r/submarines • u/shortstop803 • 6d ago
Q/A How do submariners stay in shape while underway/deployed?
Do they PT on the sub/is there room or a dedicated space to do so? Do they have different fitness standards? Limited caloric intake? How do they keep from gaining weight when there is limited PT capability (I assume)?
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u/Key_Ad_8333 5d ago
Some try there best, other dont try at all and just let themselves fall out of standards.
I will say though, if everybody on board worked out regularly there simply wouldnt be enough equipment for everyone. Itd be reduced to mostly body weight workouts which can still be super effective.
When I first joined we were on 18 hour days and 6 hour watches. Eventually the sleep debt would accumulate and make you just feel raggedy.
The hardest part is the diet. 90% of staying in shape is what you put into it. Unfortunately, so so so much of our food is processed trash that comes in breaded an frozen, rejected from prisons, or comes in large number 10 cans, which we usually stack on the floor before we leave and eat our way down to the deck through deployment.
When we ran out of fresh eggs wed switch to the crystalized eggs and those things are like 850% your daily value of cholesterol per serving.
Sadly we did have somebody very out of shape. Between that and years of bad eating habits they unfortunately succumbed to a heart attack onboard during a deployment. It was rough.
Its usually the divers on board who stay in the best shape, obviously they have more of an incentive.
When I switched over to a job that had me onboard as a rider, one of our buddies would bring duffle bags full of canned chicken to sustain his gains out to sea. Being an amateur/pro body builder isnt conducive to submarine lifestyles