Training for the Tactical Athlete
This week I had a coaching call with a law enforcement officer, and it got me thinking about an area of great interest for me: training the tactical athlete. Having military experience myself, and having trained military personnel, I know a thing or two about the topic.
In many ways, my whole training style is shaped around the idea of being physically combat ready, or as I sometimes jokingly call it, zombie apocalypse ready. Being a tactical athlete requires a mix of both endurance and strength – soldiers have been hybrid athletes long before it was fashionable. Instead of waxing poetic, let’s go over the demands one by one, and some ideas on how to develop the qualities to meet them.
1. Aerobic Capacity
I distinctly remember our company commander in basic training quoting Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresia to us:
“The infantryman's most distinguishing quality is tenacious perseverance.”
I wasn’t able to verify that quote, but whether she ever said that or not is besides the point. Military, and to a lesser extent, law enforcement personnel, need the work capacity of a cyborg on meth.
You spend a lot of time moving over terrain, patrolling, training in the field, et cetera. Furthermore, having a strongly developed aerobic system is going to help you recover quicker – and quick recovery is direly needed in a high stress environment with often suboptimal conditions. And in the case of law enforcement, even though you may not be rucking over terrain, a well-developed aerobic system is going to allow you to better tolerate a stressful schedule.
The best ways to develop specific aerobic endurance for tactical athletes are, in no particular order:
walking (unweighted)
walking with a backpack (rucking)
walking in the mountains (hiking)
running
Volume over intensity! If you can’t get the volume in, you’re training to hard. I’m currently preparing for a kettlebell sport competition and don’t want to deal with the eccentric stress of running, so my main form of cardio is brisk walking – I aim to cover at least 6 kilometers in an hour. At least 3 hours of easy volume per week, plus one harder effort – intervals or a threshold run – will go a long way towards becoming a tactical athlete.
2. Strength
While it’s not necessary to be a champion powerlifter to be a good soldier or police officer, having basic strength is beneficial in many ways.
Studies have shown that rucking performance is the single most important predictor of success at Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS).[1] While aerobic fitness is obviously important for improving ruck march times (see point number 1), multiple studies have shown that it’s not enough on its own – strength training is also required.[2][3]
Of course, there are many other instances where strength is beneficial in a tactical context. Common sense examples include carrying a casualty, digging trenches, or just the constant, random, unglamorous physical labor nobody told you’d have to do when you signed up.
For law enforcement officers, strength is often even more important when it’s time to physically subdue a person. As a rule of thumb, LE personnel also benefit more form carrying additional muscle mass compared to soldiers, because aerobic endurance is less of an issue, and being physically bigger not only commands authority, but is also an advantage in a scuffle.
Getting strong is not complicated – you just train the basic barbell lifts for a year or two until you reach low intermediate numbers, and then you maintain those numbers for the rest of your life. A 100 kg bench, 140 kg squat and 180 kg deadlift are easily achievable by absolutely everyone who puts in some basic work, and will go a long away. Those are what I would consider the bare minimum!
3. Strength Endurance
While a simple polarized approach of building aerobic capacity and strength is going to take you far, for ideal results, you want to incorporate some more tailored work.
One special operator specifically told me that he trains kettlebell sport because it carries over better to soldiering than anything else. When you’re training kettlebell long cycle, jerk, and snatch, you’re developing multiple key qualities:
the ability to efficiently support load
It always amuses me when hardstyle kettlebell practitioners say “but kettlebell sport is efficient” as if that’s some kind of gotcha. The body adapts and learns all the time, and if you’re using excessive tension in your training, you’re teaching your nervous system to move awkwardly. Being efficient is a good thing! The best movers are always the most efficient ones. This is especially true for endurance. Try to “power breathe” and “irradiate tension” while carrying 60 kg of gear for 5 kilometers and tell me how it went…
cardiovascular endurance
While it’s not as efficient as conventional cyclic endurance training, development of the cardiovascular system is an added benefit. In fact, an online coaching client of mine just ran a half marathon on a hilly course (432 m of elevation gain) in 1:57, at a bodyweight of 93 kg – without training for it.
muscular endurance
Self explanatory. This is where kettlebells really shine. For instance, I got to 100 clean pushups in one set performing one set of pushups every two weeks for about a month. Where did the strength endurance come from? Kettlebell jerks.
grip
Having a strong grip is incredibly important in soldiering, because often, you’re going to be carrying things in your hands for long periods of time. My grip may be my worst trait genetically, yet with kettlebell sport training methods it’s gotten stronger than ever, and I’m now very close to snatching the 24 kg bell for 100 repetitions per arm.
Of course, there are other effective methods to build strength endurance that can and should be used. Nonetheless, kettlebell sport training really develops the ability to “endure under load”, as I like to call it. The infantryman's most distinguishing quality is tenacious perseverance...
But That’s Just The Same Stuff You Always Recommend!
Yes, does that come as a surprise? Tactical fitness IS hybrid fitness. I believe that training for all around fitness is the best way to train for most people, and I’m going to beat that poor horse until it’s graveyard dead.
Become zombie apocalypse ready, and follow me on Instagram and other social media, all the links are HERE on my website.
Have a great weekend,
Alexander
[1] https://sfnationalguard.com/predictors-of-rucking-performance/
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Another excellent newsletter 👍🏻