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Military /Combat Training
MEN'S HEALTH, November 2001
"Ready to get my ASS KICKED, SIR!"
Follow orders and you, too,
will become a hard-body.
Written by Joe Kita
Excerpts:
Recently, the Marines rolled out a new $12 million training program designed to remake its team into the most fearsome fighting force ever created and its soldiers the ultimate warrior/athlete.
It's called the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, and it's designed to not only attract new recruits but also toughen and re-motivate the veterans.
The program's leatherneck creators are intense men in the business of training others to be proficient killers. You can't help wanting to emulate their level of physical conditioning. While few have Adonis physiques, they all possess a lean, do-anything hardness more impressive than that of most athletes. And even more remarkable is that this fitness has been built in the simplest of ways, using body-weight, partner resistance, and gritted teeth.
This is not a get-back-in-shape, beginner's program. It assumes a respectable level of fitness and a desire to go beyond it. And if you do, the benefits that accrue will be more than physical. You'll start to get a sense of the core marine values of honor, courage, and commitment. You'll handle life with greater confidence. As Lieutenant Colonel George Bristol puts it, "We're out to create a person who is so highly skilled that he can function in the cauldron of combat, yet has ethics, compassion, and discipline. This is the warrior gentleman."
All of us do battle every day in some small way. Our cauldron of combat may be the commuter lane, the workplace, or the dinner table across which we face our teenagers. Here's how the marines get ready for it. Here's how they build combat fitness. Here, sir, are the seven rules of engagement.
Rule #1: You'll push yourself harder if you train with a partner.
Rule #2: Never let yourself get into a rhythm.
Rule #3: Hit and be hit.
Rule #4: If you don't have a goal, you don't have a soul.
Rule #5: It's not the gear that makes you fit, but the will to use it.
Rule #6: To Build Power and Speed, Exercise Explosively.
Marines are like coiled springs. On the surface they may appear relaxed and well polished, but deeper down, at a muscular level, they are tightly wound. Should the situation warrant, they're capable of striking with deadly force in a moment. Warriors are intimidating because you can sense this ability, this tethered power. It's a daunting something you'd love to have. And you can. Because it's not natural; it's cultivated.
The marines develop this in two ways. First, they exercise explosively. Once they've acquired basic strength and endurance, they do their drills faster and more forcefully. For example, instead of traditional leg squats, they substitute "star jumpers". Instructors make even traditional weight exercises more explosive by requiring troops lift fewer pounds more quickly or take less time between sets. Standing in waist-deep water and kicking as hard as possible is another drill that builds explosive power. "We're not as interested in forklift strength as we are in strength times speed," explains Bristol.
The second way it's developed is through aerobic training. Marines are legendary for marching great distances with 50-pound packs. And this has not changed. But when they take those packs off, they suddenly feel like a warm-up bat minus the weighted doughnut.
You can achieve the same training effect by walking or running with a backpack. But if you're confined to urban wilderness, a less-conspicuous alternative may be a weighted vest. Called "extra-load conditioning," the process is akin to exercising in hyper-gravity. Studies have found significant improvements in explosive power(jumping) and cardiovascular stamina (running to exhaustion) after 3 to 6 weeks of wearing approximately 10% of body weight. The $135 to $180 SmartVest by Training Zone Concepts (www.smartvest.net, 888-797-8378 is well-made, surprisingly comfortable model, carries up to 32 pounds."
Rule #7: Heroism is endurance for one moment more.
"Most men don't exercise," says Bristol with a scowl, "but hard physical exercise is the basis for character development. If you're able to do these things, break through barriers, you'll develop mental toughness. This is how integrity is built."
Bristol learned this through training, by continually pushing past his "uncle point" and resisting the temptation to quit. The marines use physical demands, sleep deprivation, and even verbal abuse to teach this. Eventually, they hone not only mental toughness but also basic motor skills. These are the mechanics that keep a man marching or fighting long after his energy deserts. They form the bedrock that makes a fearful situation more stable.
Instilling this in yourself is as simple as gutting out a few extra repetitions of every lift, or sprinting for 10, 20, or 30 seconds at the end of each run. You'll soon find that there's always a little more left, that you have a reservoir of strength. Try a marathon, a century, or a long-distance hike next, You will reach a point during it when your body insists on stopping, but you won't let it. Then, farther along, will come another point when your mind no longer cares but your body automatically continues. When this happens, you'll have met your warrior/athlete. And Bristol, by god, will salute you.
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