HOW TO EFFECTIVELY TRAIN THE BODY FOR READINESS

When it comes to training the body for "battle", we must first understand the demands of our chosen sport, profession, and lifestyle we live.

Life is essentially a battlefield in the sense that you will be met with many difficult realities that will challenge you physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. How you prepare to meet these eventualities depends upon your unique set of circumstances.

Identifying these challenges will help you develop the right course of action in training your body for war. From here, we engage in the activities that will condition us for these demands.

Physical Training Is Stress

Adequately training your body is a positive form of stress applied to your system to force an adaptation.

The SAID principle states that a Specific Adaptation will occur on the body from an Imposed Demand. Our body will adapt to the frequent stresses placed upon it. The more specific the stressor, the more likely a particular adaptation.

If you want to become strong, you have to frequently lift heavy or perform movements that are progressively more taxing on the Central Nervous System (CNS). If you want to increase your respiratory endurance, you have to spend more time engaged in cardiovascular training at the appropriate intensities, etc.

This concept isn't complicated but achieving your goals based on the demands of your sport and or profession can be if you do not approach objective-based programming correctly.

Physical Conditioning Serves Two Purposes

The first purpose is to strengthen and condition the body for work (as briefly explained in the previous section). What we do inside or outside of the gym for training must translate to what we need to be capable for.

The second purpose is to toughen up the mind. Physical training is a positive form of stress, and if appropriately utilized, can be leveraged as a tool for stress management. We may also use physical training to strengthen the mind to handle stress more effectively in a controlled setting.

An individual who is physically fit will be physically resilient and more mentally stable in stressful situations as a result. Under stress, being physically exhausted bleeds into our decision-making process and hampers our ability to focus and stay on point.

Seemingly simple tasks become astronomically more difficult when completely exhausted. We used to have a saying in the SEAL Teams, "Don't let your lack of fitness negatively impact your tactical decisions."

This becomes apparent when you know the right call is to sprint up the hill carrying 50+ pounds of gear to take key terrain in a gun fight, but you are too exhausted to due to sleep deprivation and dehydration. Due to being extremely gassed, you make the irrational decision to stay in a compromised position and get maneuvered on. It's that simple.

Fitness Leads To Confidence In Stressful Situations

Physical conditioning is a key component to being as effective as possible in any endeavor. The more physically fit you are, the sharper your mind can be, and the more energy you have at your disposal to commit to whatever you are doing.

I recognized early in my career the value of being physically hard and capable of the demands of warfighting (training and combat operations downrange). Not only does being extremely physically fit lead to confidence in your ability to endure but also respect from your peers within the special operations community. This motivated me to be as physically conditioned as possible.

The fitter I was, the better I felt, and the easier my job became in training and during combat. This high degree of physical readiness also helped provide me with the confidence needed to focus mentally.

My pursuit of fitness led me to increase my personal knowledge of exercise science and learn the latest and greatest techniques and strategies employed by professionals within the strength and conditioning industry to achieve higher levels of physical fitness.

Physical Conditioning and War Fighting

In special operations (and in war fighting in general), we never want our tactics, techniques, and procedures negatively affected due to a lack of fitness. Once the body breaks down, the mind becomes strained, and our will and discipline also take a hit.

Combat is very difficult on the mind and body. The temperatures, terrain, emotional highs and lows, and the nature of killing or being killed take their toll (no matter who you are or how seasoned you may be).

Maneuver warfare is draining and oftentimes happens when an individual is already at a physical deficit (tired, dehydrated, and hungry). A soldier is required to patrol for prolonged distances under load in the elements and maneuver across arduous terrain to maintain a tactical advantage over the enemy.

They are constantly subjected to the physical and emotional burdens of repeated bouts of heightened awareness while under fire and the adrenaline dumps accompanied by lulls in the fight.

As I reflect back on some of the specific combat operations I was a part of years ago while deployed overseas, I am reminded of the physical and mental strains I had experienced. I was very excited to load the helos in the middle of the night as they departed the airfield to insert into enemy-held territory.

I was definitely aware of the dangers of combat but was extremely grateful for the opportunity to do what we were trained to do and confident in our ability, as a team, to be successful in what we were task with. This trust was developed through countless hours of training and honing our operational skillsets while stateside and with each previous combat operation while deployed downrange.

I wasn't angry, I wasn't bloodthirsty, and I wouldn't even say that I was obsessed with killing the enemy either. I wasn't any of those things. I strongly believed in the mission at the time and was willing to surrender my life to combat evil if that was God's will for me. Looking back now, I can rest in the fact that my intentions were pure even though the reasons for being at war in the first place may have been questionable.

I didn't want to die, nor did I want to become wounded in combat but I longed to fight and prove myself as a valiant warrior against those who were bent on evil as they oppressed those who would not or could not fight for themselves. My motives for serving were upright and back then, for me personally, it was pretty cut and dry.

I relied heavily upon my faith in Christ and I focused on doing my job to the best of my ability so that I didn't let any of my teammates down. I looked up to those men, I loved them and was humbled to serve alongside most of them.

I say all of this to further highlight why physical conditioning was such a huge component of my preparation as a warrior. My purpose and reason for being fit were greater than self and I took this responsibility seriously.

Effectively Train The Body For The Demands Of Sport and Profession

In special operations, our physical training is heavily focused on meeting the demands of the job. This meant that the majority of our fitness training (at least 80%) had to effectively address the following...

• Relative Strength - Strength relative to an individual's bodyweight

• Kinesthetic Awareness - Ability to maintain control of one's body during movement through space

• Muscular Strength Endurance - Maintain repeated efforts of moderately high amounts of force

• Work Capacity - Anaerobic fitness and metabolic conditioning

• Aerobic Base - Efficiency of the body's ability to utilize oxygen and fat for fuel for long duration efforts

• Aerobic Capacity - Possessing a high degree of both aerobic and anaerobic fitness

• Stamina - Ability to perform and recover from intense work across multiple days

Conditioning for the above attributes was non-negotiable and ultimately enabled us to be better operators.

Strength and Endurance

Strength and endurance are two fitness attributes at opposite ends of the fitness spectrum because they both require completely different energy systems.

Strength is highly anaerobic or ATP/CP specific. The ATP/CP or phosphagen energy system provides immediate explosive energy without the need for oxygen. Durations lasting more than 10 seconds bleed into the glycolytic energy system to provide fuel for higher levels of output. Endurance, however, is aerobic or oxidative and utilizes a higher percentage of fats than carbs to provide energy.

The point I am trying to make is that we need to train all three of these energy systems effectively to address the demands of our current situation. We may need to stress one more particularly than the others, but we should never completely neglect any one system.

Physical strength is very important to the operator, however, possessing insane levels of endurance is the most critical when fighting for prolonged periods of time in unforgiving environments.

This translates to the physical capacity to push hard for longer durations wearing operational kit through intense physical, mental, and emotional duress (extended patrol to the objective, multi-hour gunfights, working through contingencies and or mass casualty situations, and potential multi-day missions).

This ability requires a robust aerobic engine and remaining calm and focused in chaotic situations. Again, it takes a lot of mental bandwidth and energy to focus. It is much harder to do this when physically tapped out. Putting everything together and adequately preparing for these demands takes time, education, and discipline to remain consistent.

Prioritize and Maintain Objectives

Trying to increase both strength and endurance at the same time is inefficient (if not impossible). This is why periodization is so important to long-term gains in physical performance.

A better approach to improving both attributes over time is through periodization. For a specified period of time, aim to increase aerobic capacity while maintaining strength. After this period of time, transition to building strength while holding onto your aerobic capacity gains, etc.

With this slow and steady "whack a mole" approach, the majority of your energy reserves can go towards improving the desired attribute, and resulting in long term performance gains. Trying to increase both simultaneously will most likely lead to burnout and or injury.

Train What Matters

Put your preferences to the side and train to be effective. If you wish to be "battle ready" and perform at your best, you must train according to the demands and rigors of your chosen profession, not according to your preferences.

This will require you to venture outside of your comfort zone and will challenge your discipline. Maintaining consistency here will also increase your mental toughness and resilience.

You can still train according to preference or engage in the activities you enjoy, however, you need to ensure that the majority of your training is focused on improving the attributes that will make you better at your job or sport.

As we age, our priorities should also shift a bit and then drive appropriate goals and objectives. Trying to do what I once did in my 20s while currently approaching my 50s in a few years is unrealistic, nor is it healthy.

Optimal readiness periodized programming is initially geared towards establishing a high foundation of general physical and mental preparedness to help get you to that solid 80% foundation in physical readiness and resilience.

Once this foundation is achieved, we build upon it through objective-based programming that will help you become more effective at what you do.

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