# BMQ/SQ and work outs and living condition



## Saeho85 (22 Jun 2004)

I'm going to BMQ/SQ this summer in few days and I was just wondering a few things.

First of all, I love bodybuilding. I cannot live without going to the gym 5-6 times a week, I train religiously and eat religiously and I really really really want to continue training my body with weights during the BMQ and SQ course. Will there be a gym in the camp and will they give us time for a workout every day?

Second, I use whey protein and creatine as a post workout supplement after each work out. If I bring it to the course, will they take it away from me or anything like that? Just wondering because of the drug policy they made me read when I applied for the army and again when I joined the army and had to do paper works. Whey protein and creatine, both aren't drugs or anything and I'm completely 100% natural bodybuilder but still, I wonder what they will say or think when I go into the camp with a bunch of white powder.

Lastly, I don't expect the camp to be like a college student residence but will they have a... fridge? I like to... mix my whey protein with milk after workout and drink it.......

I'm not taking the courses lightly or anything... I expect and I want it to be tough, both mentally and physically but no matter how hard it is, I want to continue training my body to the max and give it the proper nutrition my body needs... I'm a serious bodybuilder.


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## scm77 (22 Jun 2004)

I wonder if you're gonna want to work out after all the PT and other stuff you'll have to do.  I sure wouldn't.


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## Korus (22 Jun 2004)

To answer your first question, the base will have a gym, but you'll find that won't have the free time to go to it, with the possible exception of the course staff giving the course sevral hours off on a weekend if you're all good. You'll be spending all your 'down time' cleaning the shacks, doing remedial training, studying, and helping out anyone who needs help with any of the above..

Second question, someone else will have to answer that.

Third, You won't have a fridge, and you won't be able to store any food of your own anywhere; all your food will be provided by the mess. You'll be in anything ranging from 4-8 man rooms to full metal jacket style rows of bunkbeds in a single area that will fit your entire platoon, and you won't have very much privacy...

Good luck on course.


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## Saeho85 (22 Jun 2004)

To the first guy who replied:

I haven't even started the BMQ yet but I was going to parade night for 2-3 months already and there I learned most of the drills, and did PT every parade night so I know what the PT will be like at BMQ. They pushed us quite hard to get us ready for BMQ so that BMQ will be easier for us.

The PT will be an excellent cardio work out, no doubt. But the push ups, sit ups, chins etc, that I may do in PT will no way fatigue me to the point where I don't want to work out after. Cardio is cardio and weight training is weight training. I'm used to hellish cardio and weight training and there is no way, no matter how intense, that a cardio training will stop me from weight training and vice versa. I may be out of breath after the PT but my muscles will be good to go for a weight training.

To the second guy:
I pretty much guessed that about the fridge. That's fine though. Do you know if they will check all the contents in your dufflebags? Will they actually open all and check everything inside or make us get everything out or anything like that? In another words, can I go in to the camp, hiding a bottle of creatine or whey protein in my bag and hope to get away with it for 2 months? I'm just afraid they might confiscate it because I heard from a sargeant in my unit that they confiscate stuff like electronics, etc.



edit - I know the correct order is to finish BMQ and THEN start going to parade nights every tuesday and get paid etc but I was able to get sworn in and then immediately start working without any training.


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## Korus (22 Jun 2004)

> Do you know if they will check all the contents in your dufflebags? Will they actually open all and check everything inside or make us get everything out or anything like that



In my experience, your duffel bag is usually (as long as you have a lock on it) no go for instructors. They've threatened to search them on inspections when the rest of the shacks are messy. The only time I've seen personel kit actually searched through was when 2 C9 bolts went missing on my SQ.. They had us all lined up with all our kit, and they did thorough searches. I can't remeber what ended up happening with the bolts, I think someone ended up missplacing or misscounting them....


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## Saeho85 (22 Jun 2004)

A lock? On your dufflebag?  ???


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## ark (22 Jun 2004)

The key would be to inform your instructors of what you intend taking. One of the goals of the basic is to make your perform tasks without any artificial supplements (speeds, proteins) in order to simulate to some degree the conditions you may meet in an operational environement where you won't have access to those performance enhancers.

As for your work out, once again you have to talk with your instructors. But if you make it sound as you have too much time on your hand and you would like to go work out, they will certainly find some taskings to keep you busy between 5:00AM and 11:00PM  . In short chances are slim you will be allowed to do it and if you still find  BMQ too easy, help your peers!


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## Korus (22 Jun 2004)

There should be at tab with a hole in it, at the end of the duffelbag.. you can run a lock through that and the zipper.


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## AlphaCharlie (22 Jun 2004)

Expect the only personal time you'll have is when you're taking a dump, and when you're in a single hooch.


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## Da_man (22 Jun 2004)

Im in the same situation as you.  I work out and i feel bad if i dont.  Ill bring my proteins and just mix it with water


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## NavyGrunt (22 Jun 2004)

you guys must be reservists. You cant bring "protein powder" to boot camp. Eat cottage cheese at meal times. Im a huge bodybuilder and I had to forgo my supps. You need to cycle all that anyways...course if you were "big" into it you'd know that....cours you'd also know that being in the gym 6 days a week is counterproductive.

Cheers.


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## Gayson (22 Jun 2004)

They probably wont let you take creatine.

I am not doctor, but I remember an NCO telling me that creatine causes your body to use more water for muscles casuing you to become dehydrated more easlly.  I remember on my BMQ the staff was very serious about this and urged everyone to not take it (I was on a weekend course).


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## NavyGrunt (22 Jun 2004)

thats true. You're gonna be dehydrated and so its dumb to be taking creatine. Theres no way you'll be taking enough water in.


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## JasonH (23 Jun 2004)

J. Gayson said:
			
		

> They probably wont let you take creatine.
> 
> I am not doctor, but I remember an NCO telling me that creatine causes your body to use more water for muscles casuing you to become dehydrated more easlly.   I remember on my BMQ the staff was very serious about this and urged everyone to not take it (I was on a weekend course).



So true, then again I drink 4 litres in my 2 and half hour time frame I'm at the gym for myself.


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## NavyGrunt (23 Jun 2004)

Sigh 

2 and a half hours at the gym.....although the four litres of water is good.....


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## JasonH (23 Jun 2004)

Yea I know, I've herd the speech so you don't hafto batter me about being counter-productive and all .

I only have so much time and so much money right now though.  I do floor installing full time so I only get a day or two out of the week to hit the gym.

Then again the floor installing is a workout in itself  ;D


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## NavyGrunt (23 Jun 2004)

I never gave you the lecture bro. Ive heard it all before. As for over training.....whats worse? Working a little to hard or going all air force and not working at all........


HI-O

Sorry Zoomies

 :evil:


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## combat_medic (23 Jun 2004)

Depending on where you're doing BMQ you may not have access to a gym at all, even if you had the time or inclination to use it. Don't count on getting any real weight training done while you're away. Also, there isn't any chance you'll have a fridge. You aren't supposed to have food of any kind with you.

As for your supplements, I would recommend against bringing the creatine for the reasons already mentioned. It will dehydrate you unnecessarily on one of the hottest, dryest summers in years and will make you more of a liability than an asset to your platoon. In any case, whatever you bring with you, be prepared to lose it. While they are supposed to let you lock up your stuff, on my basic we had a thief on one of the courses (about 20 running simultaneously) and so they did an inspection of ALL our kit. A lot of people were hiding stuff that got confiscated. 

With regards to living conditions, on my basic we had 14 people per tent with a bathroom shared between about 40 or 50 people. We had one or two electrical outlets per tent; enough for an alarm clock or a radio, and 4 phones per 10 courses of 40-50 troops. My QL3 Med As had 10-20 people sleeping on cots in a classroom with no windows, no ventilation, no phones, and no ready access to laundry (we had to spend our weekends at the laundrymat). On both courses we had virtually no free time, and what time we had was spend studying, cleaning or sleeping. Your priorities for working out are dead last when it comes to the well-being of the course. If you screw up an inspection because your weight schedule was more important, you'll eat it not only from your instructors, but also from your course mates. So, be prepared to bin your weight lifting and supplements for a few weeks, and pick up where you left off when you get back.


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## Saeho85 (24 Jun 2004)

Few weeks? I'm gone for 2 straight whole freaking months. This is serious for me.


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## combat_medic (24 Jun 2004)

Serious or not, that's the way life is on course. I'm telling you the straight-up answers, and trying to prepare you for the course. Whether you like it or not, military life is harsh, and is not going to fit into your schedule. The best you can hope for is to try to fit your schedule around your training, but there are no guarantees, and you should be prepared for that. Besides, your training and the well being of your course-mates is more important than your personal supplement schedule. It's part of learning to serve something greater than yourself and working as a team.


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## ZipperHead (24 Jun 2004)

Saeho, I assume that you are doing the Reg Force BMQ. You may not get to the gym as much as you would like, but there are other means of maintaining what you have achieved. Maybe not to the level that you are used to, but that's life. You can do push-ups until your arms go numb. There are always chin-up bars handy. Be creative. Do dips on your bed. Squats and lunges with some free weights (which you can probably store in civvy lock-up). 

Don't give up, and treat some of the advice that you have been given with some caution, as their experiences have likely been different from what you will encounter (ie Reserve BMQ vs Reg Force). I just asked my wife (she is a Reg Force Med Tech) if there is any medical reason why you wouldn't be allowed to take supplements, whey powder, creatine, etc, and she can't see a problem with it. The DS (directing staff) in St Jean may tell you that you can't, and they may or may not allow it (whether they are "right" or not). I concur with the advice given by Ropetech in eating cottage cheese, boiled eggs, whatever. It's all free food, so pig out if you want. You can always run off the extra weight you'd gain.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I can try to find the answers for you.

Cheers,

Al


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## combat_medic (24 Jun 2004)

Allan: If it's taking him 8 weeks to do a combined BMQ/SQ course, then he's a reservist. The Reg Force BMQ/SQ is considerably longer than 2 months.


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## ZipperHead (25 Jun 2004)

Yeah, I should have realized that after reading the posts. I figured he meant only the BMQ being 2 months (I think the Reg Force BMQ is 9 or 10 weeks long). Kind of scares me, though, to think that a soldier can be "trained" in 2 months..... Making me think that comparing Reg to Reserve Force soldiers is the apple/orange situation more and more. Just looked in the Recruiting FAQ for SQ..... 60 days for Reg to 20 days for Res..... Hmmmm.....  

Anyway, thanks for setting me on the straight and narrow.

Al


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## combat_medic (26 Jun 2004)

Hey, when I went through basic training, it was only 6 weeks, not eight. There were a lot of training gaps to make up for before I got to leadership training (and good thing I made them up BEFORE I got there). Besides, for a reservist, particularly one who's not a student and works full time, 8 weeks is a lot of time to ask.


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## TaKe ThE PaIn (11 Jul 2004)

Ok, I'm only a reservist, I am actualy in my pp1 infantry, and even if in our PT we don't have a lot of push-up, it's not like after the PT we just sit back and relax, at each brake, we have to do series of chin up or push up at the beginning and at the ending of the brake. And, I can tell you that after a week or two waking up at 5 and going to bed (if we can call it a bed) at minimum 11h, you won't really wan't to go to a gym.


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## TaKe ThE PaIn (11 Jul 2004)

Of course there are a lot of difference beetween reserver and regular, but it's not for fun that is called reserve, most ppl go in reserve to make sure that's what they wan't befor joining the regular (at least that's what I wan't to do) or just because they don't want to work in a McDo. Actually our training Is realy shorter, I'm doing my QS/GPM in 7 week, wich is too short, but still very rough (looks like reserve officer have something to prove so they make us pay, but are we in the army for anything else than that). But all the thing we learn, we learn them in the same amount of time, the difference, is that there are some thing the regular army see that we don't, for example: Urban combat, hous clearing, (shit why don't we see those thing). That's why when a reserver soldier with a couple of year of service want to transfer, he only get a couple of update so when he get in the regulare unit, he his a the same level than his mate.


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## Mulan (7 Jan 2005)

Returning to the reserves   :warstory:

BMQ
I completed BMQ last summer. What an experience! I was in the reserves back in '89 and for my own reasons I have decided to go back and do it all over again. The personal challenge was excellent and I learned a lot about my own physical strengths and limitations.   I was very concerned about going back when my peers would be 15 years younger than I am, but I do not have any regrets.   

Work outs
There was an excellent gym on the base but we rarely had free time to use it.   Most of the physical training was running and jogging - each day starting with a 5km jog at 4:15am. and ending with remedial PT (another 5k jog) for anyone who was not at the front of the pack that morning .   The most demanding part of the course was the battle fitness test (BFT) - but this is not always included in BMQ, we were just lucky. The test was a 13km run with full ruck, followed by fireman's carry of buddy next to you across a football field and back.   I was allowed to skip this part because of a knee injury, but I did manage to finish the course and I will get the chance to do the BFT again next summer at 3's & 4s.

Living conditions 
During the day we attended lectures in classrooms and in the field. Each lesson was followed by a practical. At night, we cleaned our kit and studied until 'lights out' at 10:30pm.   The pace was constantly fast, I felt tired all the time, and if I got a weekend pass   - I went home to sleep.   On the bright side, the food was excellent, as was the scenery. For me, the most difficult challenge about living conditions was sharing a room with five other people and trying to get time for a shower where there were 45 people and only 4 showers.   This last challenge was further complicated by being one of the only four females to finish the course and having to compete for time in the showers versus 45 guys who wanted to use them too. We eventually worked out a shower schedule of eight minute for the girls first then the guys got 20 min since there was so many of them.


Interesting perspective
Basic training has not changed that much since I took it the first time 15 years ago, the webbing was the same, and the rifle was not that different from the C1. The rooms are nicer now. What had really changed was me - my perspective on what is stressful is very different now. Where many of the younger members found dealing with timings, appearance and being yelled at was very stressful - to me those were the easy parts.   Physically, I could jog for as long or as far as anyone else but I could never run as fast.   I was able to lift and carry more than most but I was not as foolish as they were to volunteer.


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## Jonathan (15 Mar 2006)

I'm about to be swore in,(reserves) they told me that the BMQ is 10 weeks long, now I'm confused, you say it is shorter


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## Rstratdn (15 Mar 2006)

My BMQ starts April 10th and is 11 weeks long. Didn't they give you a package telling you about everything? They gave me one telling me how its going to be, also what i am allowed and not allowed to bring.


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## The Gues-|- (15 Mar 2006)

Rstratdn said:
			
		

> My BMQ starts April 10th and is 11 weeks long. Didn't they give you a package telling you about everything? They gave me one telling me how its going to be, also what i am allowed and not allowed to bring.



weren't you upset at;  r. bathing suit (Speedo type suits are not permitted) :'(


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## bbbb (17 Mar 2006)

Basic involves zero privacy, no food, cramped quarters and no civilian clothing.

Enjoy!


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## Jonathan (17 Mar 2006)

lol, not really, I dont usually were speedo's

and no, I have not got a package yet for the summer because I have not been swore in yet
I will be swore next thursday


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## bbbb (17 Mar 2006)

To say that there are no criminals in the CF? That's a stretch I think. Look at some of the posts about porn and such, such dung has no place in the army.


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## mudeater (17 Mar 2006)

I require coronary bypass in October. Will I be able to take my blood thinners on SQ and BIQ this summer.


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## Patrolman (17 Mar 2006)

bbbb
 What I should have said is that the CF does not actively recruit criminals. That is why criminal record checks are done before enrollment!
The CF is not The Foreign Legion of yesteryear.


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