QUESTION
Several months ago you wrote an article in which you analyzed the ACFT and ultimately recommended a different set of test events. I tried locating that article on your site but could not find it. Can you please send me the link?
ANSWER
– Rob
QUESTION
I’ve been observing what you do with great interest and decided that I would like to use your approach for getting into proper shape but I’m having difficulties choosing an option due to the injuries I had and my habit of over-training due to my enthusiasm.
A bit of background info. I am a desk rat (female) who used to be very physically active (mountaineering and running) but in the last years I had a severe shoulder dislocation (ligaments don’t function any more), knee troubles and two operations that had me dial back on everything for months on time.
My plan is to get back to (and of course improve on) my previous overall fitness level with an emphasis on mountaineering and Idon’t know which route to take based on what you have on offer.
Only thing that I’m quite certain of is that I would want to avoid any jerking motions with weight above shoulder height since that area needs to strengthen properly first because I’d be risking another unnecassary injury.
ANSWER
QUESTION
I am thinking about getting some of the programs or subscribing is there a certain order that the greek hero series is supposed to be completed in?
ANSWER
It’s best to complete the
Greek Hero plans in this order:
It’s okay to skip the Military OnRamp Training Plan if you’re coming in fit.
– Rob
QUESTION
I am a college junior planning to enlist after graduation. I am new to your programming and while I have done Crossfit in the past, I am not currently fit enough for most of your plans, with my biggest weakness being strength. Should I start out with the on-ramp plan or start with a strength plan to get my numbers up?
ANSWER
– Rob
QUESTION
I am a current or former subscriber and used your programs before. In the last several years, I have climbed Rainer,Kilimanjaro and did the hike to Everest base camp.Also, I have climbed the Grand,Teewinot,South and Middle Teton. I am a better Mountaineer than rock climber.I took the last two years off. I would say from burn out.But I am back at and have set as a goal to climb Mt.Owen and Mt.Moran next Summer.
I live in Florida and come to Jackson in the Summer. In Florida I have access to a gym and a climbing gym.
To maintain my fitness in the last couple of years I have done triathlon training,swimming,running,biking,weights etc.So I have maintained a good fitness level. I want to start trading August 1 2018 for my climbing attempts next year. By the way I am 67.
Now,my question is which of your program or program of yours should I subscribe to and in what order to get prepared for my climbs in July or August of 2019? And Why?
ANSWER
Ideally, the plans and order in the Greek Heroine series until 6 weeks before your climb, when you’d drop into the Peak Bagger Training Plan – and complete it directly before your climb.
The
Greek Heroine plans are designed to build “base” fitness for mountain athletes and concurrently train endurance (trail running, uphill hiking under load), climbing fitness (rock), strength, work capacity and chassis integrity.
The Peak Bagger Training Plan is a sport-specific plan designed for primarily non-technical peak bagging attempts like the Grand and other Teton Peaks.
But …. at 67, I’m afraid this programming as prescribed would be too intense for you and I’m not sure how to scale it for someone your age other than stretching out the programming to allow more rest days – train one day, rest the second.
Mountain Base Helen is the first plan in the Greek Heroine series. Click the “sample training” link to see the first week of training. You could try this – to test your recovery and decide after that.
– Rob
QUESTION
Thank you for the work you do. I have a question regarding the rookie training series. I am already very strong, and getting stronger with a barbell at this point is not going to help me. However I struggle mightily with running. Should completely replace the rat 6 with the running or do the rookie series as is? Thank you for your time.
ANSWER
Yes – just weeks 6-13 of the Running Improvement Training Plan.
– Rob
QUESTION
Do you have a program that would prepare a person well for taking the Canadian PARE test? It is essential a 2-4minutes obstacle course/sprint with a push/pull evolution at the end. It is used across a few different agencies, primarily the RCMP.
Thanks
ANSWER
This is perhaps the most complicated test I’ve seen thus far!
I don’t have a plan to specifically prepare for it.
Because of it’s complication – best would be to do Repeats of the actual test …. like 3 Rounds with a 4-5 minute rest between. I’m sure this is not possible … so what I’d recommend is this:
3 Rounds
50m Sled Push
5x Burpees
50m Sled Pull
Rest 5 minutes between rounds.
– Rob
QUESTION
Any ideas for programming a routine following Ranger school? I feel like all gains were lost, and recovering from bursitis and upper back soreness. After I’ve healed completely, what do you recommend to get
back at it? Most are saying to ease back into it…thoughts?
ANSWER
After 1-2 weeks of rest and eating, you’re ready to start training again and cleaning up your diet.
Start back with strength – it’s the foundation of fitness and durability – and will be what you lost most during Ranger School. From our stuff I’d recommend the
MTI Relative Strength Assessment Training Plan. This plan is assessment-based – so it will automatically “scale” to your post-Ranger School fitness, and is super efficient – gym sessions are just 45-50 minutes long.
– Rob
QUESTION
I am an active (mostly backpacking, basketball and biking), healthy 60-year-old seeking a training program for backpacking and non-technical mountaineering trips this winter, primarily in Colorado. The typical trip would be 3-5 days in length, 50-60 pounds of food and gear, overnight camping, and 1-3 non-technical summits. Do you have a training program that, as is or with some modifications, would be suitable for me?
ANSWER
– Rob
QUESTION
I just finished ranger school and am currently stationed at Ft Campbell. I am going to SFAS in March and wanted to see what training plan you would recommend for someone in my position. Obviously we did quite a bit of rucking at ranger, however my cardio and especially strength took a major hit. From what I understand your SFAS plan is a lead up to the actual course. So I would start that in January/February. My weakest area at this point is strength but I need to get my conditioning/endurance back to where it was pre ranger school as well! What twining plan would you recommend for someone in my position? Thanks for your help.
ANSWER
By my count you have 32 weeks before March. Here’s what I’d recommend
Weeks Plan
1-7 Big 24 Strength
8-15 Valor
16-22 Resilience
23 Total Rest
24-31 Ruck Based Selection Training Plan – directly before SFAS
– Rob
QUESTION
I want to first say how much I appreciate what y’all do and the service y’all provide people in my line of work. A little about me, I am a sniper in the army and have been following your programs for about 2.5 years and have been injury free and have seen very positive increases across the board. 30 years old, 70in tall and weigh 175#. I score over 5 on your relative strength assessment for tactical athletes. I recently spent about 2.5 months in a field/ away from a legit gym environment. All I had to work with was a 35# kettle bell and body weight stuff. Upon getting back to a fully equipped gym I jumped into rat 6 to get back some strength.
I first noticed an issue 2 days after session 14 (front squat and hinge lift). I had no issue during the workout and didn’t notice anything until the following Monday morning when I rolled out of bed my left hamstring locked up and put me down with some pretty intense throbbing/sharp pain. Seeing as how walking without a limp was not possible, I took about two weeks off lifting. After a few low weight trials with front squat and hinge lift with no pain I picked up where I left off.
After reaching and completing session 29, the exact same process has occurred. Except this time rolling out of bed Monday morning it locked up so bad I stood up to try to walk it off, became light headed and actually fainted. This time I went in for a professional opinion and was diagnosed with a high hamstring sprain. They gave me a steroid shot, 800mg Ibuprofen, and set me up on a physical therapy program which I start this morning. I know that I made the rookie mistake of being too ambitious and pushing myself to hard after being de conditioned but what’s done is done now. My question for you, which I will also discuss with my physical therapist, is when do you think it may be appropriate to possibly being your single leg injury plan? Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Right now I have to be real careful with any and all movement as the slightest wrong move causes it to lock up again so I doubt I’m ready now.
I apologize for the long winded email but sincerely, thanks again for everything you and your team do. I’ve always been an athlete but your programming is the most relevant and applicable stuff I’ve ever seen to my job.
ANSWER
From a fitness perspective, you can start the
Training Program for Athletes Suffering Leg Injury anytime – this plan doesn’t train your injured limb, but trains the rest of your body around your injury. But your question is a medical one – in terms of the sensitivity of the leg and hamstring. Whenever you feel you can move around without fear of lockup – start the plan.
I’m not sure you made any mistake with your training – as Rat 6 is an assessment-based program – so it scales to your incoming strength. Also – with you actually fainting, I’ve never heard of this before with a hamstring injury. And now that it is sensitive to lock up is stranger still. It could be low back related, – and nerve driven rather than muscular. Some low back issues happen when muscles fire out of sequence. You may want to get a good, deep, back and leg massage – and see if it loosens stuff up.
– Rob
QUESTION
I completed the alpine running program last summer for a challenging 28k in the mountains and it went very well. This year, I’m running the same race but my work schedule doesn’t allow for a ~4 hr hike up/run down for the big elevation day. I work 10 hr days Tuesday-Fri and can manage a 1.5 hr lift or run each day but that’s about it. How would you recommend structuring my workouts so I have enough time to recover from the long run days to the elevation days but still get my workouts in?
I’m also open to getting the long run and the elevation days in on the weekend and completing the in-season endurance strength work on week days with additional speed work added in. I don’t think distance is my greatest challenge at this point but the elevation work will make or break my race so I want my legs to be trained.
Thanks so much for your help! I love your programs and recommend them to colleagues and patients when their looking to up their training game.
ANSWER
I’m not sure I understand your question fully, but in general, the endurance work in the Alpine Running Plan is more important than the gym-based strength work to your race performance. So – cut gym-based sessions and use these as your recovery days from the endurance work.
In general – I’m not a believer in short cuts when it comes to endurance training/performance. To go long, you have to train long.
– Rob
QUESTION
I am a strength and conditioning coach with great interest in your research.
I currently work with a group of U.S military special operators, and learning how to benefit their training for their specific role.
my interest at this current time is in the training they undergo for fear inoculation and how to improve/manage this, I have come across some research papers (attached below) which discuss, “Cognitive Reappraisal” as a psychological tool for managing fear, a discussion on the “difference between gender emotion control”, a study on “experience of pain”.
It would be great to here back from you with any further information you have on this research.
ANSWER
I’m not sure what you’re asking of me here – my thoughts on this research? If so, I’m not seeing how this research relates to fear inoculation techniques. It seems the cognitive reappraisal deals more with resilience and the experiences of pain are different than managing fear.
In general, our hypothesis is that stress or fear inoculation should be introduced far earlier in the mode-specific technical training than is currently the typical practice for mountain and tactical athletes. Specifically to military SOF, for example, force on force should be introduced Day 1 or Day 2 in CQB courses, not at the very end of the course as is the current practice.
As well – “stress fitness” is a fitness attribute which needs to be regularly trained and maintained – just like physical fitness. I.e. – once guys are selected and at the unit, often their regular range training is target focused. Our Range Fitness programming deploys multiple stressors to typical range training and systematically trains accurate marksmanship under stress. We submit this as a replacement for most current range training. On the CQB side – every other training session should be force on force focused.
As a S&C coach myself, I’m careful to separate technical training as described above from physical fitness training. Our work in this area is separate from our work in designing tactical physical fitness programming.
– Rob
QUESTION
In your gym do your athletes use belts if their hinge lift max is over a certain amount for safety? Or is bracing good enough to maintain spinal integrity? I’ve seen plenty of strongmen compete with no equipment and be fine. I’ve been using your programming for awhile and my lifts have gone up significantly. I’ve never used any equipment I’ve just been bracing very well and I’ve been fine. But because of how high my hinge lift and squat are getting I’ve been wondering what your opinion on lifting belts was.
ANSWER
We don’t use them. My opinion? – It’s up to you.
Understand in all the lower body strength lifts, the legs are always stronger than the core – the core fails first. By wearing a belt, in some way you’re artificially strengthening your mid-section, and in some way losing the training effect.
– Rob
QUESTION
I have two questions,
1. I emailed you a few months ago regarding a shoulder injury, shin injuries, and starting the SFAS training packet. you recommended I do the bodyweight foundation plan. is this plan ok to replace the military on ramp training program in the packet? as in I go straight into humility after I complete it? or move on to military on ramp before Humility.
2. Since SFAS is ruck focused, would it be alright to replace the Saturday long run in the body weight plan with a ruck march? If so, what kind of rucks would you recommend I be doing?
ANSWER
1. If you have time before SFAS, complete the full packet – including Military OnRamp.
2. No … you’ll start rucking with the Military OnRamp. Do the programming as prescribed.
– Rob
QUESTION
Hello, I bought your running improvement program and I have a question. I want to focus on my running speed between 1 and 10km. What week should I start and finish the training program?
ANSWER
The Running Improvement Program is built around 3 distances – 1.5, 3 and 6 miles – which covers your 1-10km distances. Start at the beginning.
– Rob
QUESTION
I am about a week before finishing barbossa and starting black beard. Even though the pirate series contains swimming in it I think I need more to get my times where they should be. How would you organize doing your swim improvement along with the pirate series, specifically black beard?
ANSWER
Do 2-a-days and replace Black Beard’s swimming with the swim improvement programming.
– Rob
QUESTION
I’m currently in the army waiting to go back to selection in October. They have us doing regular army pt. Running 2-3 times a week, rucking once a week and some body weight stuff a few times a week. What plan should I do between now and October to get ready for selection?
ANSWER
– Rob
QUESTION
1. In Session 17 when running the 300m shuttle with vest after the 10-minute rest are we supposed to transition to the 5-mile run with the vest too?
2. When doing Olympic lifts with reps over 2 do you train your lab rats to keep contact with the bar all the way back to the ground or do they release, reset & left again? Hopefully, this question is understandable.
ANSWER
1) No vest for the 5-mile
2) Up to the athlete.
– Rob
QUESTION
Hi, I’m looking for something that will get me to max out the push ups, sit ups, 300 Meter run, and the 1.5-mile run. Which program will help me reach my goal? I’m currently injured, and hopefully will be recovering, and I will be starting from the bottom. As in starting to work on push ups, sit ups, 300-meter run, and 1.5-mile run. I have over just under 2 yrs to be able to max the events. Help.
ANSWER
Two years out, I’d recommend you start our stuff with the Bodyweight Foundation Training Plan, then follow it up with the FBI SA PFT Training Plan, which directly addressed the fitness assessment you describe.
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