Training for SFRE

[marcmmclellan]

I am just a wannabe at this point but I am accepting nothing but success.

I have done some research but have not received Get Selected for Special Forces and when I do I will make adjustments. I do not have patience to sit and wait so this post is about what I am doing to prepare and not what I could/should be doing.

I attended the SFRE in Feb 2006 here in Southern California and missed the run and ruck march. I will not fail next time!

This was yesterday's training:

Kettlebell Jerk 32kgx50 (25/25) in 10 min
Jandas 5x5
Pull-ups x5
Front Squats 24kgx10
Pull-ups x5
Front Squats 24kgx10
Pull-ups x5
Front Squats 24kgx10
Pull-ups x5
Front Squats 24kgx10
Pull-ups x5
Front Squats 24kgx10
Kettlebell Snatch 24kgx5x6/6 (60 total in 5 min)

X-vest with 15lbs

Ruck March 7 miles (55lb ruck, 10lb plate and water) 1:58:45 (minus 4 min 30 sec due to waiting for traffic signals).

A few things:

1. I think that it is important to train weighted so I wear my weighted vest.
2. I like the front squats a prehab for knees and leg strength.
3. The Snatches and Jerks are to get me a little wore out. I feel in SFAS and SFQC I will experience this therefore training with that mentality is a must.
4. The ruck was overall pretty good. I am doing a speed ruck march and endurance ruck march each week. This was the endurance. This puts me marching up the hill by the house (I have not been there but I figure all of the SF's training area's are not flat). Again being proactive. The hill was a killer. It was a little slow but I have not trained with a ruck in years so this is a start. My legs felt like jell-O starting the march but IMO this is the time to adjust to this feeling.
5. The one bad thing is I did get some minor blisters. I will adjust my boot setup for next time. I really think the problem was that I skimped on foot powder.

I am sorry that this was not fancy. I used a Large Alice Ruck, issue jungle boots/sock and a weight plate for a weapon. I wanted to be smoked before the march to aid in realism with the equipment that I have.

Thanks for reading and I would appreciate any feedback.

Marc

[Razor]

Lots of pull-ups and front squats. Was this a normal workout, or were you concentrating on these muscle groups this time around? If this was a normal workout, you might want to include push-ups, sit-ups and distance running, as they're part of the APFT you'll be taking a number of times, and will have to do well on to continue to additional courses.

[marcmmclellan]

I tend to lose strength easily in pull-ups unless I keep it up. 5 sets of 5 reps weighted for pull-ups is the best for me to improve strength and endurance.

I like the front squats for prehab and strength for the legs and bring on a little fatigue before my ruck march.

I do push-ups 1 day per week 10 sets of 10 weighted. With no practice I can hit 90% on the APFT so this strategy works well for me. I run quite a bit and will do my second running of the LA Marathon on 03/19/2006. It is not in line with training for Special Forces but I registered some time ago and will complete the race as I originally planned.

My time is best spent, in my research, rucking, rucking and more rucking. I will build to rucking the 11 miles over the hill by the house with my feet unscathed then work on speed on speed.

Thanks for reading.

Marc

[mffjm8509]

Originally Posted by marcmmclellan

I tend to lose strength easily in pull-ups unless I keep it up. 5 sets of 5 reps weighted for pull-ups is the best for me to improve strength and endurance.

For me, wieghted pullups vs. body weight for reps has always produced different results. When in a strength/mass program lower reps with a dumbell slung between my legs has produced good results, but my endurance has always suffered. Seems like when I train to do less than 10 pullups, wieghted or not thats where my muscles fatigue.

A good friend of mine (razor may recall Johny G), sold me on a program of simple sets of 10 for pullups. Over the course of 10 sets you'll do up to 100 reps. Normally you'll hit 10 easily in your first few sets, then experience some fatigue over the middle sets. Toward the end, you'll be surprised at how your body recovers and are doing reps up to 10 again, kind of weird. Replace your normal pull up workout with this, or your back workout and you'll see great improvement on your pullups.

A similar workout with pushups is to do 10 sets of 25. I do this 3x a week, and place them in such a way that I do them the morning after I bench or work shoulders. Not only does it work well for developing muscular endurance for that particular exercise, but it acts as a good recovery exercise after a heavy lift day.

anyway, just my .02

mp

[marcmmclellan]

This is a little beyond the intent of my post but here goes.

I have struggled with the subject of pull-ups. I have done GTG for 10 sets of 10 pull-ups spread throughout the day 5 days per week. I did 20 of the easiest pull-ups after 6 weeks on this program. I was however, weak in pull-ups in terms of limit strength. I was doing the 5x5 routine 2x per week working up to sets of 5 with 25lbs (rest was about 1 min or so). During the Tactical Strength Challenge in January, I did 10 reps with an additional 10kg of weight. I could do 20 to 22 pull-ups easy with training 2x per week weighted 5x5. Much bigger return of investment on the 5x5. I have druged up near shear "clifts" in the jungle carrying all of my gear having only vines and branches in which to hold and climb. The strength/endurance 5x5 for pull-ups is the way to go for me.

With no training I can do 60 to 70 push-ups. I incorporated push-ups to my training as I am shooting to max everything on the SFRE.

Marc

[18C4V]

Did you get the flyer for the next tryouts in Ca? If not, PM me with your email address and I'll send you a flyer.