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Kettlebell Getting in shape for military?

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In general agree with fellow devil dog Swann 1. Some rucks would be good too - maybe one a week in lieu of one of the runs. You really need to develop the aerobic engine - that ability to just go on and on and on - and I've found rucking to be a pretty good developer of that quality. Not sure, given your timeline, how practical it is - but I think it would be helpful. Al has a good article on the Strong First site, Andrew Read also wrote something - think it 's on the Breaking Muscle site. Don't show up busted and tired on day one - I'd rather be a tad undertrained than the other way. Good luck.
 
Ok, I will read Andrew Read's book and articles this week to get a better understanding about endurance training. Thanks all. I looked at 5k training routines online and most have you do 4 slow long distance runs and 1 interval training sessions.

I will follow your advice and drop the barbell work and stick to slow runs, calisthenics (push ups, lunges, pull ups) and S&S KB work.
 
I've never been in the military, but I don't imagine that 5K endurance would be the best goal as prep work. I would definitely read up on running as mentioned above and look at getting to where I could run for an hour as a mid-term goal. I would ramp up slowly until a 6 miler became "easy".

I've found my best 5k times when marathon training (while my weight was 190-225 - also 6'). YMMV, of course.

Some advice I think applies to most distance running is: Run a lot, mostly easy, sometimes fast. The details don't matter a whole lot until you get past the beginner gains.
 
@berny, I work in law enforcement and our test is the standard 1.5 mile run. One thing I've learned is that a lot of guys don't know how to breathe properly while running, and breathing properly makes all the difference in the world. Maybe you already know this, but if not, this video shows what I'm talking about.

 
I also want to plug GTG training into this discussion. For any type of indoctrination into the military or specific community within is continuous efforts throughout the day and week. It looks more like a long training session every morning followed by periodic training spurts throughout the day with likely an additional long training session in the afternoon.

The only way to get better at high volume is to do more volume. You should be able to run a 5k multiple times a day and do 40 push-ups many times throughout the day and be able to recover from it all. You could start with 20min runs and add 10min each week, performing a set of push-ups every 5min during the run. On the interval days, do a set of calisthenics before each interval run.

Also, don't neglect training your perseverance periodically by putting yourself through something you feel like quitting the whole time.
 
Sevice in the German military didn't do a lot of good for the famous lifter Arthur Saxon though...
 
Bonkin said:
I've never been in the military, but I don't imagine that 5K endurance would be the best goal as prep work. I would definitely read up on running as mentioned above and look at getting to where I could run for an hour as a mid-term goal. I would ramp up slowly until a 6 miler became "easy".

I've found my best 5k times when marathon training (while my weight was 190-225 - also 6'). YMMV, of course.

Some advice I think applies to most distance running is: Run a lot, mostly easy, sometimes fast. The details don't matter a whole lot until you get past the beginner gains.
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Thanks, Bonkin, will keep that in mind and read up on running.

George Vrotsos said:
@berny, I work in law enforcement and our test is the standard 1.5 mile run. One thing I've learned is that a lot of guys don't know how to breathe properly while running, and breathing properly makes all the difference in the world. Maybe you already know this, but if not, this video shows what I'm talking about.

Click to expand...

Thanks Mr. Vrostsos, the video was very helpful.
Bro Mo said:
I also want to plug GTG training into this discussion. For any type of indoctrination into the military or specific community within is continuous efforts throughout the day and week. It looks more like a long training session every morning followed by periodic training spurts throughout the day with likely an additional long training session in the afternoon.

The only way to get better at high volume is to do more volume. You should be able to run a 5k multiple times a day and do 40 push-ups many times throughout the day and be able to recover from it all. You could start with 20min runs and add 10min each week, performing a set of push-ups every 5min during the run. On the interval days, do a set of calisthenics before each interval run.

Also, don't neglect training your perseverance periodically by putting yourself through something you feel like quitting the whole time.
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Thanks Bro Mo, will keep GTG training and preserverance in mind.
Kozushi said:
Sevice in the German military didn't do a lot of good for the famous lifter Arthur Saxon though...
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Yeah, let's hope 2 front war and a blockade doesn't happen in the next 4 years ;)
 
To be honest GTG as far as pull ups and push ups as well as S&S would work great for most military training. After 25 years in the Navy, regardless of commands I didn't need a ton more than that. When at a Riverine, Beach Master or EOD Support I did a lot of 200 meter and 400 meter sprints as well as 50 meter swim sprints. The short running sprints conditioned my legs and lungs for 5 and 10 k runs with little issues. The swim sprints conditioned my lungs without killing my whole body. This was before I found S&S. Now I feel that GTG upper body work with S&S would serve me just fine.

The problem is that the term military service is to broad a term. Do you want to be a SOF soldier? A Navy Yoeman? The basics of push ups, pull ups and S&S would serve most people well. I don't train sit ups and have zero issues with semi-annual PFA's. If you want to be the baddest of the bad-asses you need a bit more. Either way I wish any of you training for military service the best, I've had a blast and look forward to my last three years.
 
ShawnM said:
To be honest GTG as far as pull ups and push ups as well as S&S would work great for most military training. After 25 years in the Navy, regardless of commands I didn't need a ton more than that. When at a Riverine, Beach Master or EOD Support I did a lot of 200 meter and 400 meter sprints as well as 50 meter swim sprints. The short running sprints conditioned my legs and lungs for 5 and 10 k runs with little issues. The swim sprints conditioned my lungs without killing my whole body. This was before I found S&S. Now I feel that GTG upper body work with S&S would serve me just fine.

The problem is that the term military service is to broad a term. Do you want to be a SOF soldier? A Navy Yoeman? The basics of push ups, pull ups and S&S would serve most people well. I don't train sit ups and have zero issues with semi-annual PFA's. If you want to be the baddest of the bad-asses you need a bit more. Either way I wish any of you training for military service the best, I've had a blast and look forward to my last three years.
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Thanks for your input Shawn. I want to be in good enough shape that I can get into the paratroopers. Training in the german army is not as hard as in the US Marines and US Army but they have cut the size of paratrooper units (~4400 total and incl. non-combat troops) and all the good guys that want to get into more hard hitting and specialised units try to get into the paras first because they will need the jump training later on. There may be some competition depending on how many openings they have when I join :)
 
@Kozushi, comments about the German military are off-topic in this thread (and likely off-topic elsewhere here as well).

Thank you.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
@Kozushi, comments about the German military are off-topic in this thread (and likely off-topic elsewhere here as well).

Thank you.

-S-
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Sorry, I was trying to inject some humour into it. I made myself chuckle at least. :) Actually the German military provided a great deal of assistance to my family while they fled the Soviet Union. I love Germany and Germans. I also think they generally have a great sense of humour.

On the other side of the coin, I thought I had to be an Arnold Schwartzenneger, Conan the Barbarian type to qualify for the military, so I trained like mad before signing up and taking the fitness test, but they told me I was way over-fit for anything they needed and they had actually never seen anyone in such good condition sign up at that particular location before. So, I'm a bit jaded from the experience, and I can't help but chime in a bit with my cynicism about pre-training for a job application to the military. I could see Special Forces and Paratroop regiments expecting special qualities, but you can't apply for those right off the bat anyhow.
 
berny said:
Yeah, let's hope 2 front war and a blockade doesn't happen in the next 4 years ;)
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Yes, it might interfere with kettlebell training. :( Less wars means further progress in S&S. My country is currently at peace which is why I'm on the 40kg bell now. If there will be no more wars in the next 6 months, I'll have mastered the "beast".
 
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Operators and combat arms military tend to prioritize endurance (aerobic capacity) and strength-endurance. limit-strength is important as well but it falls lower on the list. There's no getting around it, you're going to have to build aerobic capacity. That means running and rucking, and lots of it. If you're aiming for a tier 1 unit or similar (paras).

As a former ERT (SWAT) member that has rubbed shoulders with many ex-military members on the teams, I highly recommend running the Base Building protocol in Tactical Barbell 2 (the conditioning book). It focuses on building aerobic capacity and muscular-endurance with the added benefit that you add specificity by using sessions that are tailored to your goal (if you're preparing for a military contract you'd want to choose LISS runs, ruck marching, Fun-Runs, and swimming). The protocol also includes progressive strength-endurance circuits (or "SE") that are done on non-endurance days. Simple and Sinister is a perfect substitute for SE circuits if you're so inclined, or you can build your own circuit using a mix of bodyweight, KBs, TRX or barbell complexes. Either way I strongly suggest including pull-ups in your cluster on top of S&S if you go that route.

If you're preparing for a tier 1 unit (or something like the paras), you'll need to run. A lot. One of the biggest obstacles you'll face is learning how to balance volume with injury prevention. Stew Smith (former SEAL) has a very good intermediate running program that'll teach you how to build up your mileage while staying injury free, another resource I highly recommend.
 
Man, thanks to all of you. Lot's of great advice. I will bust my a#@ and get in the best shape in can get. No idea if I make it into the paras from the get-go but I want to join the military in January and will see how things go. By April I should be able to tell you guys how things went.
 
Thanks Conor. I have looked through Tactical Barbell Conditioning (had no time for an in-depth read) and as far as I can tell the author recommends the same things you guys did: areobic conditioning, a bit of strength work and calisthenics. To keep it simple I will focus on 4-5 runs a week(my biggest weakness), do S&S and some push up variations, pull ups and lunges.
 
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