Military Athlete

Just found a big area that's lacking in the MA workouts. PULL UPS.
When I got to Coronado (a year ago) I could do 13-14 strict, dead hang, pull ups during my PST. In high school, I was the skinny kid who would struggle to bend his arms more than 90* on the pull up bar...
I did the calisthenics part of today's SOFWOD before my run and my pull ups have suffered greatly. Went like this:

3 rds
16x narrow push ups
16x sit ups
8x wide grip pull ups

I got the first 8 with a bit of struggle, then had to split the last 2 sets into 4/4. I was extremely disappointed.
Just my $.02 regarding MA, which I still love to hate!
 
Ya, Ive noticed Coach Shaul has the tendency to over program the Anterior muscles. Too much pressing and front squatting. Etype made a nice little post about the problems quad and shoulder dominance can have on an athlete. Also, if you look at Coach Shaul you'll see his slumped shoulders and his thumbs are turned inward towards each other which put him at risk for shoulder issues and causes increased kyphosis.
 
F. Castle-

Yeah I started with what Skrewz said about running a month or two back. Now I started kind of supplementing it. I do Two regular workouts a week with a squad PT session one time a week with three days of running a PU/SU/PU improvment based off of a CPT. Kind book I had in basic. He's got a good program in my opinion and I do feel it is structured better than most plans for military but my I started doing some extra work for my back.
 
My roommate, a friend of mine and I attempted to do this MA workout today. We didn't do the warm up and only got through about three+ sets. We also didn't make it to the run...granted we went a little too strong last night...but this was rough and the volume is crazy.
15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Dead Lift @ 185#
2- handed Kettlebell Clean & Press @ 20kg
GHD Situp
Back Squat @ 135#
Scotty Bobs @ 25# (each pushup counts as
!
one rep)

(2) Run 3 miles, moderate pace.
 
Holy christ almighty. Kinda surprised to see back squats in there as coach Shaul loves front squats so much.
Was that considered a stamina or work capacity session? I can see that easily going into the 90 minute range...well, for me at least. :-/
 
Honestly I'm new to Military Athlete I've just been following what you guys have said here. This is the Session 1 for week three of the Ruck Based Selection program the only difference from week two is the increasing the run to three miles. I mean stamina...sure the lift itself is a cardio burner, looking at MA right now I'd say it's a stamina work out. But yeah holy shit.
 
OK, I didn't know you were doing the Ruck Based program.
When doing the Operator sessions, they're broken down into Strength, Stamina or Work Capacity.
 
It was just something my roommate picked out, we haven't done it from the beginning. I was given the operator sessions by a friend of mine so I'll have to start on that when I have time. I haven't even looked to compare it.
 
ThunderHorse said:
My roommate, a friend of mine and I attempted to do this MA workout today. We didn't do the warm up and only got through about three+ sets. We also didn't make it to the run...granted we went a little too strong last night...but this was rough and the volume is crazy.
15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Dead Lift @ 185#
2- handed Kettlebell Clean & Press @ 20kg
GHD Situp
Back Squat @ 135#
Scotty Bobs @ 25# (each pushup counts as
!
one rep)

(2) Run 3 miles, moderate pace.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is a stamina session. The 15-1 thing is designed to be completed in roughly 60:00. It sounds like you may have come out of the gate too fast. You have to start workouts like this at a pace that almost seems too slow at first. This rep scheme results in 120 reps of each exercise. That is a shitload of reps and has to be paced accordingly.
 
SkrewzLoose said:
What exactly are you hoping to accomplish? (not intending to be smart-ass-ish)
Click to expand...
Just looking to get into better shape, haven't really had time beyond weekends to workout. I'm able to get down and do pushups...tend to do that after I leave the restroom at home. The problem with where I am is I've been getting off work at 1800 most days, have to get home, eat, study, do work for the next day. We have PRT most days...the idea that PRT doesn't help you is a fallacy...it maintains and builds you up just a little bit. Haven't had the time to make the gains I want, however, I did set PRs on pushups and the two mile run on our record PT test.
 
If you don't have a lot of time, you may want to look into giving CF a shot. You're usually done in 25 mins or less. I'm not going down the MA Vs. CF Vs. SOFWOD road, you can decide what's best for you. They will all get you "into better shape". What you do/how you supplement after that, based on your own personal goals, is up to you. However, based on what you posted above, the high intensity/short time period WOD that CF lives and dies by might be a good option for you.
 
Oh I've become a believer in CF. However the Training Tempo we're on right now...basically in the field for the next three weeks and then done with the course.
 
After 3-4 months of Starting Strength minus a long break for a shoulder strain/pulled armpit muscle. I'm at or in between intermediate to advanced in the bench, dead lift, squat and military press in the 180-185 pound category. I also continued to run sprints 2x a week (400/800m) and a 3-4 mile lsd run 1x a week. I added accessory exercises post lifts, like back ups, planks, pull ups, occasional Tabata 6x pushups and farmer's carries. I recognize the above is not strict SS and I colored outside the lines, but it worked for me in my goal of getting stronger, without a huge drop off in BW exercise and running.

Here are a few of my experiences with it.

1. I went from 183lbs to 193lbs in a hurry (low fat Choc0late Milk post workout). I've now normalized and I am around 183 lbs.
2. My cardio and run times suffered from the increase in raw strength.
3. Bench press was very helpful at maintaining push ups.
4. Back Up's and Planks made sit ups much easier. I didn't do a single sit up for months but had no drop off. That's amazing considering sit ups, with respect to a 2 minute PT test, is my hardest exercise to see a gain.

After a break to heal up, I'm headed back to the gym for a few weeks to let my body adjust to lifting again. I wanted to solicit opinions about making adjustments. Is it time to switch to more of a MA style programming? Excited to be headed back to the gym and make some adjustments moving forward.
 
What's your goal/reasoning for using SS and/or MA? Selection, overall fitness, lifting goals?
 
SkrewzLoose said:
What's your goal/reasoning for using SS and/or MA? Selection, overall fitness, lifting goals?
Click to expand...

+1.

On another note, I just started MA coming from Crossfit. I started during the 2 week Stamina cycle. Wow, what an intro. It sucked the first week pretty badly, but this week I'm not doing too bad. I already love MA, and can't wait to see how the selection prep programs work. These stamina workouts are defiantly helping my mental toughness too, more so then a traditional CF workout.
 
Stamina sessions can suck my balls. I hated that shit with all my heart.
As a few of us have said before, MA has its shortcomings just like any program. If you're doing this for a Selection pipeline it would behoove you to check out SOFWODS as well. They incorporate calisthenics (as well as running and swimming) which MA seems to neglect.
 
SkrewzLoose said:
Stamina sessions can suck my balls. I hated that shit with all my heart.
As a few of us have said before, MA has its shortcomings just like any program. If you're doing this for a Selection pipeline it would behoove you to check out SOFWODS as well. They incorporate calisthenics (as well as running and swimming) which MA seems to neglect.
Click to expand...

Ah, yea I scaled these stamina workouts just by if it calls for a 25 pound weight vest, I just don't use it. I think I could still preform somewhat well with it, but since this is the first month of me switching to this type of programming, I figured it would be good to just slowly adjust.

I looked into SOFWODS too. I will make sure to include stuff from there as everything gets closer. I don't live too far from their HQ. I might go check it out at some point.
 

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