TRAINING THE TACTICAL ATHLETE
How to Train the tactical athlete with James FitzGerald
This how-to provides a sneak peek into a recent OPEX CCP Knowledge Series, in which James FitzGerald covered training the tactical athlete. This series is exclusive content provided to OPEX Coaching Certificate Program (CCP) Coaches to support their ongoing education. You can get full access to this and all previous Knowledge Series videos by applying for CCP here.
Who are tactical athletes?
The big picture responsibility of the tactical athlete is to serve and protect. In fighting to defend their country this population is under stressors most people (thankfully) could never imagine. It is important to clearly separate the call to duty with current fitness marketing language around tactical training—we’re not talking general population or athletes playing a game.
To better prepare for the immense physical capability required, tactical athletes need to train specifically for their job. Rather than supporting their function, the trending high-intensity model and the notion of ‘suffering’ through training, will, in fact, burn them out.
How to train the tactical athlete
When training a tactical athlete keep it simple and have the intent to build resilience. Programming should focus on absolute strength work and aerobic alactic sustainability.
Program Aerobic Alactic Sustainability
The second piece coaches should program for these athletes is aerobic alactic sustainability. This will develop their ability to do contractions at different paces for extended time domains, while preserving their central nervous system and keeping them resilient.
These knowledge series are exclusive content available to OPEX Coaching Certificate Program (CCP) Coaches. Every month James picks a coach relevant topic and presents in-depth on the subject. To top it off, these knowledge series are recorded and available to CCP Coaches at any time. This is just one way we support the further education of OPEX CCP coaches. Take the first step to joining our community and sign up the free Professional Coaching Blueprint course, today.