Day to Day Training for the Combat Arms Soldier
Building the foundation of the modern Warfighter
Original draft of this Article can be found here
Excerpt from the book:
Answering the Call: Proper Physical Training for Police and Military in the 21st Century
Military- Day to Day Fitness
This is highly dependent on the unit you are in, seniority, etc. From my experience when you were the new guy despite being selected you were required to attend Ranger school and pass otherwise you could never take leadership or specialty assignments. You were always regarded as “less than” until this was accomplished. Basically your career never started until getting through this gate.
Due to this dynamic, you were always subject to the standard Army PT test. So the push ups, sit ups, 2 mile run, and later a 5 mile run. Without notice you could be graded on it haphazardly and at literally any time. Which kind of makes it challenging to have a hard workout on one day prior in the evening when you didn’t know if the following morning you’d have to run 5 miles as fast as possible while competing against your peers.
What I did and what I wish I did are two different things. It is pretty simple but I wish I spent less time on superfluous conditioning volume and spent more time doing the important things on off days like the Tim Anderson (See his writings regarding Original Strength) resets and and similar variations.
I was younger then so burning the candle at both ends still worked…for a while…but in the end it wasn’t until deployments where believe it or not you had more free time to train and rest (it was kind of a vacation from the typical training cycle) which was when I made the best progress of my time there. I later returned to the states and graduated from Ranger School.
Principles
I think the typical rules apply while in the training cycle. Three days a week lifting, all total body, with one day that is a little heavier but not training on the nerve, a “medium” day or density style conditioning day, and then a volume day at the end of the week consisting of some unilateral movements both upper and lower body. All of these workouts (especially as one ages in the tactical world) should be preceded with a ground based warm up, the rolling, the rocking, the thoracic mobility work, ASLR (Gray Cook stuff), then to standing movement. Move into a track style warm up and then get to the warm up sets.
When I look at a foundational phase, I think strength and aerobic development is paramount and most of the conditioning methods I have used that have really worked for me and others I have trained are variations of Joel Jamieson’s stuff. Joel’s book, “The Ultimate Guide to MMA Conditioning”, is in my opinion one of the best books on conditioning and most practical for 99% of the population. As stated before, I also contacted Craig Weller, who is an excellent strength coach who walked me through my military prep. I just wasn’t confident in my own programming (knowing how to program for a college football player only gets you so far in the tactical world) and did not know where to start at that time in my life. His assistance was crucial, and helped me see the value in how to apply some of Joel’s work. I did whatever he told me to do and it was helpful and I learned a lot. Some concepts worked for me while others did not.
I was really intimidated joining on a special operations contract and without his help I probably would have spent the whole time just smashing myself with crossfit style workouts, which we all know only works for so long. Sometimes we our own worst clients. After continuing my own education and going through my total hip replacement rehab at a phenomenal private organization, I have really refined a method that combines what I have seen work with other strength coaches and tactical athletes. I will outline a variation of this below.
This is a general outline and I am just plugging stuff in to make this read easier. Percentages are just GUIDELINES. I don’t think they are perfect by any stretch but for hard chargers I think it helps to keep them under control. Using training maxes or 3RMs (a load you could lift 3 times, maybe 4, but not 5) as the basis for these percentages is also helpful. This avoids the ego talk and stops the knuckle draggers from using chalk sniffing preworkout infused terrible form PRs that they hit in high school while Bon Jovi was blaring in the background as the basis for their loads during the cycle.
This is a GENERAL outline; intended for the individual who is established and not worried about the random 4 am PT test, and looking to develop some strength and aerobic conditioning. Pull- ups can be added but as one is more established and older I feel like elbow pain (or like Dan John’s coined term: MAPS- Middle Aged Pull Up Syndrome) becomes an issue as it turns into an ego lift in military cultures but certainly can be added.
Below you will see the outline of the overall schedule for the month. Note: If your schedule throws this off, don’t worry about it. If this takes you six weeks to do instead of four you are going to be just fine. Just get the work in, listen to your body, and if you spent the night out in the woods until 2 AM training there is nothing wrong with moving the recovery day around to give you the breathing room you’ll need to continue long term progress.
PHASE 1
Schedule:
I will outline the specifics of each training day below. Just make note of one thing in the lay out of this phase. This is all geared towards building some overall total body strength and aerobic conditioning. The foundational stuff I rambled about earlier. Purposefully I do not include a bunch of high rep circuit's or max effort 30 second sets. The closest you might come to feeling like that would be on the day you do Dan John’s infamous “Humane Burpee” workout, however the volume is low enough even if you are in that zone the overall program is still 90% geared towards the other goals. For most, I would argue for the bulk of the workout you will be somewhere in your “threshold” range for the majority of the time until the very end when you are gutting out the last bit of it. The point is, you only have one ass, so we are going to try and only ride one horse during this phase.
Recovery days are just that. Check out the Dan John YouTube recovery videos for some phenomenal ideas. This is a day to go for a walk, hop on a bike at a gym for 20-30 minutes of easy pedaling, etc. REST. Sunday is another rest day but can be used as that floating recovery day as I talked about earlier.
One last note. I put a 4th week on the calendar despite not programming it. You have options. Feel good? Do a 4th week of 5x5 with your week 2 load. Probably will feel lighter. For HICT, come back to week 2’s load and beat the rep number you hit last time. Complete a 60 min ruck just like you did in week 2 and see if you cover more distance.
That is if you are feeling good...now if you don’t that is OK. You put some hard work in. Instead just repeat week one, take 1 or 2 reps or sets off of each of the lifts, and don’t strive to break any rep records that you hit. RECOVER. Come back to fight again another day.
Lift 1: 5x5 Variation-
WARM UP: I leave this open to the individual reader here. Refer to the example.
BLOCK A: Left hand side you see “Block A”- Start here. To the left of Trap Bar Deadlift is “100” because that is where you would put your 3RM. Below that you read 70- which is the percentage of your 3RM. To the right of 70 is 5, the reps to perform. If you do not know your 3RM use a weight you could probably do 7 or 8 times in week 1 and bump it up as you go through the month. Below the next exercise is a bench press variation. Same sets/reps- 5x5. The way this is done is do your deadlifts, rest a bit until you feel recovered, then do your Bench Press. This is not a race. Reps should be quality, very little straining if any. Go back and forth until you complete Block A on it's own. If there is a magical corrective exercise that works for you, complete it during your rest.
BLOCK B: We go back and forth between a KB Row variation (3 sets of 8-10 reps) of your choice and a Single Leg RDL (same sets/reps). Perfect form, but we can start to shorten rest periods here a bit. Just don’t get sloppy.
BLOCK C: Last Block- Get your Ab Wheel in, get up and do a loaded carry variation where one side is lighter than the other and held in the racked position, and then some light Cossack Squats. Here this can be seen as more of a traditional circuit but PLEASE keep your form locked in.
Day 3: High Intensity Continuous Training (HICT) or Density Training-
WARM UP: Same as above.
BLOCK A: Time to train in the higher end of your aerobic system, and locally generate force while staying “Aerobic.” Joel Jamieson made this method much more popular in the MMA world and I have seen great results with his variation (and it will appear in the selection preparation portion). Craig Weller also has his version that he likes to program for selection train ups. However, I have yet to see anyone use it in this format.
Method: Use 60% of your 3RM or a moderate/light load starting on week one. I am using a fat grip high handle Trap Bar Deadlift for the first exercise. You can use any hinge but I like this movement as it is from the dead stop and really challenges the grip and your stability. It also creates an odd soreness in your high hamstrings where a lot of muscle pulls appear to happen. Grip the Bar, squeeze the hell out of it, tight abs, knees out to engage the glutes, and hinge up for 1-3 reps. These should be crisp reps once you’re off the floor. Next is close grip bench, same load and rules. You aren’t sprinting between exercises but keep moving. Move on to DBL KB front squat, clean it up and complete in the same fashion. Then transition to the split stance row with one of those KBs from the front squat and do the same reps.
If towards the end you’re doing singles that is fine. If you have a heart rate monitor you should be at 150-155 bpm during the listed period. Creeping up to 160 bpm? Slow down or take a short rest to get yourself back down into that 150ish zone. No heart rate monitor? Are you still generating power and can talk in complete sentences? You’re probably fine. Week 1 is 10 minutes. Record your rep total during this workout.
Day 4: Humane Burpee
Stolen from Dan John and I absolutely love this workout. With a total hip replacement this allows me to get in a quality low impact conditioning work in while simultaneously hitting some of the basic human movements. Even if you aren’t bionic, this simple workout is phenomenal and others that I have shared it with love it. Especially the more seasoned and beat up tactical brethren.
For those not familiar:
15 Swings
5 Goblet Squats
5 Push Ups (I like hand release but do what you want)
Then:
15 Swings
4 Goblet Squats
4 Push Ups
Then:
15 Swings
3 Goblet Squats….you get the point. Make your way down to one rep of both the Goblet's Squats and Push Ups.
Then go for a hike, pedal a bike, Rower, whatever. Just stay in that 115bpm- to 145 bpm zone for 20-45 minutes depending on your schedule. If you are in decent shape, feel free to start from 7,8,9 or 10 reps of the Goblet Squats and Push Ups and make your way down to one. I would not let the total work time including the walk afterwards exceed 60 minutes.
Day 5: Lift 2 (Really Lift 3, depending on how one wants to look at the HICT Day)- Traditional Volume Work with Unilateral Focus
Warm Up: Same idea, some variation is good here. Did you focus on linear work on your other days? Do some lateral stuff.
Block A: Keep a couple reps in the tank for the majority of this workout, and maybe on the last set push the set CLOSE to technical failure. Shooters choice here: Do each exercise on their own or run through them in a circuit with reasonable rest if you are pressed for time. If you choose the latter option, keep the rest periods consistent to measure progress. This is a day to control the weight and really view this as kind of like bodybuilding. If you feel beat up take it easy. If you don’t, push it a bit.
BLOCK B: Don’t break any records. Just get some quality arm work in. No close grip banded max effort tricep bench or heaving cheat curls please. This is just some extra arm work.
Day 6: Ruck
I can’t write a military focused program without a ruck day. I think there is value in loaded carries for long distances with appropriate loads for really anybody. It's low impact and you can do it anywhere. The assumption being it's loaded moderately and you are walking, not running, under load. During this phase be honest with yourself. If your resting heart rate is 60 bpm+ or you know you just haven’t trained like this for some time, just doing these walks in the 120 bpm-150 bpm zone is where you need to be. However, if your resting heart rate is 50-55 bpm or lower and you have a decent base of fitness you can work in some “threshold” intervals where you really step it out. Work in some hills and push your ability to WALK fast- which believe it or not is a skill in it's self. In this phase PLEASE DO NOT RUN. When the selection train ups come along that can be worked in, only in proper volumes and just to get used to that skill (called tabbing, in some circles) which is a bit different but can be very hard on the body.
No more than 30-35 lbs. If you use solid weight like kettlebells or weight plates I strongly recommend wrapping them in towels or some kind of clothe to keep them centered. Or use a sand bag or other larger and more balanced items. Heavy items should be packed closer to the top of the pack, close to your body as possible.
Week 1-45 minutes
Week 2- 60 minutes
Week 3- 75- 90 min- Maybe work in some more challenging terrain but nothing crazy.
For the more Aerobically fit:
Week 1-45 minutes
Week 2- 60 minutes with varying terrain, or some purposeful fast walking intervals of 2-3 minutes for 3 to 4 sets (The rest of the time just keep a decent cadence and walk)
Week 3- 75- 90 minutes- same as week 2 regarding intervals and Terrain, can work up to 5 sets (The rest of the time just keep a decent cadence and walk)
SYNOPSIS of Phase 1:
Again, I emphasize, this is a generic plan designed to build the foundation of your training. Total body strength, Aerobic conditioning at varied intensities, combined with just a hint of hypertrophy work. If you are an elite competitive powerlifter, then yes, these percentages would be too aggressive. This program isn’t for you.
This is an example for somebody trying to maintain conditioning, and that “military” fitness without needlessly pounding pavement. This also assumes training where you are wearing load at work, and there is no PT test that requires running on the horizon or anything requiring some specificity to do your best. This certainly isn’t prep for a selection either.
This is the day to day work that I think is doable and also can be progressed into more challenging phases that work on other facets of conditioning. This kind of work should really make up the bulk of your training. Then as we go along sprinkle in the lung burning death workouts. Within reason.
As said earlier but this needs repeating: one can always take an extra day off here and there if you are stuck out on the range until 3 AM. One can also incorporate track repeats and the like, and even longer unloaded running can certainly be programmed. I know it’s the military and it is unavoidable at times. When I write the police day to day training (previous article) I will show how that can look, and certainly in the selection build up.
Next Phase will again focus on the aerobic system and strength. Now we will push it a bit harder because you took the time to build your foundation. You are ready to handle a bit more intensity. Depending on what you want or need, this is where you need to step in. Do you have a desk job and want to work on building some muscle? Do it, understanding that in the military that usually won’t help you in your endeavors if taken too far but you have this option. Especially for the more gray beard types, this might not be a bad way to get some variation and give your joints a break for a few weeks. If that is a goal now you can start to bump your rep ranges up on your compound lifts and take advantage of that new found strength. Still feel like you are lacking in conditioning? Need to build some more “Armor” like Dan says? Maintain the course. Honest assessments need to be done here. Either way we will get there because we are thinking long term progress.
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