Other/Mixed Super soldier training!

[Scottygard]

Hey! In about 15 months i will be trying out for my home country’s parachute regiment. This is a SOF unit with a really hard selection! At selection I will need to:
Run 7km with a 22kg ruck in 35min
Do 50 pushups
Do 20 pull-ups
And swim 400m in 10min

If I manage this I will have to endure 7-10 days of torture in the woods:
50km+ of rucking a day (25-40kg)
Water tests
Bodyweight stuff
Carrying heavy stuff up hills (jerrycans, people etc)
And mental exercises.

Around 1000 people show up each year. Pre torture in the woods, around 20-30 are left, after the woods 10 gets selected.

Where I’m at now:
187cm/85kg
I’m a former sprinter so I’m definitely lacking a lot of endurance!!
7km run - can’t even run that long with no back pack! (Max is probably 20min)
Pushups ~ 70
Pull-ups - 28
400m swim - 12min
I have tried rucking and found it much easier than running although I’m still lacking general endurance.

I respond very quickly to training and have all day to train (no work or school for 15 months) I’m also used to train multiple times a day because of the sprinting.

My question is, how should I prepare myself? If someone could help me make a specific program, that would be awesome! I am willing to do everything it takes these 15 months! I want to be the best prepared guy at selection!
Thanks for your help

 

[Starlord]

Hey! In about 15 months i will be trying out for my home country’s parachute regiment. This is a SOF unit with a really hard selection! At selection I will need to:
Run 7km with a 22kg ruck in 35min
Do 50 pushups
Do 20 pull-ups
And swim 400m in 10min

If I manage this I will have to endure 7-10 days of torture in the woods:
50km+ of rucking a day (25-40kg)
Water tests
Bodyweight stuff
Carrying heavy stuff up hills (jerrycans, people etc)
And mental exercises.

Around 1000 people show up each year. Pre torture in the woods, around 20-30 are left, after the woods 10 gets selected.

Where I’m at now:
187cm/85kg
I’m a former sprinter so I’m definitely lacking a lot of endurance!!
7km run - can’t even run that long with no back pack! (Max is probably 20min)
Pushups ~ 70
Pull-ups - 28
400m swim - 12min
I have tried rucking and found it much easier than running although I’m still lacking general endurance.

I respond very quickly to training and have all day to train (no work or school for 15 months) I’m also used to train multiple times a day because of the sprinting.

My question is, how should I prepare myself? If someone could help me make a specific program, that would be awesome! I am willing to do everything it takes these 15 months! I want to be the best prepared guy at selection!
Thanks for your help

OK so first and foremost well done on taking on this challenge.

You've already certain elements of the assessment nailed. Which is going to make life easier for you.

Before I give any training recommendations, what training resources do you have at your disposal?

 

[Scottygard]

Hey! In about 15 months i will be trying out for my home country’s parachute regiment. This is a SOF unit with a really hard selection! At selection I will need to:
Run 7km with a 22kg ruck in 35min
Do 50 pushups
Do 20 pull-ups
And swim 400m in 10min

If I manage this I will have to endure 7-10 days of torture in the woods:
50km+ of rucking a day (25-40kg)
Water tests
Bodyweight stuff
Carrying heavy stuff up hills (jerrycans, people etc)
And mental exercises.

Around 1000 people show up each year. Pre torture in the woods, around 20-30 are left, after the woods 10 gets selected.

Where I’m at now:
187cm/85kg
I’m a former sprinter so I’m definitely lacking a lot of endurance!!
7km run - can’t even run that long with no back pack! (Max is probably 20min)
Pushups ~ 70
Pull-ups - 28
400m swim - 12min
I have tried rucking and found it much easier than running although I’m still lacking general endurance.

I respond very quickly to training and have all day to train (no work or school for 15 months) I’m also used to train multiple times a day because of the sprinting.

My question is, how should I prepare myself? If someone could help me make a specific program, that would be awesome! I am willing to do everything it takes these 15 months! I want to be the best prepared guy at selection!
Thanks for your help

OK so first and foremost well done on taking on this challenge.

You've already certain elements of the assessment nailed. Which is going to make life easier for you.

Before I give any training recommendations, what training resources do you have at your disposal?

Everything! I’m very lucky! Kettlebells, barbells, machines, cardio equipment, pool, trails. Pretty much everything I believe I need

 

[Francisco]

Hey! In about 15 months i will be trying out for my home country’s parachute regiment. This is a SOF unit with a really hard selection! At selection I will need to:
Run 7km with a 22kg ruck in 35min
Do 50 pushups
Do 20 pull-ups
And swim 400m in 10min

If I manage this I will have to endure 7-10 days of torture in the woods:
50km+ of rucking a day (25-40kg)
Water tests
Bodyweight stuff
Carrying heavy stuff up hills (jerrycans, people etc)
And mental exercises.

Around 1000 people show up each year. Pre torture in the woods, around 20-30 are left, after the woods 10 gets selected.

Where I’m at now:
187cm/85kg
I’m a former sprinter so I’m definitely lacking a lot of endurance!!
7km run - can’t even run that long with no back pack! (Max is probably 20min)
Pushups ~ 70
Pull-ups - 28
400m swim - 12min
I have tried rucking and found it much easier than running although I’m still lacking general endurance.

I respond very quickly to training and have all day to train (no work or school for 15 months) I’m also used to train multiple times a day because of the sprinting.

My question is, how should I prepare myself? If someone could help me make a specific program, that would be awesome! I am willing to do everything it takes these 15 months! I want to be the best prepared guy at selection!
Thanks for your help

Hi! By no means an expert! Take this with a pinch of salt
Seems the strength part you got under control.
OTOH you will need to build a big aerobic engine. Learn to metabolize fat properly. You will need to ruck and run a lot. 7km with a ruck in 35’ ain‘t easy.
Swimming 400m in 10 min is mostly about technique and preparing the specific event. I suggest you get a professional for this.
Some free resources here: two articles posted by Al Ciampa on this site:

Rucking: What It Is and How to Do It | StrongFirst

I will take the reader from A-Z on all the essentials of rucking: how to prep your gear, how to walk, how to structure your workouts, and why.

www.strongfirst.com

Military Deployment Prep: A Program for Hardening the Soldier | StrongFirst

Preparing for deployment is what I do professionally, so I'm providing an overview of my philosophy. Here's how I train for military deployment prep.

www.strongfirst.com

 

[Scottygard]

Hi! By no means an expert! Take this with a pinch of salt
Seems the strength part you got under control.
OTOH you will need to build a big aerobic engine. Learn to metabolize fat properly. You will need to ruck and run a lot. 7km with a ruck in 35’ ain‘t easy.
Swimming 400m in 10 min is mostly about technique and preparing the specific event. I suggest you get a professional for this.
Some free resources here: two articles posted by Al Ciampa on this site:

Rucking: What It Is and How to Do It | StrongFirst

I will take the reader from A-Z on all the essentials of rucking: how to prep your gear, how to walk, how to structure your workouts, and why.

www.strongfirst.com

Military Deployment Prep: A Program for Hardening the Soldier | StrongFirst

Preparing for deployment is what I do professionally, so I'm providing an overview of my philosophy. Here's how I train for military deployment prep.

www.strongfirst.com

Thanks! I have looked into the program and it seems great. Only thing is perhaps too little running? Running is really my weakness so I would think I would need to work more on that?

 

[T T]

Check out Building the Elite.

@Craig Weller

 

[silveraw]

If I were in your shoes I'd contact someone that specializes in this to help you customize a program. @Al Ciampa (SF guy who wrote the book on rucking) and K Black (not SF guy, but specializes in this sort of thing) come to mind as people to reach out to, but I'm not in that world and am sure others can give more names.

 

[John K]

I’m a former sprinter so I’m definitely lacking a lot of endurance!!

50km+ of rucking a day (25-40kg)

These are two big deficiencies. I am not being mean. These need to be rectified ASAP - but you also need to do it slowly so you don't get hurt (ever hear of a stress fracture? Not fun. Takes a while to heal...). I'm going to warn you once - running with weight is a VERY easy to get hurt. Use it sparingly.

@Al Ciampa puts together a great plan which, while not geared towards selection, will build up what you're starting with:

Article 1

The "missing links" for you in Al's article is the lack of rucking and lack of swimming. I do not recommend you use his pre-deployment program as you DO need to be running for selection, but he does suggest rucking twice a week - once heavy, once light. @mprevost provides some great additional information on rucking. His plans assume a degree of competence and may not be best suited for you out the gate.

Article 1
Article 2

With rucking, start short and light, and very gradually build duration.

Run + Ruck + Swim + Strength is a lot to juggle. Ideally find a mentor who is in the regiment or former. I don't know if they are open to it, but reach out to Al or Mike (Prevost) and see if they'll talk with you.

Keep in mind - you need to spend a long time slowly building a base from which you can operate safely at. I think this best done with low intensity work, and use the high intensity stuff sparingly. Selection might be the goal, but hopefully it is only the beginning of a long career.

 

[tomstranger]

Selection might be the goal, but hopefully it is only the beginning of a long career.

This cannot be overemphasized. A quote that has stuck with me for many years, from a guy who had a career in an elite unit. Shortly after he made it through training a senior NCO pulled him aside and said, “getting here is the easy part, it’s staying that’s hard.” You need to start a mindset now of being in it for the long haul. Take the time you need to build your base for long term success.

 

[Lotto]

Any advice taken here should be supplemental to what the training instructors will have sent you to do in preparation. In my experience a 12 week pre joining program is provided. (Even at 15 months out the staff will provide you with it, believe it or not, they want you to pass!!) This has the benefits to the training staff that if the recruit is faithful to the program then by and large everyone will generally be the same standard on arrival. If it was not provided, individuals would interpret fitness requirements wildly differently with the result being a lower overall pass rate as they simply don't have the time to recondition to meet the pass requirements, or worse pick up an injury. Ignore your pre joining plan at your peril, but by all means supplement where you have identified weakness and concern. I'd get a hold of it now and work towards it. At least then you know you are training in a beneficial direction. Which country Airborne Unit do you hope to join? If UK I can point you in the direction of instructors that specialise in selection training for SF.

 

[Tom Flint]

I'm not military personally but I have spent some time using Tactical Barbell programs. I would highly recommend the books TB 1 (3rd ed.) and TB II: Conditioning (both by K. Black, mentioned above). Their primary audience consists of military operators and law enforcement.

One of the strengths of TB - I believe - is their Reddit community. The TB sub is absolutely full of operators from the US, UK, Australia and others, and they are always very willing to advise on this kind of thing.

 

[pet']

Hello,

There is is great article on the website:

All-Around Training for the Tactical Athlete | StrongFirst

In the movie “Remember the Titans,” Coach Boone is the new head football coach of the first integrated school in Virginia. The school staff and parents immediately begin criticizing him. As they are preparing to leave for pre-season camp, Boone is carrying his playbook—a very thin portfolio of...

www.strongfirst.com

Otherwise, it is mentioned earlier in the thread, but Building The Elite, from C. Weller & J. Pope is excellent.

Another excellent book is "SAS and Special Forces Fitness Training", from John Lofty Wiseman. Below is a post I wrote a comparision of the two books a while ago:

Other/Mixed - Suggested programm or book for special forces

I'm sure this is true, but I've never understood exactly why it is true. Does it actually take less energy to power up a hill if the legs are stronger? Or do the muscles just execute the task differently? Or recover better during and after the effort? Is it that there is more muscle fiber...

www.strongfirst.com

Kind regards,

Pet'

 

[jozko]

There is a lot of great info here, but I would personally add fasting and fasted training. I do not think you'll have three warm meals + pizza daily during your torture in the woods

IMHO this will make 50km rucking easier.

 

[Francisco]

Thanks! I have looked into the program and it seems great. Only thing is perhaps too little running? Running is really my weakness so I would think I would need to work more on that?

Ha! Maybe I didn’t explain myself properly, I wasn’t suggesting you specifically do that. Just a place to start reading some quality material and understanding the basics of training.

And yes as others have said reach out to Al, or someone like him. You have a long way to go…

 

[mikhael]

@Scottygard

• S&S
• Push-ups
• Pull-ups,
• Running
• Swimming
• Rucking.

On those elements I would focus I I were you.

 

[Starlord]

Everything! I’m very lucky! Kettlebells, barbells, machines, cardio equipment, pool, trails. Pretty much everything I believe I need

Fantastic! You have a lot of options on how to tackle and program to acheive your goals.

As mentioned by many, there are a lot of things you have to work on. Mainly your aerobic capacity and specifically getting good at rucking (we call it tabbing and yomping in the British military).

But at the same time you can't do too much running and rucking because you WILL get stress fractures and other injuries.

Your strength is in a good place. I would look to maintain your strength levels and work on other aspects of strength that you will find beneficial. Things like building a good CGBP helps a lot when you are doing fire and maneuver with kit and bergen on your back. In reality you use your whole body but like with strict pull ups and the obstacle courses, if you are good at strict pull ups then you are really good when you can get your whole body involved.

Squats are good for preparing you for casévacs. Getting you used to handling heavy weight on your back in positions where you are quite week.

Cycling would be your main modality for building your aerobic capacity initially. A ruck a week and a couple of runs a week and a swim session a week. As well as easy strength sessions in thr evening.

Your work capacity is already high from your sprinting days. Used to performing multiple sessions a week, so I would come in with a higher volume than I would with a normal individual.

Sample:
Monday
AM - 60min easy cycle
PM - Strength training

Tuesday
AM - 60min easy swim
PM - 20min A+A KB Snatches

Wednesday
AM - 30min easy run
PM - Strength training

Thursday
AM - 60min easy cycle
PM - 40min A+A KB Snatches

Friday
AM - 60min easy cycle
PM - Strength training

Saturday
AM - 2-4hour ruck

Sunday
Rest

So this is A LOT to digest. So first things first all your easy work is done at a conversational pace. You should be able to maintain a conversation, short sentences during this work.

Over the coming year and a bit the shift will go from cycling to running. As your technique gets better and certain support structures improve.

This will build your aerobic base which is priority number 1.

Number 2 is getting your better at rucking. Start off with approx 5kg. This isn't a lot. Have your drinking water, some lunch, some warm and wet kit and then just go for a brisk walk in nature over hills. Just enjoy yourself, enjoy the view and stop for lunch in a really good spot. The weight and duration will increase in time.

What is critical is that you get ahold of the same boots and pack that your para unit uses. To gain familiarity and condition your body to the kit. This will shock you less when you go for selection.

Number 3 is swimming. You have a deficiency in swimming. A lot of this will be plugged by 1 increases in your aerobic capacity from all the work you are doing and 2 your specific swim session where you can better your technique. As mentioned by another member, getting an instructor to look over your form is invaluable.

Number 4 is maintaining strength in your assessment lifts and increasing strength in ways that will benefit you during certain parts of your assessment and training. You have a strong base, I would aim at making you stronger using easy strength principles due to the total volume of work you are doing.

So something like this:
CGBP 3×5
High bar back squats 3×5
Weighted pull ups 3×5
ATG Split Squats 3×5
Carries ×5

So work out a difficult but not max set of 5 for each of these lifts and then perform the above for 80%. Hit this 3 times a week and let your strength grow slowly and naturally over time. This should be low stress strength training.

For the carries pic a variation you fancy doing that day and a length to perform them. There and back for 5 sets and build up the weights slowly over time. This could be different every session, have some fun with these.

A+A kb Snatches are a staple here at SF. Start off with a 20kg kb and do 5 Snatches with your left and then your right. Rest until your heart rate normalises and then recommense for the prescribed time frame.

Work on density of work performed before you up the weight.

In regards to running...practice a mid or forefoot strike. NEVER heel strike. That is a license to get a stress fracture. I know from personal experience and it is also highly inefficient.

I recommend a forefoot strike as this will increase GFR. Especially as you develop ankle stiffness over time.

 

[Dayz]

I agree with those suggesting putting strength on maintenance and concentrating on aerobic endurance.

Your strength is great but only being able to go for 20 minutes is pretty not great. I'm sure you'll improve really fast though!

Run a long base building phase. The beauty of this is it reduces the chance of injury, and remember that by raising the foundation by building the base, you'll also raise the height of the peak, or peak potential, more or less for free, without the possible injury cost.

I also like the suggestion of mixed modalities to reduce the risk of injury. Easy cycling and swimming are a great way to improve your running (providing you're also running), without getting nasty foot related injuries