We successfully hosted our first webinar, “The Ins and Outs of Programming Theory”. All of the questions Rob didn’t have time to cover during the webinar are answered below. Stay tuned for our next webinar announcement, and in case you missed it Click Here to watch the recording.
Q: What are your thoughts on tapering before event?
A: In general, keep the intensity high, but greatly reduce the volume. This way the athlete goes into the event mentally confident, but still rested up.
Q: What are the best ways to develop durability?
A: Increase relative strength first, and overall fitness second. I believe strength is by far the most important component of durability. Stronger athletes are harder to injure in the first place, if they do get injured don’t get injured as bad, and if they do get injured, recover faster. I’m not a big believer in mobility as a cure for durability.
Q: So when you consider chassis integrity….. if you continuously front squat as a closed chain exercise, wouldn’t your body consistently stay unbalanced without use of single leg balance exercises?
A: The bigger debate around unilateral exercises is old and ongoing. Many strength coaches love ‘em. Others think they are silly. Last year we did an entire single limb training cycle with my FreeSkiers. This year our single leg work has been limited to single leg plyos – which are pretty awesome. So we do both. When it comes to chassis integrity, don’t confuse it with single limb strength balance.
Q: Do you think you should discourage aging athletes with degenerative joint issues from training intensely versus simply working out?
A: Every athlete should “train” over “working out” – but certainly, a professional training program can be built to avoid exacerbating a degenerative joint issue – especially by integrating non-load bearing exercises like biking and swimming, – and rowing – and limiting range of motion for squatting movements.
Q: I am training for special forces selection. I am in the national guard so we have a weekend tryout about 6 months before the actual selection. How do I train for the initial weekend without double tapping your SF selection program? Right now, I am doing operator sessions, with ruck improvement. and adding running or sprints (2-3 times a day). I’m getting tired. How should I approach this pre-selection vs. actual selection?
A: You don’t go to SFAS without making it through the initial selection. The six months between the initial weekend tryout and actual selection will give you time to recover. I’d recommend the full Ruck Based Selection Program for both. After your weekend tryout – do a couple weeks of unload, then drop back into the Operator Sessions – or better, focus on strength with Rat 6 (you get access to it with your subscription). Then repeat the 8-week Ruck Selection plan directly before SFAS. It should be easier the second time!!
Q: How do you reconcile intense training with a full time blue collar job (construction worker/sanitation)?
A. You can do both. Many do. Our “Curtis P” exercise is named after Curtis P – an oilfield welder who was a great training partner with me years ago. He’d roll in after a long day welding, and hammer it. You can’t do it and have a crappy diet, drink a six pack every night, and sleep only 5 hours – you’ll need to pay attention to your health – but you can do it. From our stuff, I’d recommend a subscription to the website and following the LE Officer Sessions. We purposely design these sessions to last around 45 minutes – great stuff, and a tight, efficient package.
Q: There are a few theories on improving aerobic fitness…Do you believe you have to put in the time for longer aerobic efforts to improve that energy system, or do you subscribe that shorter work capacity efforts can develop your aerobic system?
A: We do both. In general, however, I believe you have to train long to go long. One of the fitness attributes gained from long/slow/distance (LSD) training is connective tissue and joint strength endurance. You don’t build this doing short, intense intervals. I do believe intervals are needed to increase speed over ground.
Q: Can you define the difference between endurance and stamina?
A: Endurance = single mode (running, rucking, biking, swimming, skinning) 60+ minutes. A huge component of performance is aerobic base and cardio efficiency in the individual mode.
Stamina = multi mode, long efforts (45+ minutes) or multiple, short events over a long day. The focus here isn’t cardio efficiency, but muscular endurance and recovery. Think a special forces unit which hits 6 houses in Iraq over a 12 hour period, or an alpine climber who completes the Grand Traverse in the Tetons in a single push over 24-36 hours (uphill hiking, downhill hiking, rock climbing, rappelling, some trail running, etc.). Both examples are multi-mode, and not necessarily “constant movement” – but have a large muscular volume demand. As well, stamina has a big mental component.
Q: Do you consider CNS recovery times when combining heavy lifting and hard work capacity?
A: Not really. As long as the athletes are making their progressions, they are not overtaxing CNS.
Q: With regard to the reading you mentioned, how do you determine the difference between worthy and unworthy programming?
A: Outside performance.
Q: Are there any supplements you would recommend besides pre/post workout protien
A: Only creatine during a strength cycle.
Q: Are there any books you would recommend for an athlete who would like to better understand fitness training and the style of programming you use?
A: Not specifically – but here is a reading list to get you started.
Pat O’Shea, “Quantum Strength & Fitness”
Robert dos Remedios, “Power Training, “Foundation Training”
Eric Cressey, “Maximum Strength,” “The Ultimate Offseason Training Manual”
Rippetoe and Kilgore, “Practical Programing for Strength Training”
Joe Kenn, “The Coach’s Strength Training Playbook”
Mike Boyle, “Advances in Functional Training,” “Designing Strength Training Programs & Facilities) (E-Book)
Mark Vertegen, “Core Performance”
Kelly Starret – “Becoming a Supple Leopard”
Mike and Mark Anderson, “The Rock Climbers Training Manual”
Steve House and Scott Johnson, “Training for the New Alpinism”
Greg McMillan, “You (Only Faster)”
Jack Daniels, “Daniel’s Running Formula”
Cal Dietz, “Triphasic Training”
Gary Taubes, “Why We Get Fat”
Mel Siff, “Supertraining”
Joe Friel, “Total Heart Rate Training”
Steve Bechtel, “Climb Strong Strength,” “Climb Strong Power Endurance”
Gray Cook – “Movement”
Vern Gambetta, “Athletic Development: Art and Science of Functional Sports Conditioning”
Zatsiorski and Kraemer, “Science and Practice of Strength Training”
LTC Grossman, “On Killing,” “On Combat”
Greg Shepard, “Bigger Faster Stronger”
Q: I would assume base fitness can only improve so far with out something drastic to break the plateau.
A: Yes – using my Fluid Periodization. You’ll need to drop fluid periodization and move to linear periodization – where you only train one fitness attribute per cycle – to break through in that element. The cost is you lose fitness in the other elements …. Essentially, our sport-specific training cycles are event-focused, linear periodization.
Q: Can you explain your theory behind running improvement?
A: First, do an assessment. Second, use the assessment to designate paces for shorter, faster intervals, and longer – aerobic base building runs.”
Q: Where’s the line of working more then benefits the athlete, some of military athletes have work capacity to do 2,3, even 4 operator workouts a day. How can we maximize this rare found training time to progress ourselves.
A: You don’t increase fitness by training, but by resting after training. So, just because you have the time, you have be judicious with rest. As well, the “burden of constant fitness” can come into play – where you’ll end up getting sick of so much training. Unless you’re training for a long endurance event, day to day training should not extend more than 2 hours max/day. Sometimes it’s easy to focus on fitness and lose track of the bigger picture – what other elements make you a better soldier and can lead to mission completion – i.e. marksmanship, tactics, comms, – professional reading and training in these areas.
Q: How do you progress Work Capacity within an “offseason” period.
A: During the offseason, no need to focus on the specific work capacity for the sport or the event. You can be more general with your training. Focus on the event work capacity mode and duration during the sport-specific pre-season cycle. During the offseason, take the opportunity to explore with different modes, and shorter/longer durations than what the athletes will face. For example, this summer I had my FreeSkiers do a 3 mile running assessment, and do short sprints at the track (10,20,40,400m) and longer, “slow” distance work once a week – 5+ miles. Their typical competition run is 2 minutes – so we went shorter and longer.
Q: You typically use 3 to 4 weeks for a particular cycle, what evidence/research did you find to select that duration, or do you feel that 3 to 4 weeks is an acceptable amount of time to see specific strength gains
A: Yes
Q: With fluid periodizaton, how is plateauing over come?
A: At some point the base fitness of the athlete will plateau – for example, I’ve found our Operator Sessions (base fitness for military athletes) will get most guys to our strength standards (which are not super high in the strength world) but not much stronger. To get them stronger, I’d have to move away from fluid periodization and into linear periodization – where we only train strength during the strength cycle. This would break their “strength” plateau, but also lead to decreased work capacity and endurance and stamina …. – remember these are “hybrid” athletes who have a mix of fitness demands.
Q: Is Operator Ugly THE way to measure “base fitness”? Does it cover all the domains and is it a good goal for those just doing operator sessions with no upcoming school/selection/or competition?
A: Operator Ugly assesses relative strength, work capacity, mental fitness, endurance and stamina – it’s a great measure of “base fitness” for a military athlete. I created this assessment – and feel it’s the most comprehensive I’ve seen so far which can be completed in an efficient, 90-minute, time frame.
Q: Are you seeing the results you expected from the chassis integrity cycle?
A: We’re only focused on outside performance, and the goal of Chassis Integrity is to train the combat and mountain chassis in a way athletes will use it in the field. I hope it will do a better job than the way we were training core strength previously – but will likely need to hear from my athletes first. One thing I am working on is developing a focused Chassis Integrity assessment.
Q: If you are conducting two a day workouts due to the high demands of the specific event/sport you are training for are there specific do and dont’s that you would recommend to prevent over use and maintain progression?
A: Pay attention to how you feel about training and if you are making progressions. If you find you dread training – overtraining could be an issue. If you are not making your planned progressions, the progressions are too aggressive, or you’re doing too much.
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