Training For the Military (Vol. 1) + The GOGGINS Program

So this is a pretty important post I've meaning to create for a long time. How should you train to enter the military in a combat/special forces role in the army or navy? Here's how.

1. Strength Training

This is a no brainer. Training with weights is going to make you better at everything else on this list. Also, who doesn't want to just look jacked? Being able to move heavy things will definitely help you move things in the military.

2. Running and Rucking

Also a no brainer. Being a soldiers involved running long distances, as well as sprints to duck from enemy fire or chase down the enemy. Also, you will be running with weight on your back, so rucking/hiking is beneficial. I recommend rucking on a track since hiking has a lack of standardization. Unless your willing to hike on a completely flat hill, rucking on a track will be better since you can track how far you have rucked and you can aim to get better every week. Also, tracks are more accessible to most city-dwelling folk compared to a huge fucking mountain. I recommend spending 2 days sprinting, 1 day running endurance, and 1 day rucking (low running and rucking frequency since these are high volume and do beat up the leg joints quite a bit). 

3. Swimming

If your on a navy ship and that bitch gets hit by a torpedo, you better know how to swim, otherwise your doomed for Davy Jones's locker. Again, I recommend a mix of sprint swimming (short distance), and long distance swimming. I would focus on freestyle and survival breaststroke only, since backstroke restricts your vision and butterfly is fucking useless. If you have the facilities, you can even try scuba diving (if you are preparing for a naval force, like the Navy SEALS). 

4. Martial Arts

In my opinion, the best martial arts to train for military folk are (in order from best to worst):

1. MMA: In an ideal world, you will be good at every martial art, so you can bitch slap any opponent who crosses your path. But MMA does require a higher training frequency since its made up of so many disciplines that must be trained uniquely. 

2. Boxing: Most practical for soldiers who are probably carrying gear and firearms. Punching is easy to do compared to kicking when you have so much heavy gear on. 

3. Muay Thai: Same as boxing, good since it can help keep space between you an the enemy, who could be using a knife.

4. Wrestling/Judo: Ideally, you don't get to close to your enemy since if they have a knife, your fucked. But this is useful in getting them to the ground and pinning them for arrest.

5. BJJ/Taekwondo: Sorry, but both of these are highly unlikely to be useful for soldiers. BJJ will require you to get really close to your enemy, and then wrestle with him on the ground whilst presumably carrying a firearm and gear, including grenades and pistols! Taekwondo will be hard if you are carrying a huge ruck or carrying stuff in your leg pockets.

Honorable mention: Knife training

You should probably get some training in using knives, but that isn't really part of 'physical' training, so I have left it out.

5. Climbing/Gymnastics

These both are basically interchangeable. They both help you pull yourself over a surface, whether that be a wall, fence, or rock. I guess gymnastics would be better for an airman since it involves G forces. I prefer climbing because the carryover is more clear. For climbing, I think any type of climbing works other than speed climbing.

6. Team Sport Of Choice

Here you can play any team sport that requires communication: rugby, football, basketball, or volleyball. Playing any team sport that uses a high level of communication between players will teach you how to talk and perform under pressure. People often talk about the importance of leadership. Well, real leadership is not explaining to your office coworkers or classmates why coffee is an essential part of human performance. No, real leadership comes when your down 51-52 and there's 1 minute on the clock, and your whole home crowd is watching you play. That's when real leadership shows. Team sports will build military-like leadership. 

Addressing other factors in relation to physical training for soldiers:

There are some types of training that I just don't think are worth training. Firstly, obstacle courses. Yes, you will be put through obstacle courses during selection. However, if you are good at lifting weights and climbing and running, a measly obstacle course will be a walk in the park! Overspecializing your training specifically for obstacle courses won't make any real impact on your body or your physical qualities like speed or strength. An obstacle course is simply a way of TESTING your physical qualities, not DEVELOPING them. I also think gymnastics is a waste of time for military training. Real gymnastics is a short of showmanship rather than of actually developing strength. Although gymnasts do have incredible physiques and strength, they acheive this strength by doing pullups, dips and other conventional movements you could do in any old commercial gym. Most gymnastic-special skills like those on rings, a straight bar or on trampolines have NO carryover to military life. So don't waste your time doing gymnastics and just incorporate useful gymnastics movements (like ring dips, for example) into you typical strength training. 

PSA: Embrace The Basics

The basic are the things that work. They have been proven to work. Too often I see modern day sports performance coaches and athletes alike try to reinvent their own exercises or programming methods in order to boost (or even shortcut!) their progress.

The reality is that the basics are the best. If someone came to me with the goal of getting big legs, I would tell them to get strong at the back squat. The squat is the most basic and foundational movement for the legs, and if you can squat 2.5x your bodyweight, you're guaranteed to have tree trunk legs! People need to stop overthinking with sport training; just stick to what has been time tested!

Instead of trying to do some fancy/showy exercise, just stick to the basics. Do squats, deadlifts, bench presses, pullups, and rows. Instead of performing a laundry list of exercises in the gym, just do 4-6 hard and heavy exercises and leave! Instead of trying to create new periodisation models, stick to basic linear block periodisation, which has worked for decades! Instead of trying to cook a new 'anabolic' meal, just stick to eating basic whole foods like meat, diary, eggs and vegetables! Instead of spending hours researching recovery tools and methods, get in your bed and get a good 8hrs+ of sleep. 

The basics are the basics because they work. Don't make the mistake of overcomplicating physical training. Work hard and get after it.

Training Methodologies: The Chinese System

The Chinese have come to weightlifting dominance in the post-2010 era of international olympic weightlifting. They have also performed well in gymnastics, swimming and track and field. 

The general Chinese training system is not too different from the American system. The Chinese train around 1-2x a day. They emphasis full ranges of motion and clean technique. They also use a variety of assistance exercises and drills in order to supplement their training.

Specific to weightlifting, the Chinese emphasise leg and back strength. They autoregulate their work for squats and pulls, and they end their workouts with some hypertrophy/bodybuilding work (like the Lu raise!).

Chinese weightlifter Li Dayin doing side bends (Credit: Weightlifting House)

This emphasis on squat and pull strength is why the Chinese prefer to squat jerk than split jerk. Aside from this, there is nothing really unique about the Chinese system of training. What really allowed China to dominate in weightlifting (and I'm sure some other sports) is their youth programs and their lack of anti doping. The Chinese have a huge sample size of young athletes, as they choose thousands of children from the whole country to be in their youth programs. Therefore, they can find the kids with the best genetics and train them from a very young age (like 6 years old!). Also, the Chinese do not enforce drug testing like the Americans or Australians, and so their athletes can stay on performance enhancing drugs for longer.

MOST Sports DO NOT Require Periodisation!

You hear me talk a lot about periodisation and programming on this blog, since that is the primary service I provide. However, the reality is that most athletes DO NOT require periodised program specific to their sport.

Periodisation is essentially breaking up training by starting with a period of low intensity/high volume, and gradually progressing to a period of high intensity/low volume as competition draws closer. However, this only works for certian types of athletes in certain sports. Namely, periodisation does not work for:

1) Non-meet athletes: A 'meet' is a single day of competition. For example, there are track and field meets, weightlifting meets, swimming meets, and gymnastics meets. However, if you play a sport that requires you to play numerous games throughout a season (basically every team sport, football, basketball, cricket etc.), then periodisation will not work for you, since periodisation is meant to increase performance for a single event. As a result, if you are a non-meet athlete, you are better off just training at a consistent level throughout the year.

2) Sports that lack physical metrics: Say you are a meet athlete. For your sport to require periodisation, there must also exist some sort of physical-related metric to quantify your development as an athlete. For example, in weightlifting, a common metric used to determine physical ability is the weight on the bar (eg. 100kgs). In sprinting, a common metric is time (eg. 10.11 secs). In climbing, a common metric is boulder grade (eg. V4), which identifies the physical capabilities of a climber. However, if you play in a sport that lacks these metrics, like golf and table tennis (as well as shooting, HOW TF is SHOOTING a sport???), then there is no way your training can be periodised. This is because the fundamental premise of periodisation is that the human body cannot perform 100% year round, but if you sport doesn't measure the performance of the human body, then periodisation cannot be applied correctly.

It is important to make a distinction about sport specific training and S&C training. If you compete in a sport that doesn't itself require periodisation (ie. it doesn't fit the criteria above), then I can only provide you an S&C (strength and conditioning) program. As a result, those fo you who play in sports like football, basketball, cricket, soccer, volleyball etc, should have a coach for your sport specific training. For example, a cricket player would play cricket on a field with their team as sport specific training, and I would provide them a strength and conditioning program to help them on the field. However, if your sport does require periodisation (ie. track and field, triathlon, climbing, MMA), then I can provide you a sport specific program as well as and S&C program. You can check out the sprint program on this blog, and I will post some climbing and MMA programs in the future!

Quick Tip: Best Training Frequency For Sports

I made a post a while back about the best training frequency for strength athletes (you can find that post here). However, I realise that this blog was created not just for strength athletes, but athletes in general. So after consolidating my years of experience, here are the best training frequencies depending on sport for optimal performance:

1. Team Sports (Football, Basketball, Hockey, Baseball, Rugby, Volleyball, Cricket etc.)

Most team sports can be trained with a generally higher frequency. For non-contact sports (anything other than football and rugby basically), you can train up to 5x a week. These 5 sessions can include hard drills, practice games, or local matches against other local teams. You could maybe add a 6th day for some light drills.

For contact sports, I would spend 3 days a week training drills (tackling drills, kicking, offensive and defensive drills). I would only spend 2 days a week doing actual games/playing with rough physical contact, since this type of hard contact tends to beat up the body.

2. Martial Arts (MMA, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Boxing, BJJ, Judo, Wrestling etc.)

I found a funny post on the Sherdog forums about martial arts training frequency:

I have to say, I do agree with this post! In general, I don't think martial artists should train more than 5 days a week. 5 days of training allows for plenty of time to train a variety of disciplines, but it also ensures that the body does not get too beat up. An easy to way to set up a 5 day schedule for MMA would be:

Day 1 - Muay Thai focus work

Day 2 - Wrestling/Judo training w/ partner

Day 3 - MMA sparring

Day 4 - Taekwondo focus work

Day 5 - BJJ training w/ partner

The minimum training frequency for martial arts would be 3 days a week. This could be structured as:

Day 1 - Muay Thai focus work

Day 2 - Sparring

Day 3 - BJJ focus work

3. Individual Sports (Badminton, Tennis, Golf, Table Tennis etc.)

These individual sports are generally much less athletically demanding than team sports. Therefore, these can be trained up to 6 days a week given that volumes are adjusted well. 

4. Track & Field (Sprinting, Throwing, Jumping)

Track and field should be trained 3-4 days a week. Despite not having any physical contact, track and field events actually tire out the body quite a bit (think top speed sprinting, for example). Therefore, these events cannot be trained for more than 4 days a week. If you only compete in one event, then I think you should train only 3x a week. For example, a split for a 100m sprinter would look like:

Day 1: Top speed work

Day 2: Top speed work

Day 3: Acceleration work + resisted sprints

(check out my sprinting program here)

Similarly, most shot putters and throwers only train 3x a week. However, if you train for multiple events (ie. Shot put AND 100m, decathlon), then you can train up to 4x a week to accommodate for your multiple goals).

5. Swimming

Admittedly, I do not have much experience with the sport of swimming as the other sports on this list. But from what I have observed in training plans and athletes, the best training frequency for swimming (no matter which race or stroke) is 3x a week.

6. Climbing

Rock climbers should train 3-4x a week. Those who only boulder/speed climb could get away with 3x a week, but those who performance climb should add in one more session where they actually test their performance climbing. Climbing can be training with a slightly higher frequency since it mainly uses the upper body musculature, which tend to recover faster than the lower body. I personally climb 4x a week.

7. Endurance Events (5km run, 10km run, Marathon, Triathlon, Pentathlon etc.)

Endurance athletes should train around 3-5x a week. If you are a fartlek runner, for example, you can split the week into:

Day 1 - 4 mile run

Day 2 - 8 mile run

Day 3 - 4 mile run

Day 4 - 8 mile run

Day 5 - 1 hr Fartlek

If you train for something less intense, like the 1500m run in track and field, then you can train 3x a week. For triathlon athletes, you can run 3x a week, swim 3-5x a week, and bike 4x a week:

Day 1 - Run, Swim

Day 2 - Bike, Swim

Day 3 - Run, Bike, Swim

Day 4 - Bike Swim

Day 5 - Run, Bike

Why should endurance athletes train with such high frequencies? Endurance events are high volume, and as such the training for endurance events must also be high volume. If such training was only done, say, 2x a week, then the athlete would NOT be adequately prepared to fully complete their endurance event. As a result, more volumes of training are required for these athletes compared to weightlifters (for example), who would train with lesser volumes but higher intensities.

As a general rule of thumb, training 3x a week is a minimum. If you train any less, your athleticism will only be maintained. Also, do not train more than 5, maybe 6, times a week. Training more will lead to under recovery and long term issues with injuries. 

Training Methodologies: The Bulgarian System

Here we go. The Bulgarian system of training is probably the most infamous training model in all of sports history. But it is also one that is commonly misrepresented by normies, so I am here to present the true Bulgarian system.

The Bulgarian system of training was first pioneered by weightlifting coach Ivan Abadzhiev (rest in peace). Essentially, Bulgarian training was defined by training 3 times a day, with workouts VERY low in volume and VERY high in intensities (>90% consistently). These 3 training sessions are for the SAME sport, not separate sports!! For weightlifting, each workout started with maxing out the snatch, then maxing out the clean and jerk, then maxing out the front squat. Then athletes would eat, take a nap, and come back for the next session. This would be 8-10 hours of training per day. 

This system doesn't really have a periodisation system. Athletes would do a mock meet once a week, where they would max out like they are in competition They is no building up to heavy weights over weeks, there is just max weight all the time!

Please do not train Bulgarian. With all respect to Abadzhiev, part of the reason the Bulgarian system worked in the long term was because his athletes were on certain "supplements" (PEDs). I don't think I've ever seen a top level lifter in any sport outside of olympic weightlifting train Bulgarian. The reason the system worked very well specifically to weightlifting is because weightlifting is a very technical sport. And when you train 3x a day every day, your technical proficiency goes through the roof! If you do decide to train this way, you shoudl limit yourself to training 1x a day, and only train like this for a couple of weeks MAX. If you train like this for a longer period of time, you'll probably die. 

Training Methodologies: The Western System

I am beginning a short series of blogs explaining different sport periodization models for different countries. Today, I thought I'd begin with the model that I currently use and the one I think is the best: traditional Western block periodization.

I guess I should start off with a definition for periodization. The official definition of periodization is the "planned manipulation of training variables (load, sets, and repetitions) in order to maximize training adaptations and to prevent the onset of overtraining syndrome" (according to the NIH). Basically, athletes cannot train heavy all year round, so their training must be broken up into weeks of less intense training, and weeks of more intense training, so that these athletes can make progress. 

So, what is Western periodisation? Essentially, western periodisation is linear block periodisation. The initial blocks (each of which last about 3-4 weeks, since this is the minimum amount of time required for adaptation) focus on higher volumes of work with lower intensities. As the weeks progress, the later blocks focus on less volumes of work with higher intensities, until the athlete eventually reaches a peak week. This progression over weeks is also accompanied by rising specificity as the peak gets closer. This is the system I have observed mainly in the United States and Australia, but also applies to Canada and the United Kingdom. 

Why is this system my favourite? Firstly, its simple and easy to program. Second, it has been observed to work well in both scientific literature and in practice. Thirdly, it is sustainable and is designed to minimise injury (unlike some other models...). As a result, I use this system for all of my training and for all of my clients.

Re: Training Multiple Times a Day

I just wanted to share some new thoughts I had on this post I made.

In the post, I basically say that if you are training for multiple sports, they max you should train is twice a day, given that in each training session your are training pretty hard.

I tend to disagree with that post slightly. I do believe you can train productively up to 3x a day, but this depends on what you are training! Sports which are generally less impactful on the body/require less total time and mental capacity to train can be trained more often. A prime example of a sport like this is swimming, which is a sport that is restorative rather than punishing. As a result, I myself include swimming sometimes as the 3rd workout of the day! However, I wouldn't play basketball, for example, as my second/third training session of the day. Training basketball intensely tends to beat up the knees quite a bit, and this can and will affect recovery. Basically, one should take into account the requirements for each sport when they plan training sessions throughout the week. But I still disagree with my old post and believe that certain people, given that they program and recover correctly, can train UP TO 3x a day. I don't think I've ever met an athlete/person who trains more than 3x a day...

Now, some of you are certainly wondering; how do you even have the time to train 3x a day? The simple answer to this is: quality training should not AND does not take up much time! For example, on one of my days I do 1 weight session in the morning, 1 climbing session at night, and 1 boxing session in the evening. My weight training takes 2 hrs, my climbing takes 1 hr, and my boxing takes 1hr. That's only 4 hours in a day, which you can split into 2 hrs in the morning and 2 in the evening. Training for other sports (namely sprinting and swimming) only takes 45 minutes per session! The reality is that when you train hard and intelligently, you will realise it takes a LOT less time to put in productive training, and you WILL get tired and fatigued quickly if you truly apply yourself.

Training Multiple Times a Day (SPOILER: Not a good idea)

I recently stumbled on a post on Youtube claiming that a certain collegiate American football player trained 3 times a day: 1 strength session, 1 track session and 1 session of reciever training. My immediate thought was; damn, this guy must have some elite genetics to still be walking on two feet. 

Here's what I mean. I know many people who read my blogs play some sport, and many people want to play their sport as well as get stronger and bigger in the gym. So, it is somewhat necessary for these kind of people to train more than once a day. 

I think training more than once a day should be AVOIDED at all costs. The reality is, when it comes to almost any physical endeavor, more is NOT ALWAYS better!! You would be MUCH better off limiting yourself to training a maximum of once a day. If you are training hard, and training smart, your body NEEDS time to recover! Although I am an advocate of active recovery (eg. light walks every now and then), this is separate to actual hard training. If you actually train hard, you will be looking forward to those resr days when you can finally relax!! 

Also, most of you reading this have no real need to train more than once a day! If you guys just go the gym as hobbyists, having 3-5 sessions a week is PLENTY, and many top powerlifters only train 4x a week! If you train for a sport but would also like to go the gym to get bigger and stronger, play your sport 4x a week and go the gym on the 3 remaining days! If you do have multiple goals in mind, you will need to cut corners in order to make ends meet.

On a final note, if you insist on training more than once a day (I guess if you really train for numerous endeavors, or if your schedule is too restrictive), then you can get away with training 2x a day. I personally do this, and given that you eat enough, drink enough and sleep enough, it should be possible for some people (ie. people with less stress in their lives). But 2x a day is the max! Please do not train seriously more than twice a day. If you do, you WILL overtrain and could potentially get some serious injuries/diseases that will affect your long term progress. This 2x a day training can work for most people: one session in the morning and one session in the evening after work/school.

Also, if you even have the time to train more than twice a day, you're probably just unemployed. So, I don't know, maybe get a job lolz.

In Defense Of Bodybuilding

I hear many people shit on bodybuilding. They claim the "sport" is really just a "beauty" pageant. Well, I'm not here to debate that point. But I am here to REMIND you of how important bodybuilding is for EVERYONE.

Strength is determined by 2 things: Neurological efficiency and cross-sectional area of muscle fibre. Basically, this means strength relies on how efficient your muscle memory is, and how big your muscles are. Well, what helps us get big muscles? Bodybuilding!!!! 

Bodybuilders have spend decades perfecting the art of growing big muscles. I myself take many bodybuilding tactics and implement them in my own programs, even though I train for strength! If you are a powerlifter, the best way to increase your bench press is to get a massive chest and massive triceps (this applies to most trainees, some advanced lifters may just need more specificity). If you are a sprinter, a good way to get faster at sprinting is to get some bigger glutes and some bigger hamstrings. How should you grow these muscles? I don't know, maybe by doing some bodybuilding training!!!!

Point is, if you want to get good at anything physical, you have to focus on growing the relevant muscles. And the best way to do this is by using the methods that bodybuilders have perfected. So stop shitting on bodybuilding.