iraqi meal a day, my goal is just
maintain.
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