- Some form of weight training
- Running (middle and long distance)
- Swimming (middle distance)
- Martial Arts (typically striking and grappling)
The martial arts component is more of a niche one only required by certain militaries (ie. Russia), but it is nonetheless invaluable for someone whose role is literally kill people.
So how would I devise a training plan for special forces for someone relatively busy?
Firstly, the number of sessions. I suggest sticking with 1 session of training every day (max of usually 2 hrs, maybe 2.5 hrs), 7 days a week. Now, you may be asking why there are no rest days, given I literally just made a post called "1 Rest Day IS MANDATORY". Well, to be clear, that post was aimed at those who train ONLY with weights, in which case that rule most definitely applies. However, as you will see, at least one of the days in this plan will be swimming only. And since swimming is an incredibly low impact activity (at least compared to the other 3), it essentially functions as a 'rest' day. Now, why am I saying only train one session a day? Because it is much more convenient, easy for people to schedule, beneficial for recovery (trust me, getting injured in the training phase is incredibly counter-productive), whilst still providing results.
Okay, so what does the week look like? This depends. If you have an extremely broad strength base, you can train 3 days a week of weights, if not, 4 days a week. If you are extremely proficient at swimming or running, you can maintain with once a week training. If not, 2-3 times a week is better. If you are great at a martial art, then you can maintain once a week, and if not, maybe train more often. You get the point. For the purposes of this post, let me use myself as an example. This is what a training schedule would look like with my weaknesses and goals in mind:
- Mon: Swimming
- Tues: Weights and running
- Wed: Boxing
- Thurs: Weights
- Fri: Swimming
- Sat: Weights and running
- Sun: Weight
Keep in mind here that the weights and running are done sequentially. So when I finish the weights, I walk 10 mins to the nearest track and run 800 or 400 metre intervals.
Now, for each individual workout, the exercises and programming is gonna vary, so I will make a post later on how to program each workout (or check my many posts on training for running or weightlifting).
Typically, the weight training should look like a mix of olympic lifting, squatting, pressing and bodybuilding work. So there should be some cleans/power cleans, at least 2 squats per week, and ideally bench press AND overhead press. Core work and rehabilitation work should also be programmed so that you avoid procrastinating and skipping them.
Swimming and running are quite self explanatory. For swimming, focus on Australian crawl, survival breaststroke and combat sidestroke as the main strokes. A good standard is being able to swim 1600m without stopping. For running, distances from 400m to 8km can work, though I personally like to train on the lower side (who enjoys running 8km??). Adding in rucking once a week after several months of getting used to unweighted running can also help if a pack march or ruck run is required in your entrance requirements.
For martial arts, just pick one. Most militaries train striking (punching) and grappling. Rolling is not ideal because you do NOT want to be on the floor in a survival situation. Kicking becomes impractical when you are wearing uniform, boots, and are covered in gear, and becomes dangerous when the opponent grabs your leg (you're cooked). Almost no recreational martial artists train MMA, and for good reason. MMA is a hard martial art to train, because it requires proficiency in every discipline. I'd say for most, stick to either wrestling or boxing.
