Designing a Better Fitness Test: Lessons Learned from the Standing Power Throw SGM Jeff Smith | May 28, 2026 On April 17, 2025, the Army introduced the five-event Army Fitness Test (AFT), removing the Standing Power Throw (SPT) as an event for the Army’s physical fitness test of record (Department of the Army, 2025). The Army stated that it removed the SPT due to its technical nature and risk of injuring service members and cited RAND analysis in support of its decision (Department of the Army, 2025). The Army overstates both the SPT’s technical execution requirements and the SPT’s injury risk, however... Continue reading Reimagining Military Physical Training: Strength as the Foundation of Anti-Fragility and Effectiveness Gregory Hess | April 02, 2025 The physical readiness of recruits entering the military and U.S. service academies reflects broader societal health challenges. Many recruits arrive with insufficient physical fitness, being overweight or with general frailty – or a combination of these factors – issues that are further magnified by the demands of military training. An outdated reliance on endurance and conditioning in initial entry training, while neglecting muscular strength development, exacerbates these problems. This imbalance limits occupational performance and increases the risk of musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs), signaling the urgent need for a shift to progressive resistance training with barbells. Continue reading Life after the Service with Starting Strength Gyms Inna Koppel, SSC and Jacob Pearce, SSC | March 22, 2023 "The military is really high and really low," recounted Starting Strength Coach Jacob Pearce, formerly an infantryman in the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division. "You don't get this nine-to-five job where everything is the same every day, right down the middle. You get these great best days of your life, followed by the worst days of your life." Continue reading Optimization: It Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means Gregory Hess | March 23, 2022 On a rather regular basis I find myself reflecting on the military and collegiate fitness venues that surround me, what I hear from my professional peers, and what I have learned from both personal experience under the barbell and from the Aasgaard Company. All too often a scene from The Princess Bride comes to mind, with the quotation: “You Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means." Continue reading Developing Corps Strength – An Appeal to the Service Academies for the Prioritization of Strength Gregory Hess | February 02, 2022 Acknowledging strength as the most important physiological adaptation for human existence and performance is an initial step towards a service member’s physical readiness improvement [1]. This, however, generates the obvious question of “How does one train for strength?” As is usually the case with seemingly complex and fashionable topics, the simplest approach is the best. Continue reading First Page Next Page Last Page
Reimagining Military Physical Training: Strength as the Foundation of Anti-Fragility and Effectiveness Gregory Hess | April 02, 2025 The physical readiness of recruits entering the military and U.S. service academies reflects broader societal health challenges. Many recruits arrive with insufficient physical fitness, being overweight or with general frailty – or a combination of these factors – issues that are further magnified by the demands of military training. An outdated reliance on endurance and conditioning in initial entry training, while neglecting muscular strength development, exacerbates these problems. This imbalance limits occupational performance and increases the risk of musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs), signaling the urgent need for a shift to progressive resistance training with barbells. Continue reading Life after the Service with Starting Strength Gyms Inna Koppel, SSC and Jacob Pearce, SSC | March 22, 2023 "The military is really high and really low," recounted Starting Strength Coach Jacob Pearce, formerly an infantryman in the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division. "You don't get this nine-to-five job where everything is the same every day, right down the middle. You get these great best days of your life, followed by the worst days of your life." Continue reading Optimization: It Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means Gregory Hess | March 23, 2022 On a rather regular basis I find myself reflecting on the military and collegiate fitness venues that surround me, what I hear from my professional peers, and what I have learned from both personal experience under the barbell and from the Aasgaard Company. All too often a scene from The Princess Bride comes to mind, with the quotation: “You Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means." Continue reading Developing Corps Strength – An Appeal to the Service Academies for the Prioritization of Strength Gregory Hess | February 02, 2022 Acknowledging strength as the most important physiological adaptation for human existence and performance is an initial step towards a service member’s physical readiness improvement [1]. This, however, generates the obvious question of “How does one train for strength?” As is usually the case with seemingly complex and fashionable topics, the simplest approach is the best. Continue reading First Page Next Page Last Page
Life after the Service with Starting Strength Gyms Inna Koppel, SSC and Jacob Pearce, SSC | March 22, 2023 "The military is really high and really low," recounted Starting Strength Coach Jacob Pearce, formerly an infantryman in the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division. "You don't get this nine-to-five job where everything is the same every day, right down the middle. You get these great best days of your life, followed by the worst days of your life." Continue reading Optimization: It Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means Gregory Hess | March 23, 2022 On a rather regular basis I find myself reflecting on the military and collegiate fitness venues that surround me, what I hear from my professional peers, and what I have learned from both personal experience under the barbell and from the Aasgaard Company. All too often a scene from The Princess Bride comes to mind, with the quotation: “You Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means." Continue reading Developing Corps Strength – An Appeal to the Service Academies for the Prioritization of Strength Gregory Hess | February 02, 2022 Acknowledging strength as the most important physiological adaptation for human existence and performance is an initial step towards a service member’s physical readiness improvement [1]. This, however, generates the obvious question of “How does one train for strength?” As is usually the case with seemingly complex and fashionable topics, the simplest approach is the best. Continue reading First Page Next Page Last Page
Optimization: It Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means Gregory Hess | March 23, 2022 On a rather regular basis I find myself reflecting on the military and collegiate fitness venues that surround me, what I hear from my professional peers, and what I have learned from both personal experience under the barbell and from the Aasgaard Company. All too often a scene from The Princess Bride comes to mind, with the quotation: “You Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means." Continue reading Developing Corps Strength – An Appeal to the Service Academies for the Prioritization of Strength Gregory Hess | February 02, 2022 Acknowledging strength as the most important physiological adaptation for human existence and performance is an initial step towards a service member’s physical readiness improvement [1]. This, however, generates the obvious question of “How does one train for strength?” As is usually the case with seemingly complex and fashionable topics, the simplest approach is the best. Continue reading First Page Next Page Last Page
Developing Corps Strength – An Appeal to the Service Academies for the Prioritization of Strength Gregory Hess | February 02, 2022 Acknowledging strength as the most important physiological adaptation for human existence and performance is an initial step towards a service member’s physical readiness improvement [1]. This, however, generates the obvious question of “How does one train for strength?” As is usually the case with seemingly complex and fashionable topics, the simplest approach is the best. Continue reading
