Spring / Summer Training Cycle - Crush The PST - Maintain Strength - Weight Vest Wednesday Workout!

The Transition from Winter to Spring is the Best!

 
After a Winter Lift Cycle, you may be ready for a change.  Are you ready to get outside and run, PT, and swim more? Every year at this time for the past 22 years, I have been doing Seasonal Tactical Fitness Periodization; it has been one of the best changes to our routine - not only for overall attitude but for our performance increases in muscle stamina (calisthenics tests) and endurance events (timed runs / swims). 

We have one more 3:1 Lift Cycle before we move into a more Spring Calisthenics/ Running Progression.  This year we focused on three weeks of strength followed by 1 week of PST/weight vest / calisthenics-based training in these block periodization months all Fall and Winter.  They have been very helpful not only in building strength but also in maintaining all the PST scores needed to crush PT tests and get contracts.  Some even got faster and added reps to their tests as well as got stronger on bench press, weighted pullups, deadlifts, and other strength/power events that are tested in many Tactical Athlete programs, especially in the Spec Ops Community.  See link on Tactical Fitness Tests

There is a transition period in the Spring when we are downshifting the lifting events, adding weight vests - like our Weight Vest Wednesday Workout: basically a calisthenics workout with a weight vest with supplemental dumbbell movements

PT Pyramid 1-10-1 (with WV)

One of my Favorite Weight Vest or No Weight Vest Workouts! 
CLASSIC Spring Training

It was the classic PT 1-10-1 Pyramid of working your way up to level 10 and back down to one with the exercises of Pullups x 1, Pushups x 2, and Situps x 3 in 19 sets.  I remember my goal with this first pyramid was to just hang with the upperclassmen that were leading the PT.  They ran through each set so fast that I think I was still on my way up and they were wrapping up their final set.  The pyramid worked like this:

Set 1: Pullup 1, Pushups 2, Situps 3, Dips 2
Set 2: Pullup 2, Pushups 4, Situps 6, Dips 4
Set 3: Pullups 3, Pushups 6, Situps 9, Dips 6
Set 4: Pullup 1, Pushups 2, Situps 3, Dips 2
Set 5: Pullup 1, Pushups 2, Situps 3, Dips 2
- Every 5th set of this 19 set pyramid do the following:
- Run 1 mile slick or 800m with weight vest
- Db rows 10/arm
- Db bicep/military press 10
- Db or 45lb plate hold extended overhead 1 minute

...Keep going up to set 10: with Pullups, 10,pushups / dips 20,variety of abs/ situps 30: After set ten, repeat the run and dumbbell movements again.

THEN repeat in reverse order (from set 9 to 1) and this will give you 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 situps. (Though I have found that mixing in some hanging knee ups or plank poses / second every other set is a good way to add variety to just doing situps at that volume).  So mix it up!

Dips x 2

 Specific Training Programs That Focus on This Transition / Elements of Fitness

Stew Smith's Spring / Summer Pt / Cardio Cycle for the Tactical Athlete 
This book holds the secret to building muscle stamina and cardio endurance (run / ruck / swim and others) in the upper body, legs, heart and lungs. The program emphasizes cardiovascular activity and high repetition resistance training to crush military / police / spec ops fitness tests. The supplemental weight training workouts will be quick and fast, focusing more to engage muscle groups that balance the high repetition calisthenics.

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Where to Find More Information About Optimal Performance Training Programs

When you start training again, consider the seasonal tactical fitness model.  I call it A WAY to train and obviously not the only way to train. But it offers the opportunity to never neglect your weaknesses, improves flexibility and mobility, and puts you at a level of physical ability where you are happy with your overall ability to do just about anything. We have a system where the seasons dictate our training. When it is nicer outside, we tend to run and do more calisthenics.  When it is colder and not so nice, we lift more, run less, and still maintain our outdoor activities with shorter runs and rucks. Check it out: Seasonal Tactical Fitness Periodization System.  

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