Rating: 
Summary: great supplemental workout guide
Review: After buying this book, the US went to war with Iraq and I was thinking to myself "man, the government is going to know that I do their workout and draft me first!". That never happened, so I think it's safe to purchase. This book offers an awesome workout that anyone can do anywhere. All you need is two arms and two legs, which some of our enemies have lost because of the Marines, but that's besides the point. Anyway, if you actually do what the book says, you'll get in great shape and won't have to worry about staying fit when you're on the road. I don't think I'd recommend this book for women because of the emphasis on strength building upper body exercises. You don't want to look like one of the people on the cover do you? This book has some history on the Marines and a little propaganda, but not as much as you'd expect from people that advertise everywhere. Overall, I'd recommend this book to men who want to keep things natural and not rely on machines and weather to get in shape.
Rating:
Summary: Nice workout book
Review: As a fromer Marine, I like to keep up with Marine Corps PT. This is a great book for anyone who wants to workout like a Marine or someone who is getting in shape for boot camp or OCS. These are the same workouts that Marines use daily and while on sea duty. The rifle PT section is excellent and you do not need an M16 to make full use of this workout. The book explains more than just workout routines. It does have other information that one may not use. Semper Fi
Rating:
Summary: I wish i looked like that
Review: But im only 14 so i havent fully developed yet, so i have hope that with this i will not stunt my growth and still get tough muscles. I also lift weights so if i update this , i might be wrong...
Rating: 
Summary: Cheap way to stay in shape
Review: I am currently a high school student hoping to become a Marine when I graduate high school. This book gave me all the info I needed about joining the marines, plus a great workout. I reccomend this book to both future marines and those who do not plan on joining the marines for the workout program. What I liked most about the workout program that is unique to most other programs that it is tailored to your specific needs and the RUNNING part is great. This book has a 4 week program that starts you out Jogging for 1 minute/walking for 4 minutes and you do that 4 times. 4 weeks later, it has you running for 30 minutes and it works up progressivly, this is a GREAT workout and I was really impressed with my results.
Rating:
Summary: Semper Fit!
Review: I got this book in the hopes of finding challenging but do-able workout. There are many books that capitalise on the idea of Marine Corps training, for good reason - Marines are tough! Fair warning -- this book is not by Marines. The author Andrew Flach is a fitness expert, joined by a well-known freelance photographer (Peter Field Peck). This book is part of the Five Star Fitness Series that looks at the kinds of workouts of all the branches of the military. My father was in the military, as are many close friends, and I have always admired their fitness achievements - thus it makes sense I might opt for a military-inspired fitness programme. This book is not simply a workout book. It is an introduction to the Marine Corps. There is more to Corps fitness than just doing push-ups and log drills. When you are in boot camp the mind is shaped as much as the body. To help with this history and mindset, the authors consulted (according to the credits) officers from the Pentagon, Parris Island, Quantico, and a corporal from San Diego. The reader is introduced to the Mission of the Marine Corps. In addition to the workouts listed here, there are pictures and essay snapshots of what recruits actually endure in training. This book also gives some basic history of the Marines, and also walks through arrival at boot camp, either Parris Island, South Carolina or San Diego, California, the two Marine Corps Recruit Depots (boot camps). Just like recruit training, the book starts with an Initial Strength Test: for men, Pull-ups - at least 2 ; Situps - at least 35 in two minutes; 1.5 mile run - in at least 13:30 minutes. For women, Flex-arm hang - at least 17 seconds; Situps - at least 35 in two minutes; 1 mile run - in at least 10:30 minutes. The book talks about basic Recruit Physical Training, detailing formation runs, squad ability runs, rifle PT, log drills and like activities. The Circuit Course is shown here including steps with boxes, ropes, chin-ups, weight training. It isn't until half-way through the book that the reader actually gets to some exercises you can do. This section begins with the Daily 16, a combination of stretches and exercises. These are organized by cards, that are actual laminated cards the Drill Instructors carry around for leading. There is one warmup card, two stretching cards, and three exercise cards. These should be rotated over time for use. The exercises on the cards are described in words and pictures for the next 40 pages, and then there is an additional section on rifle PT. Readers without a rifle can use any longish bar or object. One of the points of interest in this book are the highlights of individual Marines. Marines work as a team, but rarely shy from the limelight as individuals. Sergeants Joseph Simpson, Baldemar Benavidez, and Charles Rollins, Warrant Officer Andrew Burns of the British Royal Marines, Lieutenant Commander Dennis Rocheford of the US Navy (a Navy chaplain serving with the Marines), and Captain Gary Gonthier are all held up as examples of leadership, fitness and training. The book has a section on nutrition (as every fitness book seems incomplete without at least a gloss of this topic), but this is rather thin here. The book even includes principles of leadership and a glossary of terms, some of the letter abbreviations Marines need to know, and also the sea-based language (windows are portholes, etc.). Near the conclusion of the book is a specific plan for those the Delayed Entry Program, to get people ready to pass these tests - they have crash courses or more reasonable courses of up to 6-months. These, of course, are just the beginning level of fitness. The authors include the list of a 64-Day Boot Camp Workout, with each training day laid out. These are not all things that you can do at home (combat skills and obstacle courses are hard to come by). The photographs are utilitarian and useful - black and white, not glossy and colourful; the point here is the exercise, not the subject exercising. According to the authors, part of the proceeds from this book goes to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.
Rating:
Summary: Semper Fit!
Review: I got this book in the hopes of finding challenging but do-able workout. There are many books that capitalise on the idea of Marine Corps training, for good reason - Marines are tough! Fair warning -- this book is not by Marines. The author Andrew Flach is a fitness expert, joined by a well-known freelance photographer (Peter Field Peck). This book is part of the Five Star Fitness Series that looks at the kinds of workouts of all the branches of the military. My father was in the military, as are many close friends, and I have always admired their fitness achievements - thus it makes sense I might opt for a military-inspired fitness programme. This book is not simply a workout book. It is an introduction to the Marine Corps. There is more to Corps fitness than just doing push-ups and log drills. When you are in boot camp the mind is shaped as much as the body. To help with this history and mindset, the authors consulted (according to the credits) officers from the Pentagon, Parris Island, Quantico, and a corporal from San Diego. The reader is introduced to the Mission of the Marine Corps. In addition to the workouts listed here, there are pictures and essay snapshots of what recruits actually endure in training. This book also gives some basic history of the Marines, and also walks through arrival at boot camp, either Parris Island, South Carolina or San Diego, California, the two Marine Corps Recruit Depots (boot camps). Just like recruit training, the book starts with an Initial Strength Test: for men, Pull-ups - at least 2 ; Situps - at least 35 in two minutes; 1.5 mile run - in at least 13:30 minutes. For women, Flex-arm hang - at least 17 seconds; Situps - at least 35 in two minutes; 1 mile run - in at least 10:30 minutes. The book talks about basic Recruit Physical Training, detailing formation runs, squad ability runs, rifle PT, log drills and like activities. The Circuit Course is shown here including steps with boxes, ropes, chin-ups, weight training. It isn't until half-way through the book that the reader actually gets to some exercises you can do. This section begins with the Daily 16, a combination of stretches and exercises. These are organized by cards, that are actual laminated cards the Drill Instructors carry around for leading. There is one warmup card, two stretching cards, and three exercise cards. These should be rotated over time for use. The exercises on the cards are described in words and pictures for the next 40 pages, and then there is an additional section on rifle PT. Readers without a rifle can use any longish bar or object. One of the points of interest in this book are the highlights of individual Marines. Marines work as a team, but rarely shy from the limelight as individuals. Sergeants Joseph Simpson, Baldemar Benavidez, and Charles Rollins, Warrant Officer Andrew Burns of the British Royal Marines, Lieutenant Commander Dennis Rocheford of the US Navy (a Navy chaplain serving with the Marines), and Captain Gary Gonthier are all held up as examples of leadership, fitness and training. The book has a section on nutrition (as every fitness book seems incomplete without at least a gloss of this topic), but this is rather thin here. The book even includes principles of leadership and a glossary of terms, some of the letter abbreviations Marines need to know, and also the sea-based language (windows are portholes, etc.). Near the conclusion of the book is a specific plan for those the Delayed Entry Program, to get people ready to pass these tests - they have crash courses or more reasonable courses of up to 6-months. These, of course, are just the beginning level of fitness. The authors include the list of a 64-Day Boot Camp Workout, with each training day laid out. These are not all things that you can do at home (combat skills and obstacle courses are hard to come by). The photographs are utilitarian and useful - black and white, not glossy and colourful; the point here is the exercise, not the subject exercising. According to the authors, part of the proceeds from this book goes to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.
Rating: 
Summary: a very thin and generalized guide to USMC fitness
Review: I was really expecting to get more out of this book. First of all, I find the Daily 16 to be an excellent workout. I had visible results after the first few days. The rest of the book, however, is too thin.
Outside the Daily 16, the book really was not helpful. It has sections on recruit training and on OCS, but they are mostly photographs with little information. Most pages have a giant photograph and only one paragraph of text. The recruit and OCS sections merely focus on certain points of training and do not give a comprehensive overview that you would expect out of a full-size book. The writing style is also juvenile and simplistic, almost on a child's level. In summary, the boot camp and OCS sections (more than half of the book) are nothing new to anyone who has perused the official USMC website.
The nutrition section was a major disappointment. All it does is provide basic nutritional information that anyone who took Health in high school already knows. The advice is very general, with obvious points such as "drink a lot of water" and "not all fats are bad" being common. Some example meals and diet advice that is not common knowledge would have made this section worth including. As is, it's a half-hearted attempt to fill pages.
The title of this book is "The Marine Corps Workout." Of its 200-plus pages, only about 80 pages (the majority of which are oversized photos) are dedicated to the workout itself. The sections on recruit and officer training do not count, because no attempt is made in those sections to show the reader how to do those exercises. They are merely pictures of recruits in training for entertainment's sake. The rest of the book is just filler to make it worth selling for ten bucks.
I think most of the people who rate this book highly are rating it merely on the basis of the Daily 16. I give the workout itself five stars, but the Daily 16 routine is freely accessible on the Internet and not worth buying a book for. Just google "daily 16" and see what I mean. Outside of the workout, this is the kind of book you'd pick up off the library shelf, flip through for about 15 seconds, and put back. You do not need to buy this disappointing book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a bad guide to the Daily 16
Review: I'm a former Infantry Marine myself (1990-1994), though the Daily 16 was adopted by the USMC after I left. I think the book is an excellent printed guide to material you can find on the Internet for free. There's a lot of "rah rah" fluff in it, and information that most people probably won't find applicable to the civilian world. The obstacle course for example -- unless you live on a military installation you won't have access to it. There's the confidence course -- the only time I did that was in boot camp. The rifle PT -- good if you have access to an M16A2 Service Rifle, most people don't. Most of the workouts in the Daily 16 remind me of the type of things that were just done in boot camp. When I got to my Infantry unit, we did more "mission specific" workouts, martial arts, and a lot of gym workouts if we weren't in the field. Even aboard ship there's always a weight room with machines and treadmills, so that always seemed like a good workout. I hate to admit it, but a closer guide to the type of PT I did in the Marines is "Maximum Fitness" by Stewart Smith. He describes the Navy SEAL workouts, and they incorporate weight training and swimming. I was a scout/safety swimmer, and I can't begin to describe the amount of swimming that we did, and "Maximum Fitness" covers a lot of the swimming aspect with fins. It goes over "Pyramid" training, and instead of swinging a rifle around your home or apartment, it has similar exercises with dumbbells. I use both books, but I think the SEAL one (one of the contributors is former USMC Force Recon, if you absolutely detest the Navy) is more approachable to civilians and more representative of the types of workouts I did as a grunt in the US Marines.
Rating:
Summary: great book - even better workout
Review: This book is just really the best I've ever seen of its kind. Workout books never really did much for me in the way of motivation, but this one truly did/does. The book is full of easy-to-follow writing that provides good information both for the workout and about our Marine Corps. With full and detailed walk-throughs of both enlisted and OCS physical training courses, the book covers just about anything that anyone considering the USMC would want to know. The workout itself is clearly laid out with pictures of each exercise being executed with proper form and with schedules that work for beginners and advanced alike. If you want a general information book about physical training in the USMC or if you just want a solid, easy, all-over body workout...you have GOT to look into this book.
Rating:
Summary: For a good workout
Review: This is a good book for a workout in many ways. It has a very tough and demanding sequence that if you can make it through will mean you are in very good shape. That is also a bit of a drawback so I take off one star for that. This book is not really for beginners or those who have never walked down the block or done a single pushup. But they do have the basic 16 exercises as they were (they change a little bit over time) and they have a lot of supplemental drills and activities. You can't do all of the things at home because some like the swimming tests and the obstacle course require more equipment than the average guy will have, or sometimes even the average YMCA would have. In between descriptions and lists of the workout material are stories about individual Marines and some inspirational stories. There is also a section on nutrition that isn't all that informative, but gives some basic do's and don'ts. But this book isn't about eating, and if you can make it through all the workouts you'll burn off the calories no matter what you eat. There are charts for running and keeping track of your progress that are helpful, and the pictures throughout the book are pretty good, with candid training shots thrown in for fun. I don't expect this book to make the top ten of any workout book list but it will appeal to anyone with a military mindset or those who want to be tough and know that the Marines are about as tough as they come.
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