The next generation of U.S. Army soldier will be exposed to a basic Combat Training program that has been radically re-designed to make him/her:

• Faster
• Stronger
• More Powerful
• More agile/mobile

• Less likely to suffer from overuse injuries
• More likely to rebound quicker from acute injuries
• And more capable of performing the tasks required of a modern soldier

In essence, the new training program is designed to create Warrior Athletes.

No more…

• long distance runs
• bayonet drills
• and high rep sets of chin-ups and push-ups while being screamed at by this guy

Instead, the new BCT program has recruits doing…

• Interval sprint training
• Low rep / High Power/Speed sets
• Timed sets
• circuit training
• maximum of 30 minutes of running per session
• hill sprints
• shuttle runs
• hand to hand combat using pugil sticks
• “core” training
• anaerobic endurance training
• while being screamed at by this guy

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Soldiers need to be able to move quickly under load, to be mobile under load, with your body armor, your weapons and your helmet, in a stressful situation,” said Frank Palkoska, head of the Army’s Fitness School at Fort Jackson, which has worked several years on overhauling the regime.

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We geared all of our calisthenics, all of our running movements, all of our warrior skills, so soldiers can become stronger, more powerful and more speed driven,” Palkoska said. The exercises are part of the first major overhaul in Army basic fitness training since men and women began training together in 1980, he said.

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The new training also uses “more calisthenics to build core body power, strength and agility. Over the 10 weeks of basic, a strict schedule of exercises is done on a varied sequence of days so muscles rest, recover and strengthen.

Part of the reason for this program re-design is the current physical fitness level of new Army recruits.

Many recruits didn’t have physical education in elementary, middle or high school and therefore tend to lack bone and muscle strength. When they ditch diets replete with soda and fast food for healthier meals and physical training, they drop excess weight and build stronger muscles and denser bones, Palkoska said.

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Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, the three-star general in charge of revamping all aspects of initial training, said his overall goal is to drop outmoded drills and focus on what soldiers need today and in the future.

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So, does that mean that the chubby 40-somethings doing “bootcamp” in my neighborhood park need to re-design their program as well?

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If you like what you see here, click here for updates

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Reference

• Associated Press
• U.S. Army
• TRADOC

I like to visualize Ben Johnson crushing Carl Lewis when I do my HIIT sprints

So, there I was.

I had just finished a set of killer HIIT sprints….when the Lance Armstrong clone to my left asked me “what’s the deal with that workout”?

I think I croaked something about anaerobic this and EPOC that…and was about to hop off the bike when he said…

“that’s just a fad..like Atkins. If you want to get fit, you HAVE to do cardio”

Arrrgggghhhh!

Stifling my hulk-like rage, I asked…

“What do you mean I have to do cardio?”

From there, he proceeded to tell me why cardio rocks and why high intensity training (HIIT, HIRT, resistance training) sucks.

Double arggghhhhh!

Hulk (me) was getting mad.

But, instead of smashing, I flipped him one of my business cards (along with a certain finger) and suggested he read the following study which shows (once again) how HIIT kicks cardio butt

And here’s the study.

According to the researchers, high intensity interval training (HIIT) is better than traditional endurance training for improving:

• Athletic performance
• Metabolic performance
• Molecular adaptation to exercise

According to researcher Martin Gibala…”doing as little as 10 one-minute sprints on a standard stationary bike with about one minute of rest in between, three times a week, works as well in improving muscle as many hours of conventional long-term biking less strenuously.”

We have known for years that repeated moderate long-term exercise tunes up fuel and oxygen delivery to muscles and aids the removal of waste products. Exercise also improves the way muscles use the oxygen to burn the fuel in mitochondria, the microscopic power station of cells.

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Running or cycling for hours a week widens the network of vessels supplying muscle cells and also boosts the numbers of mitochondria in them so that a person can carry out activities of daily living more effectively and without strain, and crucially with less risk of a heart attack, stroke or diabetes.

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But the traditional approach to exercise is time consuming. Martin Gibala and his team have shown that the same results can be obtained in far less time with brief spurts of higher-intensity exercise.

Take that Mr. Lance Armstrong clone.

But wait, it get’s better.

One of the main complaints about High Intensity Interval Training is that it’s…well, too intense.

Sure, it gives you a great workout, but it will probably give you a heart attack.

Not according to Dr. Gibala.

The main purpose of his study was to prove the performance, metabolic and molecular advantages of a more practical model of low-volume HIIT.

The new study used a standard stationary bicycle and a workload which was still above most people’s comfort zone (about 95% of maximal heart rate) but only about half of what can be achieved when people sprint at an all-out pace.

• Seven men performed 6 HIIT training sessions over 2 weeks.
• Each session consisted of 8-12 x 60 s intervals (at ≈100% of peak power) separated by 75 s of rest.
• That’s a total of between 17 and 26 minutes per workout or 2 ½ hours over 2 weeks

So, how does this workout compare to traditional cardio?

According to the doc, to achieve the same performance, metabolic and molecular benefits with traditional endurance (cardio) training, you’d need to complete over 10 hours of continuous moderate bicycling exercise over a two-week period.

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Hmmmmm…let’s recap.

HIIT

• 2 ½ hours per week

Cardio

• 10 hours per week

And I won’t even mention the fact that HIIT workouts make you look like this:

while cardio workouts make you look like this…

your choice.

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If you like what you see here, click here for updates

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Related Posts

• 10 More Reasons to Love HIIT
• Tabata Workouts WILL Cause Fat Loss
• Tabata Training 101
• HIIT: The Aerobic version
• 4 Steps to a Great HIIT Workout
• High Intensity Resistance Training
• Why Can’t I Lose This Fat? – Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• HIRT Exercise Descriptions
• Part 5
• Waves and Waves of HIIT
• HIRT – No Equipment – No Problem
• HIIT Workouts – Vertical Jump Training
• Energy System Fitness

I love interval training.

Absolutely love it.

There is something magical about the HIIT, HIRT and Tabata workouts that I inflict upon my clients.

As the clock counts down, they move quicker, lift heavier and recover faster.

Whether it’s bike sprints…

or jumping lunges…

…interval training is a powerful tool for burning fat and getting really, really fit, really, really fast.

So, how do you get started with interval training?

Glad you asked.

Step One:  Buy an Interval Timer.

Seriously, you’ll thank me. No more watching the clock out of the corner of your eye or screaming at your workout buddy for not paying attention. Spend the 20 bucks. Buy a Gymboss interval timer. Clip it to your shorts. It will beep & vibrate to let you know when to start & stop.

Simple. Effective. Buy the damn timer.

Step Two: Select one of the many free HIIT/HIRT/Tabata workouts that I have posted here @ Health Habits

• Why Can’t I Lose This Fat? – Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• HIRT Exercise Descriptions
• Part 5
• 4 Steps to a Great HIIT Workout
• A Super-Sexy David Beckham-esque HIIT Sprint Workout
• Waves and Waves of HIIT
• HIRT – No Equipment – No Problem
• HIIT Workouts – Vertical Jump Training
• Tabata Training 101
• Energy System Fitness
• 10 more reasons to love High Intensity Interval Training
• WARNING: Tabata Workouts WILL Cause Fat Loss

Step Three: Start sweating

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That’s it

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