Endurance athletes typically need to focus more on resistance training, including both calisthenics and weight lifting, when transitioning into military-style training programs. Strength athletes may need only a calisthenics-and-cardio combination to improve muscle stamina and endurance.
No matter your athletic history, it is wise to assess yourself and identify your strengths and weaknesses as you start preparing for physically demanding jobs in the military. Here is a question from a recruit with an endurance background who needs to improve overall strength and stamina in calisthenics:
Stew, I am a cross-country runner preparing for Army Ranger selection in the next year. Do you see athletes starting with calisthenics also getting strong on barbell lifts before doing any dedicated strength training with barbells/weights? I know I need to do both, but unsure how to arrange the workouts and how much I should be running and adding weight (rucking). Thanks, Sam
Typically, running endurance athletes can do quite well with any cardio activity but tend to start off weak in both calisthenics and load-bearing activities. Cutting your running to 20-25 miles per week from 50-plus per week will be the first step. In place of all the time not running, start with a calisthenics-and-running base for the upper body and a calisthenics-and-rucking base for the lower body. As with anything new to your training, progress logically with total calisthenics volume and limit rucking to 10%-20% of your body weight. Also, make sure you limit your load-bearing/rucking to 10%-20% of your total weekly miles as you start this new training. Consider a split routine: upper body, lower body, core and cardio, doing each twice a week in that order:
- Monday: Upper-body calisthenics; fast run
- Tuesday: Lower-body calisthenics; ruck
- Wednesday: Core/grip; cardio (run or nonimpact, if needed)
- Thursday: Upper-body calisthenics; fast run
- Friday: Lower-body calisthenics; ruck
- Saturday: Core/grip; cardio (swim or bike)
- Sunday: Day off or mobility day
Mix in PT pyramids, super sets, and max rep sets with running each week. The exercises can be interchanged with upper-body exercises (pullups, pushups, dips, plank pose, squats, lunges, etc.). These upper-body and fast running intervals will be difficult at first, but endurance athletes will progress quickly with calisthenics, faster-paced running and bodyweight exercises. Try this cycle for six to eight weeks, and you should be hitting all the numbers for both running and calisthenics events that you will see in your military training, testing and selection.
After building a calisthenics base (upper, lower, core) and achieving above-average scores in the Army, you need to start adding weights for both strength and, perhaps, size. Having a few extra pounds of muscle mass will improve your durability under load, whether carrying equipment, a rucksack or another person. This will require eating more than you might be used to, as gaining weight requires about a 500-calorie-a-day surplus. On both leg days and core/grip days, mix in exercises targeting grip, core and legs, such as farmer walks, hanging knee-ups, toes-to-bar, fireman carries, bear crawls and plank poses. These exercises can be followed by longer runs and rucks for Army-specific durability requirements.
The best thing to do is to get on a program that specifically addresses all of the above and exposes you to both the selection events and testing events throughout each week. Check out the Military.com Fitness Section. It is loaded with both calisthenics and strength-training articles to help you figure out split routines, determine weekly mileage recommendations, and prepare for the specifics of Army Ranger fitness tests and selection training.
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