Who is all for ditching the gym?

I ditched Gold's Gym in Mountain View CA and setup a home gym with Bowflex, Universal equipment and a Proform exercise bike. But I'm old school and think if you are able to run a few miles every day you don't need to spend countless hours in a gym every week and can workout at home instead.

Try it you just might like it..I was a Personal Trainer at Golds Gym for a lot of years and lost interest working with a bunch of MuscleHeads and Wannabe BodyBuilders . Most were on steroids and never met a mirror they didn't fall in love with.

I like to run a lot and do a bunch of body weight exercises. It'll never get me "buff", but I can still smoke myself anytime I want in the comfort of my living room or while running around my neighborhood. Gyms these days are too crowded with people taking selfies or just generally hanging out on machines and such. I have pretty much given up on them.

As many have said here, focus on what you need to focus and do what works best for you. Me, I have always equaled out my running and gym time. But like ive said and everyone else has said, it all depends on what works for you. I can say this, with most workouts, having a strong core helps out tremendously. Also try and focus on certain muscle groups. Defintly don't leave the gym all together though, because just push ups and sit ups alone will on sustain you, I saw it in a previous post, but resistance training in the gym, even using resistance bands at home when you don't have the time at the gym can help improve your performance.

In a way I think you answered your own question run in the morning and maybe some of Sgt Jacqueems advice then the gym if conditions dont allow....

I personally never use the gym for running. I physically can't do treadmills because I'm the guy that would trip over his own feet and fly backwards. I also prefer running distances. Running on a treadmill, I don't feel like I've ever accomplished anything. But if I run so many miles away from my house, I still have to run that distance to get back. Personally though, I always trained on the place I took the test. I don't know how it works in the Army, but in the Marines, I know exactly where we're taking the test, so I get used to the feel of the pullup bar on my trail. I measure how long it takes me to run specific intervals so I know whether to speed up or maintain my speed. I'll even do my crunches so I can get used to the feeling of the ground. There's always a mental component to these tests, so I train for the test to eliminate the mental component.

Ditching cardio at the gym, definitely. You should still be incorporating some strength training with your workouts, if you can do that effectively outside the gym, go for it. Just ensure you are getting well rounded workouts to increase your APFT efficency. Squats, deadlifts, and other leg workouts can help do wonders for increasing your run time, if you also have a solid cardiovascular workout regime. It really depends on your personal goals though, proper nutrition is essential regardless!

The best shape I was ever in was trying to lose weight to get into the Army. Using the knowledge I learned from that I now take a two-a-day approach. So if we run for PT in the mornings I lift weights in the gym in the afternoon. If we do some sort of push-up/sit-up drills I ride a stationary bike or run the roads after work when it cools down. My best running was low 13 minutes and my pushups suffered. I would say try to find a balance. But I am too tall if I don't lift I will turn into a spaghetti noodle.

When I was able to run, I ran 3 miles a day on a treadmill. While I enjoyed running outside more, the advantage to going to the gym was that the treadmill offered a steady pace, it was all weather, so I never could use that as an excuse if I was feeling lazy, and I could control the grade. I always just felt (having run both outside and inside) that the treadmill offered much more regimented results. But in the end, everyone is different, so experiment and find what's best for you.

Do both

APFT in truth proves nothing about a soldier. Push ups, sits ups, and a run... Passing that basically puts on paper that you are not a complete land mammoth in uniform.

Wanna max your APFT? Practice 2 minute drills as push ups and sit ups are just muscle memory anyway.

Run distance once a week (longer than 2miles... Like 5) the do short 30/60 sprints.