SeCarnoaanrown = an Contents Foreword Why Circuits? How to Use This Book What is a Circuit? How Fit Are You? Scran (Nutrition) Warming Up, Cooling Down and Stretching The Circuit Exercises The Nod Circuit Programme Maintenance Circuits Sports Specific Circuits Rugby 108; Football 112; Skiing 114; Racquet Sports 116; Running 119; Basketball 119; Golf 120; Swimming 120; Multi-Gym 121; Cricket 124; Cycling 125; Boxing 126; How to design your own circuit 128 The SBS Challenge Appendix 1: Loving Your Feet Appendix 2: Coping with Injuries Exercise Index 10 14 18 44 83 101 107 130 132 135 144auomayos . Foreword Royal Marines are sea-soldiers. They are part of the Royal Navy but they exist to fight on land. They therefore need to know how to retain their fitness while they are cooped up on their ships in confined spaces, often for quite long periods. They are also all Commandos, and this means that they have to be ready at all times to go, at very short notice, to any part of the world to resolve a crisis. Commandos are not supermen - they are ordinary people - but they are specifically trained to handle crises in arduous and inhospitable terrain where they are likely to be severely tested physically. In my short 83 years as a Royal Marine | was involved in emergency situa- tions in the jungles of Borneo, in the Radfan mountains and the deserts of southern Arabia, in the baking heat of the mid-summer Cyprus sun, in the South Atlantic during the Falklands War, and in the extremely inhospitable Zagros mountains of North Iraq at the end of the Gulf War (when the Com- mando Brigade helped to resettle thousands of Kurdish refugees). | also spent years training in the Norwegian Arctic where low temperatures, deep snow and high mountains make huge demands on the human body and brain. In my early twenties, | qualified as a Royal Marines Physical Training Offi- cer, and became one of the very few officers to join the Physical Training Branch. | ran all PT and sport at the Royal Navy's College in Dartmouth, and subsequently was responsible for training all Royal Marines Physical Training Instructors. | played squash and hockey at inter-service and county level and have always played a lot of various sports. But, apart from the sheer fun of keeping fit and competing, | realised early on in my adult life that being physically fit has a tremendous spin-off on your capacity to think and to concentrate, particularly when under pressure. The motto of the Royal Marines Physical Training Branch is mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body). | have found this to be a very appro- Priate motto for people who regularly face challenges of any sort: physicalchallenges, mental challenges or both. There is absolutely no doubt that your brain will work better and for longer if your body is in good shape. Commandos go through a very tough training course when they first join the Royal Marines and they are then required to keep themselves fit through- ‘out the rest of their service. Becoming really fit and strong, with deep reserves of stamina, builds tremendous confidence - and it is this inner confidence in self and team which is a real winner in any difficult situation. Allover the world Ihave seen young Commandos take arduous conditions in their stride with amazing cheerfulness and confidence. Most of this impressive ability to cope cheerfully with harsh weather, inhospitable terrain, spartan living conditions, to say nothing of a determined enemy, is due to the confidence that comes with being in peak physical condition. | recently saw a very short TV interview with a young Royal Marine in Bosnia. He was about 19 years old, of slight build and, except for the uniform and the situation, he looked a little like a displaced choirboy, He was stand- ing in the snow and had an enormous load on his back. The interviewer, with a slightly cynical sneer to his voice, asked the Marine ‘And how far are you going to carry all that?’, to which the young man replied in a matter-of-fact way ‘As far as I'm told to’. That said it all, for this young man had gained suf- ficient confidence from his Commando training to know that he could do any- thing that was required of him. And the inner strength that this confidence gives is a winner in any situation: on the battlefield, in the boardroom, or even when trying to fight your way out of a bunker on the golf course. Being physically fit also makes you feel good. | am now the wrong side of 50, but I felt good when my doctor told me the other day that | have the blood pressure of a teenager. | know that my apparently healthy state owes much to the fact that | have always watched my diet and weight, and have done my best to maintain a good level of fitness. And why have | done this? Partly because as a Royal Marine | needed to, but equally as much it is because it makes me feel good. It's also because | know that if | am in good physical shape there is more of a chance that my mind will shape up to any challenge or crisis which | face, and of my body not letting me down when | need it to continue for that extra mile. This book will help you get in shape, and stay in shape for life. Itisn’t a book for budding supermen: it won't give you huge muscles. It wll, however, guide you through a programme of progressive physical exercises which, combined with a healthy regard for diet, rest, alcohol and nicotine, will give you mens sana in corpore sano. Both Robin Eggar and Dieter Loraine have good reason (as | do) to know that the recipe works. I hope you enjoy making it work too. Masor GeneraL ANDREW KEELING CH, CBE auomauoa