Training For The Tactical Games (Use This Workout)
Training for the tactical games? Use this workout structure to fully prepare yourself. When you watch youtube videos of the Tactical Games event, what do you notice?
For starters, I see a lot of mixed modality training utilizing a wide range of skills from endurance to mobility. In terms of strength, right now, it mostly seems that the weight lifting is based on strength endurance and not pure power. While that can change from games to games, here’s what I think is the best approach of a workout for the Tactical Games.
Buy A Bunch of Kettlebells
While you can certainly train in a regular conventional gym, I feel that a kettlebell workout consisting of clean and presses, swings, snatches and turkish get ups will form the foundation of your training and strengthen your body through a wide range of motion.
(5 Crossfit Kettlebell Workouts To Build Muscle)
Grip And Forearm Training Is Essential.
The Tactical Games regularly feature a lot of grip and forearm intensive work. If you watch their videos, you’ll see a lot of farmers carries. This is where kettlebells come in handy as when you train with kettlebells, you’re always doing some grip work.
Make sure to add in farmers carries for time as well as moving with holding heavy objects. It might be a good idea to invest in pinch blocks or other specific grip training.
Add Pull Ups To Your Tactical Games Workouts
You’re going to be using your pulling muscles. You might not be doing a pull up specifically but if you notice, the Tactical Games includes a lot of rope pulling in various ways. Strengthen your pulling muscles ahead of times with various pull ups including weighted and assisted pull ups.
What many Tactical Game athletes find difficult is rope climbing is involved. I agree with them since not everyone has access to rope climbing especially in todays climate. Unless you’re training in a Crossfit gym, you’re not going to have access to a rope.
Rope climbing is more about the technique and less about the actual strength involved so if you can get some time in climbing. Do it.
Strongman Training
Many Tactical Games videos show athletes throwing sandbags, placing sandbags over hurdles and other odd object training. Perform Turkish get ups and get yourself a sandbag that you get used to carrying and training with.
Every Tactical Games Workout must include leg training.
Kiss leg day goodbye. You need to train your legs in every workout. I’m not telling you ignore squatting but I think the majority of your reps should be in weighted step ups and lunges.
You’re going to be running up stairs with a sandbag and your full plate carrier (more tactical weight vest workouts here) on. You need muscular endurance in your legs.
I favor weight vest step ups while holding kettlebells in a AMRAP (as many round as possible) fashion.
Running
I know everyone is going to hate this. You gradually want to build your Tactical Games training to a 5K (3.2 miles) distance. Everything comes down to your aerobic endurance. You can have all the strength that you need but if you can’t display that strength over a long duration, you’re not really strong.
Don’t go for junk miles. You want quality running miles with some of your runs being at the track where you can do a mix of slow and intense runs. Get yourself a weight vest and do some slow weighted runs.
Burpees
Equally hated, you need to build your respiratory system for short and intense activity. Burpees will accomplish that and can be placed in any workout.
(Burpee Workouts For Conditioning)
I'm also a big fan of air bike workouts for building explosive running power as well as to increase your metabolic conditioning during a workout.
(5 Crossfit Air Bike Workouts To Burn Fat)
Shooting
This article is primarily about Tactical Games Workouts but you need to shoot, shoot more then shoot under fatigue. I understand not everyone has access to an out door range or the ability to swing a kettlebell then shoot but just know that shooting under fatigue is different than shooting fresh.
Let me leave you with a few of my favorite Tactical Games Pre Workouts
“WIRTZ”
• AMRAP in 20 minutes
• 7 Burpee Box Jump Overs (24/20 in)
• 7 Clean-and-Jerks (135/95 lb)
• 7 Toes-to-Bars
• 7 American Kettlebell Swings (70/53 lb)
• 7 Plyo Push-Ups (45/35 lb plate)
For the plyo push-up, start with your hands on the ground and do an explosive push-up such that your hands leave the ground and end up on top of the plate (that’s one rep). Drop your hands from the plate to the ground and repeat.
This workout requires the use of only one plate for the plyo push-ups (both hands go from the ground onto the same plate).
“JACK”
• AMRAP in 20 minutes
• 10 Push Presses (115/85 lb)
• 10 Kettlebell Swings (1.5/1 pood)
• 10 Box Jumps (24/20 in)
On a 20-minute clock, complete as many rounds and repetitions as possible of the prescribed work in the order written.
Score is the total number of rounds and repetitions completed before the 20-minute clock stops.
JAIME L CAMPBELL
• AMRAP in 25 minutes
• 7 Deadlifts (185/135 lb)
• 6 Kettlebell Swings (53/35 lb)
• 7 Barbell Hack Squats (185/155 lb)
• 6 Plate Sit-Ups (45/25 lb)
• 1 Burpee at the top of every minute
Start the workout with 1 burpee and perform another at the top of each minute.
Get started training for the Tactical Games!