Load Management - Backpacking

Backpackers are often recreational athletes who enjoy getting outside. The issue is, backpacking can be demanding and even dangerous. In the mountains, backpackers will be far from access to help or supplies. They may have to carry 3-5 days (or more) of food, shelter, tools, lights, first-aid, and water. For a 5 day trip, this can exceed 60lbs. It is likely that the backpacker will be on their feet for 10-12 hours per day, covering 10-15 miles, and gaining 3000ft of elevation. Having fitness as your last line of defense can improve your experience and even save your life.

The good news is that the body is adaptable, as well as being efficient and self-regulating. The bad news is musculoskeletal injuries are likely to happen if supporting structures are not sound. Backpackers often think aerobic fitness is paramount to musculoskeletal strength and resilience, however, the body must first be able to support load, absorb impact, and remain healthy for a successful trip to occur. That being said, aerobic fitness is important, but usually secondary to improving supporting musculoskeletal structures. Injuries involving your feet, knees, lower/upper back can stop you before the second night if you are not prepared. When walking downhill with under load, the amount of force on one foot can exceed 500lbs.

Muscular strength and endurance are important, but bone and other soft tissue resiliency is also essential. Maximal strength is good, but strength endurance is better for these athletes. High rep sets of squats, split squats, lunges, and carries will build a good foundation for muscular strength, endurance, and GPP. Some impact exercises such as jumping rope, box jumps, and depth jumps will help increase soft tissue strength. Upper back musculature should also be improved to support load.

Recap: Backpacking is more about supporting the load than having an efficient engine. By increasing musculoskeletal function through strength-endurance and plyometric training, we improve anaerobic and aerobic fitness and GPP. *This does not mean that additional aerobic training is a bad thing.*

Load Management - Police

Most police officers carry lighter loads (~20-30lbs) for long periods of time. It is not uncommon for LEO’s to work 10-16 hours at a time. Not to mention, much of the police force is overweight, thus increasing load to the musculoskeletal system.

The primary concerns are low back imbalances from an awkward belt and poor posture from chronic load and sedentary tasks. Another major concern is an officers ability to perform necessary tasks while in full kit.

Low back pain can be crippling, but it is usually avoidable or manageable. In general, a strong back is a healthy back. With the right combination of strength, endurance, and light stretching, pain management is attainable. The catch is, you should address it before it starts.

Posture is also important. Luckily, when we train the low back, we usually train posture as well. The upper back should be trained hard and often. The traps, rhomboids, and lats are resilient and can handle more volume than some other muscle groups.

Tactical/SWAT will likely be exposed to heavier loads. Proper armor alone can easily weight 20lbs. Add in a primary and secondary weapon with multiple magazines, first aid, coms, not to mention other armor (helmet, elbow & knee pads, heavy duty boots). All of this before specialized equipment (shield/breaching equipment).

While tactical/SWAT need to address the low back for stability and health, they also need to train maximal strength and power more than a typical LEO. This is due not only to heavier loads, but also movement/tactical tasks.

The kickstand deadlift and back squat can be used in the same session to address both low back strength and stability as well as maximal leg strength. Together, they will use the core (abs and low back), hamstrings, glutes, quads, and upper back.

Starting place:
5x5 back squats at 70%1RM with 2:00 between sets. Keep a strong brace, control on the way down, move quickly on the way up.

3x10 kickstand deadlifts with 90s between sets. Moderate weight, you should always be able to hold a proper core brace and avoid too much strain on your hamstrings.

Load Management - Firefighters

Structural firefighters often have the most intense physical/physiological tasks requiring a great deal of strength. Some activities include forcing entry, victim carries, stair climbing, hauling, and hose manipulation, all in about 50lbs of gear and other tools. It is obvious they are exposed to heat from fires as well as their own bodies fully geared up.

While overall health is the primary risk factor, cardiovascular disease is the primary killer of firefighters on duty. Therefore, improving aerobic capacity and strength is paramount for this profession and what the rest of the post will focus on.

The absolute minimum VO2max that a firefighter should have is 42ml/kg/min, but we are not training for minimum standards. Strength standards are all too low for our tactical professionals. Strength is what is going to get you out of a life-threatening situation. Strength is what is going to allow you to carry your buddy out of a life-threatening situation. Strength is what is going to get you and your buddies’ home after your shift. Ideally, we build aerobic capacity and strength concurrently.

Even if we are incredibly conditioned, we still need high maximum strength to breach a door or drag our buddy to safety. The classic squat, bench press, deadlift, and sumo deadlift will do just fine to build a high strength base. Firefighters should, at minimum, aim to bench press 1.25x, squat 1.75x, and deadlift/sumo deadlift 2x body weight. These exercises are with a fixed bar, do not expect a body weighing 50% of your 1RM deadlift to be light! Getting stronger is always a good thing, but at this point it may be time to focus more on power, anaerobic fitness, or work capacity. Strongman exercises such as stones, sandbags, and logs are amazing tools for more experienced lifters.

Load Management - Military

Load carriage in the military is of paramount importance to success and safety. Three main tasks come to mind that will compose most of the load carriage applications for the majority of carrying in the military. Rucking, dragging/carrying downed ally, hauling equipment from point A to point B.

Rucking is normally a simple drill that is very physically demanding and arduous. It requires aerobic fitness, strength/stability, rhythm, and grit. Common injuries include knee injuries, foot injuries, back injuries, blood circulation issues in arms (shoulder straps), and fatigue/balance related falls or missteps.

Some goals to achieve before embarking on a rucking program is to increase lean body mass, increase strength, strength endurance, aerobic capacity and even lower body power. I mentioned increasing lean body mass, this does not necessarily mean decreasing fat mass; 15-20% BF may be ideal for someone going into a new training block or on deployment. More muscle mass means a bigger engine and more durable body.

-General Training Idea: 4x20 squats 50-70% 1RM 2:00 rest between sets.

Dragging/carrying heavy objects or humans is deceptively hard. You need incredible strength, core stability, and work capacity. Ideally you will not need to move a body far, but even a few yards may be harder than expected. Sled drags, sandbag throws, farmers carries, and sumo deadlifts will make a good foundation for this type of work.

-General Training Idea: 5x5 Deadlift 80% 1RM 90s rest. Circuit 4 rounds of 20m sled drag, 20m farmers carries, 5 sandbag clean and toss.

Hauling Equipment is not unique to military populations. If you are trained for the first two tasks, you will likely be fine here. The main discernment is that it can be the duration of rucking with the weight proportions of the dragging/carrying. Having a strong back and core is likely the most important attribute for this task.

-General training idea: 5 Rounds of 20m sled drag, 20m sandbag carry, 20m farmers carries, 10 barbell thrusters.

Common Principles: Strong core/back, strong legs, strong upper back, high work capacity, and unilateral/offset strength.

Load Management

Many occupations require heavy load carriage such as manual labor, military, police, and firefighters. Weight of physical load has been increasing due to increasing body size and equipment variety. For example, American soldiers now carry almost 6x the combat load that they did during the civil war (B.C. Nindl et al., 2013). @realmattwenning often talks about the injury rate of the shoulders, knees, and back – all of which are beaten down by extra weight. Whether you are overweight or carry heavy loads for extended periods of time, I know that your feet, knees, or back are beaten down at the end of the day.

Carrying increased load increases metabolic demand, stress on musculoskeletal system, and risk for injury. In military and firefighting scenarios, the bodies stores of energy and hydration will be zapped much more quickly due to increased load. Make no mistake, dealing with extra load will break an unprepared body. What can you do? You must get out of your normal routine and (safely) overload structures and systems and force them to adapt.

Strength – strength is technically defined by maximal force of a muscle or muscle group. This definition is useful, but may be too specific for the task demands of load carriage. Maximal strength should not be ignored, but more specificity can be applied to this concept

Lets instead use strength endurance – not to be confused with muscular endurance (simply think higher intensity). Strong predictors of overall strength are the 1RM deadlift or squat. Our favorite way to build strength endurance is prolonged sets under heavy load. In the real world, we will likely need to reproduce high levels of force many times. We have effectively combined strength, strength endurance, anaerobic fitness, and work capacity to prepare the body for many hours of labor under heavy load. We see great value in aerobic endurance, hypertrophy, and flexibility, but they are less important for most tactical athletes. With that being said, athlete history and fitness level will determine the primary focus of his or her training.

More to come on specific training for different athletes.

Energy System - Lactic Acid

Lactic acid – officially known as lactate, is a product of anaerobic glycolysis (using sugar as energy). It is commonly thought of as a negative byproduct that causes muscle burn and muscle failure. It is now known that it is quite the opposite. It is now thought that hydrogen (another product of metabolism) is related to the muscle burn due to its influence on local pH levels. Through a process known as the Cori cycle, lactate can be transported to the liver and quite easily be converted back into glucose!

Why do we care about lactate? Knowing that lactate is actually a good thing is a step in the right direction to help us improve our understanding of physiology. In exercise prescription, we can use lactate levels to help us determine intensity levels. We can train our ability to buffer, clear out, and use lactate more quickly. Most 5-10k foot races will allow athletes to sustain their lactate threshold and even above, this is likely not the case for longer races.

We use lactate threshold training to increase our high intensity endurance performance. This is a pace sub-maximal to an athletes VO2max (50-80%VO2max). It is essentially the highest sustainable output level. When we train at our lactate threshold we improve our ability to produce energy and clear negative metabolites. We can use pace/tempo training to improve our ability to sustain effort at that intensity. We can also improve our lactate threshold trough interval training, repeated sprints, and Fartlek training.

The best ways to stay at the lactate threshold intensity is using either running or stationary cardio equipment (row erg, ski erg, cycle). If you have access, you can test your blood lactate levels, aim for above 2.0mmol/L initially. If you exceed 4.0mmol/L then you will likely not be able to sustain the effort. There will be an intensity above the lactate threshold where blood lactate will accumulate very rapidly due to an imbalance of production and clearance.

Always begin with a warm up and end with a cool down, this type of training is mentally and physically demanding.

Memorial Day Murph

On Memorial Day we do a brutal workout to honor our fallen military heroes. During this hour long process we think about fallen friends and the families that they left behind. We think about or freedom and peace that we have because of their sacrifice. Doing this workout is not about fitness or competition, it’s about suffering with the purpose of remembering the suffering that our fallen heroes went through.

This was our 4th year in a row doing this on Memorial Day

MURPH:
1 mile run
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 air squats
1 mile run
All in a 20lb weight vest

Heat vs. Ice

HEAT OR ICE?

Hot tub or ice bath?

On a topic like this, there will be differing opinions and bias. I believe both have a place in fitness and performance. Most of us are more than happy to get into a hot tub, but refuse to get in an ice bath. I personally fall into this camp. Am I leaving potential adaptations and progress on the table because I’ll be uncomfortable for a few minutes?

Let's start with heat. It almost always “feels” better. Think about sunshine, sauna, or a hot tub. Does heat only help us feel relaxed? Or is there more to it?

There are many physiological benefits to heat therapy such as increased blood flow. Blood brings in nutrients and flushes out metabolites. Heat therapy can improve recovery time and has very few downsides (in moderation). I recommend heat therapy when the goal is long term adaptations, especially hypertrophy.

Cold therapy is the other side of the equation. It does not feel good and is not relaxing, it actually causes a release of hormones that make you feel alert and awake. Ice may not improve “true recovery” time, especially for hypertrophy. Where cold therapy works wonders is during periods of time where performance is more important than adaptations. Think about baseball players trying to feel better between games, or fighters trying to reduce inflammation during a fight. Cold therapy, when used improperly (directly after a workout), will likely reduce some of the adaptations (specifically hypertrophy), but it has less of a negative impact on skill acquisition and is absolutely helpful after hard compact sports (football).

So, ice, or heat? Both are good when used properly. My favorite way to think about it is to determine the preferred outcome. If acute performance is the goal, then ice may be good. If chronic improvements and adaptation is the goal, then heat may be good.

Circuit Training

Circuit training is a very time efficient method of training. It is very common for personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches to use it when pressed for time. It is a much more efficient way to pack in a lot of work in little time.

Circuit training can technically be done with different “cardio stations” (run, row, ski, jump rope), but this post will be tailored more to the resistance training side.

Circuit training can be used to increase strength, hypertrophy, as well as muscular and cardiovascular endurance. To increase strength, a circuit with a 1. heavy press 2. heavy pull 3. core exercise or a 1. heavy squat 2. explosive jump 3. core exercise are combined with no rest between, but rest at the end of the round. The above structures are great strength and conditioning templates for strength athletes.

Although commonly refereed to as compound sets or super sets, circuit training can be done with a rotation of hypertrophy based exercises. Examples of these combos include: 1. bench press, push ups, triceps extension, 2. pull ups, lat pull down, biceps hammer curls, 3. barbell squats, Bulgarian split squats, quad extensions. Again, little to no rest between exercises, but rest between rounds.

I prefer using exercises with opposing primary muscle groups for maximum energy output and volume without burning out a specific muscle too soon.

Muscular and cardiovascular endurance can be done simultaneously. The idea is to keep energy demands high without burning out a specific muscle group too soon. This would be done with high volume (20+ reps) moderate intensity, and very little rest. Kettlebell and body weight exercises are optimal for this (KB swings -push ups – squats, or pull ups – walking lunges, farmers walks).

The circuit should be difficult relative to the athlete. Technique should not be compromised, and recovery should be sufficient between rounds to ensure safety and high effort. Circuit training is heart healthy, metabolically demanding, muscle building, and time efficient.

Hypertrophy Training

Hypertrophy is the increase in cross-sectional area of muscle fibers(cells). The sport that is most dependent on hypertrophy is bodybuilding. Increasing muscle size has importance far beyond aesthetics. It is a massive predictor of health and fitness. It is heavily correlated with strength which we already covered. It is also a massive metabolic furnace and storage unit. One of the major metabolic benefits as it pertains to health is its ability to absorb blood sugar, thus reducing the likelihood of type II diabetes. It also plays a massive role in RMR/BMR (resting metabolic rate/basal metabolic rate).

Hypertrophy is also important in tactical/athletic situations where strength, body mass, and brute force are required (F=ma).

Inducing hypertrophy is very simple in practice, but extremely difficult in reality. Research has been showing that volume and effort (taking exercises close to or to failure) are the major players from the exercise side of the equation (nutrition is the other side, but we will not get into that right now). High volume with some sets close to failure is the key. Rep ranges are actually rather unclear, with 8-12 being the normal recommended range. There is strong evidence that anywhere from 1-30 reps can induce hypertrophy if the set is close to failure. All sets should not be taken to failure because that would greatly inhibit quality volume. Time under tension (TUT) is another major player that can be thought of as part of the volume equation (in my own opinion). Research shows that anywhere between 10-25 hard sets per muscle per week is the optimal range. This is best done spread out 2-3x per week, unlike normal “bro splits” where they often CRUSH one muscle group per day (this can still work well, it is just not optimal).

“Bro Science” Fact vs. Fiction

1. “You gotta chase the lactic acid burn”
a. First of all, it’s technically lactate
b. The “burn” is likely hydrogen (H+) build up
c. The “burn” certainly can indicate and validate effort
d. The “burn” is a signal of metabolic stress, which is a major factor in hypertrophy

2. “The pump is all that matters”
a. The pump IS VERY IMPORTANT
b. The pump is pooling of fluid (mostly blood) in a localized muscle or muscle group
c. The pump is a can indicate and validate effort
d. Having increased fluid (mostly blood) may help improve recovery between workout sessions
e. There can still be significant hypertrophy without a large pump

3. “More is better”
a. Hypertrophy requires high volume
b. Many people do not push themselves hard enough
c. After about 10 hard sets per session there seems to be a plateau or even drop off in benefit

4. “Lifting heavy is a waste, its all about time under tension (TUT) and the mind muscle” connection”
a. TUT is incredible important and should not be underestimated in its benefits
b. There is a very strong correlation between mind muscle connection and hypertrophy
c. Heavy weights are better at activating type 2 fibers which require high stress to be utilized (hard resistance training usually requires a type 2 fiber emphasis).

5. “Muscle fibers grow by splitting and doubling!”
a. This concept is called hyperplasia
b. Hyperplasia has not been confirmed in humans (there is some weak evidence).
c. There are many animals that go through hyperplasia
d. The main way muscle size increases is through hypertrophy which is an increase in muscle fiber cross sectional area.

As you can see “bro-science” may not be science, but there is some truth and efficacy in its concepts and strategies!

Basic Strength Training Guidelines

True strength training is very taxing on the nervous system, but is far less taxing on the musculoskeletal system than some other forms of resistance training. Common recommendations are to train a muscle group for strength 2x per week. This will certainly provide enough stimulus for adaptations and ensure proper recovery.

This is not a bad system, but if strength is the sole goal, THEORETICALLY strength training-even on the same muscle group- can be done much more frequently. Think of Olympic weightlifters- they use a high % of their 1RM very frequently, sometimes squat, clean and jerk, and snatch multiple times per week (same primary muscles). This is because there is a relatively small amount of structural (muscular) damage. Neural adaptations happen very quickly, even yes, over night. Of course frequency is related to volume and intensity and all three need to be balanced to optimize strength gains. Under most circumstances, strength training requires HIGH intensity. Now we can either have high volume or high frequency, but choosing both would quickly lead to negative consequences such as injury or overtraining.

Each athlete is different, but a few hard sets of strength training per day-even on the same muscle group - can send a sufficient signal without causing excessive structural damage. My recommendation is not to training the same muscles every day, but it is not as ridiculous as many experts are trained to believe.

In general, I recommend picking 2-3 main exercises per block/cycle that you would like to get stronger at, this works perfect for powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting. Each exercise can be trained AT LEAST 2x per week and up to 4x per week. Each session, perform at least 1 very hard set between 1-6 reps that will be sufficiently difficult to stimulate growth. It is very reasonable to train both upper and lower body strength on the same day. We all respond differently to different stimulus, so find what works for you, be safe, and have fun with your training!

Strength Training

Strength is defined by the maximum amount of force that a muscle or group of muscles can produce. The most common way to test strength is through a 1RM of a given exercise. The 1RM is exercise specific, but it can still help make predictions of athletic performance. The most common tests of strength are the 1RM bench press, squat, deadlift, and overhead press. I personally like to know an athletes 1RM pull up as well.
The reason it is important to know an athletes 1RM is so that there is a reference point off which a program can be developed. 1RM can also be a good (not perfect) predictor of an athlete’s performance.
Research shows that to optimally gain strength, 80%+ 1RM should be used to send the proper signal for adaptation. While I fully agree with this, beginners to strength training will likely see strength gains through any type of resistance training. After about 6 months, it will be more and more necessary to have a program with specificity and progressive overload.

The body adapts to strength training so many ways- some of them we will not get into because the science is still unclear (the human body is incredible). We will get into some of the muscular, metabolic, and neural adaptations. Strength training will cause some hypertrophy (increase in muscle size) specifically for Type II (2) muscle fibers. There will also be local improvements of the ATP-PCr system and anaerobic processes to produce energy. The neural adaptations get the least credit and have the largest impact. With training, there will be more motor unit recruitment, synchronization of motor units, increased depolarization/repolarization, and new motor patterns created (making it easier for the body to perform a movement). The neural adaptations are heavily involved with improved technique and rate of force development.

Strength training should be done by every human on the planet. It helps improve resilience (injury prevention), force output (daily tasks/sport tasks are easier), and increased motor coordination. As far as tactical/athletic training, strength is the foundation on which speed, power, hypertrophy, and even muscular endurance is built.

How We Program LISS and HIIT

We believe that everyone should include LISS in some capacity. “Low intensity” is a relative term that varies between individuals. An Olympic marathon runner may do “low intensity” running at a 6:00min/mile pace. A post-op geriatric may reach this threshold by going on a slow walk. For most of us, it is optimal to find a rhythmic modality such as walking, jogging, or cycling to settle into the desired pace. We like to specify that when we say LISS we are generally referring to true Zone 2 training. Zone 2 is the highest aerobic output without relying on anaerobic pathways.

For our in-person clients, we like to prescribe 3-5x per week for 30-45 minutes. A good starting place would be that on days that athletes are not in the studio, they are doing a brisk walk or cycling for 30-45 minutes.
The best time to do LISS is in the morning before breakfast, the middle of the day to keep you awake and alert, or after a large meal to regulate blood sugar (blood sugar goes into muscles during exercise).

We generally hesitate to throw people into a HIIT workout before we run a thorough personal analysis, including their health history. While HIIT has many benefits, it is highly stressful and most trained people can’t perform it correctly (not to mention recover from it properly). We generally develop an aerobic and strength base for at least a month before the first HIIT session, which is normally rather short. We start athletes on an exercise modality that they are very comfortable with. Athletes who are new to HIIT should allow at least 72 hours of recovery between hard exercise sessions. You can and should include LISS between HIIT sessions to improve recovery.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

-High Intensity: 95%+ max effort or max HR (RPE 9-10)
-Interval Training: Periods of varying degrees of intensity/effort

This is perhaps the most “transferable” type of exercise for most ball sports. Many ball sports have time of high effort with lower effort or rest ex. Tennis, football, MMA/Boxing all have built in periods of rest. Soccer and lacrosse have less built in rest, but offer time for athletes to walk or jog, thus allowing some recovery.

HIIT should consist of intervals alternating between high intensity and low intensity (obviously). The number of rounds, work:rest ratio, and modality are highly dependent on the athlete and goal of training session. Some common methods are a 1:1 ratio for 400m repeats or 1:2 ratio for assault bike sprints. Anything with a higher rest than 1:2 is unlikely to provide the adaptations that we are searching for with HIIT. The goal is to deplete anaerobic energy systems rapidly, thus increasing metabolism which is a stressor that demands adaptation.

Practical Application:
Beginners should be hesitant and supervised when starting HIIT as it is highly stressful. Intermediate athletes should use them scattered throughout the week and have 24+ hours between sessions. Advanced athletes can do many rounds totaling 20-30 mins of work time with equivalent rest. Some athletes respond very well to this modality, others find it too difficult to recover from and use it sparingly.
As few as one round of max effort can trigger adaptations. Most bouts of effort will last between 15s-3:00. Recovery between rounds is essential because effort MUST REMAIN HIGH if adaptations are to be optimal.

Adaptations include:
ATP-PCr energy system improvement (primary up to 30s)
Glycolytic energy system improvement (primary from 30s-3:00)
Aerobic energy system improvement (especially during recovery)
Mitochondrial efficiency
Type 1 and 2 adaptations
Cardiorespiratory efficiency

Note. Most “CrossFit” workouts are NOT HIIT. They are normally circuits (more on these later) or have other parameters of getting a certain amount of work done or maximal work in a given time frame (not knocking CrossFit).

Low Intensity Steady State (LISS)

LISS is likely what you think of when you think of old school cardio. It is often done when walking, jogging, and cycling. A lot of manual labor and tactical operations occurs in this area- shoveling dirt, spreading concrete and rucking/patrolling.

Now to the science side:
For now, we will consider LISS the same as Zone 2 cardio. There are many different cardio “zones”. We will define Zone 2 as the highest aerobic output without tapping too much into the anaerobic system for back up. This can be determined with a HR Monitor (~80% HRmax). More easily, it can be determined as the intensity at which holding a conversation is possible, but very difficult. The most accurate way to determine it is through blood lactate (<2-4mmol). The blood lactate level is not something that you will need to pinpoint.

Zone 2 Cardio (LISS) primarily targets type 1 muscle fibers which have a great deal of endurance and are very aerobically capable due to many factors such as the mitochondrial density. This is a true “fat burning” type of cardio - we will discuss the implications of this at a later time. Almost all (not 100%) of the energy required for these activities is derived from fat. Thus, aerobic systems are primarily responsible for metabolism in this state. Some of the primary goals for training at this intensity are to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and mitochondria size, quantity, and efficiency.

Practical Application:
Exercise at this intensity should be sustained for at least 30 mins (research is showing more like 45) at a time to cause any real adaptations. This is a low stress form of exercise, thus; it should be performed 3-7 times per week.
Note: This is NOT an EASY pace, if you do not reach very close to the threshold of becoming more anaerobic then the adaptations will be minimal (there is still being fat burned if you do not approach the threshold).