Keep It Simple
There are a variety of physical tasks demanded of a Tactical Athlete on a daily basis. This variety makes it difficult to build a training program that isn’t lacking in one way or another. That is why I find it best when training the tactical athlete to keep it simple and focus on doing the little things very well. In my time working with the armed services I have found the majority of tactical athletes don’t move as well as they could. This came from working with soldiers that could crush a PT test but were unable to do perform basic tasks like perform a squat, change direction or even just assume an athletic position. Not everyone in the armed services is that way, but the majority were unable to efficiently or effectively move. Which to me is a red flag.
Simple doesn’t mean easy.
With these movement issues it made the best approach to keep things simple. Not only for short-term development but for long-term success and injury prevention. Which for the tactical athlete is key. Few soldiers have direct access to physical therapy like collegiate or pro athletes do. So being smart and keeping them healthy is always goal #1. ALWAYS! If they get hurt they can’t train and it takes weeks to get into Physical Therapy at Ft Bragg. That is why I put the focus on getting them to move well. If I can get a soldier to move good, the other pieces will fall into place and help them to be more successful in the gym and at work. Now, do soldiers get hurt? Yes. Are some of the injuries unavoidable? Yes. Are some of the injuries preventable? Yes. And that is why I focus on getting the tactical athlete to move better first. Good movement will mitigate the risk of preventable injuries. Even just teaching a better dynamic warm-up (see below) and cool-down makes a huge difference. The more resilient I can make them the better for everyone.
People associate “keeping things simple” with keeping things easy. But that’s not the case. It is easy to half-ass a dynamic warm-up, but it’s hard if you don’t. The dynamic warm-up is a great opportunity to fix movement issues and prepare the body for work. A little bit of focus and some attention to detail will lead to a vast improvement in performance. If you don’t do the easy movements well what do you think will happen when the movements get complex? Think about it. The whole point of training the Tactical Athlete is to make them as resilient as possible. But if they can’t accomplish the most simple of tasks with proficiency and ease, what’s going to happen when they have 80 lbs of kit on and have to sprint for cover or drag someone to safety? It all starts with a well rounded training program geared toward teaching them to move well. Then by focusing on exercise technique and injury prevention the resiliency grows. Sprinkle in a ton of unilateral training, grip work and core/trunk conditioning and the resiliency continues to grow. And you can’t forget the most important pieces, bi’s and tri’s that’s the true foundation (I’m kidding, sorry bros). But like I said, it all starts with movement. Get them to move well and the rest is easy. Sort of.
Be coachable, you’ll thank me later.
With a focused effort on teaching the tactical athletes how to move, we not only prevent injuries in the gym, but also prevents injuries on the job. And part of being a good coach is coaching all the small things. All those little things that you don’t think about coaching can make a huge impact. Part of being an athlete, no matter the sport/job, is letting a coach actually coach you. Especially on the small things. So if you are a tactical athlete and you are looking from some help, the best thing you can do is be coachable. Even if you’re not looking for help, you might be able to pick up on something that you were missing in your own training. And it may in fact pay huge dividends for the rest of your career. People I know get annoyed at me for pestering them about moving better during the dynamic warm-up. But that’s what they pay for and if I get lazy, they 100% will get lazy too. I had an old boss that would always say “Where I see the good I look for the better.” It was his way of paying a compliment so I have taken that into my coaching career and use it as a coaching tool. That squat was good, but it could be better, lets try this… A little back handed positive reinforcement always works.
One of the main limiting factors for movement can be mobility and/or some other orthopedic issue. Most of the soldiers I train have spent a career getting the shit beat out of their body, whether it’s long heavy weekly rucks or falling out of air planes. So the laundry list of injuries is unmatched. But when ever I have worked with someone who has an issue, we will work on fixing the issue while continuing to train. The last thing I ever want someone to do is go to the gym to train and only work on mobility and prehab exercises for an hour+ because they are considered “broken”. We find ways to work around the issues/limitations, do things to help fix the issue and progress within whatever pain free range of motion we have. So we’ll always work on those things before, during and after training sessions to get the most bang for our buck while still getting a great training session in. There are multiple “mobility” programs out there in the marketplace today like ROMWOD, Supple Leopard and YogaBody. If you know you are someone that needs to follow directions and to be told exactly what to do, one of these programs is better than nothing. Back when I played college sports we just called it stretching and it was on me to do it. If I had a smartphone back then I’d be a supple leopard right now instead of an arthritic lion at the zoo.
“…but then again, dogs eat poop…”
A common theme I have found is the lack of knowledge in regards to warming the body up. I’m not talking a 5 minute jog and a couple knee circles. I’m talking about preparing the body for the physical tasks at hand. Most soldiers have never warmed up or warmed up correctly I should say. I use to actually get push back on why they didn’t need to warm-up. People would always crack a joke about, “but dogs don’t warm-up”. Which is always mind blowing that people believe they can do what a dog does. So pending the audience, I would respond with, “That is true, they don’t warm-up, but then again, they eat poop. So last I looked I’m training humans not dogs so we’re going to warm-up. Ok?” That usually wins them all back. I focus on showing tactical athletes how to warm-up and cool down. I’ll educate them on how to work on mobility issues pre, post and during training sessions as well. I show them a wide range of “prehab” (I will have more on this later) style exercises to help in the preparation process too. The more tools I can give a soldier to have in their tool box the better. I will dive deeper into pre-hab exercises for the Tactical Athlete in another blog soon.
Training tactical athletes has made huge strides over the past decade. Soldiers are now treated like actual athletes in Special Operations Units. They have daily access to Strength & Conditioning Coaches, Performance Dietitians, Physical Therapists, Sport Psychologists and Athletic Trainers. This hasn’t trickled down to everyone in the Armed Forces yet. And financially speaking it may never trickle down. Sadly there are still soldiers out there getting broke off with a 12 mile ruck every Monday. Followed by a 10 mile run Tuesday and another shorter but heavier ruck on Wednesday and so on and so on and so on and so on. If that’s you, I’m sorry. Try to hold strong and feel free to do our dynamic warm-up (see below) daily before you start.
Goal # 1, prevent injuries, ip so facto Goal #2, teach them how to move well!
If you’re interested in following our online Tactical Strength & Conditioning program through TrainHeroic, learn more HERE! Questions? Email geoff@gpshumanperformance.com
Dynamic Warm-Up:
Tactical Training Part 3 Coming Soon…
Geoffrey Steinbacher is a former Strength & Conditioning Coach within the THOR3 (Tactical Human Optimization Rapid Rehabilitation & Reconditioning) Program at Ft. Bragg. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. As well as a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) from the National Athletic Trainers Association. On top of being an Advanced Sports Performance Coach (USAW-L2) and Head Club Coach with USA-Weightlifting. He also is a Catalyst Athletics Certified Weightlifting Coach (CACWC-L1) and a CrossFit Level 1 (CF-L1) Trainer. Furthermore, Geoff has a BS in Athletic Training from SUNY Cortland and a MS in Exercise Science from Syracuse University.