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Bonjour,
I recently joined the forum just a couple days ago. Moderator Joe was kind enough to break the ice and asked me to tell a little bit about myself. Well Im 36 and have been a business owner for 11 years now. I recently made some bad business decisions and lost everything so now im back to square one. Which I believe to be a blessing in disguise. I have always wanted to be a soldier and in my early 20s I tried like hell to join U.S. military, I scored extremely high on aptitude test and passed all medical test but when I was a teen I was a rowdy a$$ handful and got into some trouble with the law. It seems we yanks want choirboys in our military today. Hell they even have timeout cards they give to recruits in bootcamp!! You know, just in case it gets overwhelming and they can take 5 minutes to gather their bearings and dry up the tears HA! Anyhow, my dreams of blowin sh*t up (legally) was out of the question. So I continued being rowdy as hell and worked and lived wherever the wind blew. Finally at 25 I grew up almost overnight and decided to begin settling down or at least slowing down and launched my first start-up company and continued that until I was about 30 and launched my second start-up company. Things were goin good and I was even about to launch my third start-up company until I over extended and went under. In a nutshell.

Ive always known about the legion and have come very close to joining a couple times in the past, but it just didnt seem like the right time, ya know? I mean its a big a$$ move boys. Not to be taken lightly. But now is the perfect time in my life. Im mature, experienced, knowledgable and motivated. Im at that point in life when understanding of the world around is much greater than many of you young cats, but dont worry, understanding will come. Ive done many different jobs over the years and am very skilled. I hope that outweighs my age when im sitting at the recruiters office. My age is my only concern. I know officially the legion accepts recruits up to 39 1/2 yrs old but realisticly it has to be a concern for them to recruit anyone over 35 maybe even 30.

Anyhow, Ill be joining a crossfit gym very soon and working on my fitness for the next 3 months as well as my French. Im looking forward to that moment when I knock on the door and say Im here to join the Legion...in French of course. Enough rambling about me. Thanks for welcoming me to the site. Au revoir!
 
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Perun

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Hello and welcome!
Being on the wrong side of 30s doesn't necessarily mean "inapte".
Focus on physical fitness and language, the rest is up to them.
Browse as more as possible - all answers are on this forum.
Try to use your experience , it's a valuable thing.

Good luck!
 
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You need to be very fit & use your "wise old head" to stand out as better. Use it to your advantage... Your maturity
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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Hello James Penn, and welcome to the forum/
Ill be joining a crossfit gym very soon
Start Now ! I mean each morning, we should be talking about abs and press ups until you start your gym. Don't forget to go on long runs. If it's a gym class, say twice a week. it won't be enough. You really have to put max. energy into this.
 
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Thanks for the advice and replies. As for fitness, Ive always done manual labor since I was 11 and am strong but I never been much of a runner so yes I ABSOLUTELY need to go on long runs and give it maximum effort. My plan is 4 classes first week of gym then dive in head first and start knocking out 10 to 15 classes from there on. Crossfit is very good at increasing endurance and stamina very quickly. Im even going to request that they include the Luc Luger exercise, even if I need to do personal training. My area is very hilly so that will definately help kick my butt into good aerobic shape. Push ups, sit ups and pull ups I already can do many. But can always improve. Going to start gym in a few days hopefully. Thank you fellas and maybe our career paths will cross someday Joe.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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French? You cannot afford to wait to pick it up during basic training. Also swimming. You have no margin for failure. If you can't swim or you are weak, then take lessons. There is a compulsory swimming test in Aubagne. For the 20 year olds who don't make the test, not too much of a problem. For anyone over 30, 35 it's a question mark.
You have got to start putting as many aces in your card hand as possible.
 
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Yes, Ive already started studying French using Rosetta Stone, a good program. I was unaware of the swimming test. Not worried about it though, Ive always been able to swim like a fish. Once I get my cardio into shape the swimming shouldnt be a problem. My biggest fear physically is aerobic/cardio which I will begin very soon. What else should I be aware of? What are the parameters of the swimming test? Yes I can swim like a fish but I would be a fool not to jump in some water and see if I can do the swimming exercise that youre speaking of.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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If you can swim like dolphins can swim, there is no nothing to worry about.
I'm not too sure what they are asking for in Aubagne. I think it is mainly to weed out the people who are afraid of water. It will probably be a couple of lengths at you own pace, although the legion is always on the look out for champions so it will probably be timed.
the test in Aubagne which everyone has to pass before going to their regiment is 100m followed by 10m under water.
Check out on the internet Tabata
Erika (the love of my life) does this and swears by it. But remember you have got to work on your running stamina also. Try going in for local races, they're usually on weekends. Don't worry if you don't come in the top three;). Even better is orienteering courses. They're great because when you are kn@ckerd from running, you just pretend that your lost:oops:.
You have to concentrate on running as well as your cross fitness.
Which reminds, anyone had any news from Anthonybank? The guy who hurt his ankle.
 
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What I like about crossfit workout regiments is the basic simplicity. It takes everyday movements adds a little weight, cranks up the intensity and boom, a workout that will get you in shape fast. I was reading in another thread from another member who posted a 3 month workout program and he was bashing gym rats and I agree with most of his points but crossfit isnt some 30 min workout program promising eternal life, it actually works. Its much like basic training as far as PTs go. Anyhow, I thought Id post a short video for anyone that is unfamiliar with what it is.

 

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My fault for posting the video about tabata to highlight my post. Try and keep to the category of threads; music to 'what are you...' gym to 'fitness & gym videos' :oops:
 
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I would recommend that people who will try cross fit find a good qualified trainer(s). some of the Olympic lifts look simple but you can really hurt yourself if not done properly. Power cleans, Clean & Jerk, Clean & press..etc
 

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I would recommend that people who will try cross fit find a good qualified trainer(s). some of the Olympic lifts look simple but you can really hurt yourself if not done properly. Power cleans, Clean & Jerk, Clean & press..etc
I do crossfit, old school buddy. Did all the training courses and such. Before you can even think of doing lifts, its practicing with a pvc pipe to make sure technique is 100%
 
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I do crossfit, old school buddy. Did all the training courses and such. Before you can even think of doing lifts, its practicing with a pvc pipe to make sure technique is 100%
yes exactly... more complex than people think.
 
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The music video was just a cool follow up to the crossfit video. Definitely want to take care of proper form when doing most exercises. One could even say ALL exercises
 
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The music video was just a cool follow up to the crossfit video. Definitely want to take care of proper form when doing most exercises. One could even say ALL exercises
yup... old school baby !!
 
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