TACFIT: Tactical-Specific Physical Conditioning

Last year I had the privilege of taking a trip to Hunter Army Airfield with Coach Scott Sonnon to teach the TACFIT system to members of the160th SOAR, a.k.a. The Night Stalkers. The 160th is most elite helicopter unit in any military. They have the responsibility of flying the most dangerous missions, often in the middle of the night, which is how they earned the name. When Green Berets, SEALs, Rangers and Delta Force units are on the job, they are often inserted or extracted by the men of the 160th. One of the most famous incidents that the Night Stalkers were involved in was made into a blockbuster movie called “Black Hawk Down.” More recently, they were involved in Operation Neptune Spear which resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden.

As soon as the training started, it was easy to see why these guys are some of the best; the intensity in the room was undeniable and not one person even considered
taking a break during any of the work sets. That makes sense considering the motto of this elite military unit: Night Stalkers Don’t Quit! Based on the amount of drive these guys demonstrated, my responsibility as a coach was more about slowing the training tempo down rather than driving them to work harder. Based on my experience with this unit and their ability to work hard through discomfort, it is easy to see why the Borden Institute’s Textbook of Military Medicine states:

“As a consequence of their intense physical training, both basic training and combat unit populations have a high incidence of exercise-related injury. Numerous studies of military trainees have documented the high risk of exerciserelated injuries, ranging from 14% to 42% among men and from 27% to 61.7% among women. Most injuries are to the lower extremities, and most of these are overuse injuries.”

According to the Borden Institutes Textbook, many of these men and women are injured as a result of working hard in an effort to be mission ready, with the majority of these injuries occurring in the lower extremities and back. With so much value placed on long distance runs and ruck marches loaded with gear in military training, these overuse and stress injuries can seem inevitable. The solution to reduce the propensity towards injury is not evident since exercise is both a necessary element of preparation and the cause of many injuries. They define the challenging nature of this problem by stating:

“The need for fitness and the requisite physical training to maintain missionreadiness, the burden and impact of training injuries, and the protective effects of fitness in preventing subsequent injuries result in a complex and dynamic matrix of competing requirements. Understanding this matrix and optimizing the competing requirements is a difficult challenge for military policymakers, planners, commanders, and medical personnel. Nonetheless, only coordinated, well-planned, and multifaceted approaches based on an understanding of the many factors involved will have a positive impact on reducing the levels of injuries.”

The solution to this problem must therefore reduce the chance for injury while maintaining the effectiveness of training and be optimized to meet competing requirements. Most fitness programs fall short in the ability to address so many concerns and account for the specific needs of any tactical operator. That is until TACFIT, the first tacticallyspecific fitness program was designed by Coach Scott Sonnon. The TACFIT system is revolutionary in its primary focus shift of training from performance to recovery. The good news about this shift is that performance is not sacrificed. In fact, individual performance skyrockets as a result of this change.

The injury prevention aspect of the TACFIT system is the result of specific recovery through the use of joint mobility exercises and what we call compensatory movement. The goal of these modalities of training are to increase range of motion, joint health, spatial awareness, condition various connective tissues, and unload the structure of training stress. The result is the ability to train longer, harder and more often while reducing the chance for overuse injury. In other words, TACFIT is the coordinated, well-planned and multifaceted approach that is optimized just for what the military wants!

Coach Sonnon borrows the theory that it is not strength or size that determines the victor in combat but the ability to effectively cycle through what is called the OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide & Act) loop. The ability to cycle through this process quickly requires a particular level of mental and physical agility and efficiency. The following workout was designed to meet the needs of military operators to unload their hips and spine from overuse in the line of duty. It is an example of how TACFIT can be tailored to meet the specific needs of a group or individual.

TACFIT Workout

The following workout The following six exercises will be done in 20/10 x 8 format. You will perform 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work with 10 second rest periods and rest for one minute before starting the next exercise. Each exercise is scored by the lowest number of reps
achieved in any of the 8 work sets. Total score for the workout is the sum of all scored rounds.

1. Shinbox Switch w/Hip Extension
2. Split Squat w/OH Roll
3. Knee Through
4. Bear Squat
5. Kneeling Arm Thread
6. Spinal Rock

Shinbox Switch with Hip Extension

Split Squat with Roll

Knee Through

Bear Squat

Kneeling Arm Thread

Article Information:

This article was featured in the June/July 2011 Issue of the My Mad Methods Magazine. "TACFIT: Tactical-Specific Physical Conditioning" was written by John Wolf, creator of Evolution Kettlebell Groundwork. Learn more about the My Mad Methods Magazine by Clicking Here

Comments (12)

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written by nunhgrader, January 24, 2012

Excellent!

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written by ROCKETJOE, January 24, 2012

Looks great - ill give it a try. Thanks for posting

One exercise is missing though - the spinal rock?

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written by relentless, January 25, 2012

Awesome!!

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written by RanDMC, February 02, 2012

Needs video, I don't get the shinbox move. Thanks

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written by Lonewolf707, February 02, 2012

@ROCKETJOE

Here is a video you can refer to for the Spinal Rock...it is the last drill in the series and the toe touch is not necessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYjlInYEDiE&feature=related

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written by Lonewolf707, February 02, 2012

@RanDMC

The first drill that Melissa demonstrates in this video is the Shinbox. The only difference is that she is doing it with kettle bells and a press.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aneAydXDKfg&feature=colike

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written by RanDMC, February 03, 2012

Lonewolf- thanks for the videos. I like that shin box move and with KB, even better. I injured my back a number of year ago and a couple times a year it will lock up so bad I can't move.(like right now...I'm so high on pain meds, it's taking me 30 mins. to tpye this

I have my rehab dialed in really well but I am always looking for something new. I really like this program and will be adding it to pre-hab and rehab days. Thanks

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written by Lonewolf707, February 03, 2012

RanDMC,

Glad you like the information and look forward to hearing about your results. Make sure to take it slow...especially if you are currently working with an injury. Take care.

John

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written by RanDMC, February 04, 2012

@Lonewolf.... HAha, Yeah, I'm just going to mix these moves into my movement prep workouts.... I'm not going to tabata them. Dr. Tabata- one of the few people who I would love to buy them a beer and punch them in the face

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written by BuckyBall60, March 06, 2012

@Lonewolf,

For the Split squat with roll, what are the important points to concentrate on to keep good form? Shoulder mobility is a weak spot for me.

Thanks.

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written by Lonewolf707, March 06, 2012

@BuckyBall60

Shoulder mobility is a tough one for most of us! I would like to see a vertical shoulder/hip/knee alignment on the split squat before adding the roll. This may be challenging in two different ways...

1.) Shoulder mobility may be an issue just holding the stick overhead for the sets!
2.) Quad/hip tightness on the rear leg may prove challenging as well.

I would use a 3-step progression to make sure you feel comfortable with this...

- Split Squat w/dowel behind shoulders/neck (vertical alignment focus)
- Split Squat w/dowel overhead (arms locked out & focusing on vertical alignment w/minimal lower back sway)
- Split Squat w/OH Roll trying to keep the dowel in the same plan as the rear knee and minimizing any tendency to pitch forward/backward or twist.

Hope that helps!

John

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written by BuckyBall60, March 06, 2012

Great! Thanks for the quick feedback John.

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