Rob,
I graduated from the sapper leader course yesterday. I began your program last september while deployed and I definitely was able to “use fitness” over the last month at sapper school. I’m looking forward to getting back to training after some recovery time. I feel like I will recover fast and hopefully be ready to attend ranger school later this month. Just wanted to say thanks and reaffirm the effectiveness of your training. Take care, God bless, and stay hungry.
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Coach Rob,
I have been a faithful Military Athlete for a few months now. I just wanted to thank you for everything you have done here. I am addicted to the sessions. Every night I wait for the next one to be posted, so I can see what kind of hell I’ll put myself through tomorrow. I have become so hooked on it that I even get angry when I see people in the gym doing all their bullshit vanity lifting. I have been working to put my own gym together just to avoid the headache of working around the others guys. Your sessions have made me functionally stronger than I have ever been. I barely even have the extra $25 a month for gym dues but I will make it work. Its a small price to pay for the gains I have made and plan on gaining. Thank you for all of your work. i look forward to one day making to a MA seminar.
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Rob, I’m driven to write this email for two reasons. The first one is purely selfish. I’m 45 years old, 6′ tall and weight 212 lbs. as of this morning. But, on January 1, 2009, I was 44 years old still 6′ tall but weighted 278 lbs. I can confidently say I feel i’m in the best shape of my life. This brings me too the second reason for this post. I wanted to thank publicly the people in my life that have helped to bring me to today. First of course my spouse, telling me I had to get off of the couch and do something, and then the couches that I found to help me on my way. I started Crossfit last March after losing 30 or so pounds the traditional way, Globogym style. Crossfit has taken me further than I thought I could achieve at my stage in life and overall physical condition. The couches at Crossfit Asheville (if you will allow the plug), Shanna & Corey Duvall, are truly wonderful people and true inspirations. This brings me to the “Heart” of this letter. The third coach is a man named Randy Kite. Randy is 41 years old in fantastic shape and also getting ready to deploy to either Afghanistan or Iraq. Randy’s a member of the North Carolina National Guard, but not a long time one. Randy was in the service before, had served his country, returned to civilian life started a business with his wife and started a family. What inspires me is his need to re-enlist even when this will bring tremendous hardship into the rest of his life. Randy’s continuing drive to serve his country in a time of war is the greatest inspiration that I have. Randy turned me on to Military Athlete, and I have been hooked since, sometimes to the consternation of the two other wonderful coaches at our gym. I’m not ready yet to begin the prescribed program, but I’m working towards it. My goal is to be ready when Randy deploys in the spring and for the year that he’s away serving our country, I want to honor him by following the Militaryathlete.com training program. Yesterday I completed “gym rat nirvana”, and it was truly an experience, Rx’d weight, with no unbroken sets. This next weekend I’m going to do Operator Ugly. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’ve attached two photo’s one is of my last rep of the fuckin 400, and the other is Randy Kite. Sorry about the length of this email, if you see fit to add it to your site feel free to edit it as you see fit. Sincerely D
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On a side note, I have been following your website ever since you had the Military Athlete tab on the Mountain Athlete website. Your workouts are great. The coolest thing has been seeing how fast the word has spread across all of special operations. I am a Green Beret and I was introduced to it by a friend during the Q-course. I am deployed right now, a few years later, and it seems that everyone I meet, Navy Seal, Green Beret, Combat Controller, even support troops have been choosing Military Athlete as there workout of choice to prepare for combat. Not just that, but it has been working for all of us. Anyway, thanks for helping us out. You’ve done some outstanding work.
V/R
J
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Dear Rob,
Just wanted to say thanks for all the effort into a functional and rigorous program. I used to be a heavy crossfiter, but as an operator I need to be strong and maintain a high endurance. I was introduced to your site by a fellow operator and good friend this past year while I was in Afghanistan. I must say that it has everything that I need and want. I recently did OP Ugly for the first time after doing MA exclusively for four months ,with one of my team mates and as 155lb guy I scored a 170. Just a testament to how well the program works keep up the great work and thanks to the Labs rats as well.
KC
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Rob,
Last night Ryan (my XO) and John (one of my PSGs) competed in a Push/Pull
competition on our COB.
John’s BW: 203#, Ryan’s: 207.
Ryan benched 335 (PR for over here) and dead-lifted 495 (a PR by 80#!)…his
1RM for DL when he started training with me 5 months ago was 335#…an
increase of 160#!
John benched 295# (tied PR), and dead-lifted 455# (a PR by 40#).
Both of their performances show the benefits of your programming as neither
had ever trained seriously as an athlete (besides the standard beach muscle
workouts) before this deployment.
Attached is a photo of them locking out their max dead-lifts.
It was also interesting to note amongst the competitors here on Taji that
while John and Ryan did not ‘look’ the biggest in their respective weight
classes (Ryan missed the lower weight class by #2), their performances and
relative strength to BW is incredible.
Also, after having trained with these guys and understanding there’s more to
fitness that just strength, I knew looking at the other competitors, that
while they may have all been strong, none of them possess the lung capacity,
endurance, or stamina as John or Ryan.
They are balanced athletes, not just meatheads who can lift a lot of weight.
Ryan recently ran a sub-35 5-miler and John will likely run in the low 34s or
mid 33s on his 5-miler next week.
Take care and thanks for what you and your team do.
-E
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Rob,
I just wanted you to know its been almost a year since you gave our team the membership, since then M/A has really caught on in 3rd group. The guys still following the program are all extremely happy with the results. I personally have never been stronger. I really have reaped huge benefits from the program. When I started I was physically broken down (bad) from Lyme disease that went undiagnosed for about a year. M/A really helped me bounce back
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Rob,
My name is Owen Davis. I am an Airborne and Ranger qualified Army Medic currently stationed at Fort Benning, GA. I started doing your Mountain Athlete and Military Athlete workouts about 2-3 months ago after doing Crossfit for about 2 years, and I can say without any doubt that I am in the best shape of my life. Since starting your programs and adding some Gym Jones and Crossfit I have lost 15lbs and my Strength and Endurance have both improved as well as my Cardio. I can easily run my 2 Mile in under 13 minutes and run 5 miles over a hilly course in around 37 minutes. I routinely jump from Airplanes and while others get hurt, I walk away and I know its a reflection of the tough and austere style of training.
I will be deploying to SW Asia in the Spring and will continue using your programs and passing the knowledge to my platoon. Thanks for what you do for the Military, it is very much appreciated in the Light Infantry and Ranger communities.
V/R,
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Rob,
I just wanted to say thanks for all the work you guys put into the workout program. My wife and I have been following it for about 2 years now and love it. She scales the workouts and calls it “MilitaryDependentAthlete.com”, since she’s not in the military. She’s scaling the workouts even more now, as she’s pregnant.
I thought you’d appreciate the linked photo too. Since I don’t own the rights to the photo (the photographer asked us to use them only for “personal use”), it’s not website-material, but you may like to see the military athlete promotion. It’s the podium shot from a cyclocross race I did last weekend. I was only following the military athlete workouts, with no specific ‘cross work, but still managed to win the single speed category and came in 6th overall (out of about 35 in the race). Next time, I’ll try to ensure that my t-shirt logo is more legible!
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Rob:
First off, I want to pay it forward to what you are due. I myself utilized your training methods to prepare myself for BUD/S. Your dynamic training sessions mixed in with extra running and swimming that followed closely to the training periodization that your program follows, (varying the intensity in which I executed the extra running, swimming, lifting, rehab exercises, etc. rather than attacking by body group) assisted me in achieving great results. Not only did I never fail a physical evolution throughout this past year and a half, I was able to excel in them and experienced no injuries. It’s true that BUD/S is a mental game, but I can remember several times thinking to myself, “I could not have trained or prepared any better for this”. In any event, thank you for your program. Now I am in SQT, the PT portion is mostly on your own, and I find myself utilizing your program again.
Respectfully
SO3
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Rob,
Thanks!! I have been doing your program since 2009. Won’t deviate
too much from it. I know that you came to work with C Co. at 1-10 in
Germany. I was and now am in the other companies. Outside of an
instructor gig at Fort Bragg, I have been runnin’ and gunnin’ nonstop
since 2003. This program has been the one that has fit me the best. I
am now currently pulling some duty here in Afghanistan at a higher HQ.
Btw, the last stamina cycle-brutal, especially at 6000 ft in one of the
dirtiest cities in the world.
Thanks again.
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“I was put on to MA while TDY to some training by a STO who went to college with me, I was doing 3-4 CF Wods a day and thought I was in shape and he invited to do one of the two a day stamina workouts…once we were done…I quietly picked my pride up off the floor and threw it in the trash and was hooked ever since. That was last August…since then I have transformed my mind and body and made HUGE gains in every category…when I am able to do a MA workout in the morning…then take my PT TEST in the evening and score a 98% with ease then I have to give all the props to Rob and his team. Thank you and God Bless!!!”
missed my mom after doing my first session. Broke my soldiers in half, I felt like my thighs had been raped … It is everything I have been looking for. I will let you guys know the end result. I plan on cycling through your skinny guy routine and operator sessions a few times and see where it takes me.
Thank you. That fucking hurt. I hope this email isn’t an auto reply.
Respectfully,
SGT A
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On a separate note, I am currently in Afghanistan and finishing up my 12-month deployment with 3 BCT, 101st ABN. It has been a long year, but thoroughly enjoyed your workout program. I know it has made me a better soldier, both physically and mentally.
Thanks again.
Z
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Rob,
I’m a member of 3rd SFG and I’ve been doing the Operator Sessions for about 4 months now, and just wanted to say how impressed I am, being a former meathead, at the gains I’ve made not only in my fitness but also in mobility/durability.
CK
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Sir,
I am a cadet at West Point. During the past few months a group of us has been using your operator sessions to prepare for a military competition held here every year called Sandhurst. Thanks to your sessions we were quite successful and were able to come in 1st in the Corps and 3rd overall out of 49 teams. So thank you for all the work you put in to your training program.
I would also like to request your afghan training program to use. I think it would be very valuable to prepare for some of my summer training.
Thank you very much again for all your help. I know many people here value your training program. It has really helped me and those on my team.
Very Respectfully
CDT SGT B
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Sir-
I find what you write very encouraging – a buddy and I each just wrote (not knowing the other did) a paper discussing the inadequacies of the APFT to assess a soldier’s fitness level for combat (mine) and how soldiers should be treated as athletes (my buddy). we’ve both had numerous heated discusses (agreeing with each other) about how pitiful regular unit pt is. We both cited your military athlete program and much of your commentary. The sad thing is, we’ll talk about the need to change the pt standard, etc. with other leaders and they all agree, yet seem reluctant to change. Hopefully within a few months I’ll be taking command of a reconnaissance troop in the 10th Mountain Division, and can’t wait to employ your squad PT and afghan train up program. I have a feeling the soldiers/NCOs will initially be reluctant, skeptical, and pissed their normal routine is being changed and they are actually being challenged during pt, but they get to suck it up and deal with it. they’ll come around eventually (if not, i’m the commander), and my goal is to get your point of “hard pt makes you harder to kill” across to the younger soldiers, molding their minds about pt. who know’s if it will happen, but I’m going to do my damnedest to get it done. Thanks again for forging the change in military fitness.
Respectfully-
CPT K
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Mr. Shaul:
Just wanted to tell you your site is the most comprehensive and, more importantly, applicable resource I’ve ever seen. I’ve been training since I was thirteen doing, doing CrossFit and Gym Jones when they were babies, and this is the best resource out there. Just want to tell you not to worry about those guys who got their dick tied in a knot over not getting everything in life free. Don’t listen—you’re on the right track. Keep up the good work.
Very Respectfully
-j
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Sir-
i just wanted to say thanks for the workouts, been doing it about 10 months, and i won’t go to anything else. i’m reading Mark Twight’s book Kiss or Kill: confessions of a serial climber, and he talks allot about a hatred of mediocrity, pushing yourself continually to the limit. i think this explains your program – pushing yourself to excel and be the best. i look forward everyday to see how you’re going to punish us the next, it hurts so good. thanks again for your coaching and program. i truly appreciate it.
Respectfully-
CPT K
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I wanted to thank you for the workouts. I’ve been a Marine for over ten years and spent the last six as a Recon Marine. This past year I had 4 surgeries on my spine, resulting in a fusion of the lower spine (basically metal rods and cage). I felt ruined after all was said and done, as the recovery process was brutal. I came across your site towards the later part of my recovery (6 months after surgery). I was told to stay away from anything heavy on the spine and try not to run anymore. This of course was not an option for me as I wish to continue my career in the Corps. Now, less than a year from the surgery, I’m in the best shape of my life, thanks to your work. I took everything in small doses and it took me over a month to finish a whole week’s worth of workouts. Most days I came home and rested on the floor in the fetal position. Months later my back pain is mostly gone, I can run with the heavy packs, and finally I have no limits to what I can do. I’m now awaiting officer training and have passed on your site to all the Marines I work with (I also leave printouts every so often in the gym to let others know). I feel passionate about what you have brought to us in the combat arms. This is one of the many tools we can place in our packs to carry out our mission and will probably be the one that saves it. Thanks and keep it up!
Very Respectfully,
R
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Rob and Tod:
I love the input you all got from the Canadian you posted on the front page.
Mine is not as sexy, but a few times in the past you have asked for input from us out here on how we are doing. If you are still interested, here goes:
1) Unloaded step-ups I went from 893 on 24 NOV to 985 today.
2) Last 1RM Bench Press was 210# which is most ever and is over my body-weight for first time in life. 8xBP get to 155#, which again is most ever.
3) Last front squat (which I used to HATE) is up to 130#. Again most ever for me.
Last weekend in Rome, Italy we walked MILES doing the tourist thing. I carried backpack and/or 4-yr old all four days and still set the pace.
Overall, I am in the best shape of my life, I am losing weight while gaining muscle, and I look better than ever.
Thank you both. Let me know if this is good stuff or not. I can send something every quarter or so if you like it.
J
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Rob-
We really appreciated having you guys up here. My team provided me with
rave reviews of both your guys and your program. We look forward to working
with you guys again sometime. Thanks, again.
Geronimo!
LTC P E
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steve s a detective in my area and one of my former athletes called me today to direct me to your 2 great sites. i believe in what you are doing rob and congratulate you on your professionalism.
periodically i ride thru the jackson hole area on my harley and would love to stop by and meet you first hand.
coach mike b
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