Greg

Battle Ready

 Core values, Fitness  Comments Off on Battle Ready
Jun 052012
 

Planning for a physical engagement requires much from your body and mind. Here are a few pointers for getting battle ready for a host of real life or sports related challenges:

1. Train your body for the specific physical demands of your event or engagement. If you are trying to pass a military, police, or fire department physical entrance test like an obstacle course, running eight miles won’t help you improve your anaerobic strength capacity or speed, agility and quickness, but progressively intense total body resistance and reactive training will help you get the results you need. Conversely, spending a majority of your physical training time lifting heavy weights won’t help you improve your time in endurance sports. It is OK to cross train in other sports and incorporate various levels of physical intensity, but keep your main focus on preparing your body for the specific demands it will face.

2. Situational Awareness. Doesn’t matter if you are in a field of play or field of fire, mental acuity is paramount for success. Having strong internal discipline and razor sharp focus will only enhance your performance. Wayne Gretzky understood the importance of situational awareness in the hockey rink; he attributed his success for knowing, “where the puck was going to be.”

3. Tapering the intensity before a big event. Going all out in training is good, just make sure it is not days before your body and mind will be put to the test. The central nervous system (CNS) regulates the body’s functions, if you don’t give the CNS enough time to recover from the accumulated physical and mental stress, you will not be at your best when you need it most.

Use these tips in preparing for your next sporting event or physical fitness test and be battle ready.

Preparing for Intensity – Seven Tips

 Core values  Comments Off on Preparing for Intensity – Seven Tips
May 232012
 

Prepared for Intensity

 

You may be a special operations operator preparing for a hostage rescue, a fireman about to enter a burning building, or an athlete moments before a competition; its go time. Have you taken the necessary steps to prepare for this moment? Though the above mentioned events are radically different from each other, they share the elements of physical and mental intensity. How does one get ready for such engagements? Here are 7 tips  to help someone physically and mentally prepare for extreme moments of intensity.

1. Train your body to physically be ready for the stresses you may encounter. Running up a flight of stairs maybe be easy, now add 60 pounds of gear, not so easy. Firefighters often are loaded with heavy equipment and then are burdened with carrying a survivor of a fire to safety.

2. Wearing the appropriate clothing and gear suitable to your body. You may be a great athlete but if your shoes don’t fit well or a part of your clothing chafes your skin, the added irritation will cause you to become distracted and be efficient in your movements.

3. Practicing in the environment to which you will be engaged or tested. Trail and mud runs are fun but training on a treadmill won’t help you develop the physical capabilities and mental comfort to compete at your best. Replicate the real thing in practice as best as you can.

4. Have mental pictures of how you will navigate the upcoming moments of intensity. Have a strong mental game plan of what you will do when faced with extreme challenges.

5. Rest – sleep is key. The central nervous system regulates much of the body’s functions, lack of sleep often over stresses the central nervous system resulting in poor performance.  For military personnel sometimes sleep is a luxury and if so operators should train to be 100% functional despite a lack of sleep.

6. Diet is an important factor. It is best if the blood sugar levels and heart rate are stabilized prior to moments of intensity. Though adrenalin will spike the heart rate, a lack of adequate blood sugar can result in muscle failure and too high a heart rate caused by caffeine and refined sugars will sabotage fine motor skills.

7.  Learning from others. Find out who previously has undertaken the same tasks or events and learn their “tricks of the trade”. Understanding from others about what works or doesn’t goes along way to mentally prepare yourself for your mission, rescue, or event.

 

A Tool for The Tactical Lifestyle

 Nutrition, Warriors  Comments Off on A Tool for The Tactical Lifestyle
May 182012
 

For some of you out there, you live for the action of a tactical engagement. The adrenalin rush, the recognition from superiors, peers, or rescued victims may also contribute to that fuzzy feeling inside you that you can’t quite explain. I know many people that are or try to be tactical 100% of the time. If they aren’t deployed or  working a shift as a policeman, fireman, or close protection officer, they are training at the range or on the mats in close quarter battle or MMA, when they are not training; they are online surfing, shopping, or commenting on websites geared toward the tactically minded (like this one). In downtime many of these tactical athletes are wearing cargo pants, polo shirts, and Oakley sunglasses to almost every social occasion.

I got nothing but love for this type of guy or gal who lives their life on the tactical edge. Even for the most  seasoned of tactical officers with ice in their veins, there has to be time to decompress and enjoy balance in one’s life. Burn out can happen to the best of us in the tactical world. Stress kills by a 1000 cuts in the form of heart attacks, strokes, and other ailments. Unfortunately many in the tactical world fight their stress by eating bad foods or drinking a bit too much alcohol. Drinking alcohol is not good, which is why home alcohol detox is an important step in addressing and managing alcohol-related issues.

A better way to combat stress is by consuming the best nutrition available. Eating protein rich foods, fibrous carbohydrates, and essential fatty acids is ideal plus learning where to find nutritional yeast in grocery store. For many us in the tactical world, you are on call or on the the go and shopping for and preparing food maybe a luxury.

A great nutritional resource for the tactical athlete living the tactical lifestyle can be found here:

http://www.battletestedfitness.isagenix.com

Contact me to get started.

-Greg

Taking Care of Business

 Core values  Comments Off on Taking Care of Business
May 142012
 

 

 

 

The killer instinct, the edge, the hunger, the “eye of the tiger” (Ok, its corny). Motivation and attitude dictate so much of our actions. What motivates one may not motivate another when it comes to engaging in a particular action. Sometimes people excel at sports or competitions because their ego demands that they be the best, some people excel to please others, others do so because they have no alternative – (getting a college scholarship or signing a professional sports contract versus a bleak future). Believing that you have no alternative but to succeed, is a powerful motivator and one that can result in success provided that you have the right vision, put in the work, and simply “take care of business.”

Desperation can lead some people to make wrong decisions and act impetuously, but other people may find within themselves a “grace under pressure”, and with their backs to the wall, overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. In battle, you find ways to overcome threats that can result in your demise, because you have “no alternative” but to engage in actions to ensure that your mission is completed and that you and your comrades are safe.

Battle Tested. If under extreme conditions one can survive or excel, other challenges seem trivial. By projecting a “no alternative” mindset, you will see that the level of performance of daily tasks, work outs, drills, and exercises, start to improve.

 

Gladiator Run

 Fitness  Comments Off on Gladiator Run
May 032012
 

Despite opting not to do trail runs in the mud with quasi military type obstacles for since they were conceived; I did the real thing with 60 pounds on my back and weapons for a few years, I will be competing in a Gladiator Run in San Jose on May 19th. I figured what the hell, let’s see if I still got it. I have been training for it and feeling like a lean, mean, fighting machine, and am ready to take on the course.

Tactical Protection Training

 Core values  Comments Off on Tactical Protection Training
Apr 102012
 

As the online environment becomes the latest “battleground” of security, it doesn’t make the tactical environment any less important.   When the proverbial “rubber meets the road”, do you or your security officers, and/or emergency responders physically and mentally equipped to overcome any obstacle set before them?

The tactical world is not full of the crazy gun nuts, MMA enthusiasts, and Rambo wannabees, that are often on display. The tactical operator is cool headed, physically fit, and possesses, when needed, a command presence to get things done. How do tactical operators acquire mental and physical mastery? They train, train, and train some more. To improve one’s skill in the tactical arena, one has to practice/train/exercise outside their comfort zone. Emergencies occur outside the norm, and if a first responder is not able to run, shoot, lift, push, drag, communicate or more in an efficient manner, risk and casualties mount up fast.

Train Hard but Train Smart.

 

 Posted by at 3:35 pm

5 Elements to Improve Tactical Performance

 Core values  Comments Off on 5 Elements to Improve Tactical Performance
Mar 092012
 

When you have to go from “Zero to Hero” this is how your prepare yourself:

1. A basis of great nutrition and supplementation found here:  http://www.battletestedfitness.isagenix.com

2. Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers- You get these by working out in fast short bursts using weighted resistance and sprinting. Running for hours on end won’t help develop fast twitch muscle capability.

3. Sleep – Caffeine can only take you so far, a rested central nervous system will help you keep your “edge”.

4. Train with your gear. It’s great to run an obstacle course or a 5K, but if you wear a duty belt or heavy gear as a soldier or fireman, train that way. For security personnel that means your work shoes, communication unit, weapon if any, and body armor.

5. Mimic the environment you will find yourself in a worst case scenario. If you are working a special event as an on- call emergency responder  (police, security, fire, EMS)- practice for worst case scenarios like a riot, shooting, or fire, something that causes panic.  If you don’t practice this element, you will panic when your skills are needed the most.

Battle Tested Fitness Survival Strategies

 Core values, Uncategorized  Comments Off on Battle Tested Fitness Survival Strategies
Dec 082011
 

How do you prime your body to overcome physical threats to your well being? What methods of training make the most sense to undertake in preparation of an emergency or traumatic incident? Is nutrition important for surviving emergencies?

1.Strength. In cases where we need to call on our “emergency” muscles it is important that we possess the ability to recruit muscle to overcome an external resistance.

2. Power. Once we develop a good strength foundation, we can now focus on explosive lifting and movements. A clean from the ground or a hanging clean will target fast pulling muscles in our legs, back, hips  and arms. Push Presses and Split Jerks enhance the fast twitch muscle fibers in our respective pushing muscles. A clean & jerk involves lifting a weight from the ground explosively, catching it below the shoulders, and then exploding up with the legs and arms to hoist the weight overhead. Snatches with a barbell or one arm snatches with a kettlebell are also excellent movements for developing fast twitch capabilities.

3. Running Speed. Whether an emergency is a fire, earthquake, robbery, or shooting, sometimes the best course of action is to run, except in cases when it is best to shelter in place. When I speak of running, I am not talking about casually running on a treadmill at level 6, I am talking about sprinting. Developing speed takes time. One will injury him or herself if all of a sudden he or she starts running at full speed before training and conditioning the muscles to take on such a challenge. When running in the gym or outside, gradually add sprints into the run at – 60% – 70% – 80% . After a few weeks of conditioning increase the sprinting intensity.

4. Agility. Moving out of the way of incoming hazards – people, objects, cars, requires the body to move in various planes of motion quickly. The ability to start , stop, and change direction is a skill that needs to be practiced. Good ways to develop agility is by playing sports that require agility – tennis, basketball, volleyball, soccer, to name a few. In a gym setting, the use of speed ladders, cones, and medicine balls are great tools for improving agility and quickness.

5. Endurance. In most emergencies, cardiovascular endurance is not a necessity. There aren’t many cases where one has to run two miles to safety, but it never hurts to be prepared for occasions when we find ourselves in isolated regions and have to hike or walk to get help. The instances when we require extreme levels of endurance in emergency situations usually involve activities where we choose to put ourselves in danger – mountain biking, mountain climbing, open water sports.

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