Throughout history, warriors of all types learned the hard way that physical fitness pertaining to their style of fighting was absolutely necessary. If we look at warrior training from successful militaries around the world and throughout history, there are many examples that show a pattern of focus on methods of conditioning and fitness priorities. THE SPARTAN EXAMPLE Let us first consider the Spartan method of developing fitness. Their version of working out as warriors was far different than an athlete. There were some athletic exercises done to strengthen a muscle group in general but that was few and far between. The focus that most warriors had were based in agility and endurance. The Spartan warrior wanted to move swiftly on the battlefield and could not do so if the main concentration was practicing lifting weights rather than practicing lifting and holding his shield. The training was done with the fighting gear and there were things like climbing, wrestling, and mock battle drills to hone the warriors into maneuverable and efficient fighters. Much of the warrior training was on thinking tactically, staying aggressive, and enduring hardship such as lack of food and sleep. ROMAN LEGIONNAIRE TRAINING To look at Roman Legionnaire training is to somewhat look at modern day training. However, we must keep in mind that Roman military history changed some and techniques changed alot for training, specifically the tactics used. There were prerequisites for entrance and there was about 4 months of training. Trainees were required to conduct marches up to 22 miles in 5 hours with 45lb of crap on their back before earning the right to move on to weapons training. This training included training with wood and wicker equipment twice as heavy as the real thing in order to build strength and agility quickly. They would practice their drills against wooden posts in order to build accuracy of thrusts, slashes, and javelin throws. If a trainee performed poorly during this process, they were punished with half rations until proving to an officer in charge that they have met the standards. After a trainee performed adequately in this basic weapons training, they would move onto training against each other with lighter wooden swords and wicker shields. There was other training that worked on the body as well such as gymnastics, swimming, and long marches in order to build general endurance and power. After completing basic training and being assigned to a unit, a Legionnaire could expect to wake up and perform some sort of combat training before moving on to daily responsibilities in their unit such as equipment repair and building. At least twice a week, Legionnaires would spend a full day drilling as a whole unit with practice weapons. Rarely did they train with their real sword and shield. Also keep in mind that Rome was almost always in conflict, so most of the time, the Legionnaire was not enjoying much camp life, but was putting his marching training to use with marches of 90 miles per day at times when moving to meet an enemy. Needless to say that the Legionnaire was underfed, overworked, and put into the meat grinder of battle constantly. Yes, we can take some of the concepts of training that a Legionnaire conducted and adapt it to our own. In fact, their training program may have been one of the best and could even have surpassed what the Spartan underwent. Rome was big on watching and learning from warrior cultures such as Sparta and adapting their own tactics. MODERN DAY EXAMPLE Today there are not too many examples of militaries that drill constantly for combat. The only ones I can think of may be tier 1 units such as direct action units like the British SAS/SBS, SEALS, DELTA, Polish GROM, FBI HRT, etc. These units usually drill and drill until they can't get something wrong. Some of the training techniques they use to get better at shooting are isolated physical training in things like isometric holds, strength training, and power exercises. These have proven quite effective when combined with daily drill in basic movements that will be expected to be performed as second nature in combat such as trigger pulls, rifle to pistol transitions, and reloads in a certain time window. I have a few books that I have reviewed that specifically highlight some of these simple drills that can be conducted daily. If done properly and mastered, they can improve ones performance during a course of fire or test. AREAS OF FOCUS I have written about these things before, but I will gloss over them now. Some general areas you should concentrate on is endurance, power, manipulations, and situational awareness. Rarely have I seen raw brute strength to be helpful. Who cares how much you can bench press once. I want to see how long you can hold a loaded rifle or pistol at full extension in the standing and kneeling while leaning out behind cover or concealment. I want to see you sprint 100 yards in full gear like I had to do under fire on deployment while being short of food and sleep. I also want to see you be able to climb, crawl, jog,crouch, change positions (standing to kneeling to prone to standing)quickly and with ease, carry heavy ammo cans a long distance, all while carrying full day/assault packs and in full battle rattle. General everyday maneuvers and tasks while in gear will show you whether your setup works. Look out for chaffing, hot spots, loose pouches, uniform stress points, and imbalanced gear. Technique is crucial to prevent injury. Think this is too much. This is just basic crap I had to do in combat so grow a pair and test your gear like a grown man. DISCIPLINE AND MAKING IT HABITUAL Tip number one would have to be to make working with your firearms habitual. It should be to the point that you work with your firearms at least once a day in something like fast trigger pulls, presentations, draws, reloads, whatever. Make it a habit to do so even when you are tired in the morning. The best time to do this is in the early morning while the coffee is brewing. Time yourself and go only as slow as you can perform proper reps. For you vets out their, don't sit this out yourself. If you think you are so badass, where is your discipline to prove you are taking your families safety seriously? If you want to boast about your military service, at least lead by example and use what you were taught. And for the rest of you, get up and prove you are serious about being an asset to society and not someone whose accuracy and speed is put to shame by a stormtrooper. EXERCISE TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE I will not speak directly about diet here, but it is important to note that how you fuel your body will either help or hurt you. Other than getting out there and practicing specific tactical movements in your gear on the range, there are ways to condition your body to perform these movements with the speed and agility you will need. Practice initially in PT gear and build up to a plate carrier and then a loadout with empty mags. Once your agility and conditioning is such that these movements and tasks don't wind you, perform them with a full loadout and weapon if possible. First thing you need to realize is that these workouts need to directly correlate with the type of movements, holds, and lifts you will need to perform. First thing is to cover individual movement. This will take the form of conducting rushes from one piece of cover to another. The ways to simulate this is to replicate your starting position behind cover such as a prone or kneeling position. You will swiftly get to your feet and sprint like the devil is on your ass for 10 seconds, and then you will only rest for 5 seconds while prone. I say 10 seconds because it is a round number and it is a much longer sprint than you would usually do unless the goal is being a bullet sponge. The idea is to train harder like the Romans did and push your body to work harder. This will develop power in your legs and also help build respiratory tolerance for fast exertion. A simpler workout to isolate the specific movements is burpees, lunges, and sprints. To help build good muscular endurance for keeping your rifle aimed on a target with the least amount of movement for an extended period, even under stress, perform simple exercises such as hanging weight from the center of balance on your rifle or pistol. Establish and maintain a fighting stance from the standing or kneeling while aiming at a very small object and preventing movement. I advise that you hold this position until you feel a real burn and then rest for an equal amount of time. I personally like making the weapon weight 2x it's fully loaded weight. To increase the challenge, add gear and leaning to work the core for leaning around cover. The exercises I am suggesting may not be concentrated necessarily like going to the gym and working out a muscle in isolation. However this type of exercising improves not only your manipulations and drills in proper form, but it will obviously work out the muscles you need to have strengthened for that task. I am not saying to not do any isolated workouts, but I am saying to at least make most of your workouts conducting the movements you will needed to perform. Take lessons from armies of the past and present to make a good daily workout routine in which you build your body to fight.
|
Do It RiteAlaska-Based Youtube Vlogger, Retired Marine, Firearm and Gear Tester. Archives
December 2023
Categories
All
|