SOFLETE
Educational Field Manual
Module 001
Introduction
0.1 Overview of the Course
Course Overview
Thank you for choosing to increase your performance, health and education with us.
For ease of learning, this course will be broken down into three modules. The initial module will give you a better understanding of the framework and lens through which we view the tactical human performance world. This will allow you to better appreciate the content within Modules 002 and 003. In these, we will be focusing on considerations in and out of the gym, as well as the broader training environment, respectively.
Die Living!
Human Performance Team Disclaimer
Within the Human Performance Team here at Soflete, we always try to provide you with what we feel are the best practices within the tactical space. As such, our thoughts and approaches are constantly evolving as we (and the rest of the community) continue to learn more about how to optimize both the health and performance of the tactical professional. With that in mind, at the time of publishing this course we have supplied what we feel is the most current and accurate content possible, along with methods and approaches that we are using in real time. We will endeavor to update this course, as this best practice advances and fully reserve the right to ''change our answers'' as needed!
It should also be pointed out here that we strongly encourage practitioners to critically appraise any and all content provided herein, and then decide for themselves (and their personnel) whether this is the optimal approach for their situation. At SOFLETE we acknowledge that with all aspects of human performance, there are many different ways to successfully support the tactical professional. Readers should therefore not feel pressured towards adopting the same way of thinking as us; if anything, we would much rather you took our content and adapted it for your own specific needs and then shared your findings and conclusions with us. After all, a rising tide lifts all ships.
0.2 Meet Your Instructors
George C. Briones III (Human Performance Coach)
George is a former United States Marine Sergeant who served as a Reconnaissance Communicator, where he spent time in the trenches in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting the nations war. Directly after his deployments he reenlisted and transferred over to the Basic Reconnaissance Course, where he served as a Recon Tactical Instructor, where he train Marines attempting to make it through the rigors of Recon Selection. George left the Marines to chase a passion in Strength and Conditioning, where he has spent the last decade plus working with Tactical Professionals. George is currently in his senior year of College where he will attain a BS in Sport Psychology. He also is accredited Tactical Strength and Conditioning in the US with the NSCA, and holds a number of different inter-ships, coaching, and athletic experience.
Matt Sanderson (Human Performance Coach)
Matt is a former Royal Air Force sergeant Physical Training Instructor, where he specialized as an Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor. He holds a master's degree in Strength and Conditioning (S&C) and is an accredited S&C Coach both here in the US (with the NSCA) and back in the UK (with the UKSCA).
0.3 What is Soflete?
What is SOFLETE?
(video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSgv0uzlRP8)
SOFLETE is a group of current and former SOF personnel who are also accomplished athletic coaches, combined with non-SOF experts in the fitness industry.
SOFLETE was born out of necessity.
As members of the community we were always posed two questions: How do we build the athletic capabilities of our bodies, as well as prevent and fix injury?
The philosophy is that it’s hard to be hard and it’s hard to be smart. Push hard in big lifts and sprints and when your body tells you it’s hurt, take the time to heal. After years of pushing through minor injuries and prolonging our rehab we realized there HAD to be a better way.
We've also learned there is more to fitness than "go run till you can't run" In a small team there is no such thing as "relative strength".
You're either a strong performer, or somebody else is pulling your slack.
Chapter 1 - The Soflete Lens
1.1 Defining the Tactical Professional
The Tactical Professional
Over the past 10-15 years, the term ‘’tactical athlete’’ has become increasingly familiar to many in the strength and conditioning community. Generally, it refers to anybody working in law enforcement, fire, military or any other first response role. Specifically, it focuses on those who require unique physical and psychological training in order to help mitigate the increased risk, they face, of mental and/or physical harm in the line of duty.
We prefer to consider these personnel as “tactical professionals”, as we feel that it more accurately reflects the depth of responsibility we have, as human performance specialists, to these individuals.
(Video: Matt ‘What is the tactical professional?)
"A tactical professional is any individual whose occupation is likely to put them at direct or indirect risk for harm.
Whilst the exact nature of individual roles may vary, it is imperative that we prioritize the human beneath the uniform."
We recognize the enormous commitment and sacrifice that all tactical professionals make when deciding to enter public service, and we feel it’s our duty to help support them not just whilst they’re on duty, but holistically throughout the rest of their lives and careers.
Contribute your thoughts via the community discussion forum.1.2 The Characteristics That Make a Successful Tactical Professional
The Characteristics That Make a Successful Tactical Professional
Whilst this is far from an exhaustive list, we wanted to start encouraging you to think about the plethora of characteristics that make a successful tactical professional.
Physical |
Mental |
Strength, Power & Speed (relative and absolute) |
Problem Solving/Creative (under pressure) |
Stamina and Endurance (all 3 energy systems) |
Team Minded (leadership & followership) |
Robustness (‘’injury proof’’) |
Determination/Resilience |
Adaptability (to novel situations) |
Adaptability (to novel situations) |
Once we can identify the various characteristics that you require, we can reverse engineer the training design and wider human performance plan appropriately.
Click on the discussion tab to share your thoughts about any physical or mental characteristics that you feel are particularly important, especially within your current role; then see what others in your community have to say.
1.3 Human First Professional Second
Human First Professional Second
Like any sport or activity, the more opportunities the tactical professional gets to perform their role, the more practiced and experienced they become, and the better they get at performing it. However, to be able to do this, they need to be resilient enough, both physiologically and psychologically, in order to survive completing these ‘reps’.
(Video: George ‘Human First Professional Second’)
Consequently, in contrast to society's perception of the tactical professional, the foundation to all of this is having as robust and healthy a human as possible, in order to best support tactical output.
The SOFLETE Cognitive Warrior System (CWS) aims to promote this approach for long term success as a human first, professional second.Chapter 2 - What is The Cognitive Warrior System?
2.1 Introducing the Cognitive Warrior System
Introducing the Cognitive Warrior System
The SOFLETE Cognitive Warrior System works to develop the human, in order to optimize the professional.
Through enhancing sleep quality, nutritional behaviors and psychophysiological preparation, this system promotes resilience to physical, psychological and occupational stressors. Ultimately promoting robustness and longevity to life and career.
The Cognitive Warrior System is a holistic approach, where the tactical professional’s health and performance are built upon six pillars. Preparing the tactical professional for the battlefront comes down to more than fighting on the front lines, handing a firefighter a hose and ax, or a police officer performing an on-foot pursuit. Starting a conversation around adopting a holistic approach to the tactical professional’s life is vital to optimizing their health. These six pillars can benefit the individual regarding stressors that come with the profession inside and outside of the job.
The Six Pillars of the Cognitive Warrior System:
Sleep
Nutrition
Heart health
Nervous System Management
Psychological state
Occupational stress
Sleep - Improving sleep quality can do wonders to promote better health and manage stress throughout the day. Focusing on implementing realistic pre-sleep and post-wake-up routines can improve the ability to fall asleep as well as improving sleep density.
Nutrition - Creating a better understanding of eating habits, types of foods, alcohol, sugar, hydration, and supplement intake. This can help with understanding energy levels, both physical and mental, as well as overall energy throughout the day.
Heart Health - By improving the efficiency of the heart, the resultant enhancements of the cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular systems permit greater capacity and recoverability; thus providing an increased tolerance of psychophysiological stress.
Nervous System Management - Observing how the autonomic nervous system is operating provides significant insight into the athlete's overall health. For instance, monitoring HRV is a relatively cheap, quick and non-invasive way to track and therefore help manage allostatic load. Providing the athlete with tools such as breath work, visualization techniques, movement-based practices and other stress management techniques allows for greater awareness and control of the nervous system.
Psychological State (Brain Health / Emotional Health) - Understanding the tactical professional’s perspective is vital to appreciating the stressors they face. Through the use of simple, accessible and relevant techniques, it is possible to equip the individual with the tools required to improve their psychological flexibility and robustness; ultimately enhancing wellness as well as performance.
Occupational Stress Management - In comparison to their civilian counterparts, the tactical professional often operates in environments where the risk of psychological and physical trauma is significant. With these reduced margins of error, and the cumulative strain associated with such hyper-vigilance, providing holistic education and training can help mitigate the demands placed on the tactical professional over the course of a career.
(Video: George ‘Cognitive Warrior System)
Ultimately, by increasing the ability to tolerate stress over longer periods of time, personnel are more likely to stay healthy; thus offering the best chance for longevity both in life and in the profession.
2.2 Pillar 1 - Sleep
Sleep
Sleep is probably the single biggest potential performance enhancer for the tactical population and certainly as close to a magic bullet for health and performance as we’re likely to see in our generation. What’s more, not only is sleep a ‘free’ recovery modality, within the chronically under recovered and over caffeinated world of the tactical professional, fixing sleep is often one of the lowest hanging fruits.
A lack of sleep (by even 2-3 hours per night) can cause a whole host of significant occupational consequences; from reduced accuracy in marksmanship and blunted performance in endurance tasks, to reduced problem solving and threat assessment skills.
Meanwhile from a health perspective, even a relatively mild chronic lack of sleep has been shown to have a number of undesirable effects; including reducing not only the size of the testes, but also testosterone production. Immune function and the ability to learn and store new information also becomes compromised, as does your ability to think rationally. Longer term, sleep deprivation is a significant risk factor for both cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.
However, potentially the scariest thing is that humans are very poor at being able to tell whether they are sleep deprived (as we haven’t evolved to need this skill); consequently, many individuals won’t even know they’re chronically under-slept and will just perceive this poor health and performance as their normal.
The importance of sleep is slowly being recognized by the mainstream media and general population, with the tactical community also gradually ‘waking up’ to this too. However, the nature of some aspects of the tactical community- such as night operations/shifts and widespread cultural acceptance of both stimulants and sleep medication, makes finding a viable solution less obvious for many individuals. For instance, whilst a civilian office worker might simply be able to skip watching that final episode before bed in order to get an extra hour of sleep, we sometimes have to be more creative when working with tactical professionals.
This is where taking into account sleep quality and hence sleep density, rather than just sleep length, becomes more important.
(George: ‘Phases of Sleep’)
The Phases of Sleep
Sleep architecture is based around 4 stages of sleep:
Stage 1 - Awake - As the name suggests, think of this as when you close your eyes and start falling asleep. Muscle jerks, twitches and even some dreaming can occur (effectively day dreaming).
Stage 2 - Light Sleep - This is something of a transition stage where the brain starts dropping into sleep. The heart rate will begin to slow down and body temperature starts to decrease. At this point the sleeper is relatively easily disturbed and can be woken fairly easily.
In this stage, the brain starts to consolidate information and where we even see motor skill performance increases, hence the power of supplementing sleep with short naps.
Stage 3 - Non-REM (Slow Wave Sleep) - In sleep research, this stage is actually subdivided into four progressively deepening stages- where the sleeper becomes harder and harder to wake, the deeper they go.
This is the stage where the body undergoes most physiological growth and recovery. During this stage, brain waves and heart rate slow and significant increases in anabolic hormone production occurs.
Physiologically, the cardiovascular system receives something of an overhaul and the immune system is boosted. In the brain, meanwhile, memories become organized and stored for longer term retention.
Due to the potential depth of this stage (especially the latter sub-stages) of sleep, if someone is woken from it, they will often feel groggy and drowsy; this is known as sleep inertia.
Stage 4 - Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep - Whilst there’s still quite a lot of unknowns, from a research standpoint, this stage sees a significant amount of brain and neurological repair and development.
This stage is where the majority of dreaming occurs and brain waves begin to speed up again. As the name implies, sleepers in this stage have rapid eye movements from left to right.
At this stage memories and experiences that are already stored, become interlinked in new and creative ways, effectively consolidating and making this useful, applicable information.
Interestingly, most babies spend over 50% of their sleep time in this stage and there’s even some suggestions that PTSD could potentially be linked to REM sleep dysfunction.
Over the course of a ‘normal’ night's sleep, most people will complete a cycle of Non-REM and REM Sleep every ninety minutes, with a bias towards more Non-REM sleep in the first half of the night and more REM sleep in the second.
In an ideal scenario, you should consistently get 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night, falling asleep within 10-15 minutes and waking feeling refreshed and motivated, without the need for an alarm clock.
Sleep Recommendations
We appreciate that the ‘gold standard’ recommendations made in the lab for professional athletes are sometimes not compatible with the life of a tactical professional.
With that in mind, the following recommendations come with a caveat; these are what we’d ideally suggest you aim for, in order to optimize both health and performance. However, if life and/or work means this is unachievable, then do what you can with the resources available (including utilizing the other pillars of the CWS) in order to get as close as possible for as much of the time as possible.
In an ideal scenario, we’d encourage all tactical professionals to aim to get between 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. A great way to tell if your sleep length and quality is adequate is to see whether you can naturally wake at the same time of day, without an alarm, whilst feeling refreshed and motivated.
For many people, aside from occupational or family requirements to wake up early, sleep is also shortened by difficulty in falling or staying asleep. Ironically, this difficulty in falling asleep can actually cause anxiety around going to sleep and can make it even harder to fall asleep. Indeed, the stress or anxiety that is commonplace in today’s society, and especially within the tactical community, is one of the biggest reasons people struggle to get to or stay asleep.
Generally, if you are able to fall asleep within 10-15 minutes of going to bed, without the use of alcohol or sleep medication, and sleep soundly for all or most of the night, you are in a good place with respect to sleep. If you aren’t able to fall asleep within this time period, it might be that you need to consider starting your pre-bed routine a little earlier or look at your overall stress levels; both of which will be explained further later in this section.
Combat Indicators
Based on our experience, we've identified the following combat indicators or early warning signs that your sleep might be dysfunctional:
-You work shifts/altered hours or are frequently required to change time zones,
-You take sleeping medication
-You have difficulty falling and/or staying asleep
-You wake feeling groggy and unrested
If two or more of these sound familiar to you, then we recommend that you explore some of the suggested protocols, included below, both within the sleep and other pillars of the CWS to help offset some of this burden.
Protocol Ideas
We've included a number of protocol ideas for you to experiment with during the day, prior to bed and upon waking. We'd suggest you pick a couple from each section and make a plan for how you will implement them. It's a good idea to include contingency plans- e.g. what you'll do if you're required to work a longer shift than expected, to help you stay prepared.
Where possible, share this plan with your support network and even consider including them.
You can track your progress by monitoring your sleep density (quality and quantity), how you feel upon waking, biofeedback metrics like HRV or Heart Rate or even your productivity during the day. Don't be afraid to test and adjust these protocols (or even create your own), as you learn more about what works best for you.
During The Day:
- Nap to ’top up’ sleep if required (avoid napping after 1500)
- Limit caffeine after 1400
- Complete 20-30 minutes of low level aerobic exercise (ideally in nature)
- Avoid using your bed or bedroom during the day (particularly for work)
Pre-Bed:
- Avoid high intensity exercise or stressful work in the 2-3 hours before bedtime
- Create a ‘to-do’ list for the next day
- Limit alcohol and food consumption 2-3 hours prior to sleep
- Limit screen time (blue light) in the hour before bed (use blue light blockers as a last resort)
- Use blackout blinds or an eye mask to create a dark environment
Upon Waking:
- Perform a mental ‘check-in’
- Take some time to yourself before starting your day (e.g. meditation, breath work etc)
- Take a contrast shower (alternating hot and cold water for 30-60 seconds each)
-Get direct natural sunlight as quickly as possible
- Drink 8-10 oz of Water (with electrolytes if available)
- Consume some protein before ingesting any caffeine
If you are interested in learning more about this, check out the full Cognitive Warrior System course, available on Thinkific.
Disclaimer
This program is designed to be educational, not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. George and Matt are trained strength and conditioning coaches, not healthcare providers; they don’t practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, nutrition, or psychology. If you are concerned about any aspect of your physical or mental health or feel that you may need medical care, SOFLETE strongly recommends you contact your health care provider. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you should dial 911 and ask for emergency medical assistance.2.3 Pillar 2 - Nutrition and Hydration
Nutrition and Hydration
Nutrition can be an extremely complex topic, with the plethora of advertisements and opinions, it can be difficult to know what the best options are.
From a research perspective, there appears to be a huge amount of individual differences in terms of what and how much different people need to consume, and then this changes again depending on whether survival, health or performance are the reference points.
To complicate matters further, nutrition is often inextricably linked with other psychosocial factors, so distilling all this down in order to provide explicit prescriptions is very challenging.
With that in mind, rather than simply providing cookie-cutter recommendations, SOFLETE’s approach to nutrition is to try and provide the individual with sufficient foundational knowledge and insight, to allow the individual to make an informed decision on what is optimal for them, at that moment in time.
This way, as lifestyle or career factors change, or new nutritional ideas are marketed, the individual will have the tools to assess and make any relevant changes objectively; an approach that we encourage right across the CWS and term ‘’be your own scientist”.
Nutrition Philosophy
Proper nutrition should be coupled with effective training to help the body maximize performance. To improve, we must fuel our bodies with the right types of protein, carbohydrates and fat. Healthy eating doesn’t need to be a complicated, expensive or time consuming process. With basic knowledge about nutrition principles and cooking, you have the power to reach your goals.
When dealing with nutrition, we feel that it can be helpful to use the SOFLETE Nutrition Pyramid (see image 1). Specifically, we encourage our athletes to start by addressing the base of the pyramid first (ensuring appropriate calorie balance); from there, we systematically work up the pyramid, ensuring each subsequent layer is locked in.
Figure 1. The SOFLETE Nutrition Pyramid.
Calorie Balance
Calories provide energy. Your calorie needs are determined based on a variety of factors including height, weight, age, gender, how hard your train and how much lean body mass you have. By manipulating calories and macronutrients, we can control body composition and ultimately achieve body composition goals.
As with many metrics, in order to do this it’s important to quantify both your intake and expenditure. There are many apps and resources that provide rough calculations and technology continues to advance in this area allowing for increasingly accurate estimations.
As part of the Be Your Own Scientist approach, we would suggest that any time you are going to make a change (e.g. a different occupational role, training program or nutritional plan), it’s worth re-calibrating both your intake and expenditure and then continue to track these, alongside any performance metrics, for 6-8 weeks before drawing a conclusion.
Calorie balance is achieved when your calorie intake (how much you eat) and calorie expenditure, or output, are equal. This is ideal for maintaining body composition, assuming that your expenditure is fairly stable.
A calorie deficit is when calories are restricted, so your calorie intake is lower than your calorie expenditure. As a general rule, this will result in fat loss; however it is important to note that an extreme calorie deficit for extended periods of time will cause a starvation response and corresponding slowing in metabolic rate, loss of muscle mass and performance.
A calorie surplus is achieved when your calorie intake is higher than your calorie expenditure. This will result in weight gain and increased muscle mass, when paired with an appropriate training stimulus.
Hydration
Hydration is an important part of nutrition and performance, as dehydration directly hampers athletic performance, cognitive function and ultimately health. Approximately 60% of a person’s body weight is water, and this can fluctuate between 45-75%. In general, you should drink 2-3 liters of water a day, but this will vary based on personal factors and sweat loss.
However, hydration advice for the tactical athlete isn’t quite as simple as “just drink more water”.
The military in particular has something of a culture for consuming large quantities of water in a bid to stave off the dreaded dehydration, indeed most people will have seen (if not experienced first hand) empty canteen checks at the end of a hard PT session.
However, over recent years especially in pro sport, there has been an increased awareness of hyponatremia; a potentially fatal condition brought about by drinking too much water and disrupting the body’s carefully balanced electrolyte levels. Electrolytes include calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphate and chloride are needed for important functions within the body, regulating things like your heartbeat and muscle contractions.
Given the frequency with which tactical professionals are required to wear additional layers of clothing and gear for extended periods of time, the potential for high work outputs particularly in the heat and the still lingering practice of canteen checks, adequate electrolyte consumption certainly needs to be a consideration for this population. Luckily, an increasing number of commercially available products can be sought out to help plug this gap and some individuals may even wish to make their own DIY version; regardless of the option chosen, we strongly recommend tactical professionals start paying more attention to what they are drinking, alongside how much.
Macronutrients
There are 3 different macronutrients that your body utilizes for fuel in its various energy systems, protein, carbohydrate and fat. If you think of strength training as the construction of muscle, these macronutrients are the building materials.
Protein
Protein is broken down into amino acids and used to repair tissue damage, aiding in the muscle building process. Eggs, fish and lean cuts of meat are great sources of protein; however, the idea that the more protein you eat, the more muscle you build is a myth. Excess protein is converted to carbohydrate to be used as energy or stored as fat. Currently, there is no scientific evidence to support eating more than 2.5 grams per kilogram of body weight of protein, although we do advise aiming to consume at least 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. As a rough ballpark figure, a good place to start for most people is around 100-150g of protein per day.
Whilst we do recommend consuming sustainably sourced meat as the main provider of protein, we do recognize that some tactical professionals might choose or not be able to eat meat. If this is the case, adequate protein intake can certainly be met from plant based sources, however, it’s important to remember that generally these will not be complete sources of protein (i.e. they will not have all the amino acids that humans require for health and performance). This is where working with a nutritionist, or simply taking time to understand food labeling can be helpful, as whilst a product/food might contain 20g of protein per serving, this doesn’t necessarily reflect the bioavailability of that protein (how well the amino acid profile of the food source matches the needs of the human). Consequently, care should be taken when choosing plant based protein sources, to make sure that as broad a profile of amino acids are consumed as possible.
Carbohydrates
Outside of fairly specific situations, carbohydrates are the primary source of fuel for the body. Where possible choose natural, complex carbohydrates versus refined, processed carbohydrates higher in added sugar. For example, sweet potatoes are a natural, complex carbohydrate, whilst sweet potato chips are a refined, processed carbohydrate. Natural complex carbohydrates are generally higher in fiber, which helps to keep your gastrointestinal (GI) tract healthy and regular, whilst also promoting nutrient absorption from the gut. Fiber also helps with appetite control, keeping you feeling satisfied for longer.
Simple carbohydrates higher in sugar do still have a place; they can be useful in providing fuel at the right time, but they should not be a part of your regular routine and eating patterns.
It’s important that carbohydrate intake is sufficient, in order to allow protein sparing. This is the concept that energy intake needs to be great enough to allow any consumed protein to be ‘spared’, to allow it to be used for tissue growth and repair, rather than just being metabolized as fuel.
We should, however, acknowledge the increasing popularity of low carbohydrate diets. Whilst there is some growing evidence that these could be extremely useful in certain situations (e.g. helping to recover from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) or for health/immunological reasons), given the high intensity nature of many tactical roles, we would suggest that if adopting a nutritional strategy like this, you keep a close eye on your performance and training to ensure no degradation.
Fat
Understandably, there has been some confusion around whether fat is a ‘good guy’ or a ‘bad guy’, depending on who/what you listen to. We think that the inclusion of fats in the diet is extremely important, for essential functions like hormone balance as well as for managing stress, depression, anxiety and sleep. However, fats are generally very calorie dense, so it’s important to bear that in mind if you are attempting to control or restrict calorie intake.
As with most of our recommendations we’ll try to keep it simple and again, if you require more guidance, definitely consider working with a professional.
Try to keep the majority of your fat sources from things like (ideally grass fed/wild) animal sources (e.g. fish/meats, eggs and milk based products like butter and yogurt) as well as plant sources like avocados, coconuts and olives.
Avoid trans-fats. To keep things simple, basically this is going to be the stuff that you know you probably shouldn’t be eating much of anyway- think processed baked goods or fried foods.
Food Quality
Food quality is primarily based around the idea of trying to consume food with as high a nutrient density as possible. By this, we mean aiming to consume foods that provide a large amount of micronutrients per calorie.
This is why, as a minimum, we recommend trying to consume the vast majority of calories from real, whole foods.
If you are able to (and we appreciate that’s a big if), we’d also encourage you to try and purchase your food from sources that practice more sustainable agriculture and are ideally local to you. As we know that fertilizer use, long transportation distances and feed lots tend to cause a decrease in nutrient density.
However, there’s also the other side of the equation- your ability to effectively digest and absorb the nutrients from these high quality foods. The digestive system has received a significant amount of attention in the literature over recent years, with early indications that better understanding the enteric nervous system (which oversees the GI tract) could significantly alter our view on gut health as well as wider human performance.
Suffice to say, if you’re interested, this is an area of the research to watch. For now though, we’d encourage you to think about the health of your digestive system with the same attention that you’d pay to your nervous or cardiovascular systems. It’s not uncommon for stress levels to be extremely high in the tactical population and we now know that this has a detrimental effect on things like inflammation levels and how well the body can digest and absorb nutrients. With that in mind, we’d recommend that you attempt to identify (with the help of a professional if required) and avoid foods that cause you problems; these can be wide ranging but might include symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, energy slumps or even skin issues etc.
Supplements
As the name and position on the pyramid suggests supplements are designed to supplement, or augment your nutritional intake. Where possible, we’d always recommend that you try and get the bulk of your intake from real, whole foods; however, we do recognize that there is a need to top up this intake in some instances.
As we’ve already mentioned, we understand that tactical professionals don’t get to live like pro-sports athletes; sometimes time is extremely limited or the preparation and storage of fresh food simply isn’t feasible. This is where nutritional supplements can be leveraged, in order to support health and performance.
It’s also worth noting that many tactical professionals are required to undergo drug testing on a routine basis. Depending on the product and source, there is a risk of some supplements either directly or indirectly (e.g. contaminants) containing ingredients that might cause you to fail a drugs test- always do your research and if unsure, consult a professional.
Full disclosure- Soflete sells a nutritional supplement line, with products that we truly believe in; however, this isn’t going to be a sneaky advertisement to get you to buy it. We would always recommend you do your own research and consider consulting with a professional in order to get the best advice for you and your situation. This is particularly true if you are pregnant or have any underlying health concerns.
Having said all this, we wanted to discuss a number of popular nutritional supplements in a way that was devoid of both super in-depth scientific jargon and shameless advertising for sales.
Creatine - This is one of the most well researched supplements available. A naturally occurring substance already in your skeletal muscle, additional creatine supplementation has been shown to boost strength, power, muscular size and anaerobic endurance. There is also emerging evidence that it might be a useful neuroprotective agent and help enhance/maintain brain and nervous system function; plus, it’s relatively very cheap.
Creatine is often recommended for athletes, older individuals (to help mitigate muscle and strength loss) and those who don’t consume much/any red meat.
It should be pointed out that some people may see more of an ergogenic effect than others, depending on how high their natural creatine levels are (i.e. if you already have high levels of phosphocreatine (PCr) in your muscles, supplementing may have a less dramatic effect). Some research has also reported an increased risk of stomach upset (typically with higher doses of ingestion), however, previous concerns about supplementation affecting kidney health have largely been dismissed.
Protein (whey, casein, collagen) - Again, one of the most widely used and researched supplements. Protein supplements are generally either animal (including dairy), plant or synthetically based, allowing most people to find a viable solution, regardless of nutritional preference and provide a quick and convenient way to increase daily protein consumption.
Dairy based products include whey (effectively a fast digesting protein), more commonly seen in post-workout products and casein (a more slowly digested protein), typically used when a slower absorption is desired- such as at night. Vegetable based products, like pea or soy protein are available, and are generally used post-workout. However they generally have a lower biological value (due to their ingredient source); so you may need to consume relatively more in order to get the same protein intake.
Collagen based protein supplements are becoming increasingly popular as a way to support joint and connective tissue health. As these products are generally made from animal connective tissue sources (e.g. gelatin), they are relatively poor sources of protein so we don’t include them when calculating daily protein intake. However, the collagen can be used by the body to help the repair of tendons and ligaments; consequently this can be useful as a pre-workout tool, particularly when accompanied by targeted soft tissue development protocols.
With the high popularity of protein supplements, there are a lot of products on the market, with wildly varying ingredient quality. It’s worth doing your research when choosing a protein supplement, to make sure you get something that is of high quality and doesn’t contain any additional ingredients you don’t want.
Amino Acids - Amino acids are the building blocks that make up protein, specifically Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine (known as Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)) are believed to be some of the most important signaling molecules for muscle synthesis (growth). As amino acids are essentially proteins that are already broken down, their absorption into the body is faster than typical proteins (like whey), so they could be a useful tool to help support recovery whilst limiting calorific content. Typically these are marketed as peri (during), or post workout products.
Vitamins and Minerals - Recommending which vitamins and minerals to supplement with is difficult, blood panels are needed to accurately identify deficiencies and simply consuming additional vitamins to offset these deficiencies can be problematic as it might be an absorption/uptake related issue rather than a lack of consumption. Generally, our recommendation is to try and consume as varied and balanced a diet as possible, to help maximize the chances that you are consuming adequate levels of vitamins and minerals naturally; however, as per much of our guidance, seek professional support if you suspect that you might have some kind of dysfunction.
Having said this, one vitamin that is worth paying particular attention to, particularly if you don’t get much sun exposure (e.g. if you operate mostly at night or are based in more Northern latitudes) is vitamin D. This is a vitamin that is naturally made by the body with adequate exposure to UVB light rays; it is increasingly being linked to a plethora of functions in the body, including bone and endocrine health, immune function and even markers of mental health. This is another area of research to watch, if you feel you are likely deficient in.
Whilst we can supplement vitamin D with capsules, getting controlled, incremental sun is far more efficient and provides other health benefits.
Electrolytes - These are minerals that play an essential role in the functioning of many aspects of your body, from managing fluid concentrations and pH levels in the blood to helping with the regulation of nerves and muscles. The three electrolytes that receive the most attention in sports science literature are sodium, potassium and magnesium. Whilst all three are present naturally in many foods, you may need to consider additional supplementation if your intake and/or storage of these minerals is compromised (e.g. if on a ketogenic diet) and/or operate regularly at a high intensity (perhaps surprisingly this can be both hot or cold environments), particularly if you consume a lot of water. Electrolyte deficiencies can present as symptoms like low energy, brain fog, muscle cramps; however, having severely low electrolyte levels, as a result of drinking high volumes of water (known as hyponatremia) can be fatal.
There are many electrolyte products available on the market, depending on your needs- we generally recommend choosing one with low or no added sugars or flavors. Alternatively, it is possible to simply buy the ingredients and create your own.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids - Essentially these are a type of fat that is often considered in a ratio with Omega 6. According to theory, from an evolutionary biology perspective, most humans would have consumed a diet that resulted in a ratio of around 1:1 of Omega 3 and 6. Omega 3 fatty acids are naturally occuring in oily fish and grass fed animal products, and have been linked to reducing levels of global inflammation in the body. Omega 6 fatty acids are more common in those trans-fats we mentioned earlier, and are being consumed in relatively high quantities in most western diets, particularly in comparison to our ancestors. This shift towards greater levels of Omega 6 has been shown to increase the levels of inflammation in the body, along with causing other metabolic issues.
Consequently if possible, we’d again encourage you to try and limit the amount of trans-fats you intake and increase the amount of Omega 3 rich foods. However, if you need additional assistance (or convenience), using Omega 3 oils/capsules can be a reasonable alternative. As with most things, look for high quality products and seek advice where necessary.
Melatonin - Melatonin is a hormone naturally released by the body, as a result of your circadian rhythm (sleep/wake cycle); which makes you feel sleepy and helps the body calm down ready for bed. It’s possible to supplement with low doses of melatonin in order to get a similar effect, something which can be particularly useful if you regularly change time zones or have a limited period of time to wind down before bed. There appears to be minimal negative effects of taking melatonin exogenously, it’s not addictive and doesn’t seem to affect your body’s own production; however, use of this supplement should not be as a band-aid applied to a poor sleep hygiene routine. We would recommend that you prioritize establishing a solid pre-bed routine (as per the Sleep pillar content), before utilizing melatonin based products.
Caffeine - Another supplement that has received a lot of research over the years and has proven health and performance boosting effects for both concentration and short (sprint/strength) and long (endurance/repeated sprints) performances. It’s also been shown to improve reaction time and help mitigate the effects of fatigue in military marksmanship tasks.
Caffeine is naturally found in things like coffee, tea and chocolate but is more commonly added in much greater levels, as a separate ingredient to pre-workout formulas. Whilst these undoubtedly can boost performance, it’s worth being mindful of some consequences of taking it, particularly as a tactical professional.
Firstly, it would appear that caffeine is relatively addictive (think of those people who simply can’t operate without their morning cup of coffee!) and over time, the body becomes relatively accustomed to dosage- so in order to keep getting that satisfying pre-workout rush, the dose needs to go up; which could potentially have some negative benefits on your health. With that in mind, we recommend that you use caffeine based pre-workout products relatively sparingly, particularly if you also drink things like tea or coffee, and take a week or so off them every few months, to allow your system to ‘reset’.
Secondly, caffeine has a half-life of around 5 hours for most healthy people. Consequently, if you consume 250mg of caffeine, after 5 hours, there’s still 125mg of caffeine in your system. This could be problematic, particularly if you’re ingesting caffeine in the late afternoon or early evening, as this will negatively affect your ability to drop into deep sleep.
Just as with many other aspects of human nutrition, caffeine can be an incredibly powerful and useful tool; just learn to understand how to use it responsibly in order to get the most out of it, for both your health and performance.
The sports/health supplement industry is huge, so this is far from an exhaustive list. However, if you’re interested in learning more about nutritional supplements, check out some of the content we have available on the Soflete website and YouTube channel.
(Video: George ‘Pillar 2’
Nutrition Recommendations
Based on all this information, below are some ways to tell if you're on the right track:
- Your nutritional intake should be as varied as possible and support a ‘’health first’’ approach
- You should consume sufficient calories to support your expenditure
- Your eating frequency should ideally be between 3-6 meals a day
- Your body composition should meet the requirements of your role
- Your macronutrient breakdown should be in line with your goal(s)
Combat Indicators
Based on our experience, we've identified the following combat indicators or early warning signs that your nutrition might be dysfunctional:
- Your nutritional intake comes largely from processed or refined foods
- Meal frequency is between 1-2 meals a day.
- You have dysfunctional blood sugar or inflammatory markers
- Your body composition is sub-optimal
If 2 or more of these sound familiar to you, we recommend you try some of the following protocols.
Nutrition Protocol Ideas
Food
- Focus on consuming whole, real foods as much as possible
- Base each meal around a high quality protein source
- Increase the amount of brightly colored fruits and vegetables
- Make a meal plan (and shopping list) for the week (using the SOFLETE App)
- Be proactive, pre-make healthy snacks if time is going to be an issue
Hydration
- Avoid consuming more than 4-5 cups of coffee per day (less if using pre-workout), particularly within 4-5 hours before bed
- Consume approximately 100-150 Oz of water per day (depending on output and conditions)
- Ensure adequate electrolyte consumption (particularly Sodium, Potassium and Magnesium)
Implementation Tips
- Don’t change everything at once
- Pick 2-3 things to try and monitor progress
- Be flexible
- One ‘bad day’ or bad meal doesn’t ruin the week or day
- Plan ahead where possible
- Make it work for you
- Choose protocols that are likely to minimize disruption to your life
- Include those in your support system (e.g. make a family plan)
- Have fun with it (try different foods/cooking styles)
As with any aspect of human performance, there is huge individual variability to all this. Furthermore, your nutritional and hydration needs will change as you age, adjust training or occupational load or move to a new area.
The main message we want to preach is for you to take ownership of how you fuel your body, and be your own scientist. Find a strategy that’s optimal for you (and those in your immediate support network), relying on subject matter experts and professionals as and when required. Don’t be afraid to continue to adjust and experiment as your situation and environment changes.
If you are interested in learning more about this, check out the full Cognitive Warrior System course, available on Thinkific.
Disclaimer
This program is designed to be educational, not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. George and Matt are trained strength and conditioning coaches, not healthcare providers; they don’t practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, nutrition, or psychology. If you are concerned about any aspect of your physical or mental health or feel that you may need medical care, SOFLETE strongly recommends you contact your health care provider. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you should dial 911 and ask for emergency medical assistance.
2.4 Pilar 3 - Heart Health
Heart Health
Tracking cardiovascular metrics has long been a favored method in the medical community for monitoring general health. The use of heart rate, blood pressure and pulse oximetry have been useful markers to provide insight into how the rest of the body might be functioning.
As we continue to learn more about how the human body works, the more apparent it becomes that the previously considered distinct systems that make it, are actually deeply interconnected.
For the tactical profesional this can, therefore, be a useful place to start. Too often this community gets overly wrapped up in the necessity of performing the job to worry about the health implications of our work. By drawing attention to Heart Health and what it means, in a practical sense, we are better able to embrace the philosophy of prioritizing the human first and the professional second.
Within the CWS, we use the term Heart Health to cover not only the function of the heart itself, but also the wider cardiovascular system particularly from a neurocardiology perspective. We’ve found that taking this broader, more systems theory approach helps emphasize the deep connections between this and the other pillars of the CWS.
Why Heart Health is Important
(Video: George ‘Pillar 3’)
The health of the heart and the interconnected systems is important for the tactical professional from both an acute and chronic perspective.
Most people will have experienced the need to increase the intensity of their output, in order to keep pace with the external environment. This might come in the most basic form of needing to work harder to maintain pace whilst running up a steep hill. However, in this instance, even in the presence of the toughest coach, the implications of not being able to match the demands of the environment and being forced to slow down, are fairly insignificant.
However, for the tactical professional, as many readers will be able to relate to, being able to operate at an already high intensity with sufficient metabolic capacity in reserve to still think clearly and make rational, informed decisions can frequently mean the difference between life and death.
Serving in the tactical world is far more a marathon than a sprint, insofar as it’s the ability to tolerate and deal with often extremely high levels of stress and then recover, repeatedly throughout a career that is important. In addition, what often gets forgotten by the media and those outside the tactical community, is that these individuals also have real lives going on when they aren’t wearing their uniform. They need to have a sufficient degree of heart health, so that they can complete their duty and still have enough capacity left over to be able to fulfill their role as a spouse, partner or parent. This becomes increasingly important as they age and available resources start to dwindle naturally; hence why equipping these individuals with the skills and knowledge to be able to maintain their heart health is of the utmost importance.
Heart Health Recommendations
Based on all this information, below are some ways to tell if you're on the right track:
- A resting heart rate of around 40-60 bpm
- Blood Pressure at or below 120/80
- Steady energy levels throughout the day
- Quick recovery rate (heart rate drops 20 beats or more within 1 minute of finishing intense efforts)
- Minimum variation in daily resting heart rate
- A generally high HRV
- The ability to complete activities of daily living (e.g. climbing stairs, playing with your kids, yard work) with ease
Combat Indicators
Based on our experience, we've identified the following combat indicators or early warning signs that your heart health might be dysfunctional:
- A resting heart rate consistently above 60 bpm
- Blood pressure above 130/90 (especially diastolic value)
- A consistently low HRV
- More than a 10% change in resting heart rate over a few days
- Poor recovery times (HR drops less than 20 beats in a minute following an intense effort)
- Struggling with activities of daily living
- Low energy levels throughout the day
- Dysfunctional breathing patterns (e.g. mouth breathing)
If two or more of these sound familiar to you, we recommend you try some of the following protocols.
Protocol Ideas
Training
- Complete 1-3 x 20 minute Zone 1 (~60% effort) sessions per week
- Consider utilizing heavy isometrics and eccentrics
-Include hypoxic work (e.g. breath hold tables)
Lifestyle
- Monitor your resting heart rate
- Complete a 10-20 minute walk daily
- Nasal breathing should be your default
- Integrate relaxation based breathing protocols
- Eat nutrient dense food (avoid pro-inflammatory foods)
- Increase intake of omega-3s (fish oil)
- Increase hydration (water and electrolytes)
- Limit caffeine intake to 1-2 cups a day
- Strategically decrease alcohol and tobacco usage
Implementation Tips
We'd suggest you pick a few of the above protocol ideas and make a plan for how you will implement them.
Where possible, share this plan with your support network and even consider including them.
You can track your progress by monitoring your resting heart rate, blood pressure or any similar metric. As your heart health improves, you'll notice that your training and occupational performance increase and you'll probably find that your daily energy levels and mood improve. Don't be afraid to test and adjust these protocols (or even create your own), as you learn more about what works best for you.
If you are interested in learning more about this, check out the full Cognitive Warrior System course, available on Thinkific.
Disclaimer
This program is designed to be educational, not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. George and Matt are trained strength and conditioning coaches, not healthcare providers; they don’t practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, nutrition, or psychology. If you are concerned about any aspect of your physical or mental health or feel that you may need medical care, SOFLETE strongly recommends you contact your health care provider. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you should dial 911 and ask for emergency medical assistance.2.5 Pillar 4 - Psychological State
Psychological State
It’s important to recognize that we’re all human. Whilst the media and society often portray tactical professionals to be emotionless cyborg type characters, at SOFLETE, we appreciate that there’s a human behind every uniform and badge. With that in mind, we need to acknowledge and understand just how impactful your psychological state can be.
At this point, we’d like to introduce the concept of ‘lenses’. We’ve found this to be useful to help explain how your feelings and moods can alter your perception of the world. Think about your last trip to the optician- chances are, during your eye exam you were sat in front of a big machine, whilst the eye doctor systematically changed the glass lenses you were looking through, in order to find the one that provided the most clarity. Now extend this analogy to think about psychological state. If you had the morning from hell- you overslept, ran out of coffee, had a terrible commute to work and then got yelled at by your boss on arrival; your perspective, or ‘lens’, through which you’ll view the world immediately afterwards will be very different in comparison to if you’d been able to start the day on a more positive note. Now, we appreciate that the examples we gave are relatively arbitrary, but we’re simply trying to illustrate the concept that your experiences (both acute, like your car not starting; or chronic, like having to provide long term medical care for a sick family member) will shape the lens (both positive and negative) through which you view and interact with the world around you.
It’s easy to turn on the TV or check social media and become overwhelmed by all the craziness going on around the world. Understandably, being exposed to things like this on a daily or even hourly basis, is likely to have some effect on you and consequently may even affect your mood. We know from research that the mind and body are inextricably linked- with things like thoughts and feelings affecting your physiology, and physiology being able to to affect your thoughts and feelings.
You can take thirty seconds to experiment quickly on yourself. This is a great chance to practice our ‘Be Your Own Scientist’ philosophy; where we take a baseline reading/measurement, change (or implement) something and then re-test and decide if and how effective the change has been.
So, initially, stop and get some kind of a baseline to how you’re feeling right now. If you’re well practiced at this, you might be able to generate a deep and complex quantification; whereas if you’re new to all this, just start by picturing a traffic light or smiley system- are you feeling positive, neutral or negative?
Now we want to try implementing a change; so we’ll create some physiological changes- clench your fists and jaw hard, snarl as you breathe in and out in short, shallow breaths.
Do this for twenty to thirty seconds and then take a moment to re-test and see how you’re feeling compared to that baseline.
If you’re like most people, you’ll feel more aggressive and maybe even angry; this is a great demonstration that simply by changing your physiology you can change your thoughts and mood. However, it also works the other way- we can use the mind to control physiology too (check out some of the protocols on the previous Nervous System Management pillar for more information on this).
Now obviously the example we’ve just used above is pretty crude, however, seeing those news or social media articles can and will cause exactly the same effect; albeit hopefully at a lower intensity. Not only can this have a very real consequence on your health, it can also significantly impact your performance. Although we’d sometimes like to be able to disengage ourselves from our emotions, as humans we don’t have this luxury. Consequently, any time you are required to make a decision or react to a situation, we need to appreciate that you will be viewing this situation through the lens that has been influenced by your mood and thoughts. This is something that undoubtedly most tactical professionals can relate to- think about a high stress situation you might encounter in your role. Imagine how you might react in that situation when you were in the worst mood possible, compared to when you were at your most positive. Even the most professional of us will be able to admit that our corresponding actions might well be different; and this is the vital aspect of understanding this pillar.
We aren’t telling you that you need to learn infinite patience and tolerance, so that you can walk around like some kind of zen-Yoda-monk twenty four hours a day! We’re saying that it’s really important, that as both a human and a tactical professional, you understand that your mood and feelings will almost certainly affect your decisions and resultant actions. Knowing this, allows you to start being more mindful of this connection, which opens the possibility of increasing the amount of control you have over your mood and actions.
Why Psychological State is Important
(Video: George ‘Pillar 4’)
Figure 2. Mood, thoughts and worldview
As we discussed in the previous section, the mind and the body are closely interlinked; consequently if one is dysfunctional, or even sub-optimal, we can’t expect the other to thrive to the level demanded of a tactical professional. Given how relatively little attention is paid to psychological preparation and support, in comparison to the physical (e.g. gym time) and technical (e.g. completing range packages), there are huge opportunities here to make significant improvements to both health and performance.
In the previous section we touched on the concept of mindfulness or awareness. We acknowledged that we don’t need you to be in a ‘perfect’ psychological state all day, every day; we just need you to be able to recognize when things aren’t as you’d like them to be, so that you can do something about it. Think of this like weapons handling training; many tactical professionals are taught (often ad nauseum!) how to pre-empt, diagnose and correct weapon system malfunctions. We can use exactly the same process with psychological state ‘malfunctions’. If, after conducting a ‘tactical pause’, we know that the risk of making a poor decision is high due to your current mood or state, we can put proactive strategies or protocols into place by leveraging the various pillars of the Cognitive Warrior System.
Managing chronic pain, an unfortunately all too common condition in the tactical world, can also be considered the same way. Whilst pain, and especially chronic pain, is an incredibly complex topic (that’s beyond the scope of this section), it’s important to recognize that it has the potential to strongly influence the lens through which you perceive and interact with the outside world. For anyone who’s experienced moderate to severe pain for any length of time, you’ll probably sadly be familiar with these changes- the loss of enjoyment and happiness from previously fun activities as well as difficulty in getting motivated or inspired for anything. Effectively, the pain changes the lens or filter through which you’re interacting with the world and those around you; this is why for many, managing chronic pain can be an extremely difficult experience and one that we’d highly recommend you consult a professional to help with. However, the point we’re trying to make here is that it’s the pain that has caused your lens to change, not the activity. Mountain biking, deadlifting or even playing with your kids aren’t any less fun or enjoyable an activity, it’s just that you're currently perceiving them differently. This should hopefully be a tremendous source of motivation, because it means that as you recover, these activities will be waiting for you to return to them. As an additional bonus, just like we said at the start of this section- as the brain and body are so closely connected, simply understanding that it’s the pain that’s changed your filter, not you or your world that’s changed, you might well find that some of your pain turns down a fraction. This will have an immediate and direct impact on your lens, which should cause your pain to turn down a fraction more… harnessing this thought process can be a significant driver to help generate an upward spiral of recovery.
Until now, we’ve only been considering you in isolation; however, as both a human and a tactical professional, how you interact with those around you (everyone from family members to suspects) involves an extraordinary amount of verbal and especially non-verbal communication. Most people have a pretty good idea of when someone they know is happy, sad or angry, without that person even needing to express it vocally. In fact, humans are surprisingly receptive to these non-verbal cues, so it’s worth considering what kind of impact your mood and consequently both verbal and non-verbal communication is having on those around you. This is particularly prevalent given, not only the tightly knit units that many tactical professionals work in, but also the frequent interpersonal interactions that occur whilst on duty- such as a firefighter talking to a casualty or a police officer questioning a suspect.
How you interact with those around you is of vital importance to both your professional and personal life, so it’s important to get into the habit of taking a moment to try and understand how your current lens might be distorting your view of the world around you. Once you become more self aware, this will allow you to become something of a stable reference point for those around you, thus helping them too.
Psychological State Recommendations
Based on all this information, below are some ways to tell if you're on the right track:
- Your thoughts and emotions are generally positive
- You have a good relationship with those in your support network (family, friends, coworkers etc)
- You find it easy to focus/concentrate on tasks
- You have a good memory (both short and long term)
- You find enjoyment in hobbies or other activities
Combat Indicators
Based on our experience, we've identified the following combat indicators or early warning signs that your psychological state might be dysfunctional:
- You frequently suffer from negative thoughts and emotions
- You have a strained/negative relationship with your support network (family, friends, coworkers etc)
- You find it difficult to concentrate or focus on tasks
- You frequently struggle to recall recent events (e.g. yesterday’s breakfast) or significant events from the past (e.g. details about your wedding)
- You struggle to find enjoyment in activities you previously liked
If two or more of these sound familiar to you, we recommend you try some of the following protocols.
Protocol Ideas
-Start becoming more self-aware (conduct frequent tactical check-ins)
- Be mindful of the information you’re consuming (e.g. social media and news outlets)
- Utilize breathwork and visualization (positive imagery)
- Get 20-30 minutes of sunshine each day (Ideally in nature)
- Take time to check-in with your support network (feel like part of that community)
- Do at least 1 thing every day, for you (e.g. catch a sunset, work out, or listen to some music in the car)
- Become more self-compassionate
-Try to laugh more often (Ideally in a group setting)
- Remind yourself of what you’re grateful for (This can help with perspective)
-Get some creativity into your life (e.g. writing, drawing, carving etc)
- Cut yourself some slack (it’s ok to have a ‘bad’ day)
Tips for Daily Psychological Success
- Start each day with a tactical pause (figure out how you’re feeling, then see if you can work out why you feel this way)
- Try to get 5-10 minutes of quiet time at the start of each day (try to avoid social media during this time)
- Use breathwork and/or visualization
- If possible plan out your day
- Be aware of your psychological state and how it might impact others (positively and negatively)
- If you’re feeling good, share the wealth with those around you
- Don’t be afraid to seek help if you need it
Implementation Tips
We'd suggest you pick a few of the protocol ideas above and make a plan for how you will implement them.
Where possible, share this plan with your support network and even consider including them.
You can track your progress by monitoring your mood or even physical markers like resting heart rate, blood pressure or any similar metric. Don't be afraid to test and adjust these protocols (or even create your own), as you learn more about what works best for you.
If you are interested in learning more about this, check out the full Cognitive Warrior System course, available on Thinkific.
Disclaimer
This program is designed to be educational, not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. George and Matt are trained strength and conditioning coaches, not healthcare providers; they don’t practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, nutrition, or psychology. If you are concerned about any aspect of your physical or mental health or feel that you may need medical care, SOFLETE strongly recommends you contact your health care provider. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you should dial 911 and ask for emergency medical assistance.2.6 Pillar 5 - Nervous System Management
Nervous System Management
Within human performance, historically we’ve been great at developing the cardiovascular system or improving the strength and endurance of the muscular system. However, frequently the nervous system hasn’t really been considered as something that could be actively trained; which is somewhat understandable given the difficult time we have in being able to quantify it, especially outside the lab.
With the cardiovascular we can use metrics like heart rate or VO2 Max, whilst the muscular system can be measured with force or cross-sectional area; however it’s been difficult, until fairly recently, to effectively measure and monitor the nervous system.
Consequently, for many tactical professionals, the nervous system is a reasonably new concept; however, learning to understand some of the basic elements of it, provides an extremely effective tool to both monitor and manipulate many other aspects of psychophysiology.
The Structure of The Nervous System
The human nervous system is a network of neurons, receptor and brain (glial) cells. It effectively detects stimuli from both in and outside the body, transferring this information to the decision making centers in the brain and spinal cord; as well as transmitting impulses back from these areas, out to the rest of the body.
The nervous system is made up of the central nervous system (CNS), which consists of the brain and spinal cord, as well as the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which are the nerves that connect the CNS to the body.
Within the PNS, the somatic nervous system controls voluntary movements via the skeletal muscles, whilst the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is responsible for controlling things like breathing and heart rate as well as aspects like sexual arousal and digestion, and consequently it acts largely unconsciously.
The ANS includes the sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways, more commonly associated with initiating the ‘fight or flight’ and ‘rest and digest’ responses, respectively.
Why Nervous System Management is Important
(Video: Matt ‘Pillar 5’)
In order to keep things at least reasonably accessible and practically relevant, we’ll be mostly focusing on the ANS within this pillar, specifically, your ability to down regulate. Whilst stress isn't inherently a bad thing, indeed we need it in order to provide a stimulus for positive adaptation, excess stress levels can have a severe impact on both health and performance. From our experience, this is one of the biggest challenges facing the tactical community at the moment. Having said this, the ability to be able to up regulate and effectively respond to stress and danger is equally important in many tactical roles, and is something we cover in depth in our full Cognitive Warrior System course.
Classically in modern life and especially in the tactical world, there is a huge bias towards stimulation of the sympathetic pathway- think traffic jams, coffee, tobacco, loud noises, ambiguous mission objectives as well as things like real or even perceived threat. All these stressors result in different degrees of the same response, increases in heart and breathing rate, increased blood pressure, increase release of stress hormones (like cortisol and adrenaline), which is great from an evolutionary perspective if you were about to run for your life from (or towards!) a wild animal; however, not so great if you’re already late for work and are stuck in traffic, whilst knocking back your third quad espresso of the morning!
Unlike in the evolutionary example, where following the wild animal encounter your system is able to revert back to parasympathetic dominance and recover, the modern human simply goes on to the next stressor, be that an angry boss, a foot chase or a burning building. Unfortunately, the vast majority of tactical professionals will stumble from stressor to stressor throughout their shift, until they eventually return to ‘the real world’ where they face yet more, in the form of other drivers on the commute home, bill payments and social media posts.
To use the analogy we discussed in the video, the human body is incredibly resilient and can cope with and even adapt to these huge demands- eventually making these high levels of stress feel ‘normal’; however this is extremely resource intensive and takes a considerable toll on both health and performance. Consequently, this can only go on for so long before the body (and/or mind) starts to give out; this sometimes manifests itself in health (both physical and mental) conditions or even relationship friction and breakdown and worryingly can often seem to come out of the blue.
At SOFLETE, we’re striving to promote both health and career longevity and we don’t just mean we want you to be able to survive a 30 year career, we want you to thrive and then retire and continue to dominate in whatever you choose to do- hence our motto: “Die Living”. In order to do that, we have to teach you to break the vicious cycle of stress that’s so commonplace in today’s tactical community.
Nervous System Management Recommendations
Based on all this information, below are some ways to tell if you're on the right track:
- You generally feel calm and relaxed most of the time
- You generally feel happy, hungry and horny!
- You are able to fall and stay asleep easily (without medication, alcohol or other substances)
- You can effectively manage arousal levels (up and down)
- Your HRV readings are generally high (i.e. balanced or slightly parasympathetic dominant)
Combat Indicators
- You frequently feel angry, frustrated, anxious or exhausted
- You struggle to fall and stay asleep (without the use of alcohol, medication or other substances)
- You feel happy, hungry and horny infrequently
- You find it hard it hard to control your mood and arousal levels (mood swings)
- You find it hard to get motivated or find enjoyment in things
- Your HRV readings are low (i.e. sympathetic dominant)
If two or more of these sound familiar to you, we recommend you try some of the following protocols.
Protocol Ideas
Daily Practices
- Conduct a tactical pause 2-3 times per day (try asking yourself how you're feeling and why, notice any areas of muscular tension)
- Try to pre-empt getting overly stressed or angry, if you notice yourself getting frustrated be proactive before you explode
- Spend 10 minutes each day in nature (this could be a short walk or simply standing in your yard)
- Laugh hard at least once per day (ideally with those in your support network)
- End each training session with 5-10 minutes of breath work, mobility or other down regulation activity
- Build a 5-10 minute buffer period between finishing work and walking through your front door, learn to separate the two
- Cut back on the use of stimulants (especially synthetic energy drinks)
Acute Strategies
If you need to calm yourself and increase parasympathetic stimulation:
- Bring your attention to calming natural surroundings (e.g. trees, clouds or bird song)
- Perform 10 long slow exhales, to the point of mild air hunger (through your nose)
- Focus on relaxing your muscles (particularly around your shoulders, jaw and hands)
- Visualize soothing images (e.g. favorite vacation or holiday memories)
Implementation Tips
We'd suggest you pick a few of the daily practices above and make a plan for how you will implement them.
Where possible, share this plan with your support network and even consider including them. You can also take note of some of the acute strategies, so that you have some available options should you find yourself feeling overly stressed at any point; this can be particularly useful when trying to down regulate before bed.
You can track your progress by monitoring your mood or even physical markers like resting heart rate, blood pressure or any similar metric. Don't be afraid to test and adjust these protocols (or even create your own), as you learn more about what works best for you.
If you are interested in learning more about this, check out the full Cognitive Warrior System course, available on Thinkific.
Disclaimer
This program is designed to be educational, not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. George and Matt are trained strength and conditioning coaches, not healthcare providers; they don’t practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, nutrition, or psychology. If you are concerned about any aspect of your physical or mental health or feel that you may need medical care, SOFLETE strongly recommends you contact your health care provider. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you should dial 911 and ask for emergency medical assistance.2.7 Pillar 6 - Occupational Stress Management
Occupational Stress Management
Let’s start by emphasizing that stress is not inherently a bad thing; as we’ve mentioned before, the application and adaptation to stress (both physical and mental) is a key part of how humans develop and progress. Having said this, an inordinate number of people regularly report feeling highly stressed, or even overwhelmed in our fast paced, unpredictable society. In fact, poor mental health is a huge concern for many developed nations and rates are continuing to grow. Given that the tactical community is a fairly representative cross-section of the wider population, it is perhaps unsurprising that this is just as prevalent a problem in our world.
It’s widely acknowledged that the tactical world is an extremely stressful place; from the hyper-vigilance required to survive, to the night shifts/operations and increased risk of both physical and mental harm. Whilst these are obviously considerable as acute stressors, it is important to remember that there is increasing evidence that chronic exposure to things like this can not only be cumulative, but can also lead to health implications later in life- potentially even after the individual has retired from service.
In addition, as we’ve discussed previously, what can often be overlooked is the fact that the tactical professional is required to tolerate these stressors alongside the normal day-to-day load that comes with being a modern person; including things like paying bills, childcare and completing home improvement or repair tasks.
But before you rush to submit your early termination paperwork, just keep reading!
As many of you will attest to, serving in a tactical profession can be hugely rewarding and offer many opportunities and experiences that most civilians could only dream of. It’s these reasons that keep many of us lacing up our boots each day, and it’s these reasons that we need to sometimes remind ourselves of when we’re going through rough times.
Why Occupational Stress Management is Important
(Video: George ‘Pillar 6)
Humans naturally suck at dealing with things they can’t see or measure, think about some of the early belief systems that used tales of gods and goddesses to help explain weather events or the outcomes of conflicts. We like to be able to rationalize and understand what’s going on around us.
This is potentially one of the reasons why the relatively low levels of cumulative stress have such a negative impact on us. If you were to experience something traumatic on duty, it’s relatively easy to connect the dots and justify why you’re feeling the way you’re feeling; those around you- your partner, spouse and colleagues would be able to understand and more easily provide support. However, relatively ‘normal’ day-to-day tasks like having some reports to write or preparing for an inspection often seem a much less justifiable reason to feel stressed; yet it’ll have a very similar (albeit potentially diluted) effect on your brain and body. It’s this mismatch between your expectations or perceptions and how your mind and body are handling this stress that can be somewhat problematic.
If we use the ‘stress cup’ model (something we’ll explore in more depth in a future chapter), picture a red solo cup- this is your capacity to handle stress (at this point we won't differentiate between training, occupational or home based stress). Stress is represented by the liquid being poured into this cup, gradually filling it up. When the cup is full, it’ll start to overflow and this signifies the point at which you can no longer handle the stress you’re being subjected to and pretty significant problems will ensue. As we’ve talked about throughout this chapter, we have some pretty good ways of helping to mitigate this stress build up, we can utilize many different down-regulation protocols to help slow or even dissipate this stress (this would be akin to you pouring some of the liquid out of the cup, thus preventing it spilling over uncontrollably). However, the problem is that we need to be aware of the size of the cup, the fill rate as well as the current level of liquid, otherwise it’s almost impossible to know how and when to implement some of these down-regulation or stress management techniques.
This is where the whole concept of being a Cognitive Warrior comes in. If you can learn to be more self aware (as we’ve discussed in some of the previous sections), this allows you to much more accurately and effectively quantify your current stress levels in comparison to your ‘capacity’. Whilst we recognize that this sounds incredibly reductionist, as both stress and your capacity to tolerate stress is incredibly multifactorial and complex, we simply want to illustrate the point that if you can become more aware of ‘how full your cup is’, it’ll help you to understand and hopefully manage your stress levels; thus taking the voodoo and mysticism out of things and allowing us to approach the problem in a much more rational and calm manner.
In order to get you started with this, we created a crude but user friendly metric called the Occupational Exertion Unit. Essentially, we’ve borrowed the idea from the world of sports science, where we can monitor internal training load (i.e. how challenging you’re finding the training sessions) as a way to help bring awareness to how well (or not) the athlete is tolerating the imposed training demand.
To calculate this, take the length of your shift for that day (we’ve found it’s an ‘easier’ number in minutes) and multiply it by how challenging it was on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being very easy and 10 being the hardest thing you could imagine.
Depending on your job, this might be more biased towards being physically (e.g. completing a foot patrol) or mentally (e.g. analyzing satellite imagery) challenging, it doesn’t really matter, we just want you to provide a rating that serves as a good representation of the day/shift as a whole.
After multiplying the shift length and rating together, you’ll be left with a ‘score’ that roughly quantifies the shift you’ve just completed.
At first, these numbers will be extremely arbitrary and not really mean much, however, over time you’ll get to know what range of scores constitute a really really hard day, versus an moderate or even steady day.
This can be useful in multiple ways. Firstly, being more aware of this kind of stuff is effectively giving you insight into what aspects of your role you find particularly stressful as well as providing a greater understanding of the ‘cost’ of your work. Both of these allow you to be more proactive with your stress management strategies; for instance, it’s culturally accepted in the tactical community that after a tough shift we go to the gym and complete a beat down of a session in order to help cope. However, this might not actually be the most viable long term solution, when considering the stress cup model- as you’re effectively attempting to ‘empty the cup’, whilst actually filling it with yet more stress, albeit from another source. A potentially more appropriate strategy might be to complete some low level aerobic work with nasal breathing instead.
Another key feature of having greater self-awareness when it comes to stress management, is that it allows you to communicate more transparently with those in your support network. Let’s be honest, most of the people in the network probably don’t really understand exactly what your role entails on a daily basis anyway, so they’ll have no real reference point to compare your experiences whilst on duty. However, if you are able to let them know that you’ve had a series of high stress days, then they can be in a better position to offer you more of the support that you might need.
As you get more familiar with implementing the Occupational Exertion Unit system, you can even start using this data to keep tabs on your overall trends of stress. For instance, if you’re going through a period of relatively low occupational stress, you might be able to take on additional stress- such as by putting more emphasis on your physical training. However, if your occupational stress is constantly draining your resources (effectively filling your cup), you might need to figure out ways to leverage the other pillars of the CWS in order to mitigate this, in order to safeguard longevity.
Ultimately, this involves generating your own recovery menu, with different strategies having their own cost:benefit and being appropriate for different situations. For instance, something like getting a deep tissue massage might be a very effective recovery tool for you, but is probably going to take a reasonable amount of time and might involve non-trivial financial outlay. Whereas, contrast showering might be less effective for your recovery, but is convenient and cheap. This menu is something that will be unique to you and will probably evolve over time, however having a range of viable solutions in place can be a huge benefit to help offset your occupational stress levels whilst getting maximum bang for the buck.
It’s important to remember that tools and models like those mentioned are only designed to give you ideas. We recognize that there is a lot of nuance and individual differences in the tactical community, so feel free to take these ideas and tweak them so that they suit you and your needs better. Unfortunately, occupational stress isn't going away anytime soon, so as long as you’re doing the best you can to support both your professional and personal longevity, we’re behind you.
Occupational Stress Management Recommendations
Based on all this information, below are some ways to tell if you're on the right track:
- You enjoy your job most of the time
- You are able to effectively maintain a home-work balance most of the time
- Generally, you look forward to going to work
- You are proud of your occupation
- Your support network understands your occupational demands
- Generally, you manage your workload without high levels of stress or anxiety
- You feel valued by your coworkers and those up and down the chain of command
Combat Indicators
Based on our experience, we've identified the following combat indicators or early warning signs that your levels of occupation stress might be dysfunctional:
- You frequently have negative feelings towards your job and think about leaving
- You frequently experience conflict in your home-work life balance
- You rarely look forward to going to work
- You frequently question the purpose of your job
- You frequently struggle to meet your imposed workload
- You don’t feel valued by coworkers, or those up and down the chain of command
If two or more of these sound familiar to you, we recommend you try some of the following protocols.
Protocol Ideas
- Insert a brief tactical pause at the end of your shift, to help you create a ‘’buffer’’ between work and home
Use breath-work and/or visualization to help change your psychological state
- Involve and include your support network in planning
Be transparent when you need support
Ensure your support network knows you appreciate them
Where possible, work to identify any key events/dates to avoid diary conflicts
- Complete a ‘night before journal’
Before leaving work, write a ’to-do’ list for the next day
Prioritize and triage this list if possible
Be adaptable and flexible with this
Maximize ’white space’ in your diary
(E.g. https://thetonynash.gumroad.com/l/NightBeforeJournal)
- Identify the strengths of those around you and try to leverage this
Make a point to thank them for working hard for you
Tips for Implementing The Protocols
-Create daily plans for the coming day
Build in tactical pauses when needed, but as a minimum when finishing your shift and prior to going home
Utilize breath work and/or visualization for added benefit
Leverage the other CWS pillars (especially Nutrition, Sleep and Psychological Stress)
-Where possible, create a plan for the year
Identify key dates/events, deployments, courses etc
Share this with those in your support network and encourage open discussion and dialogue
Approach chain of command early if you have any conflicts in schedule (it might not help, but at least you’ve tried!)
Take/allocate time for yourself
We'd suggest you pick a few of the protocol ideas above and make a plan for how you will implement them.
Where possible, share this plan with your support network and even consider including them.
You can track your progress by monitoring your mood, stress levels or even physical markers like resting heart rate, blood pressure or any similar metric. Don't be afraid to test and adjust these protocols (or even create your own), as you learn more about what works best for you.
If you are interested in learning more about this, check out the full Cognitive Warrior System course, available on Thinkific.
Disclaimer
This program is designed to be educational, not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. George and Matt are trained strength and conditioning coaches, not healthcare providers; they don’t practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, nutrition, or psychology. If you are concerned about any aspect of your physical or mental health or feel that you may need medical care, SOFLETE strongly recommends you contact your health care provider. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you should dial 911 and ask for emergency medical assistance.
2.8 Integrating The Pillars
Integrating The Pillars of The Cognitive Warrior System
The Temple Model
The Temple Model (see Figure 3) uses the ancient Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, as a way to illustrate our perspective for how the various pillars of the Cognitive Warrior System might integrate together, as well as into the day to day life of a tactical professional.
Figure 3. The Foundations = Health and Wellness. The Roof = Professional Output. The Pillars = CWS Pillars. Depth = Phases of Tactical Pathway
The Foundations
In line with the ‘human first, professional second’ approach, we feel that the most important part of this structure is probably the one most commonly overlooked. No tourist is going to visit the temple and take photos of the floor, however if the floor and foundations become weak and subside, the whole structure will come down in fairly short order.
We feel this is pretty analogous to the tactical professional’s health and wellness; it’s not really considered until something goes wrong, and by this point, there’s a very real risk of significant problems.
However, if due time and attention are invested into ensuring these foundations are as solid and robust as possible, it permits a more grand and stable structure to be built. To draw this back to the tactical professional, by taking time to establish sound health and wellness practices early in their career, it helps to safeguard the human, which mitigates the non-trivial ‘load’ that performing an occupational role will inevitably bring.
The Roof
The often highly decorative and impressive roof represents tactical performance. This is the part of the building that people see from a distance, similarly, it’s the part of the individual that identifies them, both to others probably and also themselves. Whilst from a distance, this large roof can appear extremely glamorous and romantic, much of society is unaware of the corresponding drawbacks.
The drawback to having a big, impressive roof is the immense weight. Whilst literal in the model, figuratively speaking for the tactical professional, this includes aspects like the long, often highly stressful shifts or duties, the hyper-vigilance, the deployments and the unpredictability and chaos that comes from serving as a tactical professional.
The Pillars and Depth of The Temple
(Video: Matt ‘The Temple Model’)
To be able to support the vast amounts of load that come with the roof (or a tactical career), it requires an extremely solid foundation and six strong pillars to share and evenly distribute the stress.
From a structural engineering perspective, in order to build a long standing and resilient structure, we’d ideally like all six pillars to evenly bear the load of the heavy roof. However, unlike a stone roof, human lives and tactical careers are extremely dynamic- more akin to a liquid sloshing around.
With that in mind, over time and during the different phases of the tactical career, the requirements and stressors an individual will face will change. Consequently, it isn’t always possible to evenly distribute the load over the six pillars.
For instance, if a Phase 3 tactical professional (e.g. an active duty Recon’ Marine) was primarily required to operate at night whilst on deployment, clearly the Sleep Pillar would be unable to take its ideal share of the load. In this instance, in order to continue supporting the load of the roof (i.e. operational requirements), one or more of the remaining five pillars would need to be bolstered; this might look like the tactical professional paying extra attention to their nutrition and nervous system management. Clearly, a situation like this can’t be a long term solution and, thinking from a structural engineering perspective again, for these temporary asymmetrical weight distributions to be tolerated, the foundation of health needs to be as solid as possible.
Conclusion
The model is designed to provide the tactical professional with a way that they can visualize how they might buffer and tolerate the situations beyond their control, by utilizing strategies that they do have control over.
If you are interested in learning more about this, check out the full Cognitive Warrior System course, available on Thinkific.
Disclaimer
This program is designed to be educational, not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. George and Matt are trained strength and conditioning coaches, not healthcare providers; they don’t practice medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, nutrition, or psychology. If you are concerned about any aspect of your physical or mental health or feel that you may need medical care, SOFLETE strongly recommends you contact your health care provider. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you should dial 911 and ask for emergency medical assistance.Chapter 3 - The Pathway of the Tactical Professional
3.1 Introducing The Pathway of the Tactical Professional
The Tactical Professional Pathway
Unlike the sports athlete, with whom the tactical professional is so frequently compared, many of our individuals will serve 30+ year careers. During this time, not only does the individual age and see their personal needs change (e.g. becoming a spouse or parent etc) so too does the nature of their professional role (e.g. promotion or specialist training etc).
We've observed that currently the vast majority of attention in the tactical strength and conditioning space is focused on optimizing performance for a relatively narrow band of individuals. Indeed, a quick Google search of 'tactical strength and conditioning' results in a plethora of training programs and content geared towards improving rucking, hand-to-hand fighting or other equally specialist tasks. Granted, this is brilliant for those individuals who are required to conduct these elements on a daily basis, but is somewhat lacking given the broad spectrum of roles that fall within our domain.
In just the same way we wouldn’t simply dilute an Olympian’s training program for a high school or masters athlete, we feel that how we view and design the whole range of human performance support for the tactical population needs to evolve.
Consequently, we’ve attempted to create a framework that acknowledges and supports the changes in requirements and demands that the tactical professional, as well as the human underneath the uniform, is likely to face throughout their career.
Whilst not designed to be rigid, it should at least illustrate that your needs as a tactical professional will be different depending on where you are in your career. At Soflete, we aim to do all we can to support you, and those around you, wherever you are on the pathway.
Figure 4. The Tactical Professional Pathway
(Video: Matt ‘What is the tactical professional?’)
3.2 Phase 1 - Recruit/Basic Training (Transition from Civilian to Tactical)
Phase 1 - Recruit/Basic Training
Phase 1 encompasses the initial transition from civilian to tactical professional. In truth this phase probably technically starts from the first moment the individual decides to pursue a career within the tactical realm.
(Video: George: ‘Phase 1’)
Figure 5. Phase 1 human performance priorities
Obviously the chronological age that an individual is in phase 1 will vary; however, we feel the needs are going to be somewhat similar.
From experience, as well as exploring the research into basic training, regardless of the service, branch or even the nation that this training takes place in, the greatest threat to the tactical professional at this phase is suffering a musculoskeletal injury (MSKI).
Injury rates for personnel undergoing initial training are staggeringly high, leading to a significant drain on both the financial resources and also the overall readiness of that particular organization.
More importantly, however, research suggests that suffering an MSKI during initial training puts that individual at a significantly greater risk of injury and early career separation in the future.
Whilst the exact causes of MSKI at this phase are clearly multifactorial and complex, generally the majority of injuries appear to occur as a result of a mismatch between an individual's level of preparedness and the requirements or demands of the initial training course.
As many organizations are, quite rightly, determined to preserve and uphold their initial training output standards, probably the approach with the most potential to attempt to attenuate this risk is to increase the bio-psychosocial readiness of individuals before they enter the training pipeline.
With that said, attention needs to be paid to establishing a solid foundation of health and wellness (as discussed in The Temple Model of the CWS). Alongside this, we need to work on developing the individual’s movement literacy- i.e. their ability to successfully solve movement based problems and challenges, as well as their energy system capacities. Depending on the individual’s specific background and prior exposure to physical training, a degree of ‘backfilling’ and retrospective education may be required.
The SOFLETE ecosystem is perfectly placed to deliver this, as the combination of affordable high quality training programs and supportive educational content, means that the individual could begin their development independently prior to entering service; thus saving the public sector both time and money and helping to mitigate their own risk of MSKI and a shortened career.
3.3 Phase 2 - Specialist Training Pipelines
Phase 2 - Specialist Training Pipelines
Depending on the specific situation, phase 2 and 3 might blend together a little bit (e.g. completing general duties before returning to complete further training). However, for the purpose of this section, we’re considering phase 2 primarily as the period of time when specialist training takes place; for example, this might include training in the use of specific equipment or tactics. The main point is that whilst this phase can still be incredibly challenging, it’s generally less about simply surviving phase 1, but doesn’t have the chaos and unpredictability that comes with active duty in phase 3.
In an ideal world, the individual would have been adequately prepared for this phase, during phase 1; permitting a linear progression based upon these foundations and allowing the introduction of nuance based upon the desired specialization. With that, as the foundation of the temple (see Chapter 2) should now be solid, there can start to be a natural shift from a health and wellness focus, to one that is more performance orientated.
By this we mean that our hypothetical individual already understands how to live a healthy life, and can now look to utilize this in more role specific applications. For example, now that the importance of sleep, sleep hygiene and recovery have been well understood and practiced in the barrack block, we can progress to learning how best to utilize the sleep pillar, given the constraints of night time training missions.
(Video: Matt ‘Phase 2’)
Figure 6. Phase 2 human performance priorities
Developing role related motor skills and capacities is essentially a similar progression from that seen above. In phase 2, rather than needing to spend more time coaching the basic mechanics of a step or lunge movement pattern in the gym, we can move on to looking at the specifics of ladder climbing and breaching techniques, with incremental exposure to additional constraints like carrying operational gear or completing the task under fatigue or other environmental stressors.
In a similar vein, we strongly feel that phase 2 is about bridging the gap from phase 1 (initial entry), to the point where this individual is fully operational, and can add value without the risk of liability to themselves or those around them.
Consequently, we think there should be a transition towards performing any previously mastered skills (e.g. weapons handling) in increasingly demanding environments, specifically with the addition of cognitive load. This might take the form of occupationally relevant problem solving, or even the addition of integrating team dynamics, where both leadership and follower-ship are required, depending on the expected requirements of phase 3.
The SOFLETE training and education ecosystem is set up to help support personnel entering a wide range of specialist training pipelines; from BUD/S Prep to SFAS, tried and tested training cycles are available on the app- built by people who truly understand the roles and the demands required to fulfill them.3.4 Phase 3 - Duty (Live Ops/Shouts)
Phase 3 - Duty (Live Ops/Shouts)
This is the phase of the tactical professional pathway which attracts the most attention from the tactical strength and conditioning community as well as society generally (including the media). At this point, the individual is actively completing their role and learning how things happen in real life, this might be the firefighter completing live shouts or the soldier deploying on operations.
Figure 7. Phase 3 human performance priorities
From a human performance perspective, the emphasis now shifts to one of managing and maintaining the rigors of performing the job; much like our professional sport colleagues will do whilst in-season. Whilst physical and technical training absolutely should still be going on, any improvements in performance are a bonus rather than the main intention as we’re looking to direct as much of the available resources, the individual has, towards occupational performance.
Whilst this sounds counterintuitive and somewhat defeatist, think back to the professional sports example. Whilst an athlete is playing and actively competing in the NFL, NBA or MLS, they’re constantly honing their craft by completing the most specific preparation possible- actually playing the game. The purpose of training, and indeed the wider human performance team, is therefore to keep that player operating at the highest possible level, so that they can continue competing at that level.
This is no different for the tactical professional; rather than simply not training, it becomes more of a case of knowing what and how much stimulus to apply in order to support this.
(Video: George ‘Phase 3’)
This time can also be a great opportunity to encourage innovation and creativity, both in terms of the services the human performance team can offer the personnel, but also with regards to finding new ways to solve problems. This is especially the case when new or less experienced personnel arrive on a team, as they are able to offer a fresh perspective.
It is important to remember that during this phase, all aspects of human performance need to be as accessible, proactive and flexible as possible, in order to best serve the tactical professional and their support network (including their spouse, children and other close family and friends).
Here, again, the SOFLETE ecosystem can be a fantastic adjunct to any support staff working with tactical professionals in this phase, as we are able to offer remote easily accessible training programs and educational support for large numbers of individuals right across the spectrum of the tactical world.3.5 Phase 4 - Duty (Admin' & Leadership)
Phase 4 - Duty (Admin' & Leadership)
This phase applies equally well to the more traditional tactical career pathway (i.e. seeing a gradual progression up the rank structure, with increasing command type roles), as to individuals working in the tactical world, but perhaps in a more administrative or less kinetic role.
Figure 8. Phase 4 human performance priorities
As we’ve mentioned previously, this portion of the tactical community has classically received far less attention than phase 3, perhaps as it’s less marketable or simply less well understood. This is despite the growing need to support the increasing number of individuals in such roles, as the nature of warfare and other tactical occupations change, due to an increased reliance on unmanned technology and data.
In these roles, we typically see an increase in sedentary requirements (i.e. being ‘desk-bound’) as well as higher levels of chronic psychological stress, that frequently accompany responsibilities like meeting deadlines or managing personnel. Sometimes, but not always, these roles come with seniority; a factor often accompanied by increased chronological age and the associated ‘baggage’ of things like mortgage payments, kids’ college fees as well as increased risk for ill-health and chronic disease that naturally occur with aging.
Consequently, at phase 4 we feel there should be a shift back towards health and wellness being the focus of human performance, whilst also providing ample opportunities to use exercise and physical training as a tool for down-regulation and stress relief. Playing social sports and games can be a great way to encourage this, and it also allows these individuals to ‘scratch’ their competitive itch in a relatively controlled environment.
These sports and similar activities can also be extremely useful as they are an incredible leveler. In very few other situations within the, largely rigidly hierarchical, tactical world can high ranking desk officers interact freely and in a relaxed setting with phase 2 or 3 personnel.
From personal experience, these kinds of interactions can be highly valuable as they present a great opportunity to facilitate open and honest discussion and problem solving, without the constraints of rank and ceremony; thus allowing each party to gain a far clearer insight into the others’ perspective or situation.
(Video: Matt ‘Phase 4’)
For phase 4 personnel retaining this link and connection to the ‘coal face’ provides a plethora of benefits. From allowing them to make more informed decisions, due to having a greater connection and understanding with the personnel working for them, to keeping them feeling truly connected to the organization they serve.
As ever, SOFLETE is in a somewhat unique position to serve these individuals as the company is founded and staffed by people who understand the journey and nuance of the tactical pathway, as they have been there themselves. Consequently, we can provide tailored training programming, content and advice, based on first hand experience as well as academic insight. 3.6 Phase 5 - Retirement (Transition from Tactical to Civilian)
Phase 5 - Retirement and Transition Back to Civilian Life
Phase 5 frequently appears to be the most overlooked portion of the tactical pathway, but is arguably one of the most important; as the habits and trajectory that are set here seem to significantly influence the degree of success the individual will have when transitioning out of a tactical career.
Figure 9. Phase 5 human performance priorities
For most, a significant amount of time and personal sacrifice is tied up in what it means to be a tactical professional, so the transition back to civilian life can understandably be bumpy.
Again, this is where considering and leveraging human performance can really add value.
Phase 5 is a great time to really concentrate on making sure that the foundation of health and wellness (see Chapter 2) is as solid as possible, from an holistic biopsychosocial perspective (see Chapter 4). This might well involve a little re-education, either due to the individual potentially losing sight of some aspects of health and wellness, or perhaps more likely, because research and current best practice recommendations have changed!
(Video: George ‘Phase 5’)
We feel this needs to be paired with one of our overarching philosophies, that prevention is better than cure. Specifically this might look like creating a personalized preventative medicine plan, with the help of a medical expert. This could include things like identifying any potentially problematic areas for the future- for instance airborne forces being advised on steps to take to ameliorate or mitigate the risk of future knee or hip dysfunction, as well as signposting services and resources that can provide assistance or guidance if/when required.
Finally, but perhaps most importantly, sport, games and physical training can provide great opportunities for not only maintaining links with the tactical community, but also to help foster and develop a new community with similar interests, in the civilian world.
SOFLETE can offer support here too, not only are we a community of like minded individuals made up of both serving and retired tactical professionals, we have direct access to some of the finest medical, financial and career advice services in the country. 3.7 The Pathway of The Tactical Professional Summary
The Pathway of The Tactical Professional Summary
- Priorities and needs will change throughout a tactical career
- Be mindful of this and where possible, pre-emptive
- Create plans that allow you to adapt to new and changing environments
-Wherever possible, include and consider those in your support network
(Video: George ‘The other 23 hours’)
We understand that the needs of the tactical professional will be extremely diverse and will change as the individual moves through their career and life.
Remember, this model is not designed to be overly prescriptive or categorical; we simply want to emphasize the commitment from SOFLETE to support the tactical professional, as well as those around them, throughout their life and career.
#DieLiving
Head over to the discussion forum to share your thoughts on the different priorities you've experienced throughout your career. Are there any tips or strategies you would recommend that have helped with your personal and professional success or longevity?
Chapter 4 - Stress Theory
4.1 An Introduction to The Biopsychosocial Approach
An Introduction to The Biopsychosocial Approach
The biopsychosocial model was developed by Engel in the 1970s, and was an attempt to incorporate psychological (e.g. thoughts and emotions) and social (e.g. work issues and family circumstances) considerations into a patient's care, alongside the more traditionally considered biological factors. This interdisciplinary approach has since proven very popular and effective in the medical, rehabilitation and more recently wider human performance settings. Adopting a more holistic approach allows the practitioner to gain a deeper understanding of the patient, or athlete’s, needs; rather than simply seeing them as a two-dimensional set of symptoms or a list of 1 rep max weights on a training spreadsheet.
When considering the biopsychosocial model from a more applied perspective, it is important to appreciate that all three aspects (i.e. the biological, psychological and sociological) can both independently and simultaneously receive input from the outside world, as well as provide output responses. For instance, if your colleague’s husband is having a bad day, this could be consciously and/or subconsciously picked up by your colleague. This might affect their mood and subsequent behavior, which would then have a knock-on effect for you; ultimately causing a psychological (e.g. a sense of frustration) and then physiological response (e.g. an increase in sympathetic stimulation) in your system.
When bringing this model to human performance within the tactical environment, it is essential to acknowledge the tight knit and close working nature of this population. Clearly, this forces us to consider not only the biopsychosocial factors affecting any one individual, but also any potential ‘ripple effects’ caused by the chain of regular interpersonal interactions- amongst both personal support networks as well as fellow team members.
(Video: George ‘Stress Theory’)
Whilst all this might initially seem overwhelming, a useful place to start is by learning the basics of the biopsychosocial model. Even a relatively rudimentary understanding will allow you to start rationalizing your feelings and emotions, in order to effectively become an individual circuit-breaker to potential dysfunction, to help promote an optimized working environment.
From here, introducing the ‘Be Your Own Scientist’ concept can empower each individual to establish various, relevant biofeedback baselines (such as sleep quality, resting heart rate or HRV etc). Having clear, even if basic, normative data can highlight the relevance of the links between the biological, psychological and sociological and provide an ‘early warning system’ for potential problems in the future.
Once established, it is then possible to not only implement strategies (e.g. down-regulation breathing techniques) to help counter any potentially deleterious effects, brought about by external stressors; but also to provide a benchmark against which you can independently test any new or novel techniques and strategies for their effectiveness, on a personalized scale.4.2 Acute Stress
Acute Stress
Acute stress and the associated psychophysiological response covers the stimulus (e.g. a loud unexpected noise), the person’s response and perception of threat (e.g. is that likely to harm me?) and the corresponding response both physically (e.g. increased heart rate, blood pressure and stress hormone release) and psychologically (e.g. peripheral narrowing, increased focus/attention and fight/flight/freeze response).
The degree of the acute stress response to a particular stressor is multifactorial and can depend on a myriad of factors such as prior exposure and experience, genetic predisposition and perceived threat level. For instance, if someone were to burst a balloon close to you unexpectedly, you would probably react differently compared to if you were to burst the balloon yourself.
Regardless of the nature of the stressor, sufficient perceived threat will induce a fight, flight or freeze reaction- whereby the body’s system(s) prepare themselves for combat or evasion, with increased resource availability, in the form of energy and blood flow; or in the case of the latter (freeze), the system is so overwhelmed by the threat that it is unable to respond appropriately. Again, using that bursting balloon example, you may have felt or seen these responses; like someone reacting aggressively or trying to move away from the sound, or even simply freezing for a few seconds.
It’s important to recognize that in modern life, but particularly within the tactical professions, exposure to acute stress is extremely common; something which is relatively costly for the individual. Each time an acute stress response occurs, resources are temporarily reallocated by the body; often to the detriment of processes that are important to longer term human health like digestion, tissue repair and even immune function.
Under ‘normal’ circumstances, following each acute stress response the body attempts to return to it’s normal resting state- known as homeostasis. This process is illustrated by the three stage model, as part of Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (see Figure 10).
Figure 10. The Three Stage Model of Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome
The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Model
(Video: George ‘ The GAS Model’)
The general adaptation syndrome (GAS) is a 3-stage model, first proposed by Dr. Hans Selye, to describe how all biological organisms respond and adapt to stress in their environment. According to Dr. Selye “Stress is the sum of the body's responses to disturbances of the homeostasis. The source of the stress is called the stressor. A stressor is any event or occurrence, internal or external to the body, that disrupts homeostasis, forcing the body to use its biological resources to resist (during), and adapt to (after), the stress.”
3 Stages Model
Stage 1 (Alarm Phase): Starts when a stressors is introduced. This phase has 2 sub-phases.
Shock Phase: The body's initial resistance to the stressor is pretty low due to the athlete not being ready for it. Resulting in a drop below our normal homeostasis below we go into the next sub phase.
Counter-shock: Is activated once the body recognizes the stressor. Once this happens, our sympathetic nervous system kicks in which is the “Fight or Flight Mode” response. Depending on the biological response this will determine if we are going to fight or flee. This is that feeling of increase in the heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. Which now other chemical responses take over, which is the cortisol is released.
Stage 2 (Resistance Phase): That current stress is what causes disturbances in our homeostasis. Our body wants to remain at the normal levels of homeostasis, but if this was the case we would never get better. Our body’s are meant for stress and adaptation. But due to the body only being able to handle certain amounts at a time. We are not getting better at the time, the body is in such a high state of working to regulate the stressors that we must recover from after the session. The more stress we inflict on the athlete at the one time, will take that much longer to recover. So being able to get into the resistance phase and out of it as quickly as possible is key to prompt longevity in the SOFlete Athlete.
Recovery: Adoption requires recovery. The end state for the recovery phase ends up increasing muscle mass, strength and a neurally and metabolically human. During supercompensation the body will end up improving not only the imposed stressors, but becomes resilient to that stress. The body doesn’t just have to repair the stressors we just inflicted on our homeostasis, but needs to be ready for whatever is next.
Exhaustion: This is caused when the body uses up all the resources to help the body recover and have any sort of adoption. Which ends up leaving the body depleted. This now will have a negative effect. With pushing the body into exhaustion we are passing the line of no return, meaning even removing the stressor, won’t do anything for that athlete. Now when we look at recovery it has now become a stressor, why cause we have no energy to recover at all. There are a couple ways we can look to help get us out of this.
The Implications For Training
Training is a stressor that places a variety of demands on the body. The transition from a sedentary work day into training requires the proper elevation of stress over a system in order to prevent injury. This is why we focus on proper warmups for each training session. Warms up are not meant to leave you tired, they are meant to help prime the system for what is to come next. Utilizing the 3 stage model as an example, our warm ups start the Alarm Phase.
The level of cortisol which is raised by stress is determined by the intensity and duration of training. Ideally we don't want to stay in any phase any longer than we need to. As a general rule the more stressors placed on any given system the longer it will take for people to recover. Once we have completed our training session the goal is to get whatever cortisol that is left out of our system. We now have entered the recovery / exhaustion phase.
Recovery is one of the most difficult phases to manage with athletes. Recovery isn’t sexy but our lifestyles outside the gym prompt the recovery from each training session. More is not better. Creating proper recovery protocols at the end of each day is the key to longevity. We want long term adaptations to our life. Your body will be the first to let you know as you near exhaustion and as a result you will see a decrease in performance, weakness, fatigue, lack of appetite, poor sleep quality and general irritability.
Figure 11. Supercompensation Positive
Each component of SOFlete programming is equally important from our warm ups to our evening recovery. If we want to see adaptations we must not tap into the exhaustion phase and properly recover in order to stimulate ‘supercompensation positive’ (see Figure 11).4.3 Chronic Stress
An Introduction to Chronic Stress
As we've previously mentioned, stress is often only ever perceived as negative; the word classically brings to mind images like overweight corporate desk jockeys, sweating profusely as they work on spreadsheets! In reality, we often forget the other side of the coin; that stress is actually necessary for adaptation and survival. Think about the last time you hit a PR in the gym- the cumulative stress induced from your training provided enough of a stimulus that your body adapted to it and hence had new capabilities that weren’t previously possible.
In the periodization of training plans, we leverage the concepts of overload and adaptation in order to sacrifice short term fatigue for long term fitness. For instance, to continue that PR example, in a given training session, we knowingly provide the system enough training stimulus (i.e. load) that it will be sufficiently fatigued to the point where it will start to adapt. So immediately following the training session, performance will be worse as the amount of fatigue outweighs the level of fitness. It’s only with sufficient rest and recovery that fatigue dissipates and the system adapts, ready for a new stimulus and we see performance improve. This concept, known as supercompensation, is outlined in Figure 11 and shows a range of possible outcomes to the application of varying degrees of training stimuli; something we’ll discuss in more depth in a later section.
So with that said, we’d like to evolve the conversation a little bit from the traditional “stress = bad’’ notion and understand that just like most things, there is some nuance to this. We appreciate that stress (and often very high levels at that) are a common part of being a tactical professional, there’s simply no avoiding that. However, we feel that if we can equip you with the right tools, we should be able to alter your perception and recoverability for the better, thus enhancing your ability to manage the daily stressors associated with modern life; something that will undoubtedly increase your longevity both as a human and a professional.
Firstly we need to simply accept the incredible complexity that comes with trying to navigate a multifactorial system such as the human stress response. Appreciating this permits us some grace and helps to ensure that we focus on just trying to go in the right general direction, without becoming overwhelmed by all the details.
(Video: George ‘Stress Theory’)
With this in mind it can be helpful to consider all stress as a global ‘currency’, rather than trying to quantify and track individual sources like training load, occupationally related stress or things at home, as separate entities. Whilst a little reductionist, think back to that ‘cup of stress’ model (see Chapter 2); essentially any stress, regardless of the type is effectively liquid slowly filling up your cup. As we said, we’re not overly concerned, at least at the outset, with you worrying about trying to figure out exactly how much stress is coming from each source; we just need you to have a rough idea of how fast that stress cup is filling up and how much room (or buffer space) you have before it overflows. From a practical standpoint, this allows you to stay ahead and hopefully mitigate this, through the effective use of strategies like those covered in the CWS (see Chapter 2).
Further to this, it should also be noted that there’s a huge amount of individual differences in our perception of stress, so things that might be extremely successful for me (e.g. completing my tax return) might not be stressful for you; likewise our perception of stress can change with time, experiences and even context. For instance, whilst completing that tax return might not feel stressful now, if last year you were audited and received a hefty fine, this year might invoke a slightly stronger stress response.
One place to start with this is by getting into the habit of conducting regular tactical check-ins (see Chapter 2); we’d suggest you complete one at the start of the day (just after waking) and one on completion of your shift/duty, before heading home, as an absolute minimum. However, given that with practice they’ll take no more than 30-60 seconds to complete, conducting them more frequently throughout the day is recommended. All you’ll do during this time is take something of an internal inventory on how you’re feeling (see Chapter 2 for more details). Over time, as you become more self aware, you’ll be able to get more accurate at gauging those feelings and you should even start to be able to connect up the reason(s) behind why you feel this way. Just like when you first started using Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) in the gym, this might sound like just another thing that you have to try to squeeze in, but as you continue to track your progress you’ll quickly see the value of adding these minimally invasive check-ins into your day.
Establishing this baseline is extremely useful, as it then allows you have a stable reference point, against which you can better determine the consequences, or ‘cost’, of different aspects of your life; such as a light versus a stressful work day (see Chapter 2), or the effects of a 60 minute ruck versus a 60 minute weights session for instance. Again, these may sound like trivial justifications; but in the same way that understanding your body in terms of its current capabilities, capacities and strengths and weaknesses, helps guide your physical training; the more you can understand your system as a whole, the more apparent the effects of different activities and tasks will become. This ultimately allows for the holy grail of human performance- a more individualized approach to things like your training, nutrition, recovery protocols and life generally.
In summary, a useful metaphor for understanding chronic stress is to think about your capacity to tolerate stress being like your credit score. In order to increase your credit score, it's not enough to just avoid spending money; you need to spend some, but not so much that you are unable to pay back what you owe. Stress is the same, if we try to avoid stress, then just like an untouched bank account our capacity to tolerate stress doesn't ever improve. Instead we need to accept that life will expose us to varying levels of stress, and it's up to us to find the most effective and efficient ways to pay back these debts every month. Just like with finances, there are many different options available to achieve this, and the key is finding the combination that suits your current circumstances whilst being flexible enough that you can adapt to unpredictable events.
Once you have a handle on this, you’ll be able to adopt a much more flexible and proactive approach to coping with the stressors that both a tactical career and everyday life throw at you.
Summary
What is a Tactical Professional?
“This refers to anybody working in law enforcement, fire, military or any other first response role. Specifically, it focuses on those who require unique physical and psychological training in order to help mitigate the increased risk they face, of mental and/or physical harm in the line of duty.”
What Are The Characteristics That Make a Successful Tactical Professional?
Physical |
Psychological |
Strength, Power & Speed (relative & absolute) |
Problem Solving/Creative (under pressure) |
Stamina & Endurance (all 3 energy systems) |
Team Minded (Leadership & Followership) |
Robustness (''injury proof'') |
Determination/Resilience |
Adaptability (to novel situations) |
Adaptability (to novel situations) |
The more opportunities the tactical professional gets to perform their role, the more practiced and experienced they become, and the better they get at performing it. However, to be able to do this, they need to be resilient enough, both physiologically and psychologically, in order to survive completing these ‘reps’.
What is The Cognitive Warrior System?
The SOFLETE Cognitive Warrior System works to develop the human, in order to optimize the professional.
Through enhancing sleep quality, nutritional behaviors and psychophysiological preparation, this system promotes resilience to physical, psychological and occupational stressors. Ultimately promoting robustness and longevity to life and career.
It comprises 6 pillars: Sleep, Nutrition, Heart health, Nervous System Management, Psychological state and Occupational stress.
The Temple Model is the way we illustrate how the Cognitive Warrior System could be implemented in real life.
The roof of the temple represents the occupational demands of the tactical professional; be that a military deployment cycle or a first responder shift pattern. This ‘weight’ is not something we have the luxury of being able to make lighter- i.e. we don’t have the option to just not show up for a deployment or shift, consequently we need to find the most effective and efficient way to support that load.
This is where the 6 pillars come into play. The Cognitive Warrior System offers strategies for learning to manipulate the different pillars, in order to support the load of the roof/occupational demand.
All of this relies on a solid foundation of human health, as this provides the required flexibility to temporarily add additional load to one or more pillars as needed.
The Phases of a Tactical Career
We recognize that as a tactical professional moves through both their life and career, their needs and priorities will shift.
Rather than leaving their ability to recognize and handle these changes up to chance, we’ve created a framework to help support the individual through these different phases and transitions.
We feel there are 5 main phases of a tactical career: Recruit/Basic Training, Specialist Training Pipelines, Duty (Live Ops/Shouts), Duty (Admin’ and Leadership) and Retirement.
Within each of these, we believe there are certain aspects of health and performance that should receive different amounts of attention, in order to support longevity.
Stress
Understanding both acute and chronic stress is extremely important; in order to thrive as both a human and tactical professional we need a relatively carefully regulated amount of each.
Too little and there isn’t enough stimulus to adapt to the high levels of exposure that comes with duty or operations. However, too much can result in overwhelm, exhaustion and a whole host of negative consequences.
This is where using tools like the Cognitive Warrior System and the Temple Model help provide starting points for gaining and then maintaining control over.
Next Steps
- If you’ve enjoyed the content so far, we’d strongly recommend that you check out our other educational resources like the Soflete YouTube Channel, blog or social media.
- Try putting some of the things you've learnt into practice. Start by thinking about which phase of the tactical career you're in; based on your priorities and circumstances, consider the 6 different CWS pillars and try to identify an area where you feel you could make some improvements. Using the content within that respective section, make a plan of action- choose 2-3 protocols and work out how you might implement them into your day, don't be afraid to adjust them to fit your needs. If possible, find a way to incorporate or involve those in your support network. Then aim to implement these changes for 2 weeks, being flexible and adaptable as needed; it can help to create contingency plans for those moments where life goes off script! At the end of those 2 weeks, take some time (ideally with your support network), to reassess and see if you've made progress in your desired area. We aren't worried if it isn't perfect, we just want you to be moving in the right direction.
- When you feel confident that you understand the content covered in this module, attempt the assessment. This will help you to identify areas that you have a good grasp of, as well as where you might need to spend some additional time. We feel it's important that you thoroughly understand the content covered in this module, as this will set the foundation from which all future education will be built upon.
- Once you've completed the assessment, feel free to get started on Module 002; we look forward to seeing you there.
Die LivingAssessment
- Which of these is Soflete's definition of a tactical professional? (choose one)
- Those who operate in uniform and are required to carry a firearm for duty.
- Those who require unique physical and psychological training in order to help mitigate the increased risk, they face, of mental and/or physical harm in the line of duty.
- Those who are subjected to high levels of psychological and physiological stress on a regular basis, including through overseas deployments or rotating shifts.
- Which of these are physical characteristics that Soflete deems important for a successful tactical professional? (choose one)
- Stamina and endurance
- Muscle mass and low body fat
- Large height and wingspan
- Which of these psychological characteristics does Soflete deem important for a successful tactical professional? (choose one)
- Team minded
- Photographic memory
- Aptitude for foreign languages
- Ultimately, how does an individual get better at their tactical role? (choose one)
- Increasing their fitness
- Spending more time on the range
- Gaining more experience completing their role
- What might be a sign that sleep is dysfunctional? (choose one)
- The need to use sleep medication
- Feeling refreshed upon waking
- Falling asleep within 5-10 minutes of going to bed
- Which of these does Soflete recommend to improve sleep quality? (choose one)
- Creating a to-do list for the next day
- Taking sleep medication
- Consuming caffeine immediately upon waking
- What is the first factor Soflete considers when looking at nutrition and hydration? (choose one)
- Supplement use
- Protein consumption
- Calorie balance
- What does Soflete think is wrong with the ''just drink more water'' strategy? (choose one)
- More bathroom breaks
- Potential to increase body mass (through water retention)
- The risk of diluting electrolyte levels
- Which of these are signs that your heart health is good? (choose one)
- Running performance
- Resting heart rate of 40-60bpm
- Resting heart rate of 80-100bpm
- Which of these might indicate a dysfunctional psychological state? (choose one)
- Problems with memory recall
- Food intolerances/allergies
- Poor arithmetic ability
- Which of these might be useful to track when trying to improve psychological state? (choose one)
- Range performance
- IQ Test results
- Daily mood
- Which of these components make up the central nervous system (CNS)? (choose one)
- Sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways
- Brain and spinal cord
- Afferent and efferent nerves
- True or False - The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for initiating the ''fight or flight'' response.
- True
- False
- Which of these would stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system? (choose one)
- Perform 30 rapid breaths, trying to minimize any pauses between inhale and exhale
- Clench your jaw and fist as tight as possible and perform sharp, aggressive inhales
- Perform 10 long slow exhales, to the point of mild air hunger (through your nose)
- What are Occupational Exertion Units? (choose one)
- How difficult and stressful your work day was
- Rate of perceived exertion multiplied by the length of shift/duty
- Average heart rate over the duration of the shift/duty
- Which of these might indicate that the ability to handle occupational stress is becoming compromised? (choose one)
- You frequently experience conflict in your home-work life balance
- You feel valued by coworkers, or those up and down the chain of command
- You work more than 50 hours per week, or spend greater than 6 months of the year away from home
- What should be the human performance priority for those in phase 4 of the tactical career pathway? (choose one)
- Health and wellness
- Power and explosive strength development
- Rucking performance
- Which of these is a likely physiological response to acute stress? (choose one)
- Lowered heart rate and blood pressure
- Increased salivation
- Peripheral narrowing
- What are the 3 main stages of Selye's Stress Model? (choose one)
- Shock, resistance and adaptation/exhaustion
- Alarm, fatigue and hypertrophy
- Exhaustion, adaptation and recovery
- True or False - Everybody experiences stress in the same way
- True
- False
After Action ReportModule 002Overview of Module 002
Course Overview
Welcome to Module 002.
Now that you've built a solid understanding for how we view human performance in the tactical setting, we can start discussing the practical application of this theory. Over this module we'll break down exactly how and why we program the various components of each training cycle the way we do; we'll offer advice and suggestions for how to further refine both our programming within the app as well as your own training.
Die Living!
Human Performance Team Disclaimer
Within the Human Performance Team here at Soflete, we always try to provide you with what we feel are the best practices within the tactical space. As such, our thoughts and approaches are constantly evolving as we (and the rest of the community) continue to learn more about how to optimize both the health and performance of the tactical professional. With that in mind, at the time of publishing this course we have supplied what we feel is the most current and accurate content possible, along with methods and approaches that we are using in real time. We will endeavor to update this course, as this best practice advances and fully reserve the right to ''change our answers'' as needed!
It should also be pointed out here that we strongly encourage practitioners to critically appraise any and all content provided herein, and then decide for themselves (and their personnel) whether this is the optimal approach for their situation. At SOFLETE we acknowledge that with all aspects of human performance, there are many different ways to successfully support the tactical professional. Readers should therefore not feel pressured towards adopting the same way of thinking as us; if anything, we would much rather you took our content and adapted it for your own specific needs and then shared your findings and conclusions with us. After all, a rising tide lifts all ships.Meet Your Instructors
George C. Briones III (Human Performance Coach:
George is a former United States Marine Sergeant who served as a Reconnaissance Communicator, where he spent time in the trenches in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting the nations war. Directly after his deployments he reenlisted and transfer over to the Basic Reconnaissance Course, where he served as a Recon Tactical Instructor, where he train Marines attempting to make it through the rigors of Recon Selection. George left the Marines to chase a passion in Strength and Conditioning, where he has spent the last decade plus working with Tactical Professionals. George is currently in his senior year of College where he will attain a BS in Sport Psychology. He also is accredited Tactical Strength and Conditioning in the US with the NSCA, and holds a number of different inter-ships, coaching, and athletic experience.
Matt Sanderson (Human Performance Coach):
Matt is a former Royal Air Force sergeant Physical Training Instructor, where he specialized as an Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor. He holds a master's degree in Strength and Conditioning (S&C) and is an accredited S&C Coach both here in the US (with the NSCA) and back in the UK (with the UKSCA).
What is SOFLETE?
(Video: Youtube ‘What is SOFLETE?’)
SOFLETE is a group of current and former SOF personnel who are also accomplished athletic coaches, combined with non-SOF experts in the fitness industry.
SOFLETE was born out of necessity.
As members of the community we were always posed two questions: How do we build the athletic capabilities of our bodies, as well as prevent and fix injury?
The philosophy is that it’s hard to be hard and it’s hard to be smart. Push hard in big lifts and sprints and when your body tells you it’s hurt, take the time to heal. After years of pushing through minor injuries and prolonging our rehab we realized there HAD to be a better way.
We've also learned there is more to fitness than "go run till you can't run" In a small team there is no such thing as "relative strength".
You're either a strong performer, or somebody else is pulling your slack.Chapter 5 - Movement
? 5.1. How To Look At Movement (or similar)
Filming Ideas:
This could potentially be the intro to this chapter and feature content from slide 87.
Essentially we film the BRCC guys training in the gym (performing common patterns- e.g. squat, press, deadlift etc) and we use this as a vehicle to explain terms and concepts like types of muscle action, planes of motion, flexion/extension/abduction etc, agonist/antagonist/stabilizers etc.
The goal would be for this to be all video/exercise based, rather than a whiteboard lesson; then we can include a brief glossary for the terms here in text.
The SOFLETE Training Glossary
Center of Mass:
Balance:
Range of Motion:
Agonist:
Antagonist:
Stabilizer:
Synergist:
Eccentric Contraction:
Isometric Contraction (and the Amortization Phase):
Concentric Contraction:
The Stretch-Shortening Cycle:
The Anatomical Position:
Flexion:
Extension:
Abduction:
Adduction:
Rotation:
Circumduction:
Planes of Motion:
Frontal:
Sagittal:
Transverse:
Axes of Rotation:
X-Axis:
Y-Axis:
Z-Axis:
Open Skills:
Closed Skills:5.1 Movement Literacy
Filming Ideas
Talking through movement literacy (in front of a blackboard) and then demonstrating these concepts in the gym?
Movement Literacy
The concept of movement literacy attempts to draw a parallel between an athlete learning to move proficiently in order that they may be able to solve ‘movement problems’, with that of a child learning to use words and language to solve ‘communication problems’ (see Figure 12).
Figure 12. Writing vs. Movement Literacy
Contemplating movement and training in this way is a relatively big departure from the traditional bodybuilding framework of training muscles in isolation in order to enhance performance. However, we feel that training can have a far deeper transfer if time is taken to educate the athlete to be more efficient at solving the movement problems or challenges that they might face in the chaotic and hyper-pressurized tactical environment.
However, as with teaching literacy it’s important to start off by ensuring the student has a sound grasp of the basics, before layering in complexity.
In a similar way to when a child first starts learning to make noises that are associated with seeing a particular person or object (e.g. “Dadda”), the first phase of learning movement literacy is also usually fairly organic and learned through play and experimentation (e.g. an infant rolling into a prone position, or the cross crawl pattern).
With the start of more formalized academic education comes the drawing of individual letters of the alphabet. This would loosely correspond to learning simple movement patterns like squatting, hinging or pressing overhead; whilst some form of these will probably be developed organically, their refinement might require some coaching.
Just like with drawing each letter of the alphabet, there is usually a clear start and end point to each movement (e.g. in the squat, you start and finish with full hip extension), which can provide a good reference point to the learner, whilst still allowing for some individual variability between these points, to take into account internal and/or external constraints (more on this later).
In fact whilst beyond the scope of this section, actually encouraging some controlled movement variability, such as that seen in much of Frans Bosch’s work, can be extremely beneficial as it teaches the individual to more effectively cope with the inevitable nuances (or fluctuations) that accompany movement in the real world. For example, it is very rare for the tactical professional to be required to manipulate a perfectly balanced object with ergonomic handles/grips; far more likely, they will be required to move something awkward and difficult to grip. Consequently by exposing the individual to controlled amounts of variability in movement execution, they will be more used to creating novel solutions to a particular pattern, in order to solve the movement problem.
The combining of individual letters to make words represents the progression from the basic patterns discussed above, to more complex movements- such as performing a push jerk, compared to the strict press.
In the same way that words allow more expression than individual letters, these more complex movements typically allow the individual to more effectively interact with objects and situations they may face in the real world. For example, if needing to load a heavy object to the back of a high-sided wagon, some form of the push press would be more efficient than performing a strict press. As with language literacy, whilst care should be taken to ensure the basic rules of spelling and grammar are followed, encouraging the creative use, and adaptation where necessary, of these patterns in order to solve a given movement problem, is key.
The ability to combine words in order to express a thought or idea is similar to having the ability to flow from one basic movement pattern to another. This allows for a significant increase in available movement options. In the previous example of needing to load a wagon, by being able to combine the hinge, lunge and then some kind of vertical press, allows even awkward objects to be lifted from the floor and moved overhead.
Typically these kinds of complex movement patterns are also seen in sport- such as when throwing a javelin or performing a clean and jerk.
For many, having the ability to perform these kinds of movements is sufficient for most eventualities in daily life. However, for the athlete and the tactical professional, an additional layer of mastery is required.
Just as rhetoric, the ability to respond to and articulate an elegant argument, is a vital tool for the politician; the requirement to be able to respond effectively to novel movement problems, often in highly pressurized environments, is critical for the performance and longevity of the tactical professional. This ‘adaptability’ is something that we prioritize at SOFLETE and will explore in greater depth in later sections.
Whilst this analogy can be useful for visualizing how movement proficiency can be progressively developed; it is important to recognize that just with learning language literacy, this process is rarely linear and there can be considerable variation in an individual’s ability. Especially with tactical professionals, relatively few of these individuals are or were elite sport athletes, and many carry injuries and responsive movement compensations. Consequently, a thorough assessment of each individual’s movement literacy is important and may dictate the necessity to retrospectively develop these layers before adding in any further complexity.
At SOFLETE, we firmly believe that any tactically specific performance training should be built upon a solid foundation of health and wellness; and this includes movement literacy.
Therefore when constructing training sessions, exercise selection should be based around driving continual athletic development, rather than just because a particular exercise choice is hard or causes an aggressive metabolic response.
Within this, we need to ensure that we consistently revisit and refine the execution of basic movement patterns, to equip the individual with the ability to rapidly modify these patterns, in order to permit them a wide range of options for any situation. 5.2 What are the 4 Ms of Movement?
Filming Ideas
-George discussing the theory (blackboard based), then demonstrating it in the gym from an applied perspective
Movement Development (The 4 Ms)
Movement development in training is critical to developing long-term adaptation and maintaining a growth mindset. SOFLETE stresses a wide range of movement that requires athletes to move optimally and quickly acquire new skills to develop a better range of motion. The ability to tolerate load under an increased range of motion is CRITICAL to injury prevention and a requirement for optimal human performance.
Motor control: Fundamentally, motor control is the integration of sensory information, both about the world and the current state of the body, to determine the appropriate set of muscle forces and joint activations to generate some desired movement or action. Motor control is a continually evolving integration and requires the continual practice of the athlete.
Movement Quality: Percussive and Sustaining. Percussive movements start and stop, giving a sharp definition between positions. In sustaining movements, we look for fluid, organic motions as they move from one position to the next. Percussive and sustaining movement qualities show that changing energy is essential to the effect of a movement.
Movement Patterns: Our bodies' biomechanics demand us to be different than any one person we are not the same. That means the way one person squats, means the other athlete will have to find what best fits them, we can give specific cues to set a foundation but the athlete will naturally move into what fits them. When we look at this, we can break a movement down like the squat into, the way the hip hinges, and the knee bends, does the ankle move properly, are the knee caving in or they tracking naturally over the toes.
Movement Variability: Is defined as the normal variations that occur in motor performance across multiple repetitions of a task (Stergiou & Decker, 2011). Bernstein described movement variability quite eloquently as “repetition without repetition." Movement variability is important in any training plan due to the unique set of requirements for each athlete.
“When it comes down to how the SOFLETE athlete moves we must approach this with lower stress/skill movements to higher stress/skill movements.”
George Briones, Head of Human Performance for SOFLETE5.3 The Ground Up Approach
Filming Ideas
-George discussing the theory behind the ground up approach (blackboard) and then coaching Matt/BRCC team through the movements in the gym and explaining the purpose
-Discussing the joint by joint approach (in a practical setting) - showing how the different joints move and why this matters from a loading/training perspective
-Possibly discuss motion analysis (We could add George's movement screener stuff here)?
Ground Up Approach?
We push, crawl, walk, and run with every individual that joins Soflete. We go through a progression of breathing drills that take them from less challenging positions through more challenging positions. It is part of our approach to teach our personnel how to use their breathing and bracing to place their spine in safe positions for loading and explosive movements, as well as to teach how to provide a solid base for their limbs to move on. This base will allow for full joint motion and will aid in minimizing muscle imbalances. Our personnel are taught to move properly through a series of positions which we call “The Big 4.” These positions teach our personnel how to brace and stabilize in a controllable sequence.
The Big 4
The 4 Main Breathing Postures we focus on are the following:
90/90 Breathing
Side Lying Clam Shell
Quadruped
Half Kneeling / Tall Kneeling
90/90 Breathing
We use this position as an every day prep for teaching how to create a natural spine and improve core stability in getting the body warmed up. Why is the 90/90 the go-to for us here at the gym? We see a lot of over extension of the lower back in squatting and pressing postures which limits the amount of weight that we can load through our spine. We use the floor to teach the individual how to feel a neutral spine position. In this position we go through a series of breathing drills that trains diaphragmatic breathing and uses rib cage position as feedback for the athlete.
Side Lying Clam Shell
We use this position for activation of the glutes and adductors on a stable pelvis. By properly activating the hip musculature in the side-lying position the athlete can learn proper muscle coordination and sequencing to improve hip motion. Often times an athlete will mistakenly assume that their hips are “tight” when in reality their joint has the necessary motion, but when untrained their muscles will often create an imbalance around the joint that stops the athlete from achieving full squat depth and using their joint through the full range. The side-lying position also offers a solid base to improve upper body rotation and thoracic spine mobility. When I see an individual who has problems with their over head position, or if we are looking to warm up for overhead work and pressing, I will have them go through a series of side-lying drills that locks the lower body in place, but encourages thoracic and shoulder blade movement to improve upper body mobility.
Quadruped
We love this position because it offers much variety for limb motion on a stable trunk, . We can use this position to teach the athlete to squat below parallel by focusing on keeping a stable midline and neutral spine. We also use this position as a foundation for reaching and pulling to teach the athlete how keep a stable core, and to understand that the arms and legs are able to move while maintaining a neutral spine.
Half Kneeling
This position being the most advanced of the 4 allows for a great amount of muscle activation. It can be used for pressing, pulling, pushing and lifting motions. In this position full shoulder motion can be trained with the upper body stacked over the hips and a neutral spine locked in place. It is also a great tool for introducing full foot contact as well as single leg strength development.
The ground up approach that we teach at Soflete has unlocked unparalleled potential for our athletes to use full range of motion of their joints, and to achieve positions that minimize injury. These positions are frequently emphasized so that the athletes develop consistency and awareness. In addition 2-3 breathing and bracing drills are incorporated into the warm up for many of our training cycles. We believe that all athletes, not just those who are new to training, will benefit from these drills to prevent muscle imbalances and movement compensations from occurring. Even seasoned athletes will require a “regression” from time to time to train basic movement patterns in order to see transfer of skill under high loads and high intensity. Undoubtedly, the low injury rate at Soflete and the success of my athletes is rooted in the belief time spent daily on muscle activation and proper posturing has aided in our athlete’s growth.
These positions are building blocks to help teach better movement. We are able to slow the athlete down and help create a neurologic response that will help create better movement quality when they start getting into their primary training for the day. As for these exercises, you can do a lot of different progressions to keep the ground up approach as a way to rewire the athlete's movement control and movement quality. Think about this approach like a child learning how to run...crawling, walking, run.
The Joint by Joint Approach
This method was developed by Mike Boyle and Gray Cook to categorize how the joint should function. This also allows you to find tendencies a joint might have towards dysfunction. It also allows for a deeper look into how the joints interact with each other. Moreover, this also provides shortcomings in the function of the joint, which is why the SOFLETE Athlete would be prone to pain, injury, and imbalance. All three of these can lead to decrease in performance over time. When we have the proper and ideal function of the joints they now can work together to give you the increase and longevity of performance over time.
Reviewing the Joints:
Foot (Stability) - The foot is our foundation. Ideally, most athletes have very limited motor control, which tends to lower the amount of load the foot can handle. Therefore, developing a great amount of stability and motor control in the foot is key.
Ankle (Mobility) - The ankle tends to be a joint that needs a lot of movement, if we don’t we start to see stiffness. Therefore, developing mobility and flexibility is ideal for having optimal performance in all aspects of movement.
Knee (Stability) - The knee is a joint that tends to get real sloppy. We must work in multiple planes of motion to help create/develop the stability and motor control that is needed to withstand the rigors of our everyday life.
Hip (Mobility/Stability) - The hip is a joint that prompts everyday range of motion. Extension/Flexion, Medial, and Lateral rotation. We tend to see lack of motor control in the hips and lead to overuse of the lumbar spine, which can cause problems from overuse. We must be able to develop mobility and flexibility, stability, and motor control.
Lumbar Spine (Stability) - The lumbar is a joint that we tend to see a greater amount of stress mechanically. When we lose motor control we see two things happen: sloppiness and stiffness. Focusing on stability and motor control are one of the priorities when it comes to correcting movement.
Thoracic Spine (Mobility) - The thoracic is a joint that allows the spine to extend and flex while under stress. This area has the ability to decrease performance due to poor posture, which leads to decrease in oxygen consumption. Being able to create mobility and flexibility will allow for optimal performance and longevity.
Cervical Spine/Shoulder Scap (Mobility/Stability) - These two areas are regions that tend to create stiffness and sloppiness over time due to lack of range of motion. We must develop mobility and stability to enhance overall performance for the athlete. 5.4 The Foot and the Tactical Professional
Filming ideas
-Brief over view of the importance of 'healthy' feet (to human and tactical professional) (?Possibly have Theo run this)
-A brief overview of the foot posture index (or similar); possibly from Theo
-Videos of George demonstrating different corrective or training drills (with respect to why/how it's important for the tactical professional)
-e.g. George's Foot/Shin stretch video (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eavTtjOwSfQIpzwoQlJ5a9lJeyJByDg2/view)
Introduction
For the vast majority of tactical professionals, the foot is the primary connection with the ground. Not only is this an important consideration with respect to force expression, the foot is also a key source of interoception, providing important information to the nervous system about position and balance.
Despite this, the foot is often an overlooked aspect of training for the tactical professional.
(Video: SOFLETE Fitness Tip of the Week #2 - Foot Dexterity)
A Changing Perspective
Within the world of elite sport, over the past few years there has been a large shift in interest, both research and applied, towards developing foot strength and stability as a way to both enhance performance and help mitigate injury risk.
Much of this has found that by taking time to progressively develop the musculature of the foot and lower leg, it allows the athlete to more effectively apply a greater proportion of their available force production capabilities into the ground; consequently resulting in faster, more efficient locomotion as well as enhanced ability to change direction.
Whilst the exact mechanisms for this aren’t yet fully understood, it would appear that with increased foot strength, the neurological system perceives a greater level of stability and consequent safety. This then permits the nervous system to apply a greater proportion of the available force, without fear of injury. Essentially this process acts like the ‘limp home’ mode on a car, whereby the computer system reduces the available performance of the vehicle if it detects a fault in the system.
An example of this same mechanism in action that readers may be familiar with, is with the use of a balance cushion or gymnastic rings. When using both pieces of equipment for the first time, the user generally experiences a high degree of instability; consequently in a bid for self-preservation, the nervous system increases the amount of muscular coactivation whilst down regulating the capability for force production of the lower and upper limbs respectively. Thus simultaneously restricting range of motion and strength.
This is reflected in the seeming difficulty of executing air squats on the cushion or dips on the rings, despite the individual being able to perform these on more stable surfaces.
Consequently by the same logic, if we can increase the amount of stability at the foot and ankle and therefore the reduction in 'threat' to the nervous system, we would expect to see both increased strength and available range of motion. Where this gets really interesting is if we consider how this might look when scaled up to include more dynamic movement patterns- like running. It’s generally accepted that having a stronger, more stable foot will also result in more optimal running mechanics, such as reduced crossover of gait and less ‘spin’ on toe off. Not only is this likely to improve performance (both economy and speed), but it also reduces the risk of injury, but we'll talk more about this in the gait analysis section.
Using Orthotics
The increased stability at the foot described above, can be partially attained through the use of orthotics. By inserting some kind of support into the athlete’s footwear, it may be possible to artificially create more stability. However, it is the author’s opinion that in most instances, this should generally be seen as a short term ‘patch’ to help mitigate injury risk, until the athlete has sufficiently developed their intrinsic foot strength and stability. Whilst extenuating circumstances undoubtedly exist, for many individuals the use of orthotics as a long term strategy, without also developing the corresponding capacities, runs the risk of chasing the symptom and not the cause of the dysfunction.
Injury Mitigation
Specifically for the tactical professional, increasing foot strength and stability has some obvious benefits, such as increasing force expression potential, resulting in increased speed, change of direction and even endurance.
Furthermore, the resultant increase in foot stability has been seen to help mitigate the risk of some common injuries within the tactical population.
Directly, conditions like plantar fasciitis and medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS or ‘shin splints’) are believed to exacerbated through a combination of poor mechanics (such as running gait) and a mismatch in training load in comparison to the individual’s current capacities. Therefore, by increasing the strength and endurance of these structures (both soft tissue and bone) they should be better equipped to handle the demands of the role.
Indirectly, any dysfunction at the foot and ankle can cause concomitant problems up the kinetic chain, with knee or Iliotibial (IT) band pain and even hip and lower back symptoms being reported.
Force Expression
As with the gymnastic rings example above, any improvements in foot stability should not only permit more effective force absorption and production capacity respectively, but also increased range of motion, most commonly seen with dorsiflexion.
Increasing available dorsiflexion effectively permits greater shin angles. Not only can this improve horizontal force production and consequently acceleration and change of direction ability but it also allows the individual to have more time in contact with the ground, in both jumping and landing. This allows more time to both express and absorb force, a factor of vital importance when considering that almost all tactical professionals are required to operate with considerable external loads, thus requiring the production of relatively higher forces than when moving at bodyweight alone.
On the other end of the spectrum, with straight line running (either sprinting or sub-maximal speeds), with increased foot strength and stability there is a reduction in ground contact times. A reduction in time spent on the ground in stance phase, is thought to correlate with injury risk reduction and also improves both running efficiency and speed.
Tactical Boots
Whilst tactical boots undoubtedly serve vital functions right across the profession, it should be noted that there are also some drawbacks.
Firstly, due to the rigid nature of many boot designs, ankle and foot range of motion can become compromised. In some circumstances this can obviously provide some benefit, however, in others the lack of range- especially in ankle dorsiflexion and foot pronation can have some repercussions on the joints and musculature up stream, namely the knees, hips and lower back. As alluded to above, as well as in the Joint by Joint Approach section, limiting dorsiflexion can result in less opportunities to both express and absorb force.
Furthermore, a greater proportion of force must then be transferred to structures further up the leg. The issue of force absorption is amplified by the potential loss of pronation at the foot.
In combination with dorsiflexion at the ankle, to effectively absorb force, the foot drops into pronation; something which can be hindered, depending on the exact specifications of the boot.
As an additional drawback, there is some evidence to suggest that the loss of proprioceptive input brought about by the often thick and stiff boot outsole can itself lead to reduced stability and reduced vagal nerve stimulation; clearly both of which could have implications for tactical performance.
Foot Care
Whilst taking care of the feet, from a superficial perspective (e.g. blisters and regular sock changes etc), has been part of tactical culture for centuries; there needs to be an increased drive to include the foot in any conversations about physical preparation.
This is especially true considering that future generations of potential tactical professionals will probably have been exposed to less physical education, sport and outdoor recreational activities whilst growing up, meaning they will likely have missed some of the opportunities to develop foot strength and stability organically.
With this said, conducting thorough locomotive and foot posture analysis with these personnel should inform the inclusion of progressive and integrative foot and lower limb strength and stability training, as early as possible in a tactical professional’s career. Where possible, these individuals should train both in (especially during SPP phases) but mainly out of boots, and sometimes even barefoot, on a variety of surfaces.
(Video: https://youtu.be/yQ4wWK9cGng)
Summary
The feet are one of the most important, but overlooked aspects of training the tactical professional.
A good place to start (in conjunction with a trained professional, where possible) is by conducting a thorough postural and movement based analysis, ensuring an appreciation of how that individual’s feet function in isolation, as well as in a variety of both generic and specific positions and movements. Any dysfunction identified can then be addressed, on a triage basis, in the individual’s future training cycles.5.5 Adaptability
Filming Ideas
-George explaining what adaptability means to him, why it's important for the tactical professional (blackboard)
-Discuss the idea of goal vs process orientated training (IPF Competition standard deadlift vs moving a casualty in a ditch)
-Show goal vs process orientated examples of coaching in the gym (consider how to mitigate injury risk etc)
-Discuss/show how to encourage self-organisation and problem solving in the gym (even as simple as heavy eccentrics)
Introduction to Adaptability
In the tactical world, despite endurance and stamina traditionally being prized, when in the most chaotic and ‘dangerous’ situations, it’s adaptability (often at very high speeds) that is of vital importance.
Thus, creating truly adaptable personnel is one of our main priorities at SOFLETE, as we feel that the more adaptable a tactical professional can be, the more useful, effective and long lasting they will be.
In practice, adaptability in the tactical environment can mean a lot of things; from being able to utilize different weapon systems or pieces of specialist equipment, to being able to operate effectively in novel environments and situations or within a new team. In this section, for the sake of simplicity, we are going to focus on adaptability as it relates to the solving of movement based problems, however these same concepts could be applied to other facets of adaptability.
As with all aspects of the tactical professional’s preparation, adaptability isn’t something that can be simply left to chance; we must consciously strive to nurture and develop this trait within our personnel. With this in mind, finding creative ways to encourage problem solving should be a key component of training.
Theoretical Basis
There are many different theories and models in the literature attempting to explain not only how motor control works, but is also learned and developed in humans. As with many aspects of human performance, this is a rapidly developing area and we reserve the right to ‘change our answer’ as this area of research continues to evolve. However, it often helps to use a framework based on a given model or theory in order to effectively organize your thoughts and approach in an applied setting.
At present we feel that something akin to the constraints based approach, under the dynamic systems theory is an appropriate place to start; as this strikes the balance between a theoretical model which acknowledges the complexity of human movement and learning, whilst still allowing practitioners to make informed applied decisions without becoming lost in theory. Just as with child based pedagogy these models are based on the idea that deeper learning, and in our case specifically transferability, occurs when the learner is permitted to experiment and come up with their own solutions (in this case to movement problems), rather than being restricted to simply repeating and rehearsing a predefined response (or movement pattern). This is a concept explored in Figure 13, where we break down the process versus goal orientated approach to coaching movement patterns.
Whilst a full examination of these theories, and motor learning more broadly, is beyond the scope of this course interested readers are directed towards the work of Frans Bosch, Rob Gray and Dan Fichter amongst others.
Figure 13. Process Vs. Goal Orientated Approaches to Training.
The Dynamic Systems Theory
Within the dynamic systems theory we are acknowledging Bernstein’s ‘degrees of freedom problem’; that the systems involved in solving a movement problem are extremely complex- or ‘dynamic’. Specifically, that due to the inordinate number of possible joint angles and muscular recruitment patterns available within the human body, how is this turned into a controllable system in such a way that precise and dynamic movement tasks can still be accomplished within highly variable environments, without excessive amounts of ‘computational’ band-width being taken up?
For instance, if an individual was performing a simple, closed skill (we’ll explore this concept more later) like a back squat, variables could include: how much weight is on the bar, the type of bar, the depth of the squat, whether a box is used, how far apart the feet are, where on the back the bar is placed, how fatigued the individual is upon starting the squats, the muscles/structures that are fatigued, whether weightlifting shoes are being used, how aroused/motivated the individual is, whether there is an audience or competitors…
This is far from an exhaustive list, but hopefully illustrates the degree of complexity involved when considering exactly what movement options are available or viable, given the specific combination of factors present. For example, to continue with the back squat, it is generally fairly well accepted that placing the bar lower across the back will result in a more inclined trunk (due to biomechanical reasons) than when placing the bar higher up on the back. This demonstrates that we can affect the movement pattern that occurs, by applying a restriction or constraint- i.e. in this case, specifying that the bar must be placed at a certain point on the back. Now clearly there are an almost infinite combination of these constraints that can, or will, be applied depending on the precise circumstance; each causing or restricting available movement options.
In an attempt to make things simpler for an applied setting, we can group these variables into environmental, internal (or organism) and task based factors, or constraints.
Environmental constraints are any variables that might exist in conditions within which the individual is performing the movement; these might include fluctuations in things like temperature, visibility or the presence of a crowd/competition. In elite sport, these variables are typically relatively stable, however in the tactical environment they can fluctuate rather more and consequently the tactical professional’s ability to adapt to these changes need to be considered more.
Task based constraints, as the name implies, are variables that affect the task itself. These might include things like the goal of the task; for example if the goal is to perform a barbell strict press, then through the rules of convention, the task is constrained and any movement strategies that involve an active leg drive are no longer viable options. Alternatively, constraints might also be introduced based on the type of equipment available to complete the task; for instance in a casualty evacuation setting, the availability of a litter influences the number of available movement options for moving the casualty.
Internal, or organism, based constraints are those specifically related to the individual. Some of these will be relatively stable, for instance the individual’s height and reach, whilst others might fluctuate more rapidly, such as muscular or metabolic fatigue. If we consider a practical example like navigating an assault course, whilst an individual’s height or reach might initially open or constrain some movement options- like the exact technique used to clear a wall; as height and reach are unlikely to change much, these constraints remain relatively stable over time. Whereas, If considering muscular fatigue, this is likely to vary considerably, thus meaning that a movement solution for traversing monkey bars on one occasion may well be unsuccessful at another time.
As described, categorizing these constraints can be helpful. However it’s important to remember that regardless of whether they are labeled environmental, task or internal, all these constraints will interact with each other, which is what creates the complex and chaotic environments we experience in the various tactical occupations.
Practical Application
Whilst all this may seem overwhelming at the outset, consideration or control of all possible variables isn’t required. From a learning or early consolidation of motor skill perspective, we just need to be mindful of how these types of constraints can and should be manipulated, in order to guide the tactical professional towards finding their own way to successfully solve the movement problem; this is known as the constraints led approach to coaching.
This is probably something that is already fairly intuitive to many anyway; for instance when teaching a movement pattern like that back squat we mentioned above, applying a constraint like the use of a box to sit back to, results in the task becoming constrained. Specifically, the individual must squat to the depth of the box, rather than any shallower or deeper; thus reducing the complexity (or possible degrees of freedom) of the movement pattern. However, it’s important to note at this stage, that exactly how the individual gets to and up from the box, should be left somewhat up to them (assuming it’s ‘safe’), as this allows for self-organization based on their interpretation of the movement options available. In this way, as we discussed above, by taking a constraints led approach we are able to allow the individual to discover the most appropriate movement solution for them, in that moment.
As the individual’s training age grows and they become more proficient at completing these various movement patterns, constraints can be manipulated to challenge their adaptability. This might be relatively simple at first; like through the use of strongman implements, requiring the individual to take a movement strategy that they are already familiar with (e.g. the hinge/deadlift pattern) and make adjustments based on the constraints present (e.g. the object may not be as easy to grip or balance as a barbell), in order to successfully accomplish the task.
Then manipulating other constraints such as speed, metabolic stress or even cognitive load can be layered into the movement problem. To continue with the strongman lift example above, this might now be done with a heavy water or sandbag that provides a ‘live’ or dynamic load, where the individual is already under metabolic stress or fatigue having completed a hard 400m run before attempting the lift. This time, they might be required to carry the heavy waterbag over uneven terrain, as part of an assault course relay race; with all these components requiring that the individual modify, or adapt, their previously learnt strategy in order to successfully solve the movement problem in front of them.
It should be noted that despite the example cited above, training to promote the adaptability of the individual doesn’t need to be overly specific to their operating environment. The purpose of this type of work isn’t to try and pre-empt or simulate situations the individual might face, but rather to allow them the opportunity to practice being in novel and potentially uncomfortable situations and attempt to problem solve as creatively and innovatively as possible. With this in mind, the variables that can and should be manipulated are almost endless, however, these constraints should be applied logically and with a specific aim or rationale in mind; particularly if the intent is to de-stabilise and ultimately change an existing movement pattern. These tasks should be challenging for the individual- we’d suggest aiming for a ~85% success rate (i.e. the individual is allowed to fail approximately 15% of the time (we’ll discuss this further, later in the course); of course, to determine this, a clear end goal or outcome must be set (e.g. hitting a target or causing a certain noise). Having said this, whilst we need to push the individual towards the fringe of their ability, safety should never be compromised.
Summary
Ultimately, success is about the individual’s ability to confidently and independently read the environmental and task based cues, and then depending on any internal constraints, execute the most appropriate adaptation of the required movement solution, in order to solve the problem. The ‘independently’ aspect is key here, as unlike in pro sport, aside from the dramatically elevated stakes, the tactical professional will not have a coach court or ringside giving them instructions.
A tactical professional with a high degree of adaptability (or adjustability) can, therefore, produce a consistent outcome (i.e. successfully solve a given movement problem) despite a high degree of variability. It is important to recognize that the value of this goes far beyond the weightroom and in fact is a clear requirement for both success and longevity in the tactical environment.5.6 Change of Direction and Agility for The Tactical Professional
Filming Ideas
-Brief definition of CoD and Agility (in sport and tactical setting) (blackboard and applied setting)
-Relevance to tactical population
-How we train them (show basic progression of drills in the gym and explain concepts like ''coach ugly'')
Change of Direction
We define change of direction ability, as an individual’s capability to effectively alter their speed (as in accelerating or decelerating), direction of travel (e.g. making a cut to the left) or height (e.g. moving from prone to standing), whilst completing a pre-planned movement series within a fixed or ‘closed environment’. By this, we mean an environment where the performance is self paced, with the individual remaining in control at all times; there is no unpredictability or risk of change from external factors, like other individuals or players. In an applied setting, this might look like an infantryman moving through an assault course, or a basketball player completing a T-drill.
Agility
Whereas we see agility as being able to complete these movements in anticipation of, or in response to a cue (known as 'perception-action coupling'), or other stimulus, from the external environment. These are known as ‘open’ environments or skills; picture a law enforcement officer involved in a foot chase with a suspect, moving through an urban environment. Whilst visually quite different to a Quarterback attempting to dodge an oncoming Defensive Tackle, both are examples of agility being tested, as the individual is changing and adjusting their position, speed and potentially height, in response to the suspect and Defensive Tackle respectively.
Both change of direction and agility training are very commonplace in traditional sport, especially invasion games like football or basketball; however they are aspects of training that often receive less attention in the tactical setting.
We’ve already discussed that at SOFLETE we feel that adaptability is one of the most instrumental qualities for a successful tactical professional, and we believe that developing change of direction and agility performance is vital in order to support this.
ISOLATE → Integrate → Innovate
Following our general approach of systematically and progressively layering complexity into the movement literacy framework, when coaching change of direction and agility, we would typically ensure that the individual already has the movement skill to at least perform the constituent sub-components of these patterns safely, in a relatively low intensity environment. This might take the form of a movement screen, or simply observing the individual move in the controlled confines of the weight room.
From experience we’ve found it’s important to take the time to examine, and if necessary, revisit the basics with the tactical population. Unlike in high level collegiate or pro sport, tactical personnel have a far broader age range and haven’t necessarily had the exposure to consistent athletic development. Furthermore, as we alluded to previously, unfortunately with the relatively high levels of musculoskeletal injuries that this population experiences, the chances are fairly high that many individuals will be operating with some kind of movement deficit- be it a neurological compensation pattern or even a mechanical restriction from surgery.
Force ‘Absorption’
Whilst perhaps not technically the correct terminology from a physics perspective (see the work of Dr Dan Cleather for a more in-depth discussion on this), we see force absorption as the phase in a movement pattern where the individual must work to counteract the effects of gravity and/or momentum; for instance controlling the descent in a landing, or the 'loading up' of the plant leg before a lateral cut.
We believe that as part of training change of direction, it’s important to start by building a solid underpinning in force absorption. By this, we mean the individual having the capability to safely and efficiently control the forces experienced when landing, decelerating or cutting. In many tactical roles, personnel are required to run and change direction or jump and land; often with non-trivial amounts of awkward occupational equipment. From a biomechanical perspective this means that these individuals could be exposed to extremely high impact forces, potentially whilst also under significant amounts of cognitive load (from demanding tasks such as facial recognition or threat detection); resulting in an elevated injury risk.
With this in mind, we think it’s important to dedicate plenty of time to ensuring that our personnel are as proficient as possible. This will involve a multifaceted approach, including allowing them to (re)learn the hard (or technical) skills of landing and changing direction whilst also developing the necessary structural and neural capacities in the weight room, to be able to support this.
In addition, in line with Cal Dietz’s Triphasic model from an athletic development perspective, by first establishing these absorption or eccentric control skills and capacities, this provides a more robust foundation from which to build the subsequent force expression capabilities. As discussed in Section 5.4, the contemporary theories around neurophysiology suggest that if the nervous system perceives an action or movement as a threat, it will automatically reduce the amount of force that can be expressed, in an attempt for self-preservation; which in itself can create further problems.
Consequently, taking time to ensure that the sub-component movement patterns involved in change of direction, such as landings, accelerating, decelerating and lateral movement, are stable will effectively simultaneously improve injury robustness whilst also increasing the potential ceiling for force expression.
From an applied perspective change of direction might initially be categorized loosely into jumping/landing and running based. For jumping, force absorption drills could include something like altitude drops, with an emphasis on controlling ground reaction force as efficiently as possible. As we’ve previously mentioned, various constraints can be added to help guide the individual towards more appropriate and personalized landing strategies- such as the use of different landing surfaces or decibel meters to provide more quantitative feedback on mechanics. Within the running series, both linear and curvilinear decelerations should be addressed, with constraints like approach velocity or the friction and density of the surface being viable options for adjusting intensity.
Force ‘Expression’
Again, whilst perhaps not the most technically accurate terminology, we view force expression as when an individual is actively attempting to apply force to, in this case, the ground in order to change direction, speed or height. For instance, when jumping this would be the period from the end of the counter movement, until the point where the toes leave the ground; whilst in running change of direction based patterns this would include the ‘recoil’ component from any passive tissue (e.g. tendons) and then any additional ‘pushing’ into the ground as a result of concentric muscle contraction.
In fact, whilst beyond the scope of this section, often individuals can be loosely categorized as ‘elastic’ or ‘force’ based movers. This is probably something that you’ve noticed organically- that some people are just naturally more ‘bouncy’ and are therefore better able to make use of the elastic properties of their musculotendinous units. Whilst others are more reliant on using muscle action to ‘actively’ apply force into the ground through concentric contractions. Appreciating this can have implications for exercise prescription, which will be discussed further in Chapter 6.
During these concentric muscle contractions, the forces produced are lower than during the eccentric portions; consequently risk of injury to soft tissue is less of a concern. However, the ability to effectively make use of any recoil from the passive structures and then produce sufficient muscular force to result in a meaningful direction or speed change is our primary concern. As with the force absorption phase, resistance, ballistic and plyometric training are all useful tools for building the necessary capacities to express force effectively (see Chapter 6).
From an applied perspective, this might include movements like power cleans, accommodating resistance training or bounding.
Change of Direction Training (Isolate → INTEGRATE → Innovate)
Once these subcomponents can be executed safely and with a reasonable degree of competence, they can be combined to create change of direction drills. According to contemporary motor learning theory, for these drills we ideally want the challenge or intensity to be high enough to cause a sufficient learning stimulus and result in successful transfer back to real life.
In fact, we subscribe to the recommendations from Dr Jon Goodwin, in that we aim to ‘’coach ugly’’. By that, we mean that when conducting these drills, we want the individual to be stretched to the point that their movement patterns are no longer ‘’instagram perfect’’ and start to show signs of errors and mistakes, whilst keeping injury risk as low as practicable. As a rough rule of thumb, we aim for that 85% success rate we mentioned previously- specifically that we want our individuals to successfully complete any given drill around 85% of the time, whilst ‘failing’ or making mistakes the other 15%. This involves the coach constantly critically analyzing the individual's performance and adjusting the variables to keep pushing learning and development forward.
However, with this high intensity comes increased risk of injury; so this is where the strategic use of constraints, that we mentioned in the previous section, can come in. These can be as simple or complex as necessary, depending on the exact purpose. For instance, if we want to constrain the speed, and thus the degree of force exposure, of a running based change of direction task, we might require that the individual completes the drill on grass whilst wearing sneakers as opposed to cleats. The reduction in available friction will guide the individual towards finding the best way for them to move, so that they can complete the drill as quickly as possible, without falling over.
We have deliberately avoided laying out a large number of drills within this course, as we don’t want to encourage a ‘cookie-cutter’ approach to coaching motor control. One of the biggest positives associated with the dynamic systems theory is that it accounts for the enormous number of variables within each specific coaching environment- from the differences between the tactical professionals themselves, to the equipment and coaching time available, right through to the output requirements. Attempting to prescribe ‘one size fits all’ drills would inevitably contradict the overall message of this piece.
With this in mind, if readers are interested in applying these concepts, beyond the content included within the SOFLETE app, we would strongly encourage you to seek out the work of some of the subject matter experts listed in this section.
Change of direction training can certainly fall under the general physical preparation (GPP) classification of training, as it can be a useful tool for building underlying capabilities. However, as we know from sport, there will always need to be a sufficient consolidation period afterwards, to allow the individual to learn to integrate these new skills and capacities into the specifics of their role.
Figure 14. Skill Development Flow
Agility Training (Isolate → Integrate → INNOVATE)
Up to now we’ve mostly been considering the ability to change direction in a vacuum or ‘closed’ environment. Indeed, following our principle of ‘isolate to integrate to innovate’, we feel this is a good place to start; especially if you’re dealing with a tactical professional that has missed out on some of this athletic development growing up, or is returning from injury.
However, once the individual is capable of performing the movement patterns required during change of direction, it’s important to quickly expose them to more open and chaotic environments. As we mentioned at the beginning, these are environments that are dynamic and unpredictable- much like the one the tactical professional is required to operate in.
From a GPP perspective, activities like small sided, conditioned games can be fantastic for this- think 5 v 5 soccer or 3 v 3 basketball. They encourage the individuals to intuitively learn how to spot movement cues and to start being able to anticipate and respond to whichever direction or speed someone takes off in (this is that concept of perception-action coupling again); they’re also great for organic neuromuscular and energy system development, not to mention a lot of fun!
However, the available literature in this area (again, see the work of Frans Bosch for more depth) would suggest that as early as possible we try to include more specific physical preparation (SPP) components into agility training for the tactical professional.
We feel that we should make an important distinction at this point. Contrary to much of the content on social media, this does not mean the tactical professional should be completing change of direction drills borrowed from sport, like the T-Drill, whilst wearing full patrol gear! We feel this is a misinterpretation of the research and adds little value.
Instead, we would encourage the strength and conditioning coach to liaise closely with any relevant technical instructors, or even experienced operators, to ensure that agility drills are as specific as possible in terms of the speeds, movement profiles and types of cognitive loading, to the individual’s anticipated operating environments. Yet again, this is where we'd encourage innovation and lateral thinking from the coach or human performance professional, to blur the lines between the more traditional fitness/physical preparation aspects of training and those which deal with technical instruction or practice. 5.7 Skill Development
Filming Ideas
-George's Isolate--> Integrate --> Innovate (blackboard theory, then show in the gym from an applied perspective)
-coaching ugly (85% success rule), link back to previous slide. Importance of getting immediate feedback on successfulness of the task
-Differences between open and closed learning (could perhaps use weapons malfunction drills as an example of closed- need to learn through repetition; but CQB should be more open loop based; mention the positive influence of overspeed). Comment on guided discovery approach vs the traditional coaching/learning approaches used in the military (command and response)
-George discussing the Inverted U theory and the Influence of different levels of arousal (link back to bioPSYCHOSOCIAL)
-Finish in the gym, with practical take-homes. E.g. if you're trying to teach/learn skill X, then try it like this...
More Than Just Reps and Sets
Hopefully it should be clear by now, that at SOFLETE, we’re interested in more than just reps and sets. We feel that the role of a human performance team is to truly add individual value to each tactical professional, and this goes much deeper than simply managing to increase their back squat PR or improving their 1.5 mile time. We want to empower each of our personnel to become a more athletic, more resilient human and ultimately a more effective professional; and this requires an individualized, long term approach to training and coaching.
Maximizing Available Training Time
Unlike with many high level sport athletes, training time for the tactical professional can often be relatively limited. Between range time, technical training and operational duty, to say nothing of making the most of available time with friends and family, it’s important to maximize all available gym or weight room time. This means trying to make training as multi-purpose as possible; so alongside energy system development or building strength and power, layering in opportunities for promoting motor learning is key. We know from a human health as well as performance perspective that providing challenging movement problems, such as through the use of awkward objects or with additional cognitive loading layered in, can lead to extremely beneficial effects with regards to neuroplasticity, but it can sometimes be difficult to know where to start with implementing such things into training.
Closed and Open Loop Skills
Inline with our broader human performance philosophy, we’d suggest starting with introducing new skills in a relatively low stress and low complexity environment. This would still be the case if the skill being learnt were either closed loop or open loop (see section 5.6 for more information). The current best practice (see the work of Dan Coyle for more information) is for closed loop skills to be learnt and reinforced through highly constrained blocked, repetitive practice; essentially chunking the movement down (if necessary) and repeating it over and over. A good example of this in the tactical world are weapon system malfunction drills. Due to the nature of the task, there is a specific sequence of events that must be carried out in a given order; with deviation from this being detrimental to the end goal (i.e. to identify the issue with the weapon and correct this as soon as possible).
As previously discussed, open loop skills are ultimately learned most effectively with high degrees of variability. Having said this, equally too much variability at the outset can be detrimental as it can make it difficult for the learner to grasp what is being required. Hence our recommendation of moving from low to progressively greater levels of stress, complexity and variability.
Intensity Without Complexity
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the intensity needs to start low as well, in fact, research would suggest that skill acquisition is improved when the intensity (usually measured through force) is higher. In an applied setting, perhaps post-injury, this might look like teaching the movement pattern of a lunge. Rather than completing endless reps of bodyweight lunges, or using unstable surfaces- where the complexity may be too much to start with, using something like a heavy ‘pushing isometric’ split squat (with the individual pushing against an immovable object) might be an option. This could be a great way to strike the balance between low levels of complexity and stress (there is no movement, hence no instability and therefore minimal complexity), yet providing a large enough stimulus (or intensity) that the system is encouraged to self organize in order to get into the most effective position to apply force. Regardless of how the drill or exercise is set up, research suggests that learning takes place most effectively when there is a clear way for the individual to tell if their attempt at finding a solution has been successful or not- in this case, using a force platform or strain gauge could be useful as it will provide quantification of the amount of force being applied.
External Vs Internal Cues
At this point it’s useful to consider how one might cue the individual. Despite us being fans of guided discovery, and having our personnel figure out movement solutions for themselves; the use of strategic coaching cues can be a great way to draw the individual’s attention to specific aspects of the movement or task. At the time of writing, the research is fairly clear; in most instances we should lean more towards using external cues than internal. External cues, as the name suggests, relates to directing the individual’s attention towards external objects; for instance “Drive into the ground as hard as you can”. You can even integrate vivid imagery to help reinforce and amplify the desired response, “Imagine you’re trying to crack the concrete!”. These external cues have been shown to not only result in greater force expression and accuracy of output, but also greater self-organization and hence better transfer to other activities. Internal cues, such as “Try to tense your quad as hard as possible” bring the individual’s attention inwards- requiring more band-width from the information processing parts of the brain; which is not a good thing for performance. It is worth mentioning that internal cues, “Think about tensing your quad as hard as possible” may have the potential to increase the amount of muscle activation, when compared to external cues; so may have some application for rehab’ (although this opens up another can of worms; see Dr Dustin Groom’s work on neuroplasticity for more information) or if hypertrophy is the goal.
Isolate → Integrate → Innovate
To link back to the previous section, where we discussed the constraints led approach, using a movement like the isometric split squat aggressively constrains the movement- as minimal motion occurs. This fits in with our approach of ‘isolating’ the pattern, before we (re)integrate it.
The integration phase, or reintegration if this is a pattern that the individual has already had some exposure to, is where we blend the particular skill into a larger movement solution. If we take the split squat example from above, this might get blended back into a walking lunge or step up based pattern; with change from a static to a more dynamic movement adding more complexity, through opening up more degrees of freedom for the individual to control. Again, as we’ve previously mentioned, we generally use goal orientated coaching (see section 5.5), to lean on applying relevant constraints to guide the individual towards a more organic integration, but other approaches would certainly work here. Complexity and stress could be progressed through the addition of extra load (e.g. in the forms of bands or weight), speed (i.e. being required to complete the task faster), instability (e.g. through the use of waterbags or other external perturbations); as with the application of constraints, the possibilities are almost endless, depending on the desired outcome.
Once the movement pattern of interest has been effectively integrated into a ‘functional’ or usable movement solution, encouraging innovation and adaptability is vital for securing the best transferability to occupational performance. In the example of the split squat (the isolation) to step up (the integration) progression we discussed above, this might focus on giving the individual opportunity to solve varied but SPP relevant adaptations of this pattern. For instance, stepping up to different heights or types of surface, or with different configurations of occupational equipment, or different body positions (for example if needing to minimize exposure to the enemy) or even in different states of arousal or cognitive load. Where possible we’re attempting to create such a stable motor pattern that the individual can adapt it to the infinite combination of environmental, task and internal variables (see section 5.5) that they are likely to face whilst on duty.Filming Ideas:
-George has his training session for the day on the board and uses the reverse engineering concept to build a suitable warm up
-?Then show some short clips/montage of the warm up being conducted (we could use this as social media footage in the future)
Introduction
We like using the concept of reverse engineering, as it allows us to systematically work backwards from our desired endstate to where we are currently. We use this approach both for the long term development of the tactical professional (as we will discuss in more depth in Module 003), and also on a daily basis when designing a warm up, or movement prep’ component for the training session.
Consequently, the contents of the movement prep’ are dependent on what the main, or initial, stimulus of the training session is. Just like with long term development, once we’ve identified this, it’s possible to work backwards from that stimulus, to where the individual currently is.
Some people prefer to train early in the morning, almost immediately upon waking, whilst others train at various different points in the day. For the former, we encourage people to take a little longer on the movement prep’, as their mind and body are effectively starting from a dead stop. For those training during the day or late at night, this is less of a concern as they have generally been more active in the time leading into the training session.
5.8 Reverse Engineering for Performance: Movement Prep'
Figure 15. Using Reverse Engineering to Build Effective Movement Prep'
Cognitive and Emotional Priming
Inline with the Cognitive Warrior System, we like to encourage our individuals to conduct regular tactical pauses and check-ins throughout the day, but especially in the few hours before the training session. This might be as simple as reflecting on how they’re feeling or on what kind of day they’ve had; or it might involve the strategic use of biofeedback like HRV or blood oxygen (more on this later). Regardless, this process is designed to build up a picture of their ‘readiness’ to train. Unlike for elite sport athletes, for the vast majority of tactical professionals, being able to perform operationally or whilst on duty must take precedence over physical training performance. Consequently, assessing this readiness to train is vital for this population, as the consequences of an inappropriate training load being applied can have severe ramifications if it negatively affects tactical performance. This is especially prevalent in aircrew, who can suffer significant degradation of flight performance immediately following neurologically demanding heavy strength training.
With this in mind, using this readiness assessment is crucial for informing the decision on whether either the planned training session can be completed as programmed, whether adjustments need to be made, or whether the session needs to be canceled or replaced by a different stimulus (e.g. active recovery or downregulation) altogether.
There are some limited circumstances when an individual needs to learn to ‘’push through it’’ and train hard regardless of how they feel (we typically reserve this for very small sections of our Selection Prep’ cycles). However, in the vast majority of cases, we’ve found that empowering individuals to make an active decision about whether or how hard they should train, based on their perceived readiness, results in a significant increase in their personal investment to both training and also wider human performance.
We’ve found that regardless of the training goal, or what we’re trying to measure or monitor, long term consistency is almost always king. Choosing not to complete a particular training session as programmed, in favor of less intensity or more skill work frequently means that the individual is then ready to return to training fully more quickly; as opposed to continuing to push on and eventually ending up getting sick or injured and ultimately needing to take an extended period of time off.
We recognize that shifting the mindset from ‘just burning yourself down in the gym on a daily basis for the sake of it’, is going to be difficult. This is a mentality that’s deeply ingrained in the cultures of many tactical professions; however, we feel that as more people start to see the plethora of positive effects of integrating more active engagement and self awareness, there will be an increased acceptance of this focus on long term human health and performance.
Assuming the session is going ahead as planned, we move into the second aspect- emotional priming. For this, we’re focusing on compartmentalizing and shifting the individual’s attention away from whatever is going on in the rest of their lives (e.g. their occupational workload or home life) and towards the desired intent of the training session.
It’s important to note, that this isn’t synonymous with cranking on heavy metal music, chugging a pre-workout and watching Rocky montages! Actually, generally we encourage our personnel to adopt a more relaxed, parasympathetic approach during training for a number of reasons. Firstly, we believe that most tactical professionals require the ability to think logically and rationally, absorb high volumes of sensory input and maintain wide peripheral vision and attention whilst on duty. So we feel that it makes sense to practice ‘performing’ in the gym in this same headspace, as it helps to reinforce the importance we place on training transferring to duty.
Secondly, being in a highly ‘psyched up’ sympathetic state is extremely resource intensive and is thus burning excess energy and concentration that we’d rather save for duty and home life.
The intent we’re pursuing here, is that we want the time the individual spends in the gym to be relatively ‘protected’ from them being required to think about work etc. Therefore, we like our personnel to have a clear understanding behind the intended aim(s) of the training session, so that they can create objectives and micro-goals as a way to quantify progress. These might be more formal, for example achieving certain training metrics, or informal, like playing with a new aspect of a movement flow.
Ultimately, whether they achieve these micro-goals or not isn’t really a huge concern for us; we are simply trying to encourage them to engage with the training stimulus, so that they can reinforce the ability to create ‘buffers’, or separation, between different events in their day. For instance, ideally we’d like individuals to be able to create such separation between work and home, that they can enjoy spending quality time with their family and support network, without finding they are constantly thinking about work related tasks.
We’ve found this to be an extremely effective means of mitigating occupational stress related burnout and promoting support network stability.
General/Non Specific Warm Up
This is probably the aspect of the movement prep’ that people are most familiar with; during this portion of the session we’re aiming to decrease synovial fluid (the lubricating fluid in the joints) viscosity, increase body temperature (and thus cellular metabolic activity), breathing rate and heart rate (and by extension, blood flow) amongst other physiological changes.
However, where possible, we also like to layer in additional benefits. For instance the use of activities like jump rope can be a great way to develop rhythm, timing and coordination, which can help offer a protective effect against injury as well as increase movement economy. Whilst patterns featuring contralateral activity, known as the cross-crawl pattern (e.g. bear crawling, jacob’s ladder or the Infinity Drill), help to (re)develop the connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain; useful for enhancing cognitive or cerebral task performance, especially in those with a history of head trauma.
Despite the non specific nature of this section of the movement prep’, it can also double as an informal movement screen; a chance for the individual to work through different ranges of motion or movement patterns and ‘clear’ or highlight any areas that might need further attention (either from themselves or coaches and other support staff).
In fact, one area we are particularly passionate about is viewing the body as a complex integrated system, particularly where the nervous system is concerned. With that in mind, we always encourage our personnel to explore any unexpected or altered ranges of motion- particularly if it feels like ‘guarding’ (a neurological protective mechanism).
We recognize that the nervous system is extremely complex and capable, and if a muscle or joint feels restricted, we usually discourage attempting to remove this restriction (e.g. through stretching, manipulation or myofascial release etc), until the source or root cause of this restriction has been identified. The analogy we offer in this instance is that this would be akin to warning lights coming on in your car, and rather than investigating what’s causing these faults, simply covering the lights up with tape. Rather, we would prefer the individual adjust the session if needed (i.e. alter the range of motion programmed) and then seek additional advice from a suitable practitioner if required.
Breath Work
Within breath work, we use a lot of the recommendations made by Patrick McKeown (author of ‘Oxygen Advantage’). We’ve found that incorporating biofeedback from protocols like the Blood Oxygen Level Test (BOLT) score can be a great way to build up a multi-dimensional picture of training readiness, as discussed earlier. For more in-depth analysis and information on exactly how this tool can be used in this manner, we’d point readers towards the work of McKeown; however as a precis, if an individual’s BOLT score is lower than usual, this can be an indication that their physiology is already under significant load and therefore a training stimulus adjustment might be indicated.
McKeown also suggests some other useful protocols that can be tailored based on the specific intent.
For instance, if the session is biased towards conditioning or energy system development, conducting extended breath holds can be used to stimulate the spleen to release hemoglobin (the protein responsible for carrying oxygen in the blood) rich blood; effectively temporarily increasing oxygen carrying capacity.
Alternatively, fast aggressive inhales, or slow box style breathing can be implemented if a change in psychological state is desired.
We encourage our personnel to experiment with such strategies in training, so that they can have confidence in them when on duty.
Finally, despite conflicting research, one other protocol we have utilized is to belly breathe whilst standing in a ‘Superman Pose’ (or similar ‘power position’) as made famous by the work of Dr Amy Cuddy. Despite limited evidence to suggest this might cause advantageous hormonal responses, we primarily incorporate elements such as this to highlight the importance of considering body language and other subliminal factors within physical preparation. Particularly within law enforcement or correctional, being able to establish a strong ‘presence’ despite your physical stature is a very useful skill.
At Soflete, we believe in arming our personnel with a wide range of different tools, in order to secure the best outcome possible.
Energy System Priming
When the focus of the session is more biased towards strength training, or if the strength training occurs first in the session, we generally put less emphasis on this part of the movement prep’. In this case, we might do some short intense bouts to increase blood flow (and heat) to the working muscles and increase the activity of glycolytic enzymes and adrenaline (in order to enhance lactate removal).
When the focus is stamina (for the purpose of this section, we’ll include all aspects of energy system development under this term) based, we try to ‘open up’ the system with intensity efforts that match (or slightly exceed) the intensity of the set. This provides a stimulus causing the rate limiting factors such as blood volume, substrate availability, blood flow to working muscle groups or specific enzyme activity to be upregulated prior to the main portion of the session.
This is also a good opportunity for individuals to conduct a last-minute check in, as they are now operating at (or potentially slightly above) their anticipated working pace. If at this point the decision is made that attempting to hit or hold a given intensity would be inappropriate, then the proceeding session contents can be adjusted accordingly.
Skill Development
Given the inherent competitive culture within most tactical units, we generally opt to put the majority of our early skill development work in the movement prep’ section of the session (see Section 5.7 for more information).
We’ve found this lowers the intensity and allows our personnel to have fun and experiment with new or altered movement strategies, without the pressure of working against a clock or training partner. At this point in the session, individuals are suitably stimulated both physically and mentally, whilst still being neurally fresh.
We feel that providing an opportunity to be creative and problem solve is a great way to not only secure cognitive engagement, it also encourages the tactical professional to play and innovate, in order to try new ways to complete tasks. This might be something as simple as providing time to explore new ways to land from different heights or onto different surfaces, or allowing an opportunity to work on individual limiting factors like barefoot balancing or rope climbing. One of our favorites from recruit physical training days is asking personnel to stand up and sit down repeatedly for a minute, but they aren't allowed to use the same strategy twice; this checks a lot of boxes from a neurological and general skill development standpoint (see Section 5.5), but is also guaranteed to raise a few smiles and laughs in the process.
Regardless of the content, where able, we try to integrate stimulation of both the vestibular (responsible for balance and spatial orientation) and visual systems, through providing changes in orientation (e.g. laying down, standing up, rolling etc) and tasks that involve using combinations of near, distant and peripheral vision as well as visual tracking with throw/catch or chasing/evasion drills and games.
As we’ve consistently mentioned, ultimately our training is about maximizing transfer back to the tactical environment, so we feel that it’s important to provide as many ‘touch points’ as possible for the nervous system, between training and duty.
Nervous System Priming
As we’ll discuss later (see Section 6.3), according to Henneman’s size principle, progressively larger and more powerful motor units are recruited in order to meet the force requirements of a task. Whilst research into the exact mechanism is lacking, it would appear that once these larger motor units have been recruited, they remain ‘excited’ or potentiated for a short period of time; within which subsequent performance is enhanced. This phenomenon is known as post activation potentiation (PAP).
Whilst we have to strike the balance between not doing so much that we induce fatigue; through the use of ballistic, plyometric or relatively heavy resistance based movements, we can see a temporary boost in subsequent performance in biomechanically similar movement patterns. For instance, a back squat performed at around 80-85% of 1 rep max load should result in a positive potentiation effect to a counter movement jump, within a window of around 5-15 minutes. Too little time in between the two movements runs the risk of the individual still being fatigued from the squat, whilst the potentiation effect appears to ‘wears off’ after too much time.
As mentioned earlier, it’s worth noting that more research is needed in this area and it’s definitely a training tool that has been utilized most heavily within performance sport. However, from the available research it would appear that more highly trained individuals (from a fitness perspective) appear to get more of a benefit from PAP, with less trained individuals seeing less of an improvement. With that in mind, the degree of emphasis we place on this portion of the movement prep should be primarily determined by the training age (history of consistent physical training) of the tactical professional.Chapter 6 - Strength
SOFLETE methodologies are based on a proven system of building strength and stamina.
To put it simply, our programs are designed to strengthen your body in order to be able to better handle the rigors and impact of either a SOF Selection, or operations as an SOF operator. We want to be very clear: the fitness needs and performance points to pass a selection, even, are not the same as what is needed in a special operations team.
“The truest measure of competition is not in the stadium. The truest measure of competition is on the battlefield. The fiercest competitors face off with their lives on the line, and the winners simply are able to survive the encounter. The fact of the matter is that in war, your every move, moment of hesitation, strength, and weaknesses will weigh on your survival. The terrifying, and unsaid truth, is that even if you do everything right, you can still die. In virtually no other sport is this true.”
Filming Ideas
-Explain the definitions (include clips showing this in different contexts- e.g. CoD, stepping up onto something, dropping off a wall/truck, grappling etc)
- Idea of building strength for longevity; playing the long game rather than aiming to get as big/strong as possible for peak performance (as seen in pro sport). Co-contractions and coordination
What is Strength?
"Strength is a foundational capacity required directly or indirectly, in order to solve movement problems."
The Primary Purpose of Strength Training
“To challenge the athlete’s ability to solve known or novel movement problems; including the efficient manipulation of external objects.”
What is Load?
"Load is a tool primarily used to challenge the athlete’s ability to complete a given movement strategy."
6.2 Misconceptions of Strength
Filming Ideas
-Resilience > Peak Performance
-(whiteboard based) Discuss load as simply being another tool (not a weightlifter etc). Tactical performance is not measured in kilos or metres
-Could then show clips of what would have been Prac App 9 (loading to challenge position/movement)
-?USE POINTS FROM FIGURE BELOW AS TALKING POINTS
Misconceptions of Strength
Historically, at least over the last 200 years, stamina and endurance were the most highly prized physical attributes within most tactical professions- especially the military. This was reflected in both the way physical training and testing was conducted and can largely be attributed to the tactics of armed conflict used at the time, as well as the general necessity in society to be able to complete large amounts of non-machinery assisted physical work.
Over recent years strength, and by extension, strength training has seen something of a growth in popularity within the tactical community.
The trickle-down effect from popular culture saw an increase in the use of bodybuilding style training in the 1980s, particularly when done in combination with endurance training. Which remained something of the ‘go-to’ method for much of the tactical world until relatively recently with the formalization of ‘tactical strength and conditioning’. This has seen a slow evolution over the last 20-30 years and there has, again, been something of a trickle-down effect with influences present from both elite sport (collegiate and professional), as well as popular culture, especially following the boom in popularity of ‘functional fitness’ type training.
This formalization of tactical strength and conditioning and the associated increase in the presence of trained professionals to lead and coach physical training is, in our opinion, a huge leap forward. If nothing else, the fact that these investments are being made should hopefully show personnel that their performance (and ideally health) is becoming an increased priority within their respective organizations.
It is important to consider though, that currently the best practice model used by many tactical strength and conditioning professionals, is one that is heavily influenced by elite sport.
Whilst this approach may be appropriate for a small minority of specialist units (although we would argue that even this is up for debate); it certainly lacks the versatility to handle the extremely broad spectrum that is the tactical population.
Elite sport, particularly within North America, is made up of athletes who are genetic outliers; individuals who are exceptionally tall, fast, strong or whatever niche gives them the advantage required to succeed where hundreds of thousands of others cannot. Furthermore, these are people who have trained, often since a young age, to excel at an activity, or occasionally activities, that are incredibly quantifiable.
What we mean by this is that for the vast majority of popular sports, we (as the sports science community) understand generally what is required for success in these activities and can therefore be relatively precise when making human performance recommendations. This, in conjunction with the huge amounts of money and resources available to those involved in elite sport, allows for the complete individualisation of human performance support; with many individuals having access to their own team of sports medicine professionals, psychologists and nutritionists. Furthermore, due to the high level of competition, many of these athletes who do ‘make it’ can only sustain this standard of performance for a short number of years, before retiring.
In short, this model is one of peak performance; willingly sacrificing longevity for the marginal gains required to win a gold medal, break a world record or win a Superbowl ring.
Whilst this model is undoubtedly not without its flaws, it should be emphasized that it works! Repeatedly incredible feats of human performance are being pushed ever higher, with scientists and coaches consistently finding new ways to shave time or add kilos.
However, the tactical professional and the elite athlete are not the same beast; furthermore, they operate and live in very different environments.
Perhaps one of the biggest differences between the actual individuals themselves is that whilst most elite athletes are aged 18-30, the tactical professional can range in age from 16 right up to their mid-60s and depending upon the role, are expected to be ‘operational’ for most of this period. Due to this, as discussed during Chapter 3, tactical professionals are far more likely to have additional responsibilities outside of their role, such as paying bills, looking after and supporting children and other family members; this, in combination with deployments and other commitments away from home/unit means that there is often far less time and psychophysiological resources available for physical training. Plus, of what is available within the LEO, Fire and EMT/Paramedic communities, there is far less day-to-day predictability with respect to ‘occupational load’ (i.e. the volume of high physically and psychologically stressful work associated with duty). Whilst military personnel are generally in more regular deployment cycles, the build-up training and then a 6-18 month deployment results in a considerable amount of time away from home/unit. Logistics aside, for both of these groups, these additional stressors are not usually present for elite athletes and as such are a significant factor that needs to be considered from a biopsychosocial human performance perspective.
All of this is before we’ve conducted a ‘needs analysis’ and considered the nature of the roles themselves.
Due to the presence of applied constraints like rules of play or season length, in sport the relationship between certain training metrics (e.g. Rep Maxes or Jump Height) and performance on the field, ice or court etc can be correlated to some degree. By extension, this means that one of the main ways for a strength and conditioning coach to show they have ‘added value’ to their athletes is by tracking increases in strength metrics.
Unlike in elite sport, the levels of variability, potential chaos and unpredictability faced by many tactical professionals is extremely high. With such unpredictability and ambiguity these correlations between strength training metrics and performance are much less clear.
Consequently, whilst tactical strength and conditioning coaches can utilize ‘specific’ assessments like the US Army Combat Fitness Test, or the British Army Role Fitness Test Solder, to get some kind of benchmark in a number of raw capacities, truly preparing the individual for the realities of their duty is, currently, far less clear cut and measurable.
Accordingly, at SOFLETE we prefer to rely on the broader underpinning principles of strength and conditioning and focus instead on developing the athleticism and robustness of the individual as a priority. We then lean on the knowledge (as well as any available data) of the technical training cadre or more experienced operational personnel within that specific role, to provide what would be ‘sport specific’ guidance.
Essentially, we follow a model built around prioritizing through career resilience and longevity. Where we accept that inevitably some minor elements of peak performance might be sacrificed; akin to building an off-road rock crawler, rather than a Formula 1 car.
As such, we view strength and strength training through a slightly different lens. For us, improving an individual’s strength is more about them learning to effectively apply and absorb force in order to solve a given movement challenge.
Whilst we encourage the celebration of successes like setting new personal records within the gym, we see these as being akin to a compass; as they show whether we’re heading in the right direction. In order to determine our map grid reference and thus precise location, we need to look at both markers of health and occupational performance and consider what constitutes success there.Filming Ideas
-Focus on practical application (?film in gym)
-Why this should be meaningful to the tactical professional (consider health/aging, endocrine profile of operators, non-contact MSKI, physical nature of role etc; consider for different career phases).
-Why Soflete likes to ensure all personnel have a solid foundation of strength before layering on stamina; this not only helps boost performance, but helps (alongside the associated improvements in motor control) to mitigate the risk of injury (both soft tissue - e.g. muscle, tendon and ligament) and also (directly and indirectly) bone stress.
Secondary Purposes of Strength Training
As already discussed, we primarily choose to utilize strength training as a means to challenge an individual’s ability to solve various movement problems. Specifically, we prioritize motor learning and encouraging adaptability over the development of raw physiological capacities.
With the desired outcome we seek for our personnel, namely that they are able to ‘perform’ in the often novel and chaotic environment that is operational duty, we feel this is the most appropriate stance to take.
However, that doesn’t mean we aren’t interested in the myriad of other potentially useful physiological adaptations available from strength training; in fact we actively work to leverage these so that our personnel can guarantee the best return on investment for both health and performance.
Introduction to Muscular Contractions
In order to make sense of how strength training causes these adaptations, let’s start by understanding what actually happens in a muscle contraction. Whilst there is considerable debate at an academic level on the intricacies and nuances of some of this, we’ll endeavor to keep this relatively simple.
For a movement to be initiated, an electrical impulse from the central nervous system (CNS), travels through the peripheral nervous system (PNS) to the muscle. For the sake of efficiency, one nerve (or motor neurone) is responsible for stimulating a group of muscle fibers, collectively this nerve and group of muscle fibers are known as a motor unit. These motor units are made up of a varying number and type of muscle fibers (more on this later), depending on the muscle in question.
One thing to remember for later, is that just like turning on a light via a switch on the wall, these motor units can either be on or off (i.e. firing or not firing); this is known as the ‘all or nothing principle’. Consequently, in order to regulate the amount of force being expressed at a muscle, the nervous system selectively stimulates different motor units; with smaller motor units being stimulated first before stimulating progressively larger motor units as more force is required (this is known as Henneman’s size principle).
When the muscle fibers are stimulated by their motor neurone, a process involving the change in electrochemical balance between the inside and outside of the muscle cell (known as depolarization) takes place. Effectively, the difference in electrical charge between the outside and inside of the cell membrane is flipped, as sodium ions are pumped and then flow through the cell membrane, into the cell. This causes calcium ions to be released, which then results in the muscles cell’s internal ‘machinery’ (the actin and myosin filaments) ratcheting against each other and pulling the ends of the cell towards one another (known as the sliding filament theory). As this shortening is happening throughout the entire length of the muscle, it causes the whole muscle to contract.
The ends of muscles gradually blend into a viscoelastic tissue, tendons, which although can stretch and recoil passively, cannot actively contract like muscle. Consequently, as the muscle shortens, this force is transferred via the tendons to the bones at each end; where depending on what other muscle actions are taking place in the rest of the body, movement may occur.
Muscular Adaptations
From a muscular standpoint as you might expect, assuming the strength training stimulus has been applied appropriately the tissue will adapt in order to be able to tolerate more force, more effectively.
This includes the internal architecture of the muscle, at a microscopic level, getting bigger and stronger (specifically the actin and myosin filaments we mentioned earlier- the components that are responsible for mechanically shortening the muscle fiber), which known as myofibrilar hypertrophy and results in improved contractile ability.
Alongside increases in the size and efficiency of these mechanical components, we also see sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. This is the corresponding uptick in the support system for those actin and myosin filaments, with increases in energy sources like phosphocreatine (PCr) and glycogen storage, enzyme activity and more structural components like the amount of fluid in the cell and the strength of the intramuscular connective tissue (IMCT).
Strength training has also been shown to change the angle of pull of the individual muscle fibers, relative to the longitudinal axis of the muscle itself; which is known as a change in the angle of pennation. Whilst there are some fairly complex biomechanical considerations here, essentially, by increasing this angle the total force production capability of the muscle ultimately increases.
The degree to which all these adaptations occur, will depend in-part on the nature of the stimulus; with the muscle cells having a certain degree of plasticity allowing them to adapt more specifically in response to the exact nature of the training imposed.
Most people are already fairly familiar with the concept of slow (or ‘red’) and fast (or ‘white’) twitch muscle fibers. But rather than thinking about them as discrete categories, it’s probably better to think of fiber types as being more of a continuum. With the slower twitch fibers having high levels of endurance, but lower contraction force potential at one end, and the faster twitch fibers being able to contract very powerfully but which are easily fatigued, at the other extreme. In reality, the vast majority of muscle fibers will be varying shades of these examples and lie somewhere in between.
Visually, these differing properties are reflected in the colors of the fibers, with those slower twitch appearing more red as they have a greater blood supply (due to their greater reliance on oxygen being delivered for aerobic activity); whilst the faster twitch fibers appear white as their blood supply isn’t as high (due to the PCr and glycogen stores required for anaerobic activity already being stored in the muscle cell). Again, this is something people are probably fairly familiar with, particularly if having eaten a Thanksgiving turkey and seen the difference in appearance of the light (faster twitch) and dark (slower twitch) meat, as well as the location of these different meats on the bird (wings and legs respectively).
Now at this point, it’s important to emphasize that a muscle, or group of muscles (e.g. the hamstrings) aren’t made up of just one type of fiber; they contain a range of different fibers from right across the continuum. So when you hear about a strength or power athlete being ‘’very fast twitch’’ for example, what this actually means is that more of the fibers, in the muscles being utilized in that sport, probably sit closer to the fast twitch (white) end of the continuum, however they will still have some slower twitch fibers.
As before, there’s quite a lot of nuance and complexity to this, in fact some aspects are still not entirely understood by researchers. However, as a general rule of thumb, regular strength training will cause the muscle tissue to adapt in order to better tolerate the training stimulus; in this case, to be able to express more force. This is done, from a muscle tissue perspective, by adopting more of the characteristics we associate with the fast twitch end of the spectrum.
Neural Adaptations
If the muscle tissue adaptations represent the engine upgrade that powers a vehicle, then the neurological adaptations are the electronics that control and maximize how that engine expresses the power through the tires and into the road.
The nervous system, and how it adapts to strength training, is a huge and incredibly complex factor to consider.
In a similar fashion to the muscular adaptations, it’s obviously impossible to see many of the microscopic changes taking place; however just like over the longer term it’s possible to see someone’s muscle get bigger, it is also possible to see the effects of some of the neural adaptations with the naked eye.
Often, the first time someone attempts something like a Bench Press, the movement is relatively uncoordinated and jerky. Effectively what we’re seeing here is the lack of coordination and synergy both with the individual motor units within a given muscle, but also between the various muscles involved.
After as little as a few sessions, this jerkiness smooths out and the movement starts to look more fluid; what’s happening here is that the nervous system has learnt to sequence and coordinate those motor units and muscles more effectively. This coordination is known as intra (within the individual muscle) and intermuscular (coordinating multiple muscles) coordination and is one of the first neural based adaptations to occur in strength training. It is akin to watching recruits on the parade square attempting drill on Day 1 of bootcamp, and then progressively becoming smoother and more in sync, until it looks crisp and uniform at Graduation.
As that Bench Press becomes more familiar, the individual will be able to handle more weight. During these early stages of adaptation, whilst some structural muscular changes will occur, the majority of this adaptation appears to come from the nervous system. A key aspect in this is the increase in rate coding; which is essentially an increase in the frequency of impulses sent from the nervous system to the muscle. Each one of these impulses causes a twitch in the muscle, which build in a cumulative fashion (known as summation) to create ever increasing levels of muscular tension and hence force application. This mechanism, in combination with increased motor unit recruitment (as described above) is how the nervous system is able to effectively differentiate and provide an appropriate amount of force production for the task in hand; it’s this that allows for a heavy Bench Press, whilst also being able to conduct fine motor tasks like scratching your face.
Motor unit recruitment, as discussed previously, starts with the smaller motor units before progressively recruiting larger and larger motor units in order to meet the demands of the task. The amount of time it takes from the onset of muscular contraction, to the point that peak force production is reached is known as the rate of force development (RFD) and is a metric that is often greatly emphasized in elite sport due to its correlation with movement patterns like sprinting, jumping and changing direction. Depending on exactly how the strength training stimulus is applied, this ability to recruit larger motor units faster, can be highly trainable.
The opposite side of the coin from thinking about the muscular contraction, is the speed of the muscle relaxation. Due to the antagonistic nature of muscles (i.e. one or more must relax in order to permit another to contract- think bicep and tricep during a Dumbbell Curl), the speed that a muscle can relax is an important factor in creating speed and power in movements like Olympic weightlifting or sprinting. Interestingly, the Russian sport scientist Dr Matveyev (considered to be the ‘father of periodization’) noted that the speed of voluntary muscle relaxation was an important performance indicator that helped differentiate between good (or ‘First-Class Sportsman’) and excellent (or ‘Master of Sport’) USSR athletes.
Tendons, Fascia, Ligaments and Bone Adaptations
As we described earlier in this section, muscles via their tendon attachments pull on bone in order to exert force about a particular joint. These joints are then held together and stabilized by ligaments, which connect bones together. As we scale up, the forces and movement created at these joints is then transferred through the body via the fascia.
As one might expect, as all these structures are put under stress by strength training, they are required to adapt in order to accommodate to the levels imposed by the training demands.
Tendons, as we know from some of the great work by Dr Keith Baar amongst others, respond extremely well to certain types of loading. We’ll dig into the practical application of some of this later in this section. Suffice to say, that due to the viscoelastic properties of tendon, with strength based stimuli that are isometric or slow moving in nature we are able to make the tendon more compliant; then with faster, more explosive strength training the tendon will adapt and become stiffer. Understanding this can be extremely useful for mitigating injury risk as well as maximizing performance. Whilst this could technically also be considered a neural adaptation, tendons contain golgi-tendon organs (GTOs) which acts as a proprioceptor to detect movement and tension; they are located at the connection between muscle and tendon (the musculotendinous junction). Alongside providing sensory information to the nervous system, they also act as a self-preservation mechanism and when ‘triggered’ by high levels of tension, they cause the corresponding muscle to relax in order to prevent potentially damaging forces to both the muscle and tendon. Strength training dampens down the sensitivity of these GTOs, which in turn allows greater forces to be tolerated by the structures.
Fascia is the connective tissue that wraps around muscles and connects them in ‘slings’ or ‘chains’ throughout the body; for instance, some of the work by Tom Myers suggests that force can be transferred from one foot, right through to the opposite hand through this tissue. Up until relatively recently very little was understood about fascia and it was largely ignored in research- simply being seen as an annoyance to remove and cut through when studying the muscles of a cadaver. More recently there has been an uptick in research and interest, which appears to suggest that strength training, particularly through contralateral patterning (i.e. opposite arm to leg) like throwing, punching and sprinting, helps to keep these fascial links strong and robust. This in turn leads to more efficient force transfer, and hence enhanced movement quality and reduced risk of injury. This is certainly an area of research, particularly with respect to how the nervous system and fascia are interrelated, that’s worth keeping an eye on.
Due to the role of ligaments being to stabilize the joint, a highly beneficial adaptation to strength training is that these ligaments become stiffer and thus mean the joint becomes more stable; thus helping to mitigate the risk of injury- particularly subluxation and dislocation. Whilst on the discussion of joints, although evidence is still fairly limited to date, there are some promising signs that in combination with nutritional interventions, it might be possible to use a targeted strength training regime to regenerate the cartilage, which acts as a shock absorber within the joints.
An often overlooked aspect of health and performance within the tactical community is bone density. It’s no secret that numerous factors which can contribute to loss of bone mineral density, and hence increased risk of fracture, are present in many tactical roles- from high levels of occupational stress, lack of sunlight and vitamin D (through night operations and wearing uniforms and other Personal Protective Equipment) through to suboptimal nutrition and sleep. This is becoming even more important as we see age increasing across the tactical population, alongside greater numbers of females- both of which are statistical risk factors for decreased bone mineral density.
The research indicates that many different types of strength training, including resistance based training, as well plyometric and ballistic training, help to increase bone turnover and remodeling.
Consequently, using strength training to help maintain and even increase bone mineral density can be very important- particularly with the ever present risk of bone stress injuries as a result of both repetitive strain activities like rucking and running and more acute insults like parachute landings.
Figure 16. Secondary Purposes and Other Considerations for Strength Training.
Practical Application
In terms of understanding the practical application of this content, one of the main areas of consideration falls back to understanding what the training goal is and where the individual currently stands; the gap between the two will then shape exactly how the strength training stimulus should be most appropriately applied.
An initial consideration is the importance of balancing training the muscle with training the tendon. Too much heavy, slow strength training, similar to that of a powerlifter will result in significant increases in muscular strength. This is an advantage in tasks where large force application is required relatively slowly, however, it can lead to the muscle being stronger than the tendon which attaches it to the bone. Ultimately, as we see in strength sports like powerlifting, this can increase the risk of tendon tears.
Conversely, too much of a focus on explosive strength and speed training, like that of a track sprinter or thrower will cause the tendons to become stiffer and less compliant. Whilst this offers performance benefits in fast, bouncy type patterns, it can also result in the muscle not being strong enough to handle the tendon stiffness; thus resulting in the muscle tears often seen in track sprinters or soccer players.
Dr Baar encourages us to think of optimal tendon stiffness being on an inverted-U; with not enough stiffness resulting in elevated injury risk and sub-optimal performance- due to an inability to be ‘springy’, whilst too much again increases the risk of injury, but this time as the tendon is too stiff for the muscle.
Strength training can also be a fantastic tool for both tendon and muscle rehabilitation; whilst this is beyond the scope of this course, if dealing with an existing injury, we’d strongly encourage any tactical professionals to find a trusted physical therapist (or similar healthcare professional) who is confident and competent integrating strength training into the care pathway.
From a neural perspective, as discussed earlier, there is a significant amount of plasticity in terms of how the nervous system can adapt, depending on the nature of the stimulus applied. We’ve found the biggest enemy of progress, from a neurological standpoint, is overstimulation and fatigue.
Whilst most people are probably familiar with the sensation of both acute (i.e. burning) and chronic (achiness, known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (or DOMS)) muscular fatigue, it can be harder to ‘feel’ neurological fatigue particularly for less experienced individuals. That’s why we encourage the use of acute in-training markers like Vertical Jump Height or peripheral vision width, as well as more chronic metrics like HRV or Tap Test scores. Nevertheless, as we’ll discuss in more depth later (specifically within section 6.4), our main recommendation is to err on the side of being conservative when it comes to applying high neural drive stimuli; to quote Track Football Consortium coach Tony Holler, “over-training is like burning the steak. You can’t undo the damage.”.
With regards strength training for improving bone mineral density, as mentioned earlier, for some individuals this might be a priority; in which case a multi-faceted approach including specific strength training alongside nutritional (amongst others: calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, collagen or a high quality bone broth) and other lifestyle interventions (e.g. a controlled increased exposure to sunlight, increased sleep density and other psychophysiological recovery strategies) would be encouraged.
For others, who do not urgently need to restore bone density, but just wish to maintain or gradually increase it to support both health and occupational performance, the research is encouraging. It would appear that virtually all moderate to heavy longitudinal compression of bones, that would occur during most strength training sessions, would be sufficient to stimulate increased bone density. As mentioned throughout this course, the benefits of this can be amplified if the individual leads an otherwise healthy lifestyle, as proposed and supported by the Cognitive Warrior System.
What all this should hopefully be demonstrating is that the benefits of strength training are significant, both from a health maintenance and an occupational performance perspective. This is why, unsurprisingly, we lean heavily on strength training as part of our programming.6.4 Non-Weighted Strength Training
Filming Ideas
Complete as a gym session (?George coaching BRCC staff)
-Intro: Quick recap on what a plyo/SSC is. Conducting a needs analysis on role and individual, what role is NWST fulfilling (i.e. what capacities/qualities), FITT (and rest interval). THEN LINK INTO...
-What are you training for?
- Upper, lower or trunk ('isolated' or integrated)
-
Yielding or stiffness (can't be both, but need to be able to rapidly switch between the two e.g. Parkour/O-course)
Vertical, lateral or horizontal displacement
Consider relevant/key body positions (e.g. torso and head (and eyes))
Long or short contact times
Deep or shallow depth
Prescribe general to specific (e.g. wearing kit and boots) to chaotic (goal is for a 4x4 not F1)
-Discuss double leg --> single leg --> double leg (GCTs from DL are closer to real life activities)
-Progression of different exercises:
1) Plyometric Preparatory Work (e.g. ankling, line hops, jump rope, box jumps, skipping, ?Kipping etc).
2) Jump and Ballistic Training (e.g. bounding, hopping, CMJs, throws/catches etc).
3) ?Non-Impact Plyos (e.g. some of the AFSM using bands, punching/recoiling, oscillatory training etc).
4) Intense Plyometrics (e.g. depth jumps, drop jumps, altitude drops, sprinting (downhill or with wearable resistance) etc).
-How you might coach them and when you'd put them into the training plan (dosage, quantifying volume and intensity, measuring/testing progress) and why (e.g. training/injury status, weight, role, allosteric load etc).
-Discuss how sprinting and throwing (especially with wearable resistance) can be fantastic trunk stability/core strength training, due to the transfer of force and control required. In these movements we have 'segmental summation of velocity', basically the body works as a system to gradually build and then impart force
-Safety considerations (e.g. exercise is appropriate for athlete, warm up, surface/footwear etc)
-Also cover common issues (e.g. risk/reward, using them for conditioning, poor landing mechanics, not progressing complexity enough).
?Do we want to save this for the Prac App Section (6.4?)
Non-Weighted Strength Training
Classically when we think of strength training visions of barbells, chains and other heavy implements come to mind. As we’ve discussed, incorporating heavy resistance training into a program makes a lot of sense, it can result in some extremely beneficial adaptations and ultimately allows the expression of more force (see Section 6.3). However that’s only part of the equation that makes up Newton’s Second Law (Force = Mass x Acceleration).
Generally with strength training we are attempting to maximize the amount of force produced, by increasing the amount of mass that is moved, whilst maintaining a particular acceleration or velocity. Whilst with non-weighted strength training (for example plyometrics), we attempt to maximize force by increasing the acceleration as much as possible, but maintaining the mass (as this is usually bodyweight or the weight of a medicine ball for instance).
We’ve found, like many before us, that in order to get the most out of strength training and maximize force production capabilities, we need to attack it from both angles.
In this section we’ll unpack some of the non-weighted strength training methods we’ve found to be most beneficial and useful. For clarity, by non-weighted we don’t necessarily mean training with absolutely no external resistance, we simply want to make a distinction between what might be thought of as more traditional resistance training (e.g. using barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells etc) and training using bodyweight (or with very small additional loading) to develop explosive power and speed. Within this there are a wide range of different training options available, from low level preparatory exercises at one end of the spectrum like jumping rope or wall rebound push-ups, up to plyometric depth jumps or the pre-tensioned antagonistically facilitated specialized method (AFSM; more on all these in the coaching videos) at the other end.
As with everything we’ve discussed to this point though, in order to apply the training method most effectively, we feel it’s important to have a sound grasp of the underpinning principles and concepts.
At this point, it should be noted that whilst we’ve been experimenting with using these methods with tactical professionals for most of our professional careers, a considerable amount of the research and theory that supports this is based on training sports athletes, specifically mostly track and field athletes. Consequently, whilst we’ll provide specific examples and recommendations for training tactical personnel, understand that much of the evidence is based on the early pioneers in this area who were involved in elite sport.
Finally, as with virtually everything we do, there’s not going to be a one-size-fits-all answer to any of this and we’d encourage most tactical professionals to use some combination of both resistance based and non-weighted strength training in order to maximize health and occupational performance.
The Physiology Involved
Before taking a look at some non-weighted strength training methods, we felt it was important to provide a brief explanation of what is going on inside the body whilst performing this type of training; understanding this will help with selecting the right exercise and intensity when designing training programs
The Stretch-Shortening Cycle and Stretch-Reflex
To begin, we’ll unpack both the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) and the stretch-reflex, as well as how and why they’re relevant to this type of training.
As discussed earlier in this course, there are three types of muscle contraction: eccentric (where the muscle lengthens under tension), isometric (where the muscle remains at the same length, whilst under tension) and concentric (where the muscle shortens under tension); these make up the stretch-shortening cycle. All three of these muscle actions occur frequently in many common daily and sporting activities.
For instance, within the gait cycle during running, as the foot initially makes contact with the ground, there is a brief eccentric contraction in the muscles of the lower leg as they create sufficient tension to control the impact forces from the landing. As soon as these muscles are able to match the impact forces and thus prevent collapse, the tension in the muscles remains but there is no more movement- therefore this is an isometric contraction. During this time (also known as the amortization phase) whilst the muscle length remains constant, the tendons, fascia and other elastic components within the musculotendinous unit (and in-fact throughout the length of the body) initially stretch and then recoil to release additional elastic energy, like stretching and releasing an elastic band. Immediately following this, the muscles of the lower leg shorten and contract concentrically to provide additional drive before the foot leaves the ground.
It is also important to note that prior to any kind of impact with the ground (as when running or jumping for example), the CNS initiates a certain amount of pre-tensioning of the relevant muscles, as a protective mechanism in order to help prevent damage to the feet and lower leg. It would appear that the degree of pre-tensioning is determined by the CNS predicting the level of impact based on the speed of running or height of drop for instance. This isometric pre-tensioning also effectively increases the ‘stiffness’ of the lower limbs upon impact and allows for a reduced ground contact time (GCT) and therefore increased impulse (the amount of force applied to the ground in a given time period); ultimately resulting in improved jump height or sprint speed and reduced risk of injury.
Whilst this is something of an oversimplified model, hopefully it provides a conceptual illustration for how the different types of muscular contractions are relevant in applied practice.
Now let’s dive a little bit deeper into what’s going on within the neuromuscular system, during these movements, as this will ultimately provide greater insight into how and why utilizing this type of training can be so effective.
Within the muscles there are receptors (muscle spindles) that detect how much stretch the tissue is under, in order to protect the tissue from damage due to being overstretched. If the amount of stretch exceeds the nervous system’s predetermined threshold, the stretch reflex kicks in and causes the ‘active’ muscle being stretched (the agonist), to contract and attempt to shorten; in doing so, large powerful motor units are recruited (see Section 6.3). At the same time, an impulse is sent, via the spinal cord, to the opposing muscle (the antagonist) causing it to relax; this is known as reciprocal inhibition. Both of these actions ultimately cause the stretch in the agonist muscle to reduce.
A classic example of this stretch-reflex in action, assuming the individual is healthy, is during a patella tendon reflex test at the doctors. The hammer striking the patella tendon causes a stretch-reflex to occur, resulting in the quadricep muscles contracting and the hamstring muscles relaxing and hence the familiar kicking action.
Exploiting this stretch-reflex is the basis for many non-weighted strength training movements. In fact, Dr Verkhoshansky (who effectively developed plyometric training as a discrete system in 1970s USSR) described the importance of ensuring a ‘’sharp stretch’’ or shock immediately preceding the concentric contraction in order to cause a stretch-reflex to occur. As this then results in a stronger concentric contraction and ultimately a larger training stimulus to the neuromuscular system.
This is why in his definition of ‘’true plyometric’’ training, it’s specified that the amortization phase needs to be less than 0.15 seconds; as the longer this time period, the more this additional contractile tension (brought about by the stretch-reflex) will dissipate (as heat energy) prior to the concentric contraction taking place.
So much so, that Dr Verkhoshansky argued that in order for an exercise to be truly considered plyometric training, the movement needed to be involuntary in nature and based purely on this stretch-reflex (i.e. a feedforward control mechanism), rather than relying on the athlete consciously responding to the impact and then ‘deciding’ to jump (i.e. a feedback control mechanism). Whilst this might sound like semantics, it makes a considerable difference from a neurological standpoint, with respect to the transfer over to sport, as frequently game situations are so chaotic and require an athlete to move so quickly, there is minimal spare ‘mental capacity’ or time available for conscious thought about movement patterns (see Section 5.5 for more information).
It should be noted though, that any exercises which feature a stretch-shortening cycle with a longer amortization period than Dr Verkhoshansky deemed suitable for ‘true plyometrics’, such as jump or ballistic training movements (e.g. hopping, skipping, bounding etc), are still extremely valuable for enhancing health and performance, albeit slightly different properties. With that in mind, we feel it is important to appreciate the differences in rationale behind these different tools, in order to determine the most appropriate choice.
General Recommendations
When thinking about non-weighted strength training, it’s easy to see elite athletes completing extremely high intensity movements and assume that this must be the right thing to do. Whilst there are a plethora of benefits to completing this type of training, there are also a number of considerations to take into account based on some of the differences between elite athletes and most tactical professionals (see Section 6.2).
As with most things within human performance, before trying to figure out which exercises to program, or how many repetitions, we need to determine exactly what the individual requires. As before, this is based on a combination of understanding the demands of their role (and/or Phase, see Chapter 3) and their current health (including previous injuries) and training situation.
When considering the role requirements, it’s important to build up an accurate understanding of what is likely to be required as well as what could be required (the worst case scenario). As we mentioned in Section 6.2, seeking guidance from experienced personnel already in those roles, or technical instructors who have a deep knowledge of the skills required can be invaluable in this instance. From this, it’s important to determine what capacities or movement skills the individual will require and then reverse engineer an appropriate training strategy. For instance if the individual is likely to be carrying heavy external loads and dropping off high walls, then biasing the training towards learning and developing shock absorption- with deeper, slower landings might be more beneficial. If however, the external load is likely to be fairly light, but high speed sprinting and change of direction will be required, then training might need to be biased more towards reactivity or creating ‘stiffness’, with shallow, rebound type landings to promote reactive strength.
However, as with conducting any needs analysis, the desired end state is only half of the equation; we also need to build up a picture of the individual’s health and training status, both previously and today. This allows us to conduct a gap analysis and determine which skills and/or capacities need to be developed and in which order.
As previously discussed, unlike elite athletes, tactical professionals can sometimes lack both the genetic predisposition towards athletic performance, but also the deep physical training history. That’s not to say that tactical professionals don’t train hard, from our experience though, they often, understandably, haven’t completed as thorough a long term athlete development program as their elite sport counterparts. Furthermore, frequently the injury history of a tactical professional is often deeper; for a plethora of reasons including the cultural acceptance of not disclosing injuries, the complexities around blast trauma and even simply down to the fact that the average age of a tactical professional is higher than in elite sport. Taking time, preferably in collaboration with a physical therapist (or similar), to understand any previous injuries and associated compensation patterns, is vital when making decisions on where to start the individual with this type of training. Even factors like the individual’s body mass, age (and predicted tissue quality) and current levels of biopsychosocial stress are useful to consider, as these will certainly influence the type, intensity and quantity of this type of training.
Finally, continuing the discussion from Section 6.2 where we argued our preference for building resilient and robust tactical professionals, rather than peak performers from an athletic perspective; we feel it’s important to keep the ‘why’ in mind. When utilizing this type of training with motivated individuals, it’s very easy to get wrapped up in measuring jump height or other performance metrics and wanting to keep pushing for more and more performance. However, this is where it’s useful to come back to that 4x4/robustness concept. We feel that as soon as the individual has the capacities (e.g. rate of force development, reactive strength index, vertical jump height etc) to conduct their role safely and effectively, the attention needs to move from pursuing performance to managing chaos and complexity. By this we mean, instead of working towards increasing vertical jump height by another few centimeters, instead, expose the individual to jumping and landing under chaotic or awkward conditions- e.g. onto uneven surfaces, adding rotations into the landing or even with unexpected perturbations in mid-air. As outlined in Section 5.5, we believe that taking this approach will ultimately enhance longevity and robustness; both non-negotiables to us when working with tactical professionals.
Physiological Adaptations
Just as when using more traditional resistance training, non-weighted strength training methods can be used for developing a range of both general and specific qualities, depending on how they are applied. However, due to the low load, high velocity nature of these types of exercises (e.g. jumping, bounding, skipping etc) the physiological adaptations generally relate to enhancing explosive power and speed.
As discussed in depth in the last section (see Section 6.3), the main benefits of this type of training focus on improving the power and efficiency of the nervous system whilst also increasing the ‘stiffness’ (i.e. the amount of elastic energy that can be stored and returned) of the tendons, fascia and other components of connective tissue.
With regards to the neuromuscular adaptations, as already described, activation of the stretch-reflex causes an acute potentiation effect (i.e. recruitment of large and powerful motor units) which will then result in a temporarily increased rate and magnitude of explosive force production capability. This can be beneficial for stimulating peak performance (e.g. prior to a vertical jump test or ACFT style Power Throw), but can also be a powerful training tool if paired with another strength or power stimulus as in complex or contrast training.
From a longer term training effect, increases in muscle co-contraction (multiple muscles contracting at the same time to produce stability) have been reported, along with reduced ground contact times and improved rate of force development and explosive force production. Improvements in these capacities are associated with an increase in the stiffness or bounce quality we’ve mentioned before, and should then result in improved movement performance in activities like running (speed and economy) and jumping (increased height and distance). However, improvements in things like rate of force development, and the pre-activation tension mentioned earlier, can also be extremely effective from an injury mitigation standpoint, as if an individual can move and apply force faster, they will be less likely to fall following a trip or slip; offering a significant advantage if they are likely to be operating over uneven terrain and/or in poor visibility.
Interestingly, eccentric loading ability also seems to improve, particularly following the use of exercises with longer ground contact time and deeper flexion angles (specifically at the hip, knee and ankle). The ability to ‘absorb’ force more effectively could again offer significant injury mitigation benefits, particularly if the individual is likely to be dropping or jumping to the ground whilst wearing occupational gear.
Other factors, like improved coordination, timing and rhythm, that are often associated with completing cyclical running drills (e.g. skips and bounds), have received less attention in the research. However, anecdotally, enhancements here could result in a general improvement in movement efficiency, offering numerous benefits to the tactical professional.
Despite fairly limited literature available, it would appear that non-weighted strength training methods (including plyometrics) cause similar morphological and architectural changes to resistance based strength training (see Section 6.3). Changes in pennation angle, increases in fascicle length and muscle size and thickness have been reported; alongside improvements in the contractile properties and fiber type characteristics of the muscle. Whilst these would seem fairly logical, given the nature of the training stimulus, more research is certainly needed in this area.
As far as the tendons and other elastic components are concerned, whilst we know relatively little about how fascia responds to this type of training, more is known about tendon adaptation. A significant component of the structure of a tendon comes from cross-linking collagen molecules, in fact the more of these cross-links there are, the stiffer the tendon. During exercises like sprinting or drop jumps, where there is a shallow landing and a very short GCT, the muscles effectively lock up into an explosive isometric contraction; this means that the vast majority of the stretch and recoil comes from the tendons and other elastic structures. Loading the tendons in this way causes them to adapt to this stress by driving a net increase in the amount of cross-links and therefore an increased ability to store and return elastic energy. Whilst, as discussed previously, we need to be mindful to avoid creating a spring system There the tendon is too stiff for the muscle, having increased tendon stiffness and health can help not only with performance enhancement (e.g. increased running economy), but also mitigate common conditions like tendinopathies.
There is also some emerging evidence to suggest that other tissues, like ligaments, bones and cartilage can become stronger and more robust with this type of training. Clearly, these benefits are advantageous both in the short term with respect to tactical performance, but if programmed appropriately might also offer some protective effects against degeneration, as the individual ages.
Methods and Implementation
In the video series, whilst far from exhaustive, we’ve provided a brief overview of some of the methods we’ve found to be particularly beneficial for training the tactical professional. We’ve loosely arranged this from least to most intense, although as ever, there will be a certain degree of nuance and flexibility within this, depending on exactly how these movements are coached. Within each exercise (or mini-series), intensity can be adjusted through variables like height (of drop or jump), weight (of med ball, wearable resistance or throwing implement), entry speed (the amount of momentum you start the SSC with) or point of contact (e.g. single or double leg/arm). As discussed above, complexity or chaos can also be adjusted as a means to promote adaptability (see Section 5.5).
Care should be taken to employ the appropriate type and intensity of training exercise, depending on both the adaptations required and the current status of the individual. As previously, if in doubt, we’d suggest erring on the side of caution and prescribing a lower intensity and/or volume. Especially with this type of high speed training, the old adage ‘’don’t speed up what you can’t slow down’’ is extremely relevant here, from both an acute and chronic injury mitigation perspective.
With social media and even news coverage rife with videos of elite athletes performing extremely high intensity and impressive feats of plyometric training, It is worth reminding readers to consider each individual’s ‘window of adaptation’. For those with a limited training history, the window will be very large and they will adapt favorably to even relatively mild stimuli; as the individual becomes more trained, this window will progressively close with the stimulus needing to be larger or more novel, in order to promote continued adaptation. Whilst this is equally relevant to all forms of training, it is best practice from a long term development perspective, to prescribe appropriate training according to the training history.
Within barbell training, we wouldn’t start an individual with methods like accommodating resistance (e.g. using bands or chains), as the barbell is enough and they don’t need that additional stimulus; from a non-weighted strength training perspective it is no different.
An individual with a limited training history will get just as potent a response from lower intensity exercises like vertical jumps or skipping as they will from more advanced movements like bounding or drop jumps. Aside from helping to keep the injury risk down, ‘saving’ these more intense and complex exercises and variations for later in the training also provides more options for continuing to provide progressions long term. 6.5 Strength Training Principles
Move to the start of the module? This way, all subsequent content is through this lens.
1. What are you training for?
2. What do you need to be able to do this? Is this sustainable long term (if not, are you willing to take the risks)?
3. Where are you currently?
4. Gap analysis between the two and how do we cross that gap?
5. Test --> Train --> Re-test etc. Pre-test, intervention, Post-test; Be your own scientist (n=1)
6. If you're experienced in training and have become stagnant, it could be worth asking- what are you NOT doing?
-SAID Principle
-Movements over muscle groups (for Strength component; different for Accessory Work). Link back to Movement Literacy/4Ms content.
-Our default, most of the time, is full (controllable) range of motion (or at least working towards this)
-Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type
-Force/Velocity, Force/Length (length/tension - isolated muscle fibre and in actual movement; contractile and elastic (tendons and fascia) tension) etc. The theory and practical implications
2 Day Content:
SOFlete Training Principles:
SOFlete programs are designed around principles and applied to every training block and training day. Stress is cumulative and the body knows little difference between the stress at work and stress in the gym. Balance and strict adherence to the programming principles are crucial in order to maximize training and avoid injury.
1. Specificity: SOFlete Training programs have specific goals in mind based on each Training Program. Specificity in the SOFlete Programs are accomplished by following these sub-training categories that are listed below:
Movement Quality
Skill / Technique
Energy System Production
Autonomic Nervous System: SNS (Sympathetic Nervous System) and PNS ( Parasympathetic Nervous System)
Motor Control
Movement Variability
S.A.I.D Principle:
In physical rehabilitation and sports training, the SAID principle asserts that the human body adapts specifically to imposed demands. In other words, given stressors on the human system, whether biomechanical or neurological, there will be a Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands (SAID).
SOFlete Programmings uses the SAID Principle in the following ways:
Simple to complex
Slow to fast
Low threshold /stress to high threshold /stress
Short Distance to develop skill to Long Distance to reinforce skill
Unilateral to Bilateral
Overload Principles
2. Progression: Proper progressions are key to achieving the correct stimulus and adaptation through a program overtime. Therefore, we must take into account the training volume / intensity / frequency increasing them overtime, from the lower skill / reps / sets to the highest skill / reps / sets.
3. Exercise Variation: As a SOFlete Athlete, exercise variation is a huge part of their growth and longevity to their jobs and life. Exercise Variation in the SOFlete Program are accomplished by the following sub-training categories that are listed below:
Low Skilled to High Skilled Movements
Rotational to Anti Rotational
Unilateral to Bilateral
Strategic Timing of Exercise Variation
4. Overload: The concept of overloading revolves around the targeted stimulus we are trying to create with each repetition, set or session. Proper overloading distributes homeostasis and allows for better adaptation overall.
5. Fatigue Management: Promoting training overload to create adaptations that make you fit will also faguite you. Simple fatigue is just the daily grind of our lifestyle. If the fatigue spikes too high this causes problems such as poor performance adaptations and muscle tissue breakdown. Soflete uses a periodization method that balances out fatigue and proper recovery protocols.
6. Recovery: The general adaptation syndrome (GAS) is a 3-stage model, first proposed by Dr. Hans Selye, to describe how all biological organisms respond and adapt to stress in their environment. According to Dr. Selye “Stress is the sum of the body's responses to disturbances of the homeostasis. The source of the stress is called the stressor. A stressor is any event or occurrence, internal or external to the body, that disrupts homeostasis, forcing the body to use its biological resources to resist (during), and adapt to (after), the stress.” The key to recovery is moving out of the resistance phase as fast as possible. SOFlete programs specifically address mobility and cool down phases in order to maximize recovery after a targeted amount of time in the resistance phase.
6.6 Practical Application of Strength Training
Filming Ideas
-Blackboard- How to Programme for Strength- principles and specific tips/advice (including costs and minimum effective dose; FITT); Split sessions for Minimum Effective Dose etc. Pre-test, intervention, Post-test; Be your own scientist (n=1).
-Discuss various methods of strength training (why we like them, or not) and where people can go to find out more information about them (e.g. clusters, CAT, accommodating resistance, weightlifting derivatives, plyos (and other content from 6.4), complex/contrast training, pause/tempo work etc)
-Considering the starting point (training age) of many tactical professionals (and the change in physical activity/preparedness that this and future generations are likely to present at boot camp with). How to programme effectively for these, as well as for those with injuries/limitations/restrictions.
-Concurrent Training (?) (myths and workarounds)
-Maintaining a strength stimulus with minimal equipment, e.g. whilst travelling or deployed (?BFR, Plyos, ISOs, strongman etc)
-Equipping a home gym (?)
-Use of assistance equipment (e.g. wraps, shoes, belts etc)
DO WE NEED ANY WRITTEN CONTENT FOR THIS, OR SHOULD IT ALL BE RECORDED FOOTAGE?Chapter 7 - Stamina
7.1 Stamina Through The Soflete Lens
Stamina: “The ability to accurately and efficiently replicate a particular task or set of tasks”
7.2 Misconceptions of Stamina
Filming Ideas
-Traditionally there has been a big focus on LSD (ability to run and ruck at a relatively slow speed for a long time). Unpack why this was the case (logistics, general trend towards aerobic (jogging) research in the 60s-90s, historical relevance/dynamics of war)
-Is this still important for today's tactical professional (not just military)?
-Do we/should we consider stamina from the perspective of strength endurance (e.g. grappling with a suspect or working to control a fire hose) or repeated sprintability? Should we consider ''longitudinal stamina''- the ability to be resilient to the rigours and stresses of duty and survive a full career?
2 Day Seminar Content:
SOFlete Energy System Development for Strength / Stamina Team:
What lies at the core of the SOFlete programming is the energy system development for the SOFlete athlete for physical preparation. We understand that to produce optimal power output at any given time and time domain, and movement. We must lower the number of limiting factors that will create too much energy expenditure loss. With proper mapping of the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems in the programming we have come to use energy system development, not just for the stamina, but seeing that increase of work capacity has aided in the help lowering the risk of injury, and increasing the resilience of the SOFlete Athlete.
What is the Aerobic Energy System:
The aerobic system provides the majority of the energy production for any activity lasting longer than 60 secs, which the body is using oxygen freely. The aerobic system is the most adaptable energy system that can produce ATP, from multiple energy sources.
The aerobic system has many components that when it comes to improvement it is the one system that we can that can increase aerobic fitness. When we look to train the aerobic system we are focusing on building the cardiovascular, skeletal, and nervous system. As we increase these system we are prompting increasing in the following for the SOFlete Athlete:
Capacity of which the heart can work properly
Hypertrophy of the Vascular Network
Increasing the overall number and function of mitochondria that the body can produce
As we look to increase the adaptations above, we have to be able to create variety in a number of things, just as we stated in our SOFlete Principles in the programming part 1, it also involves energy system development.
Movement Skill Development is key, if the athlete can’t move properly then the aerobic work we are doing ends up becoming ineffective due to the extra stress we are putting on the body.
With the aerobic system, we want to look to increase overall work capacity to handle the rigors of everyday life, from inside the gym to on the battlefield.
What is the Anaerobic Lactic System
The anaerobic lactic system is that one system that isn’t understood as well due to it being in the middle of the aerobic energy system and AN-Alactic System. The anaerobic lactic system has no one reason why it causes so much fatigue, as we look at the anaerobic metabolism during high levels of stress that leads to bigger changes on the cellular level of energy production.
The lactic system is that one system not many athletes need that lasts up to 30 secs and it starts to fall off after that. The SOFlete athlete needs this type of training. We like to look at this as the longer we can sustain higher levels of the lactic system this shows that we are utilizing the aerobic system the proper way.
When we see the build up of the lactate byproduct, we are prompting more lactate faster than our body can handle to clear the system fast enough. Which is an indicator that the aerobic system isn’t up to par with what we want specific for that athlete.
What is the Anaerobic Alactic System
The anaerobic alactic system is the most powerful out of the other energy systems. This system has a very low availability of ATP, along with other energy sources. The alactic system does not produce lactate; these are two different systems working at the same time. While the alactic system is working also is the lactic system and it is producing lactate at that same time.
Knowing that the alactic system come from a biological aspect, it ends up playing a huge role in Sympathetic Nervous System.The time that it takes to use up the alactic system is anywhere from 3-12 secs, that in-turns shows that it becomes the least adaptable than the other energy systems.
The alactic system consists of short, explosive bursts of power output. Along with the need for survival that we need at any given time.
As you can see we need all three of these energy systems. It is vital to the SOFlete to build and work on these at all times, having a proper balance will optilzimze the protineal of the SOFlete athlete on and off the battlefield.
Powerpoint w/notes
MODULE 3 Plan
- Exploring Resilience
- What is resilience?
- Mental Health
- Stress Injury Model
- How to Manage Residual Fatigue
- Macro to Micro
- The Nuts and Bolts of Resilience
- Role/Environment Specific Resilience
- (SPP and Acclimatisation content (slides 140-143)
- Monitoring and Measuring
- Health and Wellness
- Body Composition
- Heart Health
- Nervous System Management
- Psychological State
- Nutrition and Hydration
- Occupational Stress
- Goal Setting
- ?Occupational Performance
- The Die Living Philosophy
- Understanding the Philosophy
- Integrating Adventure Sports into SOFlete Programming
- Practical Implementation of Content Covered (“starting Monday I can…”)
- Wrap Up
- Summary
- Next Steps
- Earn Your Stripes (an assessment)
- Wrap Up
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