By Rob Shaul, Founder
BLUF
Four remote lab rats complete the first 4 weeks of MTI’s Valor cycle for military athletes. Valor is an intense, assessment based cycle that concurrently trains strength, work capacity, military endurance (running and rucking), and chassis integrity. The lab rats saw a 10.3% increase in strength, 6.8% increase in rucking speed, and 7% increase in running speed over the course of this intense programming.
Background
Fitness demands for military athletes include high relative strength (strength per bodyweight), rucking speed and endurance, and running speed and endurance. Valor is a classic MTI cycle deployed in most of the military selection train ups we recommend.
The program is assessment-based and includes three specific assessments and follow-on progressions based on the athlete’s assessment results.
- Strength – Barbell Complex Max Effort
- Rucking: 3-Mile Ruck Run for Time @ 45#
- Running: 1.5 Mile Run for Time
Study Design and Deployment
The complete Valor cycle is 7 weeks long. For this mini-study, the lab rats completed the first 4 weeks of Valor which was updated to Version 4 in September, 2024.
Week one of the study includes a max effort Barbell Complex, 3-mile ruck with 45# and 1.5 mile run assessments.
Follow-on programming was assessment-based. For example, the athletes rucked 1-mile intervals at a prescribed pace based on their initial 3-mile ruck assesment result. In addition to lifting, rucking and running, the lab rats completed a chassis integrity circuit on Mondays, mid-week recovery run, and short, intense, 10-minute work capacity effort on Wednesdays. Below was the weekly programming.
- Monday: Strength, Chassis Integrity
- Tuesday: Ruck Run Assessment or Threshold Intervals
- Wednesday: 45-75 Minute Recovery Run
- Thursday: Strength, Work Capacity
- Friday: Run Assessment or Threshold Intervals
Results and Discussion
The lab rats saw improvements across all three assessment metrics – strength, rucking and running.
One of the major challenges of programming for multi-modal athletes is deploying assessments which target the primary fitness demands, and then balancing the programming intensity to allow targeted training for each demand without overtraining.
In isolation, the improvement for each assessment is not that impressive, however, an across the board improvement across all three fitness demands demonstrates the programming’s effectiveness for military athletes.
Next Step: Continuous Improvement
September’s update to Valor was my 4th, and included the addition of the mid-week recovery run and an overall decrease in intensity and overall simplification. In addition, we ended the Barbell Complex progression after week for to manage athlete burnout, and replaced it with 1RM assessments on classic barbell lifts. We’ll continue to monitor and make improvements as we grow and learn.
Questions/Feedback?
Please email rob@mtntactical.com