Tactical Training Template

TACTIC ACTICAL AL TRAINING TRAINI NG TEMPLA TEMPLATE TE CAPT Mike Prevost, USN 

A sustainable weekly training template for the tactical athlete

It is easy to be hard, but it is hard to be smart!

If you find this program helpful, please consider donating to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation at: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/prevosttraining/PrevostTrainingFundraisingPage

 © Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. Do not copy or redistribute without permission of the author  Photo: Communication Specialist 2nd Class Casey H. Kyhl www.navy.mil

Disclaimer: The advice and information contained in this document may not be appropriate for all individuals. Therefore, the author, employees, company, affiliates, or any other parties involved in the creation or promotion of our products are not responsible for any injuries or health conditions that may result from advice, opinions, and programs represented in this program or any of our training programs or other products. The information on this website and in the training program are the opinions of the author and are not a replacement for medical advice. You should consult a physician before starting any diet or exercise program. If you choose to follow the program without consulting your physician, you are doing so at your own risk. We claim no responsibility for any injuries you might sustain. The opinions and assertions contained herein are the private opinions of the author and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Department of Defense.

This is a modification of Pavel Tsatsouline’s “Total Package” strength and conditioning template (www.strongfirst.com) . This is for the tactical operator who needs strength, conditioning (metabolic conditioning or METCON), and endurance. When you are training several fitness components at once, you must simplify. This is a simple, but effective program that will allow you to excel at all 3 fitness components without overtraining. This is a “quality over quantity” approach. The program template is sustainable, over the long haul, while leaving enough energy to work on the numerous other training and operational contingencies of the tactical athlete. If your conditioning program leaves you too exhausted or too sore to do your day to day job, it is time to reevaluate! Also, for the tactical athlete, the strength and conditioning program should not be the training element with the highest risk for injury day in and day out. The job is hazardous enough without adding a high risk conditioning program. The keys to the effectiveness of this program are: 1. The right dose of METCON. Excessive METCON will cook your central nervous system and can interfere with strength gains. METCON in itself is not an effective way to gain strength. It should be trained separately from strength if possible. 2. Big bang for the buck strength . Strength training is loaded movement. If the movements are chosen carefully, very few exercises are necessary. A program that uses big bang for the buck lifts for the 5 basic movements (1. Upper body push, 2. Upper body pull, 3. Squat, 4. Hip hinge, 5. Core) ensures that there are no weak links. This is not a bodybuilding program. It is an athletic performance program. We don’t train by body parts; we train movements, loaded movements. 3. Manageable workload overall. You can’t do 2 hour gym sessions, frequent “as many rounds as possible” or “as fast as possible” METCON sessions, and endurance training simultaneously without crashing headfirst into stagnation, overtraining, and injury. Improving your performance (rather than trying to test yourself in the gym every day) is not about what you can do, but it is rather about what you can absorb and recover from. The true test of the tactical operator is not how hard he can be in the gym. The true test is whether he can put his ego aside and commit to a smart training program. It is easy to be hard, but it is hard to be smart. Be smart. The weekly template is below. You may move the Wednesday and Saturday endurance sessions to Monday and Thursday to free up some off days. If you do this, perform the endurance portion after the strength portion, preferably later in the day after a rest period. Two basic templates are below:

7 Day Per Week Template

5 Day Per Week Template

Monday—strength

Monday— AM strength, PM endurance

Tuesday—conditioning

Tuesday—conditioning

Wednesday —endurance

Wednesday—off 

Thursday—strength

Thursday— AM strength, PM endurance

Friday—conditioning

Friday—conditioning

Saturday—endurance

Saturday—off 

Sunday—endurance

Sunday—endurance

Strength Monday and Wednesday consist of two types of lifts, heavy grinds (i.e., deadlifts, bench press, pull ups, presses) and heavy quick lifts (i.e., heavy kettlebell swings, heavy kettlebell snatches, and Olympic lifts). On the strength days, you should focus on heavy lifts and the 3-8 repetition range. Varying the repetition range within this bracket makes sense. Sometimes you should focus on heavy singles and doubles for the quick lifts and heavy triples for the grinds, and other times you should use lighter weights (but still heavy) for 5-8 reps. The loading should be “wavy.” This can be done rather randomly as you feel, or systematically. Pick one exercise for each movement. 3-5 sets are about right. If you are doing singles, you may do more sets (i.e., 10 X 1). Don’t rush through these workouts. Take plenty of rest to ensure that you can move big weights with proper form. Heavy ab work belongs on the strength days as well: ¼ get-ups with a big kettlebell, hanging leg raises, hard style sit-ups, loaded carries etc.

Monday: 3 movements, squat, vertical push, pull, core Tuesday: 3 movements, hip hinge, horizontal push, pull, core The most effective exercises for these movements are below. Those with an * are the best of the best. Upper Body Vertical Push: *Standing Barbell Military Press (officially called the "Press") Overhead dumbbell or kettlebell press Handstand pushup Push press Jerk Horizontal Push: *Loaded or ballistic pushups Bench press Dumbbell press Pushups (loaded if necessary) Dips one arm dumbbell bench press Upper Body Pull: *Pullups Dumbbell or barbell rows Batwings Body rows Standing cable column rows

Squat: *Back squat Front squat Lunge Split squat Box step up (loaded if necessary) Overhead squat Zercher squat Goblet squat Clean squat Hip Hinge: *Deadlift (sumo and regular) Stiff legged deadlift Romanian deadlift *Heavy kettlebell swing Glute Ham Hyperextensions Good mornings Powerclean Snatch (bar and kettlebell) Core *Loaded carries (i.e. Suitcase carry, farmer's walk) *Plank Windmill (kettlebell or dumbbell) Turkish get up *Ab wheel roll out Dead bug or hollow rock Hanging leg raise Chops Sledgehammer work Tire flips Bear crawls

 Add a short (5 min) st retching session after the workout. Focus on shoulders, hamstrings, calves, hip flexors, chest, and gluteus.

Conditioning (METCON) Tuesdays and Fridays are all about high rep ballistics (swings, snatches, cleans, jerks) and METCON. Barbell Olympic lifts are a risky way to do METCON. Kettlebell or dumbbell variants are much less risky. Save the barbell Olympic lifts for the strength sessions. “High rep” in this context means 10-20. The

conditioning effect will come from keeping your rest intervals brief. Drive your heart rate up and keep it there. Always use perfect form. Never compromise movement quality for effort. Note that the sessions are brief, about 10 minutes. High quality, brief sessions are best for METCON. Some examples for Tuesday/Friday are below. Feel free to create your own with these principles in mind.

Sample METCON sessions: Kettlebell one-arm swing—5×10 per arm.

45 lb ruck stair climb (up and down for 10 min)

Kettlebell one-arm jerk—5×10 per arm. US Secret Service 10min kettlebell snatch test.

Barbell complex: clean, lunge, push press (2 X 5 minutes)

Kettlebell double snatch—5, 20, 10, 15.

1 minute jump rope, 30 seconds pushups (X 8)

Kettlebell double C&J—3 x (10, 15). Double kettlebell jerk—2 x (10, 15, 20).

Car push (8 X 1 minute with 30 seconds rest)

Double kettlebell clean—2 x (10, 15, 20). 10 Burpees, sprint 45 yards (x 4)

Turkish get ups (10 minutes)

Bear crawl (2 X 5 minutes)

Box jumps (8 X 1 minute with 15 seconds rest)

Sand bag get ups with ½ bodyweight (2 X 5 min)

5 sand bag get ups, 25 pushups (X 6)

You get the idea. These are whole body, “strength integration” movements. When you are done with this short workout, spend 10-15 minutes stretching from head to toe. Focus on shoulders, hamstrings, calves, hip flexors, chest, and gluteus. You might also add some foam roller work. This part is just as important as your workout. Maintaining joint mobility is essential for long term joint health.

Endurance For the tactical athlete, endurance generally means moving under load. You never move in a tactical situation in shorts and running shoes. Loaded movement is primarily about strength, but you need some run ability also. The foundation of the run program is two run sessions and 1 ruck. There are two weekly run structures that are alternated in an A/B/A/B/A/B fashion.

Run Plan A Run Plan B

VO2 Max Intervals Long Run

Tempo Run VO2 Max Intervals

Long Ruck Heavy Ruck

If you are approaching a run testable event (i.e., PFT or PRT) and want to sharpen up performance for the run, drop the ruck for 4-5 weeks and substitute a long run for the long ruck and a tempo run for the heavy ruck. When the run test event is over, go back to the original template.

Long Run: This is a steady pace effort. It is not hard and it is not easy. It is the natural pace you would fall into if you went out for a long but comfortable run. This is not easy pace. If you had to constantly hold yourself back, that would be easy pace. Steady is comfortable but you would not describe it as easy. For those who train with a heart rate monitor, steady would be approximately 70-80% of your maximum heart rate. With steady paced runs, you don’t run harder over time, you run faster at the same effort level . You can do this by keeping your heart rate in your target “steady” zone. As you become fit, you will have to run faster to achieve the same heart rate. If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, you will have to pace based on effort. Keep the effort “steady” and eventually your “steady” pace will get faster and faster.

Remember; do not increase the effort of steady runs. Steady pace is also 1:35 to 1:45 (minute: seconds) per mile slower than your best 3 mile run pace. Gradually stretch the distance of the long run. The length depends on your overall run goals.

Tempo: This is 10K race pace. This is definitely harder than steady pace but not your max pace. It is also sometimes described as threshold pace. It is about at 90-95% of your max heart rate. This is about :25 -:35 (:seconds) per mile slower than your best 3 mile run pace. You can either use heart rate to pace your tempo intervals, or you can periodically race a 10K and use pace. The effort should feel hard but it is not a maximal effort. A tempo run consists of some easy running and some time spent at tempo pace. This is usually done as easy, tempo, easy, tempo, easy. The total time spent at tempo pace for a run ranges from 10 minutes to 40 minutes with tempo intervals from 5 minutes to 40 minutes (i.e., 2 X 15, 5 X 5 min, or 2 X 20 min). Start with 10 minutes at tempo pace (i.e., 5 min easy, 5 min tempo, 5 min easy, 5 min tempo, 5 min easy) and work your way to 40 minutes (i.e., 4 X 10 min with 5 min easy recovery jog in between or 2 X 20 with 5 min easy recovery jog in between). VO2 max Intervals: Lots of people call these track intervals. That is because they are usually done on the track. Heart rate is a poor way to pace these intervals because they are too short. It takes your heart rate 2-3 minutes to reach steady state at a new run pace. As a result, you will be done with your interval before your heart rate catches up. That is why it is best to do these on the track or on a course with marked distances and use pace to deliver the right intensity. The most common distances to do these are ¼ and ½ mile repeats. These are done at your 1 mile race pace. They are tough! VO2 max intervals are done with a 1/1 work/rest ratio. For example, if the work interval takes 3 minutes, the rest period is 3 minutes. What should you do during your rest interval? You should rest! Seriously, you can jog slowly or walk or whatever it takes for you to recover. The point is to recover. Run these hard and push the pace. However, the ideal session would have your pace on your first and last intervals the same. If you are fading in your last intervals, you are going too hard. Always leave a little gas in the tank and finish felling like you could have done another one or two. VO2 max intervals are potent medicine. You don’t need many. These intervals are best done on a track. If you don't have a track, mark out a 3/4 mile straight section of road. Mark every 1/4 mile. Find a friend with a bicycle that has a bike computer/odometer if you do not have a GPS or measuring wheel. Your car odometer is not accurate enough. If you are in the military and on base, you can usually borrow a measuring wheel from base gym. An appropriate number of ¼ mile intervals for a training session would be 6-8. For ½ mile intervals, an appropriate dose would be 3-5. More than that would likely be counterproductive. Intervals are potent medicine. Just a little is enough.

Rucks The ruck plan alternates a heavy ruck and a long ruck. The idea is to use progressive overload to increase the distance and the load. We never run with a ruck in training, even if we expect to have to run with a ruck in testing and in a t actical situation. Running with a ruck is just too risky. The exception is a few short sprints at the end of a ruck session. If you do some sprints, do only a handful and start slow then build. The standard ruck training pace is 4 miles per hour (15 minutes per mile). Go a bit faster if you can. Research studies have shown that heavy rucks transfer performance to long rucks but long rucks do not transfer much performance to heavy rucks. The best plan is to alternate heavy and long rucks. However, if you are time constrained, just do the heavy rucks, because much of that fitness will still transfer when you have to go long. A sample ruck training progression is below.

Sample Ruck Plan Week

Week 1-3

Week 4-5

Week 6-7

Week 8-9

Week 10-11

Week 12-13

Week 14-15

Week 16-17

Week 18-19

Long Ruck

20% bodyweight, 60 minutes

20% bodyweight, 70 minutes

25% bodyweight, 60 minutes

25% bodyweight, 70 minutes

25% bodyweight, 80 minutes

30% bodyweight, 80 minutes

30% bodyweight, 100 minutes

30% bodyweight, 110 minutes

30% bodyweight, 120 minutes

Heavy Ruck

30% bodyweight, 3 X 10 min intervals with 2 min rest.

35% bodyweight, 2 X 10 min intervals with 2 min rest.

35% bodyweight, 3 X 10 min intervals with 5 min rest.

35% bodyweight, 3 X 10 min intervals with 2 min rest.

40% bodyweight, 2 X 10 min intervals with 5 min rest.

40% bodyweight, 2 X 10 min intervals with 2 min rest.

40% bodyweight, 3 X 10 min intervals with 5 min rest.

40% bodyweight, 3 X 12 min intervals with 3 min rest.

40% bodyweight, 3 X 15 min intervals with 2 min rest.

Note: Go fast without running on the rucks. The idea is to move swiftly, but efficiently with a heavy load. Do not run. If you experience any aches or pains, drop the load and build back up slowly. Sample Ruck Plan Week

Week 20-21

Week 22-23

Week 24-25

Week 26-27

Week 28-29

Week 30-31

Week 32-33

Week 34-35

Week 36-37

Long Ruck

30% bodyweight, 130 minutes

30% bodyweight, 150 minutes

35% bodyweight, 120 minutes

35% bodyweight, 130 minutes

35% bodyweight, 150 minutes

35% bodyweight, 160 minutes

35% bodyweight, 180 minutes

35% bodyweight, 190 minutes

35% bodyweight, 200 minutes

Heavy Ruck

40% bodyweight, 3 X 15 min intervals with 2 min rest.

40% bodyweight, 3 X 15 min intervals with 2 min rest.

45% bodyweight, 2X 10 min intervals with 2 min rest.

45% bodyweight, 3 X 10 min intervals with 2 min rest.

45% bodyweight, 2 X 15 min intervals with 2 min rest.

50% bodyweight, 4 X 5 min intervals with 2 min rest.

50% bodyweight, 2 X 10 min intervals with 5 min rest.

50% bodyweight, 2 X 10 min intervals with 2 min rest.

55% bodyweight, 4 X 5 min intervals with 2 min rest.

Note: If you are experienced and are currently training with a ruck, you can start somewhere after week 1. Where you start depends on your current condition. Highly conditioned individuals might start with week 20.

Summary  A sample week looks something like: 

  

  

Monday—Back Squat, Barbell Overhead Press, Weighted Pull-ups: 4 X 5 reps, Plank (2 min hold X 2), 5 min stretch Tuesday—US Secret Service 10 min kettlebell snatch test, 10 min stretch, foam roller  Wednesday —Run 7 X ¼ mile intervals Thursday—Heavy Kettlebell Swings, Weighted Pull-ups, push-ups with resistance bands: 5 X 3 reps, Loaded carries: 3 X 30 steps, 5 min stretch Friday—10 Burpees, sprint 45 yards X 4, 10 min stretch Saturday—Run 5 min easy, 10 min tempo, 5 min easy, 10 min tempo, 5 min easy Sunday—Ruck 35% bodyweight 150 minutes

This simple structure leaves time and energy for you to work on tactical skills (i.e., climbing, swimming, martial arts etc.). Remember, this program is about building fitness, not testing yourself in the gym. This is not about what you can do, but rather about what you can absorb and recover from week in and week out.

Summary  A sample week looks something like: 

  

  

Monday—Back Squat, Barbell Overhead Press, Weighted Pull-ups: 4 X 5 reps, Plank (2 min hold X 2), 5 min stretch Tuesday—US Secret Service 10 min kettlebell snatch test, 10 min stretch, foam roller  Wednesday —Run 7 X ¼ mile intervals Thursday—Heavy Kettlebell Swings, Weighted Pull-ups, push-ups with resistance bands: 5 X 3 reps, Loaded carries: 3 X 30 steps, 5 min stretch Friday—10 Burpees, sprint 45 yards X 4, 10 min stretch Saturday—Run 5 min easy, 10 min tempo, 5 min easy, 10 min tempo, 5 min easy Sunday—Ruck 35% bodyweight 150 minutes

This simple structure leaves time and energy for you to work on tactical skills (i.e., climbing, swimming, martial arts etc.). Remember, this program is about building fitness, not testing yourself in the gym. This is not about what you can do, but rather about what you can absorb and recover from week in and week out.

Notes: For tactical athletes it makes sense to focus on various versions of pull-ups for the upper body pull. You should be training pull-ups like any other strength exercise and adding weights as necessary to stay in the proper rep range. However, if you have a pull-up test coming up, you can drop the weight 4 weeks out and focus on increasing repetitions. Although bench presses are a great upper body push exercise, loaded push-ups are much better for tactical fitness. Push-ups also include whole body bracing and core strength. The disadvantage of push-ups is that they are more difficult to load. Elevating your feet, wearing a weighted vest, using resistance bands or moving to one arm pushups are all good strategies to effectively load pushups. If your job involves jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, it makes sense to add some plyometric jumping to your program. They can be added to either the conditioning days or the strength days. It is OK to turn it up a notch beyond this template from time to time to train for a school, an operational contingency, or to attempt a particular fitness goal. A 4-6 week intense focus period from time to time is beneficial. However, returning to a sustainable template after that time period makes sense. If you want your body to last, you must take a long term perspective on fitness. A long term perspective is not incompatible with performance, and in fact, it is necessary for sustained performance. One last thing…… Don’t eat junk. High quality training requires high quality fuel. It is literally half the battle.

About the Author 

Mike Prevost earned a PhD in exercise physiology from Louisiana State University in 1995. He specialized in muscle physiology and metabolism. Throughout his college years (10 years total) he worked as a personal trainer in various gyms and fitness centers. He has trained athletes for many different sports including triathlon, ultra running, surfing, power lifting, bodybuilding, mixed martial arts, football, basketball and more. After finishing his PhD, he took a commission in the U. S. Navy as an Aerospace Physiologist in the Navy Medical Service Corps. While serving in the Navy he developed human performance training material for the U. S. Special Operations Command. He developed new fitness standards for Navy rescue swimmers. He served as a consultant to the USMC in evaluating the safety of the USMC Combat Fitness Test. He also served on a Navy committee tasked with proposing alternatives to the Navy physical fitness test. He trained thousands of aviators and aircrew on survival techniques, physiology, and human performance. He also served as the Director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the U. S. Naval Academy, where he performed physiological testing of athletes to improve performance, developed the Principles of Strength and Conditioning Course for all Midshipmen, and served as the director of remedial fitness training programs. He has over 25 years of experience in working with athletes.