As the title implies, this program is designed to increase strength and conditioning for SWAT Teams, and tactical athletes. I wrote it specifically for the needs of tactical police officers. Like many of my programs it’s split into two separate parts, with part one covering the first 5 week cycle. Part two will be released in a few weeks for those following along. If you want to build strength, muscle mass, and a killer engine, then check this program out.
This plan is a little bit different compared to the majority of my hybrid, and functional fitness programs. It’s built for officers already on tactical teams, who need to build muscular strength, and conditioning, in the areas that are most beneficial for SWAT operations.
It is not a SWAT school prep program. If you’re an aspiring SWAT team member, then you should check out this free 9 week prep program, with PDF. That program has a free download that covers warm ups, nutrition, and daily programing. It’s tailor made to whip you into shape for a demanding SWAT selection course.
This program is designed for special operations teams that normally work out together, or at least in small groups. Check out the overview below.
9 Week Tactical Strength and Conditioning for SWAT Teams
- 4 Gym days per week with optional 5th cardiovascular endurance training session
- Heavily strength focused for intermediate and advanced athletes
- Can be done in most gym facilities
- Two partner workouts per week
- Easily scalable for injuries, and equipment limitations
I think it’s important to mention that even though I’ve held both a CrossFit Level 2, and a TSAC-F certification, through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, this training plan doesn’t fall into those two camps. It’s really built upon my years of experience writing programs and coaching athletes with a variety of strength and conditioning needs.
The vast majority of law enforcement officers really need to focus on building high power output in short time domains. Secondarily, they need to be durable, as the rigors of physical training can quickly break down fragile bodies. This program does that by building muscle mass and strength, with short sharp workouts to build your engine.
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In the next section I’ll cover some general details on how you should run this program, and how you should modify it for your specific tactical fitness goals.
Strength and Conditioning for SWAT Teams: Overview
This cycle is part one of the nine week program. My goal for you is to build consistency with your lifts, and gradually build volume over the weeks. Several of the strength movements are percentage based, which allows for easy progressive overload.
This means that you need to have a good idea of your current max strength level for those lifts. In this cycle that means the bench press, back squat, and power clean (to a lesser extent). If you don’t have a recent max, then work up to a 5 rep max on those lifts, and put them in this calculator, before starting week one.
Don’t worry if you’re not confident with your power clean, as you can substitute this movement in the program. More on that in the next section on scaling.
Scaling and Modifying this Strength and Conditioning Program for SWAT Teams
This is one area where hard headed SWAT dudes need to pay attention. I know you’ve probably got a few nagging injuries, or equipment limitations. You can’t hide them from me! I expect you to have to modify some portion of this program.
There are no mandatory exercises, but you need to be strong in the movement patterns I’ve listed here. Below I’ve listed a bunch of movements with their related accessories. If you need to substitute your primary moves, just follow the row to the right to see which moves are related, that you might like better.
You should try to stick with compound movements, unless you’re swapping out a single joint movement that’s programmed. For example, if you can’t back squat, because you’ve got a nagging back injury, you can try a leg press, hack squat, glute bridge, or one of my favorites, belt squat.
I’ve made the workouts of the day (WODs) to challenge the fittest people on your team, with the expectation that you’ll modify it with lighter weights or fewer rounds, if you’re fitness level isn’t quite there yet.
If you want to do this program solo, you’re a bad team player, but you can just take the team WODs and perform your half of the work. Moreover, some of the WODs require rowers or Assault Bikes. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t have them. You can convert that work to other machines, or running distances, using the excellent chart below.
If you have specific questions that aren’t covered in this section, put them in the comments section at the bottom of the page, and I’ll get you an answer. Now let’s get to the program.
9 Week Force Multiplier: Tactical Strength and Conditioning for SWAT Teams
I would ask you to read through the full five weeks before starting the program. I will add in some details and tips for each style of session on subsequent weeks. This will make sure that you’re not missing anything. I’ll also explain some of the acronyms along the way, as well.
Week 1
This week is designed to introduce you to the programming style, and training volume. I’ve built most of the workouts to last right around an hour, with a quick 5min warm up and cool down. Let’s take a look at the first week.
If we look at session one, we see that we’re starting with squat jumps, and then moving to upper body pressing . These are to be done after a warm up. Use dumbbells or a bar to do your jumps. Each jump is for max height.
This is followed by the bench press where I have you doing two working sets, followed by two back off sets of 10 to 2RIR. RIR stands for reps in reserve. This means you need to pick a weight that would allow you to get 12 reps if you went all out. Instead you should leave those last two reps in reserve. You’ll finish with bodyweight dips.
This is a partner WOD where your goal is to row 200 cal as a pair. You have to do a set of push press prior to getting on the rower. If doing this solo, just do 5 rounds of row 20 cal, and 5 push press. Now let’s get to week two.
If you like this kind of program but want one focused primarily on building muscle, while maintaining your fitness, then check out my functional bodybuilding program below.
Week 2
Because I tend to like linear periodization, you can expect the percentage based lifts to increase slightly for each set. I’ve also added some extra work on the lifts. You have to increase difficulty and volume week over week, or you won’t make much progress.
It’s important to point out that none of these lifts are max effort. Let’s look at session 7. You will be squatting to 81%, which is heavy, but will leave at least 2 reps left in the tank on all sets.
The next movement is a favorite of mine. You’ll do these pull ups by anchoring an elastic band to a dumbbell or kettlebell on the ground. It makes the pull ups harder as you get closer to the bar. Make sure you can get at least 6 reps per set. You’ll then finish with curls.
The WOD is a decreasing ladder from 10 where you will front squat the specified reps, and then row for calories. Feel free to substitute the row for a run or another piece of equipment, using the chart from Mayhem. While this sounds simple, its a great anaerobic fitness builder. Now, on to the next week.
Week 3
This week start to become challenging for most athletes. The weights are getting pretty close to max effort and the volume is fairly high. The good news is that this is the highest volume in cycle one, as next week the volume decreases for a deload.
If we look at Session 13, we can see that we’re starting with seated barbell press. This is followed by weighted dips, and finally upright rows. The goal here is to build shoulder pressing strength, and add some mass on your triceps, chest, and delts.
The WOD is meant to be done for time. You’ll pick a challenging weight for farmers carry and go 200 yards, followed by box jumps, and weighted sit ups. You then finish the workout with the same 200 yard farms carry. Part of the benefit of this style of workout is strategizing the best way to split the work up. It also require you guys to make some audibles when the plan isn’t working and you’re sucking wind.
Week 4
This is the promised deload week. You’ll notice that I’ve generally kept the heavy compound lifts at the same intensity, but I’ve lowered the amount of sets and reps you need to do with the accessory work. This is designed to allow some recovery.
It’s really important that you resist the urge to do extra work. You don’t get better in the gym, you get better recovering outside of it. If you mess your recovery up, then no gains for you!
Let’s take a look at Session 19. This starts with power clean. I would recommend you only do this exercise if you have good technique. If you’re just deadlifting the bar and reverse curling it up, you need to stop that! Instead substitute for something like heavy Romanian deadlifts.
You’ll then move to reverse barbell lunges. These are my go to for athletes that have a lot of pressure on the back from wearing full kit all day. You can put a lot of load on each leg, but keep a lower overall load on your spine. Make sure you don’t go too light here. Finish with a reverse hyper if you have one available. If not, back extensions work well too.
This WOD is solo and is to be done straight through. For top athletes it should take you 8-12 minutes. This means you need to pace yourself for that. Don’t start out pushing 600 watts on the Assault Bike, unless you want a bad time, and like suffering. Now let’s finish with week five.
Week 5
This is the first week of the next cycle. You can see that the general schedule and body part split is the same. I’ve changed several of the accessories, and eliminated some all together. This allows you to spend a little more time on the heavy lifts which are now approaching 90%.
If we look at Session 25, you can see that it’s an optional aerobic base training session. If you’re unfamiliar with the different heart rate zones or Zone 2 aerobic training, then you should read this guide. It is great training for aerobic capacity and it won’t interfere with your muscle building. You’ll finish this workout with 7 min at max pace.
This session is optional and can be done on the weekends on any piece of equipment you desire. If you’re anything like me, you get bored doing cardio. I would recommend trying out Zwift, as it turns cardio into a challenging video game for cycling. Let’s finish this article up.
If you like this kind of program but want a little more detail, and a little more conditioning with your strength work, then you should check out my most popular hybrid program below.
Final Thoughts
This workout program is challenging, and may be a new training method for many of you. Remember, I’ve written this to hammer very good athletes, who are fresh, and well rested. Depending on your operational tempo, you may need to reduce the intensity on some of these sessions, or push them off to later days.
You’ll notice I don’t specify which days you need to do this. I would recommend trying to get all four days done in a week, as a general goal.
If you have any comments or questions then put them below and I’ll address them as soon as I can. Now get out there and get training. Don’t forget to join the email list. Good luck!
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