Max Effort Strength + 3-Mile Ruck Training Plan

$59.00

  • 7-Week, 6 days/week training plan specifically designed to increase or maintain Big 3 Lift Strength (Back Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift) while concurrently training rucking fitness specifically for a 3 mile timed ruck.
  • Intense, efficient strength programming based on MTI’s Density progression methodology.
  • This training plan is one of the 250+ Plans included with an Athlete’s Subscription.

Description

This 6-Week, 6 day/week training plan is designed specifically to increase or maintain 1-Repetition Max (1RM) strength for the Back Squat, Bench Press and Hinge Lift (Dead Lift) while concurrently training rucking fitness. You will also train to increase your max number of strict Pull Ups.

Please note that in general, research has shown that endurance programming negatively effects strength, but that strength programming does not negatively effect endurance.

This plan is the result of several requests from soldiers and other tactical athletes who have taken up power lifting, but have seen a subsequent decline in their rucking fitness as well as civilan and other athletes who want to concurrently train strength and rucking fitness.

This is Version 2 of the plan, updated October, 2024.

FITNESS ATTRIBUTES

Strength Programming
This training program deploys MTIs Density Strength Progression, which deploys 1RM assessments for the Back Squat, Bench Press and Hinge Lift, as well as a max rep effort for Pull Up, and follow-on percentage-based progressions based on your most recent assessment results. Over the years we’ve found Density progression and intense, and efficient method for improving or maintaining strength.

By using beginning and mid-cycle assessments, and assessment-based follow-on progressions, this training plan automatically “scales” to the incoming strength of the individual athletes, and through the mid-cycle assessment, continues to push him/her through the entire 6 weeks of programming.

Run Programming
The rucking programming in this plan revolves around a 3-mile ruck assessment carrying a 45# Ruck, and individually-scaled follow on speed over ground intervals. For the speed over ground intervals, you’ll ruck threshold 1-mile intervals, 2-days/week. The interval paces are scaled to your individual, incoming running speed/fitness. As well, the plan deploys a mid-cycle, 3-mile ruck reassessment, so it continues to push you as your ruck fitness improves. On Saturdays, you’ll complete an easy-paced 3-5 mile ruck.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Training Week
Ideally, you will train Monday through Friday, and take Saturday and Sunday as full rest days. If for some reason you cannot keep this schedule, do not skip any sessions, do them exactly in order as they are designed.

  • Monday: Strength Assessment or Strength Progression
  • Tuesday: Rest or 1-Mile Ruck Intervals
  • Wednesday: Ruck Assessment or Short Work Capacity + Chassis Integrity
  • Thursday: Strength Progression
  • Friday: Rest or 1-Mile Ruck Intervals
  • Saturday: Easy Pace, 3-5 mile ruck.
  • Sunday: Full Rest

REQUIRED EQUIPMENT

  • Stopwatch and track or known 3-mile and 1-mile distances
  • Barbells, Plates, Rack and Bench for Back Squat, Bench Press and Dead Lift
  • Pull Up Bar for Pull Ups
  • Ruck (backpack) with 45# of filler

COMMON QUESTIONS

I’ve heard it’s bad on your joints to run with a ruck. Should I ruck-run while completing this program?
We doubt that ruck running is good for joints, however, MTI programs for the mission-direct fitness demands of the athlete – and for tactical athletes, running and even sprinting with a ruck is demonstrate fitness demand both real-world, tactical situations and many military and law enforcement schools and selections. So we ruck run …. but it’s up to you.

How long should the training session take?
In general, all sessions should take approximately 60 minutes to complete – excpect Saturday’s Easy Run Effort, which may push beyond 60 minutes.

Why are there two numbers listed for the exercises with assigned loads?
The lower weight is the prescribed weight for women, and the higher is for men, for example, Barbell Complex @ 45/65# means women use 45# and men use 65#.

What if I can’t make the prescribed reps for the strength exercises, or the prescribed interval times for the interval runs?
Do your best, and be sure to do the total number of rounds, even if you can’t make the reps or the time. If necessary for the strength exercises, it’s okay to break the sets and/or increase the interval as needed to complete the required reps and load.

What if I miss a day?
Begin where you left off when you return to training. This program is progressed – each session builds upon the prior session – so don’t skip a session or skip around. Follow the training sessions in order, regardless.

Where do I find unfamiliar exercises?
See our Exercise Library HERE. The Run/Ruck Calculator is listed as an exercise.

What about nutrition?
See our Nutritional Guidelines HERE.

Can I print out sessions to take to the gym?
Yes – you can print a week of programming at a time.

More Questions? Email: coach@mtntactical.com

DISCLAIMER
Before beginning any exercise program, consult with your physician to ensure that you are in proper health. Physical training contains inherent risks including, but not limited to, muscle strains, tears, physical and bodily injury up to and including death. This training program is not meant to provide medical advice; you should obtain medical advice from your private health care practitioner. If you are unable to assume these risks then you should not engage in this training program. No liability is assumed by Mountain Tactical Institute, Inc, its owners or employees, and you train at your own risk. Mountain Tactical Institute makes no warranty, express or implied, of any kind in connection with this training program.

Required Equipment


  • Stopwatch and track or known 3-mile and 1-mile distances

  • Barbells, Plates, Rack and Bench for Back Squat, Bench Press and Dead Lift

  • Pull Up Bar for Pull Ups

  • Ruck with 60 pounds of load for rucking.

Sample Training

SESSION 1 - MONDAY

Objective: Strength Assessment No.1

Warm Up:
4 Rounds:

  • 8x Back Squat - Start at 45/65# and increase load each round as you warm up
  • 4x Scotty Bob - 15/25#
  • 8x Dumbbell/Kettlebell Hinge Lift - Start at 25/35# and increase load each round as you warm up
  • Instep Stretch
  • 5x Shoulder Dislocates

Training:

  • Back Squat 1RM
    • Work up to 1RM Back Squat
      • Add 10-30# to your finishing warm-up load and do 5x reps, then add 10-30# and do 3x reps, then add 5-30# and do 1x rep (single). Continue to add weight and do singles until you reach your 1 Repetition Maximum (1RM). Aim to reach 1RM by your 4th or 5th single. RECORD 1RM BACK SQUAT
  • Bench Press 1RM
    • Work up to 1RM Bench Press
      • Start at a light load that you can easily complete 8x reps. Then add 10-30# and do 5x reps. Then add 10-30# and do 3x reps. Then add 5-30# and do 1x rep (single). Continue to add weight and do singles until you reach your 1 Repetition Maximum (1RM). Aim to reach 1RM by your 4th or 5th single. RECORD 1RM BENCH PRESS
  • Hinge Lift 1RM
    • Work up to 1RM Hinge Lift
      • Start at a light load that you can easily complete 8x reps. Then add 10-30# and do 5x reps. Then add 10-30# and do 3x reps. Then add 5-30# and do 1x rep (single). Continue to add weight and do singles until you reach your 1 Repetition Maximum (1RM). Aim to reach 1RM by your 4th or 5th single. RECORD 1RM Hinge Lift
  • Max Rep Pull Ups
    • Max Rep Strict Pull Ups
      • No time limit, but both hands must remain on the bar and feet can’t touch. RECORD MAX REP PULL UPS

1 Round:

  • Foam Roll Legs, Low Back

SESSION 2 - TUESDAY

Objective: Total Rest

Warm Up:

  • TOTAL REST

SESSION 3 - WEDNESDAY

Objective: Ruck Assessment No.1

Warm Up:
4 Rounds:

  • 10x Squats
  • 10x Push Ups
  • 5x Walking Lunges
  • Run 100m
  • Instep Stretch

Training:

  • Ruck Assessment
    • Ruck 3 Miles for Time - 45# Ruck
      • RECORD FINISH TIME

2 Rounds:

  • Instep +

SESSION 4 - THURSDAY

Objective: Strength Progression

Warm Up:
4 Rounds:

  • 8x Back Squat - Start at 45/65# and increase load each round as you warm up
  • 4x Scotty Bob - 15/25#
  • 8x Dumbbell/Kettlebell Hinge Lift - Start at 25/35# and increase load each round as you warm up
  • Instep Stretch
  • 5x Shoulder Dislocates

Training:
You'll use your SESSION 1, Strength Assessment results to calculate today’s loading:

Back Squat Warm Up:

  • 8x Back Squat - @ 50% 1RM, then...
  • 5x Back Squat - @ 70% 1RM, then...

5 Rounds, Every 90 Seconds:

  • 4x Back Squat - @ 80% 1RM

Set a repeating, countdown timer to 90 seconds. On "GO" complete your prescribed number of reps as fast as possible. Faster you finish, the more rest you get before the next round begins.

Bench Press Warm Up:

  • 8x Bench Press - @50% 1RM, then...
  • 5x Bench Press - @ 70% 1RM, then...

5 Rounds, Every 90 Seconds:

  • 4x Bench Press - @ 80% 1RM

Hinge Lift Warm Up:

  • 8x Hinge Lift - @ 50% 1RM, then...
  • 5x Hinge Lift - @ 70% 1RM, then...

5 Rounds, Every 90 Seconds:

  • 4x Hinge Lift - @ 80% 1RM

5 Rounds, Every 90 Seconds:

  • 3x Max Rep Pull Ups

1 Round:

  • Foam Roll Legs, Low Back

SESSION 5 - FRIDAY

Objective: Ruck - Speed over Ground Intervals

Warm Up:
4 Rounds:

  • 10x Squats
  • 10x Push Ups
  • 5x Walking Lunges
  • Run 100m
  • Instep Stretch

Training:
2 Rounds:

  • Ruck 1 Mile, 45# Ruck - at your “1-Mile Interval Pace” using your SESSION 3, 3-Mile Ruck Time and the MTI Ruck Calculator
  • Rest 8 Minutes between efforts
  • Ruck Calculator

2 Rounds:

  • Instep +

SESSION 6 - SATURDAY

Objective: Easy Ruck

Warm Up:

  • Training:
    • Easy Pace Ruck
    • Ruck 3 Miles, Easy Pace - 45# Ruck
      • "Easy" = you can speak in full sentences while moving - Zone 2 Training

2 Rounds:

  • Instep Stretch
  • Frog Stretch

1)  Mission Direct

Gym numbers mean nothing. All that matters is mission performance. 

To this end, MTI’s fitness solutions and programming are not boxed in by convention, tradition, orthodoxy, public opinion or any other artificial constraint driven by inside or outside forces.

We begin with the raw fitness demands of the mission and build a fitness solution which directly prepares the athlete for those demands.

 

2) Fitness Solutions Built from the Ground Up

MTI’s programming is not “re-tread” bodybuilding, football, CrossFit, kettlebell, strength or general fitness programming. We’ve built our fitness programming for mountain and tactical athletes from the ground up.

The Fluid Periodization methodology we deploy to concurrently train multiple fitness attributes is completely original and has continued to evolve and improve over the years.

Our mid-section training methodology, Chassis Integrity, is also original, as is our endurance programming, 7 strength training progressions, tactical agility, and work capacity programming.

Our mountain sports pre-season training plans, tactical PFT, selection, school, course, and fitness improvement training plans across military, LE and Fire Rescue are MTI-developed, tested and athlete-proven.

Over the years hundreds of athletes and coaches have taken our advanced programming and unit fitness leader programming courses and MTI is widely recognized within the mountain and tactical professions and fitness media as a thought leader in fitness programming for military and tactical athletes.

 

3) The MTI Method

→ Research: MTI begins program design with extensive research of the fitness demands of the mission, sport or event, identifies the exercises and progressions which sport-specifically meet those demands, chose end-of-cycle goals, and program backward to design the training plan.

→ Deploy & Assess: We deploy the training plan “Lab Rats” at our Wyoming facility. Training session and cycle issues are identified and fixed as we work through the training plan. Post cycle we assess the programming’s effectiveness and efficiency. We keep the stuff that works, and fix or toss the stuff that doesn’t.

→ Publish & Assess Again: Plan is published for purchase as an individual training plan and made available to our subscribers. Feedback/results are assessed.

→ Iterate: We take what we learn from lab rats and athletes, re-visit, update and improve already published training plans. Several of our individual training plans are on their 4th or 5th version.

 

4) Mission-Direct Research

MTI exists to “Improve Mountain and Tactical Athletes mission performance and keep them safe.” To that end, we have developed a unique research methodology aimed at identifying real world areas of improvement and identifying immediately deployable mission-direct solutions. Click HERE to learn more about MTI’s Mission-Direct Research methodology, and Here to read about just few of our research efforts.

5) Field Proven

Our stuff works. Weekly we receive unsolicited reviews of our programming and testimonials to its effectiveness.

 

6) Programming Breadth

MTI’s library of 200+ sport-specific fitness plans for mountain and tactical athletes is unmatched. Resources range from specific programming for tactical special forces selections, to specific plans for climbing Rainier and Denali, to general fitness solutions such as running improvement, to post-rehab from injury.

Over the past decade, MTI has partnered with hundreds of athletes throughout their individual mountain and tactical careers, and provided fitness solutions as they face new mountain objectives, tactical schools, selections, PFTs and deployments, and came back from injury.

 

7) Worldwide Influence

Our work is not limited to US Athletes.

We’ve developed selection-specific training plans for Canadian, UK, Australian and German Special Forces Selections and worked with individual military personnel from Scandinavia, South, and Central America.

Canadian, Australian, UK and western European law enforcement and fire/rescue athletes have used MTI programming for mission-direct fitness.

On the mountain side, Alpinists from Japan to Slovakia have consulted with MTI and used MTI’s programming to prepare for mountain objectives.

 

8) Mission Performance beyond Fitness

MTI’s exists is to improve Mission Performance for mountain and tactical athletes and keep them safe. 

This focus on “mission direct” solutions, enhancements and improvements drives our work and research and extends beyond fitness solutions to include training, leadership, gear, team culture, and safety. 

Fitness is just one area of our work.

Our non-fitness research has included tactical cultures, combat uniforms, and gore-tex performance, and effect of stress on marksmanship.

Our work on defining what it means to be a Quiet Professional has had penetrating influence and driven healthy conversations with both mountain and tactical professionals.

 

9) Direct, Honest, Clear Answers

Since 2007 we’ve taken and answered dozens of questions weekly from mountain and tactical athletes. We’ve saved these individual Q&A’s and now thousands are archived on our site.

We’re not salesmen, and our answers are noted for their directness, honesty, and clarity. Our stuff isn’t for everyone. If we can help, we’ll let you know. If we can’t, we’ll let you know that, too.

– Rob Shaul, Founder

 

All of the Above is Backed Up By Our Promise: Our Stuff Works. Guaranteed.

Our Stuff Works. Guaranteed.

By Rob Shaul

I received notes frequently from athletes hesitant to purchase a subscription or training plans asking me to sell them on why they should make the purchase.

While I understand the question, I’m not a salesman – so I can’t put a hard sale on anyone for our programming.

I can tell them the process we go through to design our programming.

We begin with extensive research on the fitness demands of the event, identify the exercises and progressions which sport specifically meet those demands, chose end-of-cycle goals, and program backward to design the plan.

Then we test the cycle on ourselves and our lab rats here in Wyoming. We document, note what works and doesn’t work, re-assess, and make changes and modifications.

Then we publish the programming in the form of one of our plans or as part of our subscription daily training sessions for tactical and mountain athletes.
We don’t stop there – our daily programming is the “tip of the spear” for our programming evolution. We use these sessions to learn and make continuous improvement.

As we learn more and improve, we go back, and update the sport-specific training plans on the website. For example, we’re currently on Version 5 of our Ruck Based Selection Training Plan and Version 3 of our Dryland Ski Training Plan and Version 4 of our Big Game Back Country Hunting Training Plan.

We understand our programing isn’t cheap, but we believe it’s a great value. The $79 for the Ruck Based Selection Training Plan, and $39 for the Dryland Ski Training Plan reflect the, research, work, innovative theory, iteration, testing and feedback we’ve put in and received to make these plans effective.

All that matters for us is outside performance, and we feel strongly that Our Stuff Works in the real world.

Here’s our guarantee:

1) Individual Training Plan Purchase:
If you purchase an individual training plan, follow it as prescribed before your season/event/pft/selection, and if you don’t feel you were physically ready for your season/event/pft/selection, and/or didn’t see dramatic improvements in your early season performance, we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

2) Athlete’s Subscription
If you purchase an Athletes’ Subscription, follow the training sessions as prescribed, and are not satisfied with the quality of the programming, notify us within 30 days of purchase, and we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

Questions?
Email: rob@mtntactical.com

COMMON QUESTIONS:

Do you have any reviews or testimonials from athletes who have used your Athlete’s Subscription
Yes. Click HERE.

Is it true you guarantee your stuff works?
Yes. If you purchase an Athletes’ Subscription, follow the training sessions as prescribed, and are not satisfied with the quality of the programming, notify us within 30 days of purchase, and we’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

How is MTI programming different than CrossFit?
This is a common question. Read our answer HERE.

You have a lot of competitors. Why should I choose MTI?
MTI is driven to improve mountain and tactical athletes’ mission performance and keep them safe. This emphasis and focus on mission performance sets us apart. Read about more that sets us apart HERE.

If I purchase a plan or subscription, how do I access the programming?
All of our plans are online, accessible via username and password.
You can log in through our →Website  or Mobile App →IOS and Android.

Do you have downloadable .pdf’s of the training plans?
No. But you can print the programming, by week, from your browser. You access individual training plans online via a username and password.

Do you have a mobile app?
Yes, we do. Available for IOS and Android.

What is the difference between purchasing an individual training plan, packet of plans or an Athlete’s Subscription?

  • Plan – Like purchasing the DVD of the first Star Wars movie. You own it forever, including any updates we make to the plan.
  • Packet – Like purchasing the DVD’s of all the Star Wars movies. You own them forever, including any updates we make to the plans.
  • Athlete’s Subscription – Like subscribing to Netflix. You get access to all 200+ plan in our library, but lose access if you unsubscribe.

If I purchase an Athletes Subscription Can I cancel on my own, anytime?
Yes.

Do I have to contact MTI to cancel or can I do it myself?
You can do it yourself. Instructions HERE.

If I purchase a subscription and have questions about where to start or what plans(s) to use for my goals, will you help?
Yes. We answer dozens of training questions from athletes weekly. Email coach@mtntactical.com.

If you add new plans or update existing plans after I subscribe will I have access to them?
Yes. We are continuously adding training plans and packets (2-5/month) and updating plans. With your subscription you’ll have access to all new plans, new courses and plan updates.

What Equipment is Required?
Click the “Required Equipment” tab to find out what equipment is required for the specific plan you are interested in.

Where do I find unfamiliar exercises?
See our Exercise Library HERE. The Run and Ruck Calculators are listed as exercises.

What about nutrition?
See our Nutritional Guidelines HERE.

Can I see sample training?
Click the “Sample Training” tab to see the entire first week of programming. You are encouraged to do it before purchasing.

What if I have more questions?
Email rob@mtntactical.com

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