Today
training:
Ruck
in park with 30lb. Xvest for one hour.( In early morning-cold!)
Bands,
GHD, ab roller, jump rope and stretching warm-up. (afternoon)
Kettlebell
box cleans and squat: 5 reps with 2
bells.
Landmine
dumbbell press: heavy and hold at top
Atlas
Stone shouldering: 10 sets of 2 reps
Heavy
bag punching and kicking for 10 min.
The first 2 months was the hardest and was a continuous work- in-
progress. Getting to accustom ones back, neck, hips to just plan discomfort,
was something I had to focus, to insure I was not into injury mode. The SEAL
team guys call it “embracing the suck “explains it all. It’s not trying to
punish myself, although during a Go Ruck challenges, you will be punished for
not completing “missions” but that takes the form of exercise modes or carrying
more shit then you are currently carrying.
In the third month
there was improvements in the Ruck part of my experience. There was a lot less
pain in various parts of my anatomy even with added weight and distance. That
was when things were starting to look up.
I chose to ruck in the early morning during my IF time, but there was
never any after fatigue from not eating prior to the session, which was done 4
times a week. The park I started my experience has a number of tarred roads and
dirt trails along with a play ground area. Few use the play ground, so I have
the whole area to myself to do body weight exercise and the many bar
configurations. So I ruck for a mile of so, then stop at the play ground to do
a series of body wt. exercise and make several more rounds.
I live in a great area to Ruck, with a park a
couple of miles away and state parks with mountains, trails and ski runs to
vary my stress levels in short driving distance. Moving forward, there is a
need to press the stress levels of the ruck by steeper climbs and terrain which
do not do it for me with the local park. Rucking steep hills is the most
difficult part if you are carrying a weigh on you back or hands. When I was
untramarthoning, training on hiking trails was my secret training technique
that gave me the edge on” hilly” events.
The after ruck
session exercise is still a work-in-progress. The biggest problem is that I
have information overload, having experience is so many forms of exercise, that
it’s hard to set up programming. I seem to be settling in on a complex of
ballistic movements and strongman style training as the Go Ruck is a multi
complex challenge. Therefore it’s a mix of interval exercise on the rower,bike,body
wt. or boxing, then lifting heavy objects, natural and manmade.
By the forth month
I have established a routine of early morning ruck, followed by a fast 10 min
high intensity finisher at my home
training area. Several times a day I get in a quick training exercise sessions
of no more than 30 minutes, as not to trash myself and unable to recover. Go
ruck is basically a endurance-strength challenge and not a race. Keeping your
shit together is prime. It’s all about maintaining your physical and
psychological attributes at a significant level of hours under constant
evaluation of your performance.
Lessons learned:
1.
It takes time for your
body to adjust to carry weighed packs and there is a point in time that you
just have to “man up” and endure the pain as long it is not promoting injury. “Stupid
is stupid does”
2.
My intention from the
start was never to be a special forces operator and never was even when in the
military. However, many of the physical attributes training for that occupation,
anyone could use as a life time fitness program. Therefore I chose Go Ruck
instead of the adventure runs as selection process is the key to being allowed
to become a trainee and not the complete process to becoming an operator.
Selection for SP is the basic physical and mental test to see if you can accept
the challenge….it weeds out the weak and overconfident.
3.
Since you will be carrying
loads and walking for miles on various terrains, care of the feet is critical.
Shoe selection is still a work-in progress, but so far I keep rucking in
tactical, light weight boots. Running shoes break down too fast and don’t have
the ankle support.
4.
Running with a load at
this point in the first 4 months, has been minimal, as I have not mastered the
technique. Therefore, moving forward, running will be in very short distances
and well warmed up. You are not required to run too much in Go Ruck challenges,
but you my have to catch up with the team if you fall behind.
5.
Doing exercises like
pushups, pull-ups, abs and fun movements, like bear crawls during the ruck,
makes time go fast.
6.
Keeping stretched out and mobile is a constant
consideration. With the large number of exercises and work capacity changes,
you tend to get more immobile than normal. Recovery at this point has been fair,
but moving forward, I have to look at exercise volume, and cut back where
needed.
7.
“Suffer in silence”
means no distractions, such as, music, glitzy equipment, people talking, that
resets your concentration. Most SF selection testing does not allow verbal
contact or at times no visual contact. If you can’t perform at a high level on
your own efforts, then you can’t be a solid contributor to any team activity.
8.
I have been selecting one
exercise or workout session that puts me way beyond my comfort zone. It’s
usually short exercise like ball slams until you can’t pick up the ball anymore,
shouldering a atlas Stone or continuous bag heavy bag sticking until I am
wasted. It’s not long enough to put a physical hurt on you but it’s great for
mental toughness, which we all lack in some form.
9.
My weight loss from IF
has help my body perform more efficiently especially on the rucks. Sometimes my
heart rate is almost normal with the pak just walking, so when I get too low, I
jump down an do pushup, press a rock overhead a few times, do some air squats, or
increase the pace just short of running.
10.
I don’t do rigid training programming and go into each
session as though someone else handed me the challenge. However, I journal more
so I can assess my progress, but I don’t plan future goals relaying on the
daily performance proficiently.
Ken
The mission is sacred.
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