OUR JARGON
The Training Blog with interactive resources and a guide to help with your training
For the tactical professional—the soldier, the police officer, the firefighter—endurance is not a recreational pursuit; it is a fundamental pillar of operational readiness. The ability to perform under duress, to move with purpose over time, and to recover efficiently is a non-negotiable aspect of the job. Yet, the common approach to improving run times often mirrors a civilian fitness model, glorifying high-intensity efforts that frequently lead to a cycle of performance plateaus and debilitating injuries. A superior methodology is required, one built not on brute force, but on intelligent construction. The Tactical Running Protocol is this blueprint, a systematic approach to building a mission-ready engine founded on three core pillars: accumulating intelligent training volume, developing a deep understanding of your body's feedback through structured preparation, and engineering a holistic support system that fuels recovery and adaptation.
In the relentless world of military training, the prevailing ethos is often one of attrition. The belief that more is always better—more miles, more repetitions, more weight—is deeply embedded in a culture that values visible effort and mental toughness above all. Yet, this "grind culture" stands in direct opposition to decades of established sports science, which champions a counterintuitive but critical phase of training: the taper. Tapering, the strategic reduction of training load before a key event, is not about taking it easy; it is the final, crucial step in forging peak performance. For the modern military leader, understanding and implementing a taper is not a sign of going soft, but an act of intellectual and tactical honesty, ensuring their soldiers are not just trained, but truly ready.
The heart and lungs are muscles that must go through a warm-up process similar to the rest of your body. The lung is an organ, but multiple muscles must work for each breath. For many runners, in the eagerness to feel the pavement disappear beneath their feet, this crucial step is overlooked. This perspective, however, is not just misguided—it's dangerous. Neglecting to prepare your body's engine and ventilation system is like starting a race by shouting at your most critical systems, risking a breakdown that leads to diminished performance and potential harm.
You know, in the super demanding world of our tactical pros—soldiers, cops, first responders, and all those folks in high-stakes jobs—being "ready" is everything, right? We drill physical strength, tactical smarts, and mental toughness like crazy, and that's totally on point. But, I've learned there's this other layer of strength, maybe not as obvious but just as vital, that holds everything else up: spiritual readiness. I've got some pretty strong thoughts on this, coming from my time as an H2F (Holistic Health and Fitness) system manager, a drill sergeant, a strength coach, a "best warrior," and a warfighter who's been deployed a bunch. My insights here, straight from the shoulder, are aimed at clearing up some common mix-ups and offering some real-deal lessons for anyone who cares about truly developing our tactical folks from the inside out. This piece is all about digging into what I've learned—what "spiritual study" really means to me, how I've seen it help shape a warrior, and how it's always working on us, every single day.