how can doods going into military come out stronger and lighter?

[damac]

I was just wondering about this and what happens in the real world.

Im kind of paranoid in the direction I take because I never had much experience with fitness and diet. I read things that say don't lose weight too fast or too much exercise and you might get sick and mess up your immune system, etc.

BUT I know first hand some people that went into military boot camp out of shape and just a few months later shed pounds and got stronger. This is just a fact. Things like pullups and situps and running speeds all increased a ton.

So wouldnt it be dumb for the military to push people so hard on the calories they eat if it wasn't for their bodies benefit? They do need to function physically and mentally right?


I bring it up cause Im kind of sick of reading all the crap in magazines and assume that if military people can be pushed so much in what they do then it cant be that harmfull and the body must be amazing at adaptation right?

And also you can't discount the people I have seen go in not being able to do a single pullup and out of shape, to popping them out, being lighter and being able to run way quicker. So it seems to me like these people not just lost weight but must have toned up or gained some muscle in order to do the things they must. AND they were at a calorie depletion to lose weight the whole time also.


So basically couldnt you argue the type of drills they do is what can make the ultimate healthy and fit person?

Im not talking getting buff of course, that is something I haven't tried myself.

 

[endpoint]

Strength is all about how many muscle fibers your body recruits.....not how many you have. So you can get lighter and still increase your strength by improving your muscle recruitement......via the central nervous system and other things.


As for unfit people......their bodys are much more forgiving and rules of the body building world dont apply........you can lose weight and gain muscle at the same time......those first few months of training is where the majic happen.

I think a lot of people dont realise how hard their bodys can be pushed. a lotof people freak out about overtraining toooooo much.....and others not enough. each persons body reacts differently.

I myself have found that if i jump from a high volume program to a lower volume.....or from say.....training with 60% to 90% of my one rep max.......my body freaks out. and i over train.

so i have to ease into anything im doing.

but over all i think i have a greater training capacity than alot of people i know

 

[BigPsyco]

Who is to say that those are the best results they could have achieved in that particular amount of time. Of course they will be in better shape, most have been stagnent for years prior.