Stew Smith Fitness News

Developing the Tactical Athlete Get Good at Everything vs Specializing in One Thing When it comes to the relatively new term “tactical fitness” or “tactical athlete”, you have to realize this has been a long time coming. For decades, training staff have had a goal of creating a mindset that every active duty / reserve military, police, and firefighting member of a unit thinks of themselves as an athlete would. That mindset is still evolving in all the tactical professions and moving faster in the units that spend money on experienced training staff.  The diagram below is an attempt to...

You Cannot Pull More / Kick More to go Faster with the Combat Side Stroke (CSS) Recently, I had a coaching ah-ha moment while explaining to a few land athletes why swimming faster isn't the same as running faster. I was watching them take the PST swim portion of the 500 yd in a pool. I had taught them the stroke process (pull-breathe-kick-glide), and both were doing 50 seconds, 50 yards in 5-6 strokes to get across the pool. That is what I try to get people to do (or even fewer strokes). But when they were being tested, the...

When Losing Weight Is a Little Harder to Do Than It Used to Be Oh, to be 18 years old again - All that energy... It can feel unfair. You go from being able to eat an entire pizza in your twenties without gaining an ounce to feeling like you gain weight just by looking at a pizza in your forties. Here is the question I have been trying to figure out for the last 20+ years: What gives and how do we help make this inevitable process more of a gentle slope through middle age and beyond? As a hard-gaining teen,...

Jack of All Trades Goals:  The Need for Above Average Performance in Everything vs The Best at One Thing Your ability to conquer any tactical training program lies in preparing with diverse workout formats that expose and eliminate your weaknesses. Turning a weakness into a newfound strength can be done with patience, persistence, and the grit to do things you may not be good at doing at first. You might think sticking to what you’re good at is the way to go. Sure, doubling down on your strengths feels rewarding, but it will one day expose glaring weaknesses. If you’re...

How to train your mindset, manage setbacks, and stay disciplined for the long run... Rain, snow, or shine, early morning workouts are one way to build toughness Imagine approaching every challenge with the confidence and discipline to keep moving forward, even when progress feels slow and you do feel like doing what you have to do - but you do it anyway! The Never Quit Mindset Action Plan was created to help you build that type of mindset, discipline, and mental toughness required for ambitious long-term goals. But you cannot just read about it, you have to put it into...