Building Strength for the tactical Athlete
It should come as no surprise that, as a guy who uses the Conjugate Method in both my personal and professional training, I tend to hold strength in high esteem. Want to be more explosive, run faster, jump higher, throw further, lift heavier? Get strong. Want to be more durable, resilient, and resistant to injury? Get strong. Want to be a generally more useful human being, and in the context of this article, a Tactical Athlete? Get strong.
There’s a statement, not necessarily a quote I don’t think, from Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell that goes something like, “Maximal strength is the trait or characteristic upon which all other strength qualities are built.” Maybe Louie said this, maybe I think he said it, I don’t know. Regardless, it rings true. Without maximal strength, the other strength qualities (relative strength, strength endurance, explosive strength, reversal strength…you get the idea) will be found lacking.
Now, here’s where we as coaches have to be careful—as a strength and conditioning coach, it’s very easy to get focused on the development of a single quality or trait, in this case, strength, and neglect all the others. However, it’s important, vital even, that, especially with the tactical population, we as coaches force ourselves to step away from things and view situations through a more global lens and see things on a more macro level. What I mean by this is that while it’s easy to get fixated on the development of a quality like strength, which is fun and easy to train, we have to realize that training strength as a standalone quality or trait is not the end-all-be-all of performance enhancement for the tactical population. Strength is absolutely an important quality to train, for the reasons listed above and others, however, there are other characteristics that are also important—endurance, mobility, GPP, speed, power. Without a sufficiently high level of preparation and performance in each of these qualities, the tactical athlete is going to suffer in the execution of his or her performance.
But this article is about developing strength within the tactical population, so that’s where we’re going to focus.
So how do we, as coaches, go about developing strength within the tactical population? In my opinion, as you might have guessed, the Conjugate Method is the answer.
For anyone familiar with the Conjugate Method, you know that the Maximal Effort Method is regarded as the most optimal way of developing strength, especially maximal or absolute strength. Traditionally, the Max Effort (ME) Method is defined as the lifting of weights, in a given variation, up to a 1RM. For powerlifters and some athletes (throwers, jumpers, and arguably baseball/softball athletes), this is the way. The training of maximal strength in the aforementioned populations pays dividends on sports performance, and is the single most effective way of raising maximal strength, and thereby all other strength values. However, in the tactical population, very rarely is success dependent upon the execution of a single bout of maximal effort, meaning that, more often than not, tactical athletes are required to execute maximal or circa-maximal bouts of efforts repeatedly, whether bounding from cover to cover, lifting objects, climbing stairs, or, in the harsh reality of their job (specifically the military), engaging with the enemy.
As such, it would better serve the tactical population to, while still on occasion train in the true maximal strength zone (1RM), train more for the purpose of developing strength endurance, which is essentially the capacity to produce force over a period of time without fatigue or a decrease in output. Training strength endurance is a relatively simple process–instead of training up to a true 1RM, the tactical population might be better served by training in the 2/3/5RM ranges. Training in these ranges will allow not only the development of strength (not necessarily maximal, but perhaps “circa-maximal”), but also the development of endurance, thus allowing the tactical athlete to prolong his or her capacity to continually and consistently produce force while in the line of duty.
However, training strength endurance must be done with a consideration and forethought–meaning, primarily, a coach must perform an objective and critical review of the capabilities of his or her population before exposing them to high-level and high-intensity stimulation. In other words, is your population ready, from either a fitness or technique perspective, to train in the upper echelons of the ME Method? Can your population handle a true 2/3/5RM without succumbing to fatigue or technical breakdown, and without incurring injury? It is my opinion, perhaps contrary to popular belief, that training 1RM’s is often safer than training multi-rep maxes, given that while the intensity is higher while training a 1RM, the per-rep intensity, or the overall intensity of the set, is often far lower than that of a 2/3/5RM, and again, while the intensity of a single rep may be very high with an ever-present risk of injury, more often than not, training a 1RM will force an athlete to be precise with his or her technique, with minimal onset of fatigue, whereas a 2/3/5RM will incur a high level of fatigue relative to the intensity of the set.
In more simple terms, training multiple reps at a high level of intensity carries more relative risk than training a true 1RM.
This is not to say that one should not train in the 2/3/5RM ranges, or that training multi-rep maxes is overly dangerous–it is simply another factor to take into consideration when creating a training program for the tactical population. Perhaps I should clarify that, while I essentially made an argument against the implementation of multi-rep maxes in the above paragraph, I’m actually in favor of their implementation for the tactical population as long as they can be executed safely. Safety should be of the utmost importance in any training situation, but should be even more paramount in the tactical environment–incurring an injury in training or PT takes a tactical athlete out of service and duty, costing time and other resources, and reducing his or her effectiveness/deployability, which stands in stark opposition to the overall mission and aim of TSAC (Tactical Strength and Conditioning).
Training for strength can be executed in multiple ways and by various means, with the primary movement (ME Method) being only one of those ways. Exercise selection can play a major role in strength development, and should be based on a number of considered factors, including, but not limited to:
Demands–execution and application of needs analysis of the population is vital for the success of any S&C program, TSAC or otherwise. Understanding the demands of the role will dictate the exercises and/or movements selected and implemented. In other words, input will determine output.
Weaknesses–identifying weaknesses is another vital aspect of developing a TSAC program and training for strength. Train to shore up weaknesses and hone strengths, so that, eventually, there are only strengths.
Equipment–especially so in the tactical field, equipment might be limited, so exercise selection will absolutely revolve around availability and selection of equipment. You can’t use what you don’t have.
Enjoyment–sometimes you have to do the stuff you don’t like, because more often than not, the stuff you don’t like is the stuff you’re bad at. Training only the things you’re good at will only create further imbalances and weaknesses. However, it is also important to, on occasion, train what you enjoy. Enjoyment will often yield greater investment and adherence, so, as a coach, be sure to find an appropriate balance between love and hate.
Secondary and accessory exercises play a major role in strength development, and should be given just as much consideration as the primary movement. Using secondary movements to address weaknesses exposed through the primary movement, and accessory exercises to build general overall fitness, hypertrophy, and strength is key to success in the implementation and execution of any TSAC program.
To summarize:
Use the ME Method to train maximal strength in order to raise all other strength qualities.
Use multi-rep maxes via the ME Method to develop strength endurance in order to meet demands of the tactical population, as long as doing so is safe for the athlete.
Use critical and objective thinking when crafting TSAC programs.
Secondary and accessory movements will make up the bulk of any TSAC program, and should be given a high level of consideration.
Strength is simple to train–go pick up heavy stuff, recover, and go pick up heavier stuff. However, the road to strength development within the TSAC environment, dynamic and fluid as it is, can be challenging for any S&C coach. However, through implementation of the means and methods discussed above, the process can be made more streamlined, efficient, and effective.