PRMC preparation plan: the gym tests, the bleep test and the 3-mile run

The Potential Royal Marines Course is short, three days at the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, and it is designed to find out whether you can be trained. The physical tests are published, which means there is no excuse for arriving unable to score well on them. The part that is not published is how you behave when you are cold, wet and tired on the bottom field, and the best preparation for that is turning up fitter than you need to be.

This article covers the tests, the standards as published at the time of writing (confirm the current figures with your careers adviser, they change), and a 12-week structure that gets most candidates to maximum points.

What the PRMC tests

The physical assessment has two halves.

The gym tests. Press-ups in two minutes, sit-ups in two minutes and pull-ups, each scored to a maximum. The published maximum-point figures at the time of writing are 60 press-ups, 80 sit-ups and 16 pull-ups. There is a minimum to pass each, but candidates who train for the maximum rarely need to think about it.

The running tests. The multistage fitness test (the bleep test) to a published level, and the 3-mile run. The 3-miler is run in two halves: the first 1.5 miles as a squad at a set pace, the second 1.5 miles as a best-effort individual run with a published target time, commonly quoted at 10 minutes.

Form is assessed as strictly as the count. Press-ups are to a fist or a cadence, sit-ups are to a set range, pull-ups are from a dead hang to the chin over the bar with no kip. Train to the Lympstone standard from day one or your counts will be a surprise on the day.

The three fitness qualities you need

1. Upper body endurance at bodyweight. Sixty press-ups and sixteen pull-ups are volume, not strength. You get there by doing a lot of good reps across the week.
2. Running speed over short distances. The bleep test and the best-effort 1.5 miles reward people who can hold a hard pace for about ten minutes.
3. The base under all of it. Three days of PRMC, then 32 weeks of Commando training if you pass. An easy-running base and a resilient body matter more than any single test score.

The 12-week structure

Weeks 1 to 4: build the base

• Running: three sessions. One easy 30 to 40 minutes, one of 8 to 10 x 200 m hill or track strides with full recovery, one steady 45 to 60 minutes.
• Calisthenics: press-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups every other day, submaximal sets. For example 6 sets of 60 percent of your current max press-ups, 5 sets of half your max pull-ups.
• Strength: two sessions, front or goblet squat, Romanian deadlift, rows, overhead press, 3 sets of 6 to 8.

The goal of this block is frequency without failure. Nobody should be grinding out a max set in week two.

Weeks 5 to 8: specific capacity

• Running: swap the strides for a bleep-test rehearsal every second week (an app or a recorded audio is fine) and a 1.5-mile time trial on the other week, run after a 1.5-mile steady warm-up to mimic the squad half.
• Calisthenics: add one test-style session per week, all three events timed under the real rules. The other sessions stay submaximal and the volume climbs.
• Strength: unchanged, slightly heavier.

Weeks 9 to 11: sharpen

• Running: intervals at bleep-test effort, for example 6 x 400 m with a 90-second jog, plus one tempo run of 20 minutes.
• Calisthenics: two test-style sessions a week, with the submaximal days reduced to maintain volume.
• Strength: one session, maintenance only.

Week 12: taper

Cut the volume by half across the board. One short test rehearsal early in the week, nothing hard in the last three days. Sleep.

A sample week from the sharpening block

• Monday: calisthenics test rehearsal, then 30 minutes easy.
• Tuesday: intervals, 6 x 400 m at bleep-test effort.
• Wednesday: strength, one session.
• Thursday: submaximal calisthenics, high volume.
• Friday: tempo run, 20 minutes at a hard but even effort.
• Saturday: long easy run, 60 to 75 minutes.
• Sunday: rest.

Pull-ups, because that is where most people are short

If you cannot do eight dead-hang pull-ups, change the approach. Three or four times a week, do sets of 2 to 4 with long rest until you have done 20 to 30 reps in total. Every session the reps are perfect: dead hang at the bottom, chin over the bar, no swing. Add negatives (jump up, lower for 4 seconds) at the end. When sets of 5 feel easy, move to sets of 5 to 8. Most candidates who do this consistently double their max in 8 to 10 weeks.

What to expect beyond the tests

The published tests are the start. PRMC also includes the bottom field, a high obstacle course, swimming assessments and a lot of time cold and wet. None of it is trainable in a gym, but all of it is easier with a bigger running base and more sleep in the bank. The candidates who struggle are rarely the ones who failed a test. They are the ones who had nothing left after the first morning.

How Loadout Solo builds the PRMC plan

Loadout Solo starts from your test date and your current scores, imports your running history from a watch or Strava, and writes the block above with your actual numbers: submaximal calisthenics sets scaled to your maxes, interval paces from your recent runs, and a taper timed to your report date. Readiness from HRV and sleep decides each morning whether the day runs as written.

FAQ

What bleep test level do I need for PRMC?

The level is published by the Royal Marines and has changed in the past. Train to go comfortably beyond it, because you run it tired, and confirm the current figure before you set your target.

How many press-ups and pull-ups for maximum points?

At the time of writing the maximum-point figures are 60 press-ups and 80 sit-ups in two minutes and 16 pull-ups. Check the current standard with your careers adviser.

Can I prepare for PRMC in 8 weeks?

If your base is already there, eight weeks of the specific work above is workable. From a standing start, twelve to sixteen weeks gives you time to build the calisthenics volume without injury.

Should I train the swim?

Yes, if you can. Being comfortable in the water for the swimming assessment removes one source of stress from the course. It does not need to be fast.