AUG 5, 2011
FRIDAY
WORK CAPACITY
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
10x BB RDL
10x BB Hang Hi Pulls
10x BB Back Squat
10x BB Good Mornings
5x Jingle Jangles
Foam Roller
1) 10 Rounds of
4x Mr. Spectaculars @ 12kg
4x Double KB Front Squat
2 Burpees
100m Run
2) 4 Rounds of
8x GHD Raises
10x TRX PIKES
8x Slasher to Halos @ 16 KG
90 Sec Front Plank Hold
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AUG 4, 2011
THURSDAY
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
8x KB Swings @ 16
8x KB Goblet Squats @ 16
4x 1-arm KB Situps @ 16 8/8
Foam Roller
1) 8 Rounds of
2x 1 Arm DB Snatch 2/2 - increase weight
Hip Swivel Stretch
2) 5 Rounds of
6x Front Squat - increase weight - immediately into
3x Broad Jumps
Instep Stretch
3) 5 Rounds of
10x Push Press - increase weight - immediately into
3x Ball Slams @ 50lbs
3x Floor Angel 3/3
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WEDNESDAY
STAMINA - LOAD BEARING
60 Minute Hike/Ruck with 45lb pack. The pace should be a fast walk.
Isn't a long run the same or even better? No. The reason we alternate between runs and hikes is because they each serve a different purpose. A long run is used to build/maintain an aerobic base with little to no resistance. You can move fast and cover relatively long distances with these types of efforts. A ruck or hike is designed to be a load bearing effort, where you are moving with external weight on your body You obviously cannot move as fast, but there are other factors that come into play. The way you move is different, your stride length and stride frequency changes, and you feel the use of different stabilizing muscles to support your load. There is also a different feel to a ruck/hike...your shoulders feel the straps of your pack pulling against them, your lower back has to work harder to maintain forward progress, and you are generally getting more comfortable with the discomfort of carrying things on your back. Is is very mode specific. Firefighters carry SCBA's and Soldiers carry rucks. You can be awesome at running, but if you don't train in the mode that is required of you, you will not be as effective.
STAMINA - LOAD BEARING
60 Minute Hike/Ruck with 45lb pack. The pace should be a fast walk.
Isn't a long run the same or even better? No. The reason we alternate between runs and hikes is because they each serve a different purpose. A long run is used to build/maintain an aerobic base with little to no resistance. You can move fast and cover relatively long distances with these types of efforts. A ruck or hike is designed to be a load bearing effort, where you are moving with external weight on your body You obviously cannot move as fast, but there are other factors that come into play. The way you move is different, your stride length and stride frequency changes, and you feel the use of different stabilizing muscles to support your load. There is also a different feel to a ruck/hike...your shoulders feel the straps of your pack pulling against them, your lower back has to work harder to maintain forward progress, and you are generally getting more comfortable with the discomfort of carrying things on your back. Is is very mode specific. Firefighters carry SCBA's and Soldiers carry rucks. You can be awesome at running, but if you don't train in the mode that is required of you, you will not be as effective.
TUESDAY
WORK CAPACITY
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
Dumbbell Complex @ 25
50m Sprint
InStep Stretch
1) Perform the following every 2 minutes for 40 minutes
8x Air Squats
8x Sand Bag Over the shoulder Cleans 4/4 @60lbs
4x Burpees
50m Sprint (25m, turn around, 25m back)
2) 4 Rounds of
5x Standing AB Wheel
8x GHD Raises
8x Standing Russian Twists 8/8
60 Sec side plank holds (30/30)
WORK CAPACITY
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
Dumbbell Complex @ 25
50m Sprint
InStep Stretch
1) Perform the following every 2 minutes for 40 minutes
8x Air Squats
8x Sand Bag Over the shoulder Cleans 4/4 @60lbs
4x Burpees
50m Sprint (25m, turn around, 25m back)
2) 4 Rounds of
5x Standing AB Wheel
8x GHD Raises
8x Standing Russian Twists 8/8
60 Sec side plank holds (30/30)
MONDAY
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 3 Rounds
8x Snatch Grip RDL
8x Hang Snatch High Pulls
8x Overhead Squats
5x Squat Snatch
***all with 45lb bar unloaded
8x Push Ups
Frog Stretch
1) Find Bench Press 1 Rep Max
2) 6 Rounds of
2x Bench Press @ 85% of 1 RM
3x Floor Angels 3/3
3) 6 Rounds of
4x Hang Power Snatch - increase weight each round as technique allows
2x Box Jumps - increase height
1/2 HUG Mobility
4) 6 Rounds of
8x DB Front Squat - Increase weight as technique and range of motion allow
8x Strict Pull Ups
In Step Stretch
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 3 Rounds
8x Snatch Grip RDL
8x Hang Snatch High Pulls
8x Overhead Squats
5x Squat Snatch
***all with 45lb bar unloaded
8x Push Ups
Frog Stretch
1) Find Bench Press 1 Rep Max
2) 6 Rounds of
2x Bench Press @ 85% of 1 RM
3x Floor Angels 3/3
3) 6 Rounds of
4x Hang Power Snatch - increase weight each round as technique allows
2x Box Jumps - increase height
1/2 HUG Mobility
4) 6 Rounds of
8x DB Front Squat - Increase weight as technique and range of motion allow
8x Strict Pull Ups
In Step Stretch
WORK CAPACITY
*** If you "like" us on facebook, you will get training sessions as soon as they are posted each day***
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
100m Run
10x Push Up and Renegade Row Complex 5/5 @ 25lbs
10x Back Extensions
Frog Stretch
1) 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 reps for time of
2x KB Swings @ 24kg
Ankles to Bar
2x Push Ups
2x Seated Russian Twists @ 25 lbs
50m Run
2) 4 Rounds of
10x Superman Extensions
60 sec Ab bridge Complex
Foam Roller
A lot of core today. We are still feeling it from the last few days, but it will work it self out once we start moving.
THURSDAY
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 4 Rounds of
Barbell Complex (75, 85, 95, 105)
Foam Roller
1) 6 Rounds of
3x Clean Pulls - increase weight rapidly until 3 is hard but doable
3x Floor Angels
2) 6 Rounds of
5x DB Push Press - increase weight rapidly until 5 is hard but doable
5x DB 1-arm Row 5/5 - increase weight rapidly until 5 is hard but doable
InStep Stretch
3) 6 Rounds of
8x Bulgarian Split Squats 8/8 - increase weight rapidly until 8 is hard but doable
immediately into...
2x Lunge Jumps 2/2
Straight Leg Alternating Hamstring Stretch 3/3
Thought we use a lot of foundational barbell movements for strength training, it is important that we remain balanced with our single leg/arm movements as well. Our Rescue Strength athletes are required to do various activities using one leg/arm at a time such as climbing stairs/ladders, advancing hose lines, and maintaining control of a K-9, a weapon, or a tool. It is important we train this in order to not perpetuate any strength imbalances throughout the body, but you'll also see that it requires a lot of core stability to train a each leg/arm independent of each other.
TUESDAY
WORK CAPACITY
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
8x KB Swings @ 20kg
8x Goblet Squats
Rope Climb
100m Run
Instep Stretch
1) 8 Rounds for time of
10x Lateral Jump Shuffles 10/10
8x Burpees
8x KB Swings
Rest 5 Minutes
2) 5 Rounds of
Max 25m Sprints in 60 sec
60 sec rest
3) 4 Rounds of
10x Poor Man's Reverse Hyper - weighted if possible
10x TRX Front To Back
6x Slasher to Halos @ 20kg
MONDAY
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 10 Minutes of Sandbag Get ups @ 80lbs
1) 4 Rounds of
Bench Press - Max Reps @ Bodyweight
Pull Ups (Strict) - Max Reps
5x Bulgarian Split Squats (unloaded...use as a mobility drill)
2) 4 Rounds of
Front Squat - Max Reps @ Bodyweight
2x MB Shoulder Toss 2/2
Foam Roller
3) 1 Rounds of
Max Dead lifts @ 225lbs in 60 sec
10x GHD Sit Ups 5/5
Hip Swivel Stretch
4) 2 Rounds of
HUG Mobility
3x Shoulder Sweep 3/3
Keep the form strict today. Even though we are doing multiple rounds at max reps, be smart about it. By now, you should know where your limits are. Use spotters and do not go to complete failure...this will kill your following rounds if you do. On part 3, these are dead stop deadlifts...no bouncing the barbell off the floor. Remember, the reason we can use deadlifts for such a circuit is because we demand perfect form on each rep. If it's not, you are opening yourself up to injury and it is not worth it.
EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT
My friend and colleague from Austin, TX, Tod Moore, has a great take on the training lifestyle and mindset. Anyone who has every trained like a maniac for something can relate to what he is talking about. In our training careers, we all have ups and downs, but the key is to stick with it. Tod is also a coach with Military Athlete.
Tod Moore on Emotional Investment:"You can't push the river"
Simply put it means if it isn't going to happen, you can't make it happen. You can't magically create fitness, it only comes from hard work and dedication. Even when you have fitness sometimes it will fail you. You will miss lifts, get beat on work capacities and suffer on stamina days. Some days you will be the best, other days you will be the worst.
Our training sessions are difficult by design. Sometimes they may seem overwhelming and almost impossible. This isn't random, it is to
help the athlete develop the mental fitness that must be trained side by side with their physical fitness. We want our athletes to view our training sessions as work, and attack them with a workmanlike attitude. With time this workmanlike attitude will drown out fear and pain. It will quiet the voice in your head that says you can't keep going, that this is too hard, that it is too much. All in all it keeps you from being too emotionally invested in any particular training session.
While this is great in theory it is something else entirely to develop it into a practice. This proves to be especially true for competition driven athletes. Competition can be a great thing for achieving results, but if it isn't monitored or controlled more often than not it can breed disappointment and discontent. Most people can't compete without bringing emotion into it. Bringing a high level of emotion
into the gym day in and day out is extremely exhaustive. This becomes unhealthy and usually leads to an athlete "burning out" or getting injured. Everyone is emotionally invested in their training, but you have to be able to check that emotion and get your work done. To drag around any extra involvement in training is simply too taxing. It produces a mental and physical fatigue that can't be left in the gym and will eventually start to affect you in the outside world.
What we do is hard, because of its nature you have to be dedicated and invested, but we also have to objectively view each training session as just that: a training session. If you have a good one, great, if you have a bad one, that's great too, because you have another chance in a day to do it again. Don't lose sight of the bigger picture, the gym is just the gym. Gym numbers, Fran times, shit like that doesn't matter in the outside world. The only thing that matters out there is that you are physically and mentally fit and able to perform.
In all of my years training I am sure that I have had some great sessions. If I didn't I wouldn't train. Funny thing is I can't think
of a single one off of the top of my head. However I can remember all of the "other ones." Getting pulled in warm ups. Missing lifts. Having total breakdowns. Dragging in so far behind everyone else on a stamina that they where already changed or had left the gym. These memories don't haunt or dissapoint me. They don't make me feel like a failure. These are the moments that made me better, these where the times where I developed my strength and my mental fortitude to continue. I learned something about myself in each and everyone of these sessions, this is how I learned to improve, to be better than I have ever been before. This stuff isn't supposed to be free, its a hard lesson. If it wasn't you wouldn't learn it. This is the stuff we want you to leave the gym with. The knowledge that you are better leaving than when you came. The confidence of knowing that even on your worst day you are still better than most. The attitude that whatever obstacle is sitting in front of you, you will overcome it.
Training Your Mental Fitness
David Hageman, CSCS
Stressful situations require mental toughness.
One’s Mental Toughness and discipline is developed in different arenas such as in sports, work, and even someone’s upbringing. In addition to one’s foundation, you can train your mind through difficult training sessions in the gym. Through intense physical training and focusing on the tips below, you can be more accustom to overcoming difficult obstacles wherever they may present themselves… combat situations, a dangerous fire, a difficult rescue, and any physical altercation.
Here at our gym with our Professional Athletes (for us that is our military, police, and rescue personnel), we not only test your physical abilities, but also challenge your mental toughness, desire, and even professionalism. Professionalism?? By this we mean how you approach your training. Do you dread it, openly complain about it, even get too excited about it? We hope to develop and train the mentality similar to that of of the “Quiet Professionals”. A workman-like attitude where we accomplish the mission in front of us, suffer silently, yet enjoy and have fun with it.
Mental Fitness and Physical fitness should compliment each other. Can you be a good leader in one of these physically demanding professions and be unfit? Maybe, but it’s very hard. Can you be physically fit and not a good leader? Definitely, but the more physically fit you are the easier it is to be mental fit. As a combat/operations leader, you need to be poised, alert and able to make quick and accurate decisions under stress, not bent over trying to catch your breath.
As part of the Military Athlete training team, we travel all over the country training military units and law enforcement groups the Military Athlete System. Obviously, a bulk of the instruction is Strength and Conditioning, but part of it is training the mind and shaping attitudes. Here are some comments for Military Athelete founder, Rob Shaul, on training Mental Fitness.
Gym-based mental toughness is one of the most transferable attributes we train. We train in the gym to perform outside.
Feedback from world class mountaineers and special operations soldiers – athletes who by definition have pretty darn high mental toughness – have both reported back that the mental toughness they learned and build in the gym transfered to their performance on the mountain and on the battlefield.
Mental Fitness can and needs to be trained!
I’m a strength coach who believes that mental toughness should and can be trained in the gym. Further, initial gym-based mental toughness can’t be seen as the ultimate judge of an athlete’s character.
What I mean by this is, gym-based mental toughness can be learned. Often, new athletes will suffer with mental toughness their first time in the gym, but the next time they come in and endure one of these work capacity/mental toughness sessions, they do much better. They have some idea what to expect, and their performance improves.
Further, I think mental toughness can and should be coached. Here are some guidelines we use:
1) Don’t go to complete failure. Stop and rest before digging yourself into a deep hole. I instruct my athletes to stop with 1-2 reps left and rest then instead of going to complete failure before stopping.
2) Limit your rest to 5 breaths. That’s it.
3) No rest between transitions. This is the hardest one. Move right from one exercise to the next and start it. Your mind will want to rest. Your body doesn’t need to. You’ll surprise yourself.
4) The darker things get, the shorter term your thinking needs to be. When things really suck, just tell yourself, “one rep at a time.” – don’t think about the whole set.
Friday
WORK CAPACITY
Warm Up: 3 rounds of
10 KB Swings 16kg
10 KB Goblet Squats
100m Run
Instep Stretch
1) Performing the following every 2 minutes for 20 minutes:
6x Double KB Squat Cleans @ 16kg (see video above)
3x Lunge Jumps 3L/3R
100m Sprint
***time left bfore 2 minutes is your rest
2) 4 Rounds of
8x GHD Raises
8x Kneeling Sand Bag Keg Lifts @ 60lbs 8/8
8x Dip Extension straight leg raises
60sec Side plank hold 30/30
WORK CAPACITY
Warm Up: 3 rounds of
10 KB Swings 16kg
10 KB Goblet Squats
100m Run
Instep Stretch
1) Performing the following every 2 minutes for 20 minutes:
6x Double KB Squat Cleans @ 16kg (see video above)
3x Lunge Jumps 3L/3R
100m Sprint
***time left bfore 2 minutes is your rest
2) 4 Rounds of
8x GHD Raises
8x Kneeling Sand Bag Keg Lifts @ 60lbs 8/8
8x Dip Extension straight leg raises
60sec Side plank hold 30/30
THURSDAY
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
8x Bulgarian Split Squats (unloaded) 8/8
4x Poor Man's Leg Curl 4/4
8x Push Ups
8x Seated Russian Twists @ 25lbs 8/8
1) 8 Rounds of
3x Barbell Front Squat - increase weight rapidly until 3 is hard but doable (use first 3 rounds as warm ups)
Instep Stretch
2) 5 Rounds of
6x Bench Press - increase weight until 6 is hard but doable immediately into...
2x Plyo Depth Drop Push Ups
3x Renegade Rows (3/3)
3x Floor Angels 3/3
3) 5 Rounds of
4x Hang Power Snatch - increase weight rapidly until 4 is hard but doable...immediately into...
2x Burpee Box Jumps
Hip Swivel Stretch
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
8x Bulgarian Split Squats (unloaded) 8/8
4x Poor Man's Leg Curl 4/4
8x Push Ups
8x Seated Russian Twists @ 25lbs 8/8
1) 8 Rounds of
3x Barbell Front Squat - increase weight rapidly until 3 is hard but doable (use first 3 rounds as warm ups)
Instep Stretch
2) 5 Rounds of
6x Bench Press - increase weight until 6 is hard but doable immediately into...
2x Plyo Depth Drop Push Ups
3x Renegade Rows (3/3)
3x Floor Angels 3/3
3) 5 Rounds of
4x Hang Power Snatch - increase weight rapidly until 4 is hard but doable...immediately into...
2x Burpee Box Jumps
Hip Swivel Stretch
TUESDAY
WORK CAPACITY
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
2x Turkish Getups @ 12kg 2L/2R
10x KB Swings @ 12 kgs
10x Air Squats
4x Jump Squats
Foam Roller
1) 8 Rounds for Time of
3x KB Right Arm Snatches @ 24KG/12KG
2x KB Turkish GetUps @ 24 KG/12KG
3x KB Left Arm Snatches @ 24KG/12KG
2x KB Turkish GetUps @ 24KG/12KG
200m Run
2) 4 Rounds of
10x Standing Russian Twists 10/10
60 Sec Ab Bridge Complex
3) 2 Rounds of
35 Sec Jane Fonda's
50x Shoulder Hand Jobs 50/50 @ 2.5 lbs
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 4 Rounds of
The Swing - 5 Reps each exercise
10x GHD Raises
10x KB Swings @ 20kg
Rope Climb
Foam Roller
1) 8 Rounds of
3x Hang Power Clean and Push Press
2x Box Jumps for height
2x Floor Angels
2) 6 Rounds of
5x Dead Lift
2x Medicine Ball Side Toss (2/2)
3x Fire Hydrant Hip Mobility (3/3/3/3)
3) 6 Rounds of
Max Reps - Bench Press @ bodyweight
8x Pull Ups
Band Assisted Hamstring Stretch
** If your reps drop below 5 reps at bodyweight, drop the weight at least 15lbs.
FRIDAY
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
6x Dead Lift (135, 185, 225)
"The Swing" for 5 Reps each exercise
3x Floor Angels 3/3
1) 6 Rounds of
3x Dead Lifts - increase weight each round
Instep Stretch
2) 6 Rounds of
5x Mr. Spectaculars - increase weight each round
3x Medicine Ball Throws
Hip Swivel Stretch
3) 6 Rounds of
8x DB 1-arm Rows 8/8 - increase weight each round
8x Bench Press - increase weight
Foam Roller
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
6x Dead Lift (135, 185, 225)
"The Swing" for 5 Reps each exercise
3x Floor Angels 3/3
1) 6 Rounds of
3x Dead Lifts - increase weight each round
Instep Stretch
2) 6 Rounds of
5x Mr. Spectaculars - increase weight each round
3x Medicine Ball Throws
Hip Swivel Stretch
3) 6 Rounds of
8x DB 1-arm Rows 8/8 - increase weight each round
8x Bench Press - increase weight
Foam Roller
WEDNESDAY
WORK CAPACITY
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
With a 45 lb bar....
8x Snatch Grip RDL
8x Hang Power Snatch
8x Overhead Squat
100m Run
Hip Swivel Stretch
1) 7 Rounds for time of
3x Snatch Grip Dead Lift @ 95lbs
3x Hang Power Snatch @ 95lbs
3x Overhead Squat @ 95lbs
3x Burpees
Rest 5 Minutes
2) 6 Rounds of
100m Sprint
1:00 Rest
3) 4 Rounds of
Rope Climb
8x Weighted Dips - increase weight rapidly
4) 4 Rounds of
8x 1-arm weighted Sit Ups 35lb Dumbbell 4/4
12x Poor Man's Leg Curl 8/8
12x Donkey Kicks 8/8
12x Back Extension (weighted)
WORK CAPACITY
Warm Up: 3 Rounds of
With a 45 lb bar....
8x Snatch Grip RDL
8x Hang Power Snatch
8x Overhead Squat
100m Run
Hip Swivel Stretch
1) 7 Rounds for time of
3x Snatch Grip Dead Lift @ 95lbs
3x Hang Power Snatch @ 95lbs
3x Overhead Squat @ 95lbs
3x Burpees
Rest 5 Minutes
2) 6 Rounds of
100m Sprint
1:00 Rest
3) 4 Rounds of
Rope Climb
8x Weighted Dips - increase weight rapidly
4) 4 Rounds of
8x 1-arm weighted Sit Ups 35lb Dumbbell 4/4
12x Poor Man's Leg Curl 8/8
12x Donkey Kicks 8/8
12x Back Extension (weighted)
TUESDAY
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 1.5 Mile Run
1) 6 Rounds of
Max Reps - Bench Press @ bodyweight
10x GHD Raises
** If your reps drop below 5 reps at bodyweight, drop the weight at least 15lbs.
2) 6 Rounds of
5x DB Front Squat - increase weight rapidly until 6 is hard but doable
immedietly into....
3x Burpees Box Jumps @ 20"
2x Floor Angels
3) 6 Rounds of
5x DB 1-arm snatch (5/5) increase weight rapidly, but focus on explosivness
5x KB Slashers (5/5) increase weight as capable
Instep Stretch
STRENGTH
Warm Up: 1.5 Mile Run
1) 6 Rounds of
Max Reps - Bench Press @ bodyweight
10x GHD Raises
** If your reps drop below 5 reps at bodyweight, drop the weight at least 15lbs.
2) 6 Rounds of
5x DB Front Squat - increase weight rapidly until 6 is hard but doable
immedietly into....
3x Burpees Box Jumps @ 20"
2x Floor Angels
3) 6 Rounds of
5x DB 1-arm snatch (5/5) increase weight rapidly, but focus on explosivness
5x KB Slashers (5/5) increase weight as capable
Instep Stretch
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