USUHS height weight requirement

[AubreyMaturin]

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I was just flagged by DODMERB for being above the height/weight requirement by about 4 lbs. My weight was incorrectly measured by the nurse at the Concord affiliate, and when I called her on it she said,"don't worry, it does not really matter." Although obviously it does, so now USUHS is requiring me to pass a body fat test, which I will not be able to pass in my present condition. So I may not make it into USUHS.

However, my HPSP physical is not complete, and I am sure that I will pass the height/weight requirement because I am borderline and 2-3 pounds is nothing. + I can take the physcial whenever I want. Moreover, my recruiter is aware of my situation, and has a stake in my acceptance.

So before I ask for advice, I know that the most common answer will be,"get your fat-ass in shape, cause you'll need to be anyway." A recent sports injury is making that difficult (knee injury so most cardio is out). Knee injury and holiday food, bad combination. I am doing my best to fulill both height weight and body fat reqs by watching diet (whcih really sucks) and working out as much as possible with out aggrivating the injury.

Currently, I am stalling the USUHS people so that I can loose some inches before I go see my recruiter for a body fat test. The problem is that I would need several weeks to do this; I need to loose about 2-3 inches. I don't know if I can stall that long.

I have considered requesting a rebuttal and having my weight measured again. I know that I can pass that test. But I don't know if this will just annoy the USUHS people more, and it will make stalling more difficult if I try to do it now. I will probably request a rebuttal as a stalling tactic if they start to hound me about getting the body fat test done before I am ready.

Does anyone know what the max allowable bodyfat is for USUHS (Navy)? My HPSP recruiter says that the Navy requires 23% despite age, but I found an Army officer procurement document (Army regulation 40-501), which says that this percentage goes up with age, and these standards were much more forgiving.

What do you think the chances are that I would get a waiver for this?
I read one post where someone said, "anything can be waived"

I don't know anything about military beurocracy yet, so any advice would help.





"My mom says I'm not fat I'm just big boned"
-Eric Cartman

 

[adventurer]

they will weigh you again before they pull out the tape measure, so make sure you meet weight and you will be fine

 

[oldredleg]

OK, get in the gym and start doing hi rep, low weight circuits. If you leave less than a minute in between each station, it will get your heart rate up and simulate cardio. You should be able to change your body composition fairly quickly if you are watching your calories and eating several SMALL meals a day. Lots of water, no cheating.
That said, I think its important to be realistic regarding your weight. If one injury and a couple of weeks of over eating results in border line body fat percentage, you probably weren't in the best shape to begin with. If you're having difficulty managing your weight now, it will be impossible when you're working 80 hour weeks and eating from the vending machines during residency. Military uniforms don't hide weight well. Not trying to preach or discourage you in any way. Being physically fit isn't high on the priority list for military doctors, but enlisted soldiers and line officers who are held accountable for their weight notice and tend to resent the fact that some officers let themselves go, so to speak. The question isn't whether or not you can temporarily get within standards but whether you're willing to do the work to remain in standards.
If you've always been in pretty good shape and this injury was the catalyst for a temporary weight gain, please disregard the above rant. Either way, good luck with your physical, you can surely lose a few pounds in a week or two.

 

[MoosePilot]

One quick thing to do is find out what method they use and have a girlfriend or mom tape you. If you're good, then stop worrying.

 

[AubreyMaturin]

One quick thing to do is find out what method they use and have a girlfriend or mom tape you. If you're good, then stop worrying.

Yeah that is the problem, I have the EXACT document and calculation table that wil be used. Neck and abdomen measurement and I think I am at around 26% according to this methodology.

However, USUHS just sent an Army document to me that said that I could be a maximum of 28% body fat, pretty high so I should be OK. However, I am still looking for reverification that this number is correct becasue it conflicts with other info I recieved for HPSPS recruiters.

 

[jtriplet]

I'm stressing about the same thing right now. I'm 27, 5'11" and in the mid 230's, so I blow all the ht/wt charts (ex-bodybuilder). But according to a bodyfat calculator for the military I found on-line, I need to only go down about one inch in the midline. I posted about this before and some one responded that they do not take your official weight until after your first year (here's keeping my fingers crossed). I also spoke with an officer at Buckley AFB who does the physicals and he said that at least in the air force they have pretty much done away with the ht/wt chart. And I qoute, "you could be a fat bastard, but if you can run like hell you're in"

Any other info that people could post would be greatly appreciated.

JOE

 

[Croooz]

Do all the above.

Take a moment to really reflect on what oldredleg posted. Very sound and very, very true. Especially since you are asking about DMO. I can tell you that the enlisted guys will have a problem with you if you look like crap in uniform. More so the operational guys and even more so the diving community. Not so much the look of the uniform but the lardass within. If not you, don't take offense. If this is you then be forewarned. Life is hell for military docs who are out of standards. How you ask? Well, the operational guys equate your level of fitness with respect. If you don't have respect enough for yourself to stay in shape then how could you possibly know anything about how to take care of them???? Crazy but true.

With your problem, I would cut the rice, bread, pastas...basically processed carbs and stick to the fruits & veggies. Drink a ton of water. You don't have much to lose so a diet adjustment with the exercise regimen recommended should get you where you need to be. Of course, so would a good bowel movement... 😀

BTW, "everything is waiverable" mainly applies once you are in the military. Not the best to have a bunch of waivers when first getting commissioned. Come in with as few problems as possible then make a nuisance of yourself once your in.

 

[jtriplet]

Yeah that is the problem, I have the EXACT document and calculation table that wil be used. Neck and abdomen measurement and I think I am at around 26% according to this methodology.

However, USUHS just sent an Army document to me that said that I could be a maximum of 28% body fat, pretty high so I should be OK. However, I am still looking for reverification that this number is correct becasue it conflicts with other info I recieved for HPSPS recruiters.

Could you please PM or email me that document. I want to see how it compares to what I have found online.

JOE

 

[jtriplet]

^^^^^ actually both documents. Thanks again

JOE

 

[AubreyMaturin]

Croooz,
I feal the same way about myself as enlisted men will feal about me if I am competely out of shape. I once weighed as much as 210, at 5'7.5". To look at me, I am in pretty good shape. Not a complete lardass. However, the method used for BF% calc does not favor my build, so I am borderline.

I enjoy physical activities, epecially the very strenous variety, and DMO appeals to me becasue of this. In fact, the military, in general, appeals to me because of this. I am already back on the weights, whcih I should have done sooner, and will be back to competitive sports in less than a month. Good advice about respect though, and I have certainly taken it to heart.

J Triplet,
I would be happy to email both the Army document and the Excell file that USUHS sent me for body fat calculation; but I need your email address to attach docuemnts. You can send me a private message if you wan't to remain anonymous to the rest of the chat room. Or, if you don't want to do that, you can just send me your measure ments and I can plug them in to the program and return the result (height, neck width, abdomen width across the navel.) Are you accepted at USUHS? If not, the HPSP guys seem to have a different take on things.

 

[AubreyMaturin]

^^^^^ actually both documents. Thanks again

JOE

Here is the web site for max allowable body fat percentage according to USUHS:

http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/apa/rc/weight.htm

However, this website will not allow .xls as an extension option for attachments. Then again, I suck with computers, so maybe I am just doing something wrong.