Member
Perhaps their schedules could be coincidental with that of regular PTI sessions. But I guess injuries are acceptable there.Originally Posted by Mac Ward
It reminds me of how in civilian life, around a quarter of all runners at any one time are out with an injury. If a quarter of people who went into the squat rack got injured, they'd be banned from gyms. For some reason it's considered okay with running.
Well done, Sir.
✓ Member
Thank you. Injuries were no more acceptable in any other training. My training was outside the norm, and a guy squatting 315 for reps is clearly in danger - to the uniformed.
Again, I was aware of my surroundings, I stuck to the Starting Strength protocol and watched as minnows became fish.
Member
In theory. Yet the other training remains unchanged from years ago, is this correct?
Situational awareness is an important skill with carryover to many things in life, both military and civilian. Target fixation can be lethal.Again, I was aware of my surroundings,
✓ Member
I have seen "random, functional exercise" banned at times in certain places.
Running remains the exercise du jour.
Member
I'm still marveling that Mac went from 170 lbs. to 235. This is as an adult I take it because he was already in the military.
Member
Excellent article sir. My son is currently serving in the US Army as a PFC in an airborne unit. His goal is SOF and has been since he was a junior in HS. His High School senior project was to prepare for his career, and the first 6 months of his "project" consisted of SS linear progression. He made solid progress despite being somewhat handicapped with terrible levers for squatting and dead-lifting (very long legs relative to torso).
In July, he was unexpectedly chosen by his command to compete in the Army's Best Warrior competition. Long story short, he won at the brigade level and at the Europe Command level. He will compete for the Army-wide title next week. While the events include the Army's PFT (run 2 miles, 2:00 each of pushups and situps), tey have also included heavy rucks, carrying extra load, battlefield simulations of carrying/dragging a 180# casualty to safety while under fire, and a combatives tournament in which he bested a larger opponent.
He still trains strength when he can, but running and calisthenics are the primary PT for his unit. He is a very busy young man, and between extended field training exercises and all of the regular PT, he has had little time for strength training over the past few months. He is pissed that he has lost over 15 lbs while training for these events. He does his best to convince people of the efficacy of barbell training, but he is only a lowly PFC, so not many are interested in his opinion. In the mean time, he continues to benefit from the solid base he built while still in high school.
Hopefully, the services will heed the results of your experiment, but I am sure it will take time. My son observes that some of the best runners (and leanest) are the officers, creating continued resistance to change. In the mean time, soldiers such as my son who want to max their PFT and hope to advance to SOF selection will need to continue training longer runs, hopefully not to their ultimate detriment.
✓ Member
Congratulations to your son, and his success!
Have you ever spent any time with the SOF? The Seals, Delta, and others that I have served with are STRONG, MUSCULAR, CAPABLE men.
Works for them...
Member
Did I understand right that the subjects did no PT exercises during the time they lifted barbells; yet, by the end of the experiment they had increased their scores on the PT test? Well, at least the three of them who had to take a PT test afterward. I wonder if the martial arts training they did concurrently also affected this outcome. Did the subjects do physical combat type jobs during the experiment or the equivalent of white collar civilian jobs? What is the best way, in your opinion, to concurrently program PT and barbell training? If you had to devise a better PT test for the military, of what would it mostly consist - PT exercises or barbell exercises?
✓ Member
You understand correctly.
MCMAP was about 3 hours a week, skills based, very little heart rate increase. Rules regarding the combative nature and level of contact was very restrictive (due to being in a combat zone and the need to not break people in training). There was NO conditioning to be mentioned during the MCMAP, instead the instructor allowed me to fulfill the MCMAP physical training portion requirement with barbells.
Where I was located, these folks were doing limited physical work. They did participate in building bunkers, sandbag fortresses, reinforcement of our defensive positions, etc. This was on an ad hoc basis and infrequent.
The only way I can explain it is this, to run, you need strength and muscular endurance. Runners are limited by strength, not the ability of their heart to beat. Muscular endurance is a component of strength. Muscular endurance equates to an increased capacity.
My guys and gals were stronger, could do more while working less, and thus improved the steady state low intensity requirement of a 3 mile run, without specifically training the run. They improved their STRENGTH, and took that strength to the test.
We used the prowler to keep their conditioning up, for the specific purpose of training them to run faster. To run faster, we must...run faster. We don't train to run faster for 3 miles by running 3 miles. We ran short intervals FASTER (which requires more STRENGTH), and then take that to the PFT.
What do I think the test should be? Since DoD has laid out the requirement, I thing the PFT is fine. But, I think that every Marine should have trained through the Novice phase of strength progression.
Member
Great article, Mac!
Posting Permissions
