Lately I’ve been going on Ruck Runs to build myself up for the GORUCK Challenges I’ll be doing in Oklahoma and Dallas this year, followed by the GORUCK Ascent in September with Mike.
While I haven’t done many Ruck Runs since leaving the Navy, I still use the construction techniques I was taught at BUD/s to make different weighted “pills” to run with in my pack/ruck.
Pills you say? Yep, that was how we used to refer to the taped up sandbags we’d run with during Second Phase in BUD/s. Primarily because the taped sandbags resemble pills and there’s the whole “take your pills” chant that you’d tell yourself when it was time to go for the Ruck Runs. [Read More…]
On May 7th, I completed the GORUCK Challenge (class 031) in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and will be forever changed. If you aren’t familiar with the Challenge, it’s billed as a team event that lasts 15-20 miles and around 8-10 hours. Although, the cadre loves to under promise and over deliver.
Straight from their site, here is the Challenge in a nutshell:
You and your fellow Challenge takers all wear GORUCK backpacks throughout the Challenge. Yes, your bags will be weighted down with bricks, but if the Challenge were easy you wouldn’t sign up. In fact, the greatest hurdle is signing up. We are proud that the pass rate is over 98%.
You won’t know the route but it showcases the best of every city. Think of it as a guided tour. The miles don’t disappear on their own, and 8 to 10 hours can feel like a lifetime. Welcome to our version of good livin’.
[Read More…]
In celebration of Osama Bin Laden’s death I couldn’t sleep a wink last night and was up bright and early with a workout to honor all our brave men and women that have put their lives on the line for this day. I wanted to say thank you in my own way this morning and have often followed the lead of the CrossFit crowd in participating or creating “honor” workouts.
I thought I’d share the workout I did today to hopefully inspire those reading this to do something today to honor the tireless efforts by our military, law enforcement, first responders and counterterrorism professionals that all contributed in some way shape or form to this day and America’s celebration! It doesn’t necessarily have to be a workout, but please recognize their sacrifice for our nation! [Read More…]
So why should you climb rope? First of all, if you’re not including rope climbing in your routine, you’re missing out on one of the best forearm and grip workouts around.
Climbing rope is also at the core of the Functional Strength discussions we’ve had here on ITS. Just as we advocate being able to physically save yourself; rope climbing has a large carry-over to training the same muscles you’d need to pull or lift yourself to safety. [Read More…]
As we continue to build our article library on diving, I’d like to branch off with a few articles on the basic principles of swimming, how our military uses it and why you should work it into your exercise regimen.
Today we’ll be addressing some core information on swimming as a skill-set and looking at combat, lifesaving and fitness applications. [Read More…]
I recently received a fitness book called Corps Strength from former U.S. Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant Paul Roarke, who had contacted us a few weeks back to see if we’d be interested in reviewing his program.
While initially skeptical, I emailed him back and expressed my interest in reviewing the book and offering my honest perspective of his program based on my experience at BUD/s and with the CrossFit Certification I hold.
Since leaving the Navy, I’ve been involved with CrossFit in some shape or form, but have always struggled to find a program that provides what MGySgt Roarke refers to as “working fitness.” [Read More…]
Preparing for BUD/S or not, running on soft sand is an excellent way to train and exercise. Students at BUD/S will run on the soft sand (SS) on a daily basis, which is very different than harder sand or surfaces.
Whether on a conditioning run, the O-course, running up and over the berm, boats-on-heads, logs, or just running to chow, many BUD/S students overlook the difficulty that SS presents and how common of an occurrence it is in almost every evolution they will face. [Read More…]
We’ve recently talked the importance of physically being able to save yourself, and one of the most important aspects to this is upper body strength and the pull-up.
Again, functional strength movements are movements the body makes naturally. Let’s talk realistically here for a second, is the guy that grunts and groans way to loudly while bench pressing 400 lbs. going to be able to climb a rope? Probably not unless he’s devoting some time to working on his functional strength.
Is that ogre going to be able to get his ass over a wall in a hurry? Again, probably not. Now don’t let size fool you because I’ve seen some pretty huge dudes able to do 20+ pull-ups. It all comes down to one thing, practice. Yes, practice. There’s no pill, shake or other dietary crap that will help you here, despite what infomercials say. Having good functional upper body strength is what’s going to help pull you out of harms way. The bench press is dead to me. [Read More…]
First off, this post is not meant to be discouraging. It’s quite the opposite actually.
Self-sufficiency can mean many different things to many different people. It can mean not only having the skills to know what to do in certain situations, but having the stamina and strength to make those skills work.
That’s what we’ll be discussing today, having the physical strength to overcome adversity in any kind of situation. This article applies to the men as well as the women and children that could potentially be right there with you.
Raising awarness on this topic is something we’re very passionate about. [Read More…]
by Boxer on August 11, 2009
Let me start off by throwing in a caveat, I’m not an elite runner.
I never ran in high school or college, nor am I truly any type of physiologist or scientist.
I have however, over the past few years, taken a bigger interest in running, combined it with my longstanding interest in learning about human performance, and believe that I have learned a few things along the way that I can share. [Read More…]
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