Marine Corps Daily 16 Workouts: Marine Fitness for Civilian Athlete

The core of Marine Corps PT is the Daily 16, which is something that with some little changes can be done by anyone. This book by itself will not put one in Marine Corps shape (the Daily 16 is just a beginning), but this is a good well-rounded exercise programme that you can use in daily life, with little equipment.Like the title of the book, Marine Corps Daily 16 Workouts, this is a book that shows daily routines, and gives you something to do every day. Fitness needs to be a daily activity. This book has no set author. It is done by staff of the US Marine Corps and Marine Corps Association. The photographers are Arnold Crane (combat training photos) and Bruce Laurance (exercise routine photos). This is not a glamour shots book -- don't get it for that. All the pictures are black and white, basic exercise photos which have no background. The combat training photos show real guys in platoons doing various group exercises and obstacle course pieces. The book is big on pictures and light on words. This is a book for ACTION! One doesn't get fit by reading about fitness just like reading about football isn't playing football or reading about music is not listening to music. One could read through this book and get the ideas in less than one hour.There are several parts to this book: 1. Introduction 2. The Daily 16 3. Aerobic Fitness 4. Warm-up and Dynamic Stretches Card 5. Stretching Card A 6. Stretching Card B 7. Stretching Card C 8. Exercise Card 1 9. Exercise Card 2 10. Marine Recruit Physical Training Test Requirements This book was put together in 1999, making it fairly current on what is required, but the Corps is always changing, so there might be a few changes here and there.There is a letter from Major General L.M. Palms, USMC (ret) who is at the Marine Corps Association at Quantico. He talks about the real burden of Marines, why they need to be fit and what recruits at Parris Island or San Diego go through. He also discusses the differences between the routines in this book and 'real life Marines'.The Daily 16 talks about how the Daily 16 replaced the Daily 7 because there was not enough work for the lower body. The Daily 16 always requires 7 pieces however, so the number 7 did not disappear. 1. Dynamic stretches 2. Static stretches 3. Conditioning Exercises 4. Conditioning Runs 5. Cool-down 6. Conditioning Exercises 7. Static stretches The heart of the book is the section with pictures and descriptions of how the exercises are done, and how they are organised into 'card' systems, so that one isn't doing exactly the same thing over and over.Exercises are to be done In that order, not mixed around. The exercises are performed one right after another with no break, giving aerobic benefit too. Aerobic Fitness This part is not from the USMC staff but comes instead from Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, a pioneer in aerobic fitness. He gives a point system to follow to judge aerobic fitness based upon weeks of training and age. There are definitions fo

I am a fifty year old who runs a few miles daily. This course, centered on a two to three mile run is a basic, physically sound, and no-frills program. Not for dabblers or beauty queens. It does just what the intro states. Adding this to my running and having many age-specific guidelines has really begun to pull me into shape. With all due respect to the wannabe future Marine's review, a course such as this, which can be performed virtually anywhere (treadmill or running, exercises indoors or out), will probably benefit anyone who seriously goes at it. It may not become a best-seller, but it may become the standard of this type of book.