If you’re looking for a great tactical athlete fitness program, with plenty of heavy lifting, and conditioning, then you’ve come to the right place. This program is designed to build well rounded fitness for busy tactical professionals. It’s been tested by operational tactical athletes, and it’s measurably increased their performance. I will also include a free PDF download. Keep reading for all the details.
Long time readers of this website know that I like to write fitness programming for several different populations. I have programs for CrossFitters, Jiu Jitsu Athletes, bodybuilders, and much more. However, I find tactical programming to be some of the most challenging to write.
Most tactical fitness programs are aimed at increasing your score on specific fitness tests for first responders, or military groups. This is not that program. This is a program for people that need well rounded fitness, and flexible training sessions, due to the demanding schedule of their jobs. Here are some of the highlights below.
8 Week Tactical Athlete Fitness Program Overview
- 4 Days of dedicated strength training work / 1 optional cardio day
- Must have safe form with squats, bench press, deadlift etc
- Flexible for hectic schedules
- 4 Functional Fitness style WODs per week covering every muscle group
- Easily scalable for different fitness levels
Before we get into the details of this programming, I want to mention that this is the first 4 week cycle. I will include part two in a few weeks so you don’t miss any days in the gym. Make sure you subscribe to the email list below and it’ll get sent directly to you.
Now let's get to the overview for this tactical athlete training program.
8 Week Tactical Athlete Fitness Program
This physical fitness program is designed to build the specific training goals most tactical athletes have. To be honest, it's almost a joke to ask these guys what their goals are, as it's always the same. They all want to be really strong, muscular, and in good enough cardio shape not to suck wind in front of their peers!
Not to worry, this exercise program works on all three goals. Most importantly, I've written it with flexibility in mind. As I mentioned earlier, this was tested by a very active full time SWAT team. There were certainly weeks with very high operational tempo, which meant that the workouts needed to be toned down. In the next section I'm going to cover how to do this smartly.
You can downoad the free PDF below
Click Here to Download the 8 Week Tactical Athlete Fitness Program Free PDF
Smart Scaling for Tactical Athletes
As you'll see, once we get to the daily workouts, there is a fair amount of lifting. On days where you just don't have the time to do the whole program, you should pick the primary movement, and at least work up to one heavy set. You can then follow it with the WOD, which builds work capacity.
You'll also see there is one partner WOD per week. If you're doing this solo you have two options. You can do half of the WOD, or you can do the full thing, if you really want to get after it.
Don't forget to read through the full program, as I cover some different tips for each workout day, in different sections. Let's get to week one.
If you want more of an individual training plan, without paying hundreds of dollars I normally charge for that service, you should check out my most popular premium program for hybrid athletes. It's quite hard, but it can push your fitness to the next level, if you stick with it.
8 Week Tactical Athlete Fitness Program: Week 1
This eight week program is four dedicated gym days per week with an optional day 5. You'll find that each session should take you just about an hour with a reasonable warm up included.
If we look at Session 1 (upper-body day), you can see it starts with an incline dumbbell bench, paired with a Pendlay row. You then finish the strength portion with some lateral raises. I recommend taking about 5 minutes to get warmed up for the WOD and then going for it. Now let's get to the next week.
8 Week Tactical Athlete Fitness Program: Week 2
In the following week, you can see that we keep the same overall structure but we gradually increase the load. One term you need to know to understand the programming is RIR. It stands for reps in reserve. If you see a set of 7 at 2 RIR that means you would pick a weight that you could actually do 9 reps with if you went all out.
If we look at Session 7, you can see we start with some weighted jumps. These are done with a relatively light weight, for max height. These train your nervous system to produce force quickly, a key requirement for tactical athletes.
You then move on to some heavy deadlifts. The last lift is Nordic curls, which are one of the best injury prevention movements out there. Now on to week three.
8 Week Tactical Athlete Fitness Program: Week 3
I normally like to program in four week cycles. That means that week three has you lifting heavy loads. This is no different. You can see that the volume is relatively high, and we are touching on some weights that are around 90% of your one rep max. This kind of strength work is a must if you want to be a better tactical athlete.
Looking at Session 13, we can see it's a shorter session, focused on weighted pull ups. I've added in some barbell windshield wipers, as they are a great abdominal exercise that works the transverse planes of motion. Of course, I had to add in some bicep curls.
There is nothing that says tactical strength training more than biceps curls. Now let's finish this cycle up with the final week.
If you want a program with a little more endurance work and more lifting, then check out this fitness plan.
8 Week Tactical Athlete Fitness Program: Week 4
This is the final week of cycle one. As you can see, you will still have some heavy barbell lifts, but the overall volume is cut down. The main focus this week is recovery, which will allow you to build more strength, and muscle mass in the coming weeks. Don't go adding in a bunch of extra stuff this week. Otherwise you're messing up your long term progress.
If we look at Session 19 we can see that it's an incline bench day, paired with some front squats. You then finish with reverse barbell lunges. These are great exercises for tactical athletes as they spend a lot of time exerting force with their lower body unevenly.
If you look at the last session you can see that it's a challenging cardio day. This is optional but I highly recommend it for almost all athletes. If you're not familiar with Zone based training, then read this article so you can make sense of how hard you should be working your energy systems within each Zone.
In the next section we'll review some tips for your nutrition and recovery, as that can be challenging for tactical athletes.
Nutrition and Recovery for Tactical Athletes
This is a hard one because sleep and good food are the cornerstone of recovery. Unfortunately, this can be hard to come by. This best advice I can give you is not to let perfect become the enemy of good enough.
Most tactical athletes are the over achieving sort, which can be good, but also bad. Often times these guys feel like if they can't do the whole workout, or hit all their macro nutrient goals, then it's a waste of time to even bother. This isn't the case.
You're better off doing something that moves you in the right direction, rather than nothing at all. Check out this nutrition guide to make sure you're within the ball park. I also recommend reading this research backed recovery article, which will keep you from doing things like cold plunges after working out. If you're doing that then stop. You can read this to learn why that ruins your ability to build muscle mass.
Final Thoughts
This physical training program is very challenging, but it should be doable for most folks. Make sure you're using safe form, with a full range of motion. If you have any comments or questions put them in the comments below, and I'll do my best to get you an answer. Now get out there and get training. Don't forget to join the email list below.
The opinions and information expressed in this article are solely those of the author and are not affiliated with any corporation, group, public or private entity. This web site is not endorsed by, directly affiliated with, maintained, authorized, or sponsored by Crossfit Inc, Zwift, or Assault Fitness. All product and company names are the registered trademarks of their original owners. The use of any trade name or trademark is for identification and reference purposes only and does not imply any association with the trademark holder of their product brand. Furthermore it's recommend that you consult a medical doctor prior to exercise. Always exercise under the guidance of a qualified professional. All links to Amazon are affiliate links.
