One of the most common questions a tactical strength coach gets asked is the infamous "How should I train for selection?" The answer is simple in some ways but can be complex and dynamic in others. Selection can mean many things depending on the organization you are assessing for. Although, there are a few rules that should be in place no matter what the selection process is. I will shed some light on how to set up a selection training program and provide some inside tips on how I train operators for selection.
Any Wind is Favorable if You Have No Direction
Before starting to train for a selection, the first thing to do is to look up the selection criteria. It sounds too simple to be true, but you would be surprised how many people show up for a selection without having looked at the free information available online. The organization's web page typically details what to expect during the selection process and often how to prepare for it. Most organizations are no longer very secretive about their selection process. Many have entire web pages dedicated to detailing the entire process. Usually, you can find the PT events and standards posted online. A wealth of information is available online to help you start training if you only look for it.
You may find a training program to prepare you for selection during your Internet search. Many of these programs were written by someone with firsthand information on what will be asked of the applicants during the selection process. Officially sponsored programs like these are designed to be a basic template anyone can follow with access to minimal equipment. I have been a part of writing these programs before, and while they are in no way specific to anyone's individual needs, they cover the basics. If done correctly, they will prepare you for the events during the evaluation. No matter what, if there is a training program provided by the organization, it is a good idea to at least reference it to make sure you are on the right track.
Prove that you care enough to at least investigate the process and prepare yourself.
A Pyramid is Only as Wide as Its Base
Building a training base is the most important thing you can do. Training needs to focus on a few specific qualities that build a foundation for many different abilities. While the emphasis of the selection may vary depending on the organization, you should focus your effort on aerobic capacity training, high-rep calisthenics, and lower body and grip strength. Every energy system will be tasked throughout a selection. However, one system will support all the others throughout the process: Aerobic Capacity. Upper body strength will be tested in several events. However, there are a few general strength qualities that need to be stressed more than others.
Always Improving
Training for selection must center around improving your aerobic capacity. It would be best to do this using several different methods, but your training base should be Zone 2 steady-state cardio. Even in the early stages of training, you should spend 90 minutes to two hours a week developing your Aerobic Capacity. It is important to understand that aerobic capacity will not only be the main system you are stressing during selection, but it is also how you will recover in between more intense bouts of activity throughout the selection process. Keep in mind that a varied approach to metabolic conditioning is still going to be best. Conditioning circuits, short sprints, and mid-distance intervals will all need to be a part of your training program as you prepare for selection.
However, Zone 2 steady-state cardio is the most effective way to improve your overall aerobic capacity. Therefore, it must be prioritized. The best thing about steady-state cardio is that you can vary the training methods and prevent a lot of wear and tear on the soft tissues of the lower leg. Use various cardio machines, sled dragging, and shorter road runs all combined to get your necessary amount of Zone 2 cardio every week and drive up your aerobic capacity without damaging your feet and shins. Zone 2 must be the most important part of your training base if you want to be successful at selection.
The Role of Calisthenics
Calisthenics needs to become your first, second, and third most preferred upper body movements. Upper body strength is important, but upper body strength endurance is more significant when it comes to selection. Every organization has its own PT standards, and calisthenics will be a part of almost every single selection process. You cannot afford to be out of shape when it comes to push-ups, pull-ups, or sit-ups. Bench press and overhead press are excellent movements, but there is not enough room to fit them in the training program when it comes to selection. When training for these events, I will typically eliminate barbell upper body movements the final six weeks before selection.
From that point on, the only upper body movements that I prescribe are high-rep dumbbell exercises and lots of push-ups and pull-ups. Muscular endurance in the torso is also important for selection, so each workout concludes with high-rep abdominal movements. There is only so much time and energy you can expend during workouts, so make sure anything you do is worth the effort.
Since upper body movements should mostly consist of calisthenics, the main emphasis of weight training sessions will be closed-chain, ground-based, multi-joint lower body exercises. At some point during almost every selection, the participants will be asked to pick up something heavy and move it. Deadlifts, specifically trap bar deadlifts, probably have the most carryover to the events of a selection. To build as much strength as possible while conditioning as much as possible, squats, deadlifts, and single-leg movements must be stressed during every weight training session using both maximal and submaximal loads.
The Importance of Grip Strength
Stressing posterior chain movements during training is also important to develop strength and prevent injuries and imbalances from occurring. Grip training should also be done during every weight room session. Grip strength consists of two different kinds: crushing strength and holding strength. The ability to hold on to a moderately heavy dumbbell or other implement for several minutes up to an hour or longer is something you need to prepare yourself for. If your legs and hands are strong, then you are strong.
These three training concepts make up the base of a selection prep program. The program's specifics should be based on the information gathered when researching the process. However, the meat and potatoes of any program will be the same. Zone 2 cardio should be emphasized to increase Aerobic Capacity. Upper body strength endurance should be trained by using calisthenics to mimic the demands of selection and to train for PT standards. Lower body and grip strength should be the main goals of all weight room sessions.
Warm-Ups are Warm-Ups; The Game is the Game
I have adopted a catchphrase that I use when training people for selection, "Availability trumps ability." So, I use this phrase repeatedly as we progress through the program. I find it necessary to combat the questions concerning why we are not running longer, rucking more, or doing more of any training method that seems to be in the zeitgeist at that moment.
This is a concept that I cannot stress enough: if you are 85 percent trained but 100 percent healthy, that is better than being 100 percent trained and 85 percent healthy. If you are as healthy as you can be, you can better express your true capabilities. If you are trained up to a higher level but can only express a fraction of that ability due to injury, it will limit you more and more over a several-days-long selection. Also, if you show up to selection with any existing nagging injury or overuse issue, it will become exacerbated quickly.
Selection: No Rest for the Weary
Selection for any organization is designed with no rest and no recovery in mind. You do not have time to pause and heal a small injury during selection. You will have to limp through as best you can and hope you meet the standard or risk being medically removed. Be as healthy as you can be when you show up on day one with plenty of reserves in the tank and give yourself the best chance at survival.
You must also bear in mind that failure is the goal when it comes to many of the events of selection. The raters want to see you go until you physically cannot go any longer. That is more of a mental task and not something you can train. More importantly, you cannot train for an event that requires failure very often without it leading to negative health outcomes. Even worse, you may find yourself stopping before you have truly reached exhaustion to save yourself for more training in the future. If you get into that habit, it may be hard to truly give your all when it is time. It is best to train hard, but train smart and save those max effort bouts for when they matter.
Structuring a 12-Week Training Program
When training for selection, I believe a 12-week training block is as long a program as anyone should attempt. In keeping with the concept that "Availability trumps ability," I believe any intense selection program longer than 12 weeks runs the risk of overuse and overtraining. My program is divided into a six-week general prep phase and a six-week special prep phase. The purpose of the general phase is to prepare the body for the special phase, which will prepare the individual for selection.
The goal of this program is to be as general as possible for as long as possible to reduce overuse injuries. The last six weeks of this program rely on the residual effect of the strength built in the general phase as we shift our focus to the things that will matter most during selection, keeping in mind that once selection is over, we will return to those more general concepts.
During the general prep phase, the program is four days per week of lifting and six days per week of conditioning, with one day completely off. During this phase, the focus in the weight room is on accumulating volume with submaximal weights on our main strength movements, such as squats, bench presses, deadlifts, and overhead presses. The assistance lifts are all done with high repetitions for hypertrophy and to build a base of strength for the special prep phase to come.
Conditioning Techniques for Endurance
The conditioning is mostly interval training and circuit work with about an hour of Zone 2 per week. The intervals are executed on cardio machines as well as on the road. They are done with the intent of increasing galactic and lactic capacity in 7–15-minute sessions. Zone 2 work is a mix of cross-training, running, and rucking to build a base of Aerobic Capacity without tearing down the lower leg.
When the program shifts into the special prep phase, the strength training takes a back seat to conditioning and rucking. The program shifts to a three-day lift, six-day conditioning, and one rest day template to focus on relevant abilities and recovery. The upper body lifts are removed and replaced with dumbbell movements, push-ups, pull-ups, and ab movements. The volume on the calisthenics will wave between 200 and 400 repetitions per workout. The lower body barbell lifts will focus on maximal strength on trap bar deadlifting (as this is the only tested lift in most tactical settings).
Incorporating Grip Work in Training
Grip work is included in every workout using various methods, including bar hangs, farmers carry, and even Zone 2 work done while holding a dumbbell in hand and switching it back and forth for the duration. The interval conditioning shifts to longer mid-distance sprints done on the pavement from 400m up to two miles. The few conditioning circuits done during this phase will all last 45 minutes or more and will be done in full kit.
Rucking is done no more than once a week, every week, for the entire special prep phase. The ruck workouts alternate between shorter ruck runs and long-distance rucks for time. The long-distance rucks never exceed a reasonable mileage and weight. These are less than what may be asked at selection and are done after a pre-exhaust cardio workout performed on the fan bike. The pre-exhaust is to better simulate a longer ruck without putting the same wear and tear on the body. Rucking can easily be overdone and should be approached more as a skill than a raw physical ability. No one prepares for a marathon by running 26.2 miles every week, and rucking should be viewed in a similar light. I have seen individuals prepare for a 26-mile ruck while never rucking more than 12 miles in a session leading up to the event.
Quality is more important than quantity when it comes to rucking. If it is being touched on a couple of times a month, and Zone 2 work is dominating your conditioning, you will be set up for rucking success.
Send It
Selection will be hard, but it is supposed to be hard. The training that leads up to it needs to prepare you for that difficulty, but not at the expense of your current health. The goal should be to get as strong and conditioned as possible, but above all else, you should show up healthy and ready to take on the challenge. Never forget that your mindset going into selection is more important than your physical condition. There will be multiple events where failure is the goal; you must know that and be prepared for that going in. Be ready to give everything you have and leave nothing in the gas tank. Show what you are truly capable of. Trust in your abilities and know you are as prepared as possible, then send it.
Kelsey Hite is a Strength Coach with two decades of experience working with high school, collegiate, professional and tactical athletes. He is currently employed as a contractor strength and conditioning coach working with USAF Special Tactics Operators at Hurlburt Field, FL.
