The first event is Pull-Ups/Push-ups. DON'T DO PUSH-UPS FOR YOUR TEST!
One, you can only get 70 points. Two, if you do push-ups, the plank is going to SUCK. Three, the Marine Corps is the only branch that has pull-ups on our test. It's our thing. If you want to be the one of four people that elect to do push-ups, that's on you to bear the stares you'll get.
That aside, pull-ups will help you immensely with other things at OCS, including the obstacle course and daily PT. Also, once you have your first pull-up, it's easier to build them up in a short time.
Everyone raves about the Armstrong Pull-up Program:
If you can already do pull-ups, I suggest this one.
When I talked to an OSO, I couldn't do a single pull-up. He steered me toward the Posey Pull-Up Program.
LtCol Posey (female) was instrumental in having females perform pull-ups on the test. Her program is very helpful in getting your first pull-up, and increasing your reps. At the bottom of the page there are several links. READ ALL OF THEM. They really help with the hopelessness you'll feel if you can't do a pull-up. It'll also help with the mental block that a lot of women (including myself) have with pull-ups.
If you are a beginner to pull-ups, start small. If the workout says to do 5 reps, do 3. If it says to do 10 sets, do 5. Do this the first week, then start the program. If you start too hard, you will burn out your shoulders for over a week like I did.
ALSO! Many pull-up programs guage your level by how many pull-ups you can do. This is a good guage, but if you cannot do ANY pull-ups, there is an additional guage I want you to use.
THE DEAD HANG.
Believe it or not, many people struggle with pull-ups not because of their arm/shoulder/back strength, but because of their grip strength. We are not Tarzan and the modern human rarely hangs from anything. So don't be surprised or discouraged if you cannot hold a dead hang for very long. You can build up grip strength pretty fast.
Dead Hang Guage:
30 seconds + : Good. You'll only get better.
20-30 seconds: Start your pull-up program, but keep doing sets of dead hangs in addition.
10-20 seconds:
3 days of dead hangs, 3 sets per day, for 1 week minimum. Then begin program, but you MUST supplement with dead hangs during.
Day 1 Set: 10s, 10s, 10s Day 2: 15s, 15s, 10s Day 3: 20s, 15s, 15s
10 seconds or less: 3 days of dead hangs, 3 sets per day, for 2 weeks minimum. Then begin program, but you MUST supplement with dead hangs during.
Week 1
Day 1 Set: 5s, 5s, 5s Day 2: 10s, 5s, 5s Day 3: 10s, 10s, 5s
Week 2
Day 1 Set: 15s, 10s, 10s Day 2: 15s, 15s, 10s Day 3: 20s, 15s, 15s