Military Training Considerations: Training Block #4
The 4th block involves some large reductions in exercise selection with a continued emphasis on bodyweight exercises. Walking lunges on Wednesday have been eliminated to accommodate the increased volume in oxidative squats on Monday and Friday. This will be the final block using bench press as a main strength movement. After this block we will move it into the oxidative work we do on Monday and Friday. I have switched work to failure on Monday and Friday to push-ups from pull-ups. Taking in to account of increase in oxidative work on Monday, I have reduced the hill sprints on Tuesday in volume by 50% from the last block.
We want to make sure all training energy is now dedicated towards the five main sessions during the week.
This will be the last block of interval work for a while. After this we will move to longer hill sprints of 15 seconds or less with recovery determined by the period it takes for the heart rate to decline to 110 bpm.
The case study athlete’s HRV daily testing continues to be at high levels and he is not complaining of any soreness or mental fatigue, so we will not be using any recovery or regeneration modalities.
The athlete had a record low resting heart rate of 35 bpm during this period. His Sleep quality has been off and on during this period only because he might get only 4-6 hours. There was also a lot of international travel during this period yet no training sessions were missed.
Monday and Friday. On Friday’s session only do half the volume from Monday.
Individual warm-up
A) Push Ups. Rest until fully recuperated between each set (5-10 minutes).
Week 1 - 4 sets to failure
Week 2 - 5 sets to failure
Week 3 - 6 sets to failure
Week 4 - 1 set to failure
B) Oxidative Squats and Inverted Rows. Each series = 40 seconds of work followed by 40 seconds of rest = 1 rep x 5 reps. Rest until fully recuperated between each series (5-10 minutes).
Week 1 - 4 series (perform 3 series of squats followed by 1 series of inverted rows)
Week 2 - 4 series (perform 3 series of squats followed by 1series of inverted rows)
Week 3 - 4 series (3 series of squats followed by 1 series of inverted rows)
Week 4 - 1 series of squats
Tuesday
Individual warm-up
Running – Hill Sprints of < 5 seconds at max speed + 50 seconds rest between each sprint. Begin and end each session with a 10 minute slow jog.
Week 1 – 20 Hill Sprints
Week 2 – 24 Hill Sprints
Week 3 – 26 Hill Sprints
Week 4 – Cardiac run of 40 minutes with HR <130 bpm
Wednesday
Individual warm-up
A) Bench Press. Rest 2 minutes between sets.
Set 1 - work up to 8 rep max (The next week you will increase the weight by 5 lbs)
Set 2 - use 10% less weight than set 1 for 8 reps
Set 3 - use 10% less then set 2 for 8 reps
B) Dips. Rest 2 minutes between sets.
Week 1 - 3 sets - 20/18/16 reps
Week 2 - 3 sets - 22/20/18 reps
Week 3 - 3 sets - 24/22/20 reps
Week 4 - 3 sets - 12/10/8 reps
C) Bicep curls - 3 x 10 reps with 1 minute rest intervals
D) Lateral raises - 3 x 12 reps with 1 minute rest intervals (do not go above 90 degrees)
Thursday
Walking on treadmill with heart rate <120 bpm for 60-90 minutes.
Saturday
Individual warm-up
Interval Running. Begin and end each session with a 10 minute slow jog.
Week 1 – Running with hard stride for 3 minutes alternated with slow jog for 1 minute. Repeat 6 times.
Week 2 – Running with maximal efforts for 75 seconds, followed by 2:30 light jogging. Then run with maximal efforts for 60 seconds followed by 2:00 light jogging. Repeat this series 3 times.
Week 3 – Running with maximal efforts for 30 seconds, followed by 1:30 light jogging. For subsequent repetitions, decrease the time for light jogging by 15 seconds (30-75, 30-60, 30-45, 30-30, 30-15). Repeat this series 3 times.
Week 4 - 20-30 minutes of easy cardiac work with HR <130 bpm.
Sunday
Complete day off.