[Ikeon]

Hard physical exercise.. “many for the first time ever” . thank you, in my company alone, there were a few fat asses , a 32yo recovering alcoholic who was ex army and couldn’t make it as homeless, and a guy who murdered his ex girlfriend a couple of weeks after boot camp.. Its a mishmash of people. we had one guy die. He just up and died in the middle of the night after a round of vaccinations. Nobody ever told us WHY, just that he didn’t make it.

[SamAdams76]

When I enlisted in the Marines on the delayed entry program (1979), my recruiter put together a PT training program for me. For months, I would walk/run 10 miles every morning until I could run the whole distance. Also, sit-ups every night. What I did back then was watch television at night and every commercial break, I'd get on the floor and do sit-ups. That was a lot of sit-ups!

I guess you could call it the sit-coms and sit-ups program.

For sure, I was in excellent shape going into boot camp.

[Stayfree]

During the Vietnam war, I was going to college but had to report for a physical exam in downtown LA for the draft. I played water polo and competitive swimming in high school, and I had never seen so many obese and out-of-shape young men before taking that physical exam. Basic training is tough for those who are out of shape...I took mine at 25 years old and it was still tough when you are not in perfect shape.