Ending linear progression; programming conditioning

[Chewie_jrc]

Ladies/Gents,

I'll be attending the US Army Ranger School at the end of this year and wanted to gather some of your feedback.

I've read through some of Justin L's threads on training for military schools and he recommends focusing on strength until a few weeks/months out before your school date. I suscribe to this philosophy and will probably move to some intermediate strength training for awhile before implemting conditioning work.

I'll still incorporate lifting in my routine (of course) but will need to get some rucking, running, and pushups/situp work in.

1. How long out would you recommend before focusing my training towards my given course? I'm thinking around 12 weeks. Anybody's personal experience would be great.
2. Any general advice y'all recommend? Obviously I don't want to injure myself or break myself down before reporting, that would be the suck. Lift maybe 2-3 days a week focusing on squats, presses, DLs, and chins/pulls. Then incorporate some bodyweight conditioning like sprints, intervals, that good stuff.
3. I'm thinking ruckwork only once a week to get my back/shoulders/feet used to it. Maybe alternate a longer ruck with a shorter, more intense march every other week?

I'm still several months out so I'm not trying to mindfuck this thing too bad, just have some general plans before I get closer to leaving. Thanks.

[TartanEagle]

12 weeks should be plenty of time given your very large strength base. The ruck training is a good idea for your feet, more than anything. I might have stayed in the Corps if all the marching didn't turn my feet into hamburger. Are you a reservist or are you going to Ranger school after basic training? How familiar are you with Army PT? Most of the really tough military schools are mentally demanding, more than anything else. KSC has made a couple of posts on this, so search his comments.

[Chewie_jrc]

Yeah I went into the nasty guard after I finished off college. No stranger to army PT and all that jazz. I'm not too worried about the physical stuff (other than old injuries I need to be careful of) since I've always been more prone to developing endurance stuff really easily, it's just putting up with the suckfest. Was more curious about how long it took to switch from pure strength training into conditioning mode; thanks for the tips, all check KSC's posts right now.

EDIT: couldn't really turn up anything very specific via the forum search. Looked for threads started by KSC, looked for posts by KSC + military (and various military branches used as keywords). You guys find any good posts, please feel free to link to them.

[jameson]

First off, I wanted to send my congrats on Ranger school and to say thanks.

As for advice, I've never worked with a sled, but my understanding is that it shouldn't adversely effect training if not overused. It would be my opinion that this type of work (sled dragging) would also condition you for rucking, running, etc. You might want to look into that a bit more, but that's my first thought.

[Chewie_jrc]

jameson,

I've never used sleds either but I they are mentioned frequently here and at 70s big. I'll do my research and see how to implement drags, seems useful and fun.

[DaveN]

Ranger school is mostly mental. The fact that the RIs will allow you to quit at any time means you will always have to push through the desire to say "fuck it, I am done." Doing Texas Method volume day will be great help for you mentally, in that respect.

You'll need to be able to run pretty well, but 12 weeks should be plenty of time to get yourself used to some distance runs (there are a couple in city phase at Darby/Benning) if your GPP is decent prior to that.

Definitely keep packing on the pounds and lifting, because you will lose a shit ton of weight during the course. I went in (Back in the early 90s) at 195, came out at 163. The caloric deficit is just huge. Strength towards the later phases becomes relative to all of the people around you. You'll be glad you can still haul your ruck, the M60, and the radio all at once when everyone else is falling by the wayside.

[Chewie_jrc]

Thanks for the response Dave!

[cowpuncher]

Ranger School is capitalized.

[Chewie_jrc]

Ranger School is capitalized.

Haha fixed :P

[cowpuncher]

As far as conditioning for Suck School, I'd stick with your normal strength training. As Dave mentioned, the course is not about brute strength. I can't remember anything in the course (granted, I went through a long time ago (1995), but if you can hump your ruck and weapon (and maybe your buddy's ruck as well) you'll be fine. Considering the caloric deficiency involved (I started at 195 also, but finished at 150lbs), any strength gains you make are going to be largely lost anyway.

Focus on running and rucking. You ought to be able to do a conditioning road march of 12 miles in 2 hours or less. That's eminently doable, even with 80+ lbs.

Remember, Suck School has had the same curriculum (with minor variations) since the 1950s. It's a leadership and patrolling course, not a super-secret ninja school. I've seen guys that weighed 135lbs (my first Ranger Buddy at 1st Batt) graduate with flying colors. I've seen aspiring bodybuilders and powerlifters quit or get no-goed at Darby phase.

Completing Ranger School is really pretty simple. Memorize the Ranger Handbook, know the duties of all the leadership positions, from TL up to PL, and never, ever, ever, ever say "I quit."