Q:
Rob,
Do you have a prerequisite for the Advanced Programming class?
-G
A:
G,
No, but the course is not appropriate for athletes who aren't veterans of our stuff, or coaches who don't know their way around the weightroom. For example, I've had endurance coaches attend and they were totally lost.
– Rob
—–
Q:
Dear Sir,
I am currently in the Q-course and have a month long break coming up before my next course with an APFT at the beginning of that course. I was thinking of taking the pushup/sit up workout from your APFT plan and doing them in addition to the Operator Sessions. Im pretty good at PT but my weakness is pushups. I like the way the APFT plan look but I want to keep the benefits of durability and strength that continuing to do the operator sessions offers. Do you think adding those workouts to the operator sessions is feasible? If so how should I put them together? If not what alternatives would you recommend?
-B
A:
B,
Yes that would work … but the pushups progression from the APFT plan needs to take precedent over the upper body pressing work in the Operator Sessions – so if both are prescribed for the same day, skip the Operator Sessions pressing (bench, KB floor press, whatever…)
– Rob
—–
Q:
dear mr. shaul,
talking about lab rats, i am in my fifties and a severely deconditioned athlete. used to box and was in the army (airborne/infantry) almost thirty years ago.
currently i walk about a 15 minute mile.
i am easily 50 pounds overweight and have just started the clean diet that you recommend in your nutrition FAQ.
i am eager to see how your fluid periodizaton programming can help someone who is starting from a very beginner level and i am getting ready to purchase a handful of your courses:
on-ramp training
4-week run improvement
work capacity training
is there any others i should purchase and is there a recommended sequence?
also, aside from your video on fluid periodization is there any other recommended reading on this programming theory?
thank you and i appreciate your time.
A:
Sir –
I'd recommend starting with the OnRamp Plan: http://militaryathlete.com/page.php?page_ID=12&cart_category_ID=81&cart_ID=87, and following it up with the Bodyweight Plan: http://militaryathlete.com/page.php?page_ID=12&cart_category_ID=81&cart_ID=96
– Rob
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Q:
Rob,
I'm currently on orders to a military police school for about a month. A week after I return from this school my unit has scheduled an APFT. Because I have access to a well equipped gym, is it alright to do the hypertrophy plan in conjunction with the APFT plan? Or some other strength plan in conjunction with the APFT plan?
Thanks,
B
A:
B,
Depends upon your fitness and how well you want to do on the APFT. In general, additional training will limit the APFT-specific gains you'll get from the plan because of overtraining. The plan is no joke.
If you're determined to do additional training, the Hypertrophy Plan isn't a good choice – way too much volume. I'd recommend Big 24 (http://militaryathlete.com/page.php?page_ID=12&cart_category_ID=55&cart_ID=36)
– Rob
—–
Q:
Hey rob I was wondering how you prepare athletes at sea level to go to elevation.
A:
Sir –
There are a few gimicky tricks out there, but nothing affordable is proven effective. Best thing is to be in as good as sport-specific shape as possible.
Rob
——
Q:
Rob,
I am a Border Patrol Agent in Tucson, AZ, so my AOR is pretty rugged with mountains scattered throughout. A typical day will often involve extended hikes through mountainous terrain that could end up covering anywhere from 1-6+ miles. I saw that you have a Hotshot Program on Mountain Athlete that seemed like something that could benefit my fellow agents and I who are located in the more rugged sectors across the border. My question is if a program on Mountain Athlete would carry over well to our line of work within our specific area, or if you'd recommend sticking to the Military Athlete workouts. I've bought a good number of your Military Athlete programs in the past, but this would be my first Mountain Athlete program. Thanks!
-A
A:
A,
There would be a lot of carryover from the Hotshot Plan (http://mountainathlete.com/page.php?page_ID=12&cart_category_ID=76&&cart_ID=59)
Another option would be the Afghanistan Pre-Deployment Training Plan: http://militaryathlete.com/page.php?page_ID=12&cart_category_ID=68&cart_ID=83
One note about both of these plans – both are designed as intense, pre-season or pre-deployment trainups. They aren't appropriate if you're in the middle of your buys hiking/patrolling season now.
I'm not sure if you coming into the busy patrol season, or if it's always busy. If you have 6 or so weeks before it gets busy, either of these plans would work.
However, if you're deep into patrolling now, you're already getting in plenty of sport-specific hiking, etc. What I'd recommend is complementing the hiking/endurance stuff you're doing in the field with some focused, efficient strength/power/work capacity in the gym – specifically the Busy Operator Training Plan: http://militaryathlete.com/page.php?page_ID=12&cart_category_ID=76&cart_ID=112
These tight sessions are designed to be 30-45 minutes long.
– Rob
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Q: I'm doing the bodyweight 1 in a small room with access to a treadmill. Is their a substitute for the suicide sprints?
A: 10 Rounds
30 Seconds Burpees
30 Seconds Rest
-Rob
——
Q: I was looking at your sandbags and I was wondering how much they can hold? I have a canvas duffle bag and I am starting to get tired of it. Right now I have anywhere from 80 lbs to 120 lbs in my bag. Will yours be able to hold that much? It sounds sturdy enough, I just thought I would shoot you an email and ask. I do a lot of cleans, snatches, high pulls, etc with my bag. I just want to make sure that the bag will last a while and will be able to hold up with the workouts that I do. Thanks for any info that you can give me.
-C
A: Hi Chad –
We use wood pellets or rubber mulch made from ground up tires to load our bags. These are bigger then the typical bag you'll see for sale – similar to the size of the regular Army duty bag.
How much you can load depends upon the material you fill them with. In my gym, we stop at 80# of wood pellets.
Will they hold up? In 6 years, mine are still bomber, and we've never had one returned.
– Rob
——
Q: Hi Rob
My friend has sent me a link to your 8 week lower back
strength training program. I am interested in buying it but wanted to
check, first, whether it requires access to a gym or weights (which I
don't have).
Many thanks
A: Yes – the plan does require a weight room.
As an alternative, I'd suggest our Core Strength for Runners Plan: http://mtnathlete.com/page.php?page_ID=12&cart_category_ID=79&&cart_ID=86
This is a solid core strength plan we purposely designed so no equipment was needed.
– Rob
——
Q: Coach,
Just did some research as I rest up this week preparing for the hybrid cycle next week. I noticed on both the mountain and military sides for base fitness hybrid cycles tend to be shorter than more singularly focused cycles (like a pure strength cycle tends to be on the order of 4-5 weeks). Is there any reason behind that?
Thanks.
A: Yes – these are just a quick hit, 2-week cycles. We're afraid too much strength/work cap would be lost if we did a back to back stamina to endurance cycle. These hybrids are placed between to keep recharge strength and work cap before dropping into Endurance.
Strength cycles are generally 3-4 weeks long. Same with Work Cap cycles. These hybrids are 2-weeks.
– Rob