How to prepare for the Marines (PRMC)
I receive a lot of private messgaes/direct messages/emails asking for fitness advice. Sometimes this is nutritonal advice, sometimes military prep advice, fatloss advice, training advice etc. At one point I would say that every other message was asking for some form of advice around Royal Marines preparation. It was this that drove me to put some videos together and to eventually write my Pass the PRMC guide.
This message is a little different though, it is asking specifically if my first book, the Royal Marines Fitness Physical Training Manual is “good for telling how to prepare for the Marines”. Not to pooh pooh my own book, I am very proud not only to have been asked to write the official RM Fitness Guide but to have been published by Haynes, however, the book isn’t specific enough for PRMC or POC preparation in my mind and hence I wrote a specific guide.
The RM Fitness manual this question is asking about is a general fitness book for the civilian market. It is something that was outlined to me (in terms of content and chapters) and was aimed at widening the RM appeal within the general public. The information within will help anyone with general fitness improvements, including those wanting to improve their fitness for RM application, but it could be more specific in terms of passing the entrance test standards for the PRMC or POC.
That, along with the huge amount of 1:1 questions I was being asked over email and social media inspired me to write my Pass the PRMC ebook. The Pass the PRMC ebook, outlines what is expected of you at PRMC and how to train specifically for those expectations to ensure a pass. Within the book, there is not only information on what to expect but a PRMC specific 8-week training programme that you can personalise for your current fitness levels and thus will take you to the level you need to be to meet the expectations of the PRMC team. It’s worth mentioning that the Pass the PRMC ebook is just as suitable for POC. The only real differences are a couple more academic elements including a presentation, a discussion and some leadership tasks on certain elements too. None of this has any real bearing on the fitness elements. If you aren’t fit enough to pass day 1 of POC then they won’t get to see that side of you anyway.
Royal Marines book
In answer to this question then, my first book is good for preparing for the Royal Marines but in more of a general capacity. It has chapters on The Royal Marines in general, on RM ethos and lifestyle, on the Commando Tests and tests throughout training. However, although this is good background knowledge and the other chapters on fitness training
I am a big believer in specificity. If you want to be a good runner, run. Don’t mess about on a cross trainer. If you want to be good at pull-ups, yes some support exercises like lat pull down can help, but at the end of the day, you need to do pull-ups. If you want to pass the PRMC, then general fitness will help, but a specific training programme designed for passing the PRMC will be better.
Pass the PRMC
To sum up, both books have their merits but if I had to advise only one for preparation for the Royal Marines it would be the Pass the PRMC ebook. I have had nothing but glowing feedback and many, many messages of thanks after successful PRMC passes. Thank you again to everyone who has let me know they gained a