questions on academy life

[stump1860]

While reading the material the CHP sends about training, academy, etc.., it mentions items to bring. One of the items is a swimsuit. Is swimming a requirement in the academy? Also, I know the amount of material to learn is enormous. When the day is done and the recruits have finished dinner, are they allowed to study together, socialize if time permits? This may sound naive, I would just like to get more of an understanding of what happens outside of the normal day activities ...and also about the swimming.....I can't swim to save my life.;)

[23109]

Yes, you will be required to swim.

Depending on the schedule, you could theoretically study together after 1700. However, plan on having lots of night classes or "voluntary" drill / PMA / etc.

You won't really have a lot of time to socialize, heh.

[Slim]

You should learn how to swim. You won't get washed out because of it, but for your safety and others (your future beat partners) you should learn. I recently had to strip down to my boots and my pants and help a stranded elderly lady out of her car that was stuck in a flooded creek. It wasn't very dangerous, but if I couldn't swim, I wouldn't have gone out.

Swiming is easier than you think and you could probably learn in a day. Go to your local JC or high school and get into a program.

[CACHP]

While reading the material the CHP sends about training, academy, etc.., it mentions items to bring. One of the items is a swimsuit. Is swimming a requirement in the academy? Also, I know the amount of material to learn is enormous. When the day is done and the recruits have finished dinner, are they allowed to study together, socialize if time permits? This may sound naive, I would just like to get more of an understanding of what happens outside of the normal day activities ...and also about the swimming.....I can't swim to save my life.;)


First of all CADETS not RECRUITS.

Swimming is not a problem because they will give you a life jacket and make you kind of swim along the side of the pool, if you can?t swim. What might be the problem for you is jumping off a 5 meter tower in to the pool. But once again no worries; there will be two lifeguards who will assists you to safety after the jump. You'll have to trust the lifeguards and overcome your fear of jumping. What I did was, I asked for the permission to jump, turned, and jumped right down without even thinking about it. Oh yeah, don't forget to yell at the top of your lungs "CHP" on the way down.

The day doesn't stop at 1700, you will find that every second matters. Whatever it takes you to do something, like brush your teeth, you have to do it twice, if not three times, as fast. Group Studies can be arranged with the permission from the staff office. Reserve socializing for liberty time. Overall, the minute you wake up at 0400 to when the lights are out at 2300 it will be an emotional rollercoaster. There will be lots of things designed, you might think, to make you give up, but in reality those things were designed to make you stronger. Whatever you might think can give you a hard time, just tell yourself "Bring it on" and take the challenge.

[Chipper]

You should learn how to swim. You won't get washed out because of it, but for your safety and others (your future beat partners) you should learn. I recently had to strip down to my boots and my pants and help a stranded elderly lady out of her car that was stuck in a flooded creek. It wasn't very dangerous, but if I couldn't swim, I wouldn't have gone out.

Swiming is easier than you think and you could probably learn in a day. Go to your local JC or high school and get into a program.


Hey nice job valley! I read about your incident in your local newspaper on the web. Hopefully you get some recognition from the Area if you haven't already!!

[tphil9]

I've been worried about the physical part of the academy.. If you push your body and go to the limit but still fall behind on a run or dont make a time, do they kick you out? What are the standards regarding that? I'm a thin person but honestly I have not been running near enough, and am worried about it.

[RoadDawg]

As long as you can pass the physical performance test, they will not kick you out. It is not much more rigorous than the physical test you took to get into the Academy... however, if you fall far behind on the runs or are pathetic on the floor exercises you will bring attention to yourself. As you have probably heard and read, the last thing you want to do in the Academy is bring attention to yourself, especially attention from the PT staff.

Nonetheless, some garnish respect from entering the Academy overweight and out of shape, and enduring the extra attention to make it through and graduate... it shows a lot of heart. Keep in mind, they wont physically touch you and can tell if youre putting out a hundred percent effort, whether youre in shape of not. All and all what they really want, is everyone's best effort. If you havent prepared, and go in out of shape just be prepared to get yelled at a little more, but it shouldnt stop you from succeeding if you really want it.

[dw]

I've been worried about the physical part of the academy.. If you push your body and go to the limit but still fall behind on a run or dont make a time, do they kick you out? What are the standards regarding that? I'm a thin person but honestly I have not been running near enough, and am worried about it.

There's still plenty of time to get in shape before the next class. Four weeks can make a big difference if you run every other day, as you should be doing.

The problem, besides the obvious, is the stress caused throughout the day by PT... If you're not in top physical shape, everything else suffers. You're more stressed, so it's harder to learn. You may have extra writing assignments which will take time away from your other academics. Now you're not getting as much sleep as you could, and everything goes downhill. Take the next few weeks to get into shape.

[pupdog]

I'm very very worried about PT too. I'm working hard on it, and getting nowhere. The PT staff IS GOING TO KILL ME! I push hard on those every other day runs, only to head to the track & find I've actually slowed. I do push-ups to failure every hour, every other day, and the number I can do never moves. Nearly 2 years trying to do 1 measly chin-up, and I'm still dangling from the bar. They are going to think I'm one of those who didn't start trying to get in shape until 2 weeks before, but that is definitly NOT the case. I've got athletic talent, but not where I need it. When I came back from my initial and told my coach about the new standards, he had a bit of a fit & told me that they were 'full of it.' :shock:
It's not like I'm lazy, I'm NOT! 10 mile run? Sure, let's go (just keep it slow). 20 mile hike today? Great, hope it's steep! Unfortunatly, this means nothing at the academy. I used to be a proud 'penguin' until getting that little pamphlet about PT from a recuriter! I feel that all I have going for me is an inner obsession to work out. Is it enough?

[retchp]

You are not going to be expected to be superwoman, not even at the end of the Academy. Just go there in the best shape you can be in at that time and then do the workouts to the best of your ability. You will improve with time at the Academy. That is what the PT Staff is all about. Making you better than you think you can ever be.
Trust me, you are not the first person ever to feel this way. Quit stressing and don't burn out and go there all sore or limping and you will do just fine.

[pupdog]

But I'm stressing because I'm already pushing so hard! I understand all about doing better than I ever thought I could...story of my life since I returned to this wonderful state, got divorced, and joined a tri club! I worry that my body has had it!
And for the record, I am sore & limping. The new boots didn't work out, and I did the last few miles of yesterday's 18 mile hike barefoot. But who cares, we got a break in the weather!!!!!

[retchp]

Trust me again...if you can hike 18 miles and finish barefoot you have the "right stuff" to get through the Academy.
Why don't you take this weekend off, see a movie, enjoy a glass or two of good wine and a nice steak dinner with some friends, sleep about eighteen hours and then taper off the punishment until you feel fit and right in the head in the coming weeks.
I don't even know you but I know you would be a good officer from reading your posts.

[Welpe]

Disclaimer: I am not a fitness expert and I have not been through the CHP academy. The below post is based soley on things I've read and my personal experience.

Pup in my non-professional opinion, it sounds like you might be overtaining. For push-ups, try doing numbered sets instead of going to failure all the time. The reason your number is not increasing is because your body is used to doing it. There are many exercises you can perform to boost the number of push-ups you're able to do.

With chin-ups you could try doing negative ones where you start in the "up" position and slowly lower yourself down. I've seen people say this has helped increase their pull-up numbers.

Also don't forget that rest is important too. You don't want to completely wear yourself out before you even start the academy. Good luck!

retchp, you had to mention relaxing and wine didn't ya? I think I'm going to grab a glass of merlot and sit on my back deck watching the sun set. Sounds like just the thing to calm the nerves after a stressful week.

[23109]

Sounds like you're overtraining a bit. Welpe had some pretty good ideas.

If you want to keep training, just do lighter workouts for a week or two. This will keep you in shape and allow your body to recover a bit to get you over that "overtraining" mode and back into the swing of things.

For pull-ups: I'm not sure where you are doing them, if it's at a gym, most gyms will have a weight assisted pull-up machine, do those. That'll build up your strength for 'em.


Feel free to shoot me a PM or IM if you have questions, and I'll try and answer 'em accordingly if it's not giving away to much info. Camp Snoopy is still fresh in the mind. :badgrin:

[Metllcafan]

for pt...

i am not in the best shape, but i could hang. pt staff will tell you to train 6 days a week and then rest for one. it works. your body will hurt but you will be better for it. you will never train as hard as you do while you are at the academy, we would all be in great shape if we had a pt officer yelling at us every morning. work on push ups, sit ups, bends and thrusts and diamond push ups (aka prayer push ups or nose-in-the-rings) if you can do 70-80 of each then run 3-4 miles you will be set for academy pt.

[tphil9]

I know I can't do 70-80 of each then get up and run for 3-4 miles. I need to kick it up a notch I guess, I'm stressing out about the PT, I have come so far and been through a lot to get to this point. I don't think I could handle getting kicked out due to PT.

[Slim]

Thanks Chipper. I haven't heard anything but a lot of teasing. I dish it out as much as I get it so it's okay. By the way, you would be around 15 out of 25 in seniority. By thee time you get here you will probably be bumped a few spots. I'm #1 into the area I'm trying for so wish me luck.

[pupdog]

Retchp, did you know that I live & work at a winery? And yes, I did have some friends over for steak last night!

[uoplax13]

Are we talking 70-80 per set or more like a total? Would something like 5 sets of 25 then a run be a good starting point or what?

[dw]

Are we talking 70-80 per set or more like a total? Would something like 5 sets of 25 then a run be a good starting point or what?

You can never be too prepared for PT... Work out for 30 minutes -- continuous floor-type workout, and then go run. 5 sets of 25 is a good start, just throw in some other exercises in between the sets. You want to be working out continuously for 20-30 minutes without any break. It is much more difficult to do than a few sets with breaks in between. Alternate between pushups (including chest and nose-in-the-ring), situps, jumping jacks, leg lifts, etc...

[uoplax13]

Thanks dw, sounds like a plan. Now if it would just stop snowing, I'd be set.

[retchp]

Pupdog wrote: "did you know that I live & work at a winery?"

Pup, I am saddened to say that I have become addicted to this site and generally read all the posts on it, so yes I did know that from somewhere out of the past. I have always had a real inate ability to read something one time and then retain it (or the jist of it anyway) forever. It is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it is real easy to study for tests and take them and a curse because my head is filled up with some not so useful information.
Examples: I can name 22 north american indian tribes in less than seven seconds. I can name the starting lineup for the 1956 Milwaukee Braves. Etc.:confused:

[uoplax13]

Wow. I woke up this morning and only did 15 min. straight pushups, situps, etc.... and took a mile jog.......and I'm feeling it. Good thing there's time before the next class starts because I have a feeling the PT staff would be paying way too much attention to me if I went tomorrow!

[AceRock]

I have a few more questions on Academy life. I heard that you are not even allowed to go to your car in the parking lot on off hours. Does anyone know if this is true? Can you have your cell phone in your room? Can you talk on your cell phone while in your room during off hours? Does anyone know if there is internet access available to cadets(for purposes such as paying bills online, etc.)? How about computers for using the internet? Just curious. Thanks!

[dw]

I have a few more questions on Academy life. I heard that you are not even allowed to go to your car in the parking lot on off hours. Does anyone know if this is true? Can you have your cell phone in your room? Can you talk on your cell phone while in your room during off hours? Does anyone know if there is internet access available to cadets(for purposes such as paying bills online, etc.)? How about computers for using the internet? Just curious. Thanks!

As a Cadet, you may only go to your vehicle with permission or when on liberty, so no -- most of the time you can not access your vehicle. You may have a cell phone, though there are specific rules about when it may be used -- it can not be with you during the day. Internet -- no way. Make arrangements for bills ahead of time or take care of them on the weekend. There's really no reason to have a computer, as it will only take up space and you're not allowed to use it for recreation or academics -- it's really just a paperweight.

You gotta' remember, this is a live-in Academy. Not college, not trade school, not boot camp. You are isolated. You are lonely. You are overwhelmed -- all at once. Your family can be of great assistance, however they may be inaccessible. There is no privacy. There is no downtime.

I say this so you and others really think about what you're getting into. There are other threads here talking about what to expect. Don't arrive thinking the next twenty-seven weeks will be anything less than miserable.

Also remember the Academy is not the job you're signing up for and is only a stepping-stone.

[Metllcafan]

for pt it all depends on what the officer wants to do. he or she could do 75 straight push ups, the move to 25 sit ups, then back to push ups without a break. normally you will go from one exercise to the next without a break for the full 20 minutes, then go on your run.

[cowtown]

I've done a search to no avail...What type of swimsuit does the academy require its female cadets to wear? :question:

[FayeValentine]

I've done a search to no avail...What type of swimsuit does the academy require its female cadets to wear? :question:

Cowtown, I am not a chippy and haven't been to the academy yet...I'm sure that it will be mentioned on your packing list when/if you get accepted to the academy. During Navy Bootcamp we were required to have a one piece in blue or black. I had a good water polo suit that worked well, they have good coverage and stay in place well.

I would think the academy is probably not that different, but I'm sure someone more qualified will give you a definite answer! :biggrin:

[cal911gal]

I'm sure it's written somewhere in the Academy SOP...... What they sell or used to sell (at the PX) for female cadets is a one-piece racerback style suit. I'd imagine no bikinis, thongs, or sarongs.

[bcjack]

I'm sure it's written somewhere in the Academy SOP...... What they sell or used to sell (at the PX) for female cadets is a one-piece racerback style suit. I'd imagine no bikinis, thongs, or sarongs.

Darn!!!:badgrin:

[idontthinkuheard]

So regarding academy PT and water... (and I ask this so I can train specific to the way its done)

In between calisthenics and running I usually have some water. Should I get used to no water from the time calisthenics start until after my run?

Do cadets have some water before PT starts, like out of the sink before getting in line? Or is it dry as a bone until chow?

[AaeJae]

The latter.

[Mom]

Should I get used to no water from the time calisthenics start until after my run?You might want to alternate your workouts a little, so that some days you do calisthenics first, then run, and others you reverse the order. That way you condition your body to be able to continue the calisthenics even after an exhausting run.

[silverman10051]

There is a water fountain that you can use to wet your mouth (I mean that literally) on your way out the door to line-up for your run.

My advice to you and anyone else preparing for the academy (in regards to hydration) is to be sure and consume enough water at night before lights out and throughout the day. If you do that, you will have no problems with dehydration. During the weekend consume some Gatorade (to replenesh electrolites). Start hydrating now!!! Don't wait until the day before you arrive.

[SweepTheLeg]

Former USSS-UD here and it's my first post!

In regards to hydration I recommend drinking water at any opportunity, especially the night before PT. I was at FLETC in the summer (90's w/ 85% humidity...nasty) and I drank water all day/night and still was thirsty. Thank god we got to head back north to MD for last 15 weeks of training, GA is not good times. (fire ants, food, etc...)

By the time I was done w/ 27 weeks of training it became a mental thing, anytime I walked by a fountain/sink I would chug 8-10oz of water and I firmly believe it helped prevent injuries. After I was OTJ I had to scale back my intake or I would be calling for a break every 1/2 hour.

Great forum here, I am dropping my app in the mail on Monday.