I have the military swim test in 2 weeks, and am a very strong swimmer, but am having real difficulty with getting out of the pool at the end, due to a high body weight to upper body strength ratio (I'm higher end of normal BMI, but I'm tall, and a girl, and have basically no upper body strength).
The pool has a high side. Despite this I have no trouble getting out with no overalls on, but the overalls create a drag that mean I can't jump higher than chest height, and then my arms and shoulders are just too weak.
I have been doing loads of press ups, but can't seem to get anywhere. I know I will make no progress in 2 weeks, but I'm certainly going to try (failure will be really humiliating). Besides, if I do fail I'll need to train for the next one, in February.
What exercises can I use? I can't do pull ups - I can't even hold myself up and do descending ones. I need to start really easy - probably the same sort of exercises you would use to get over 6 foot walls in obstacle courses.