MOPs & MOEs

We invited Chris McNamara onto the pod to talk about assessments in tactical strength and conditioning. Chris is both a seasoned special operations leader and an accomplished athlete and coach. He's the owner of Evolution Athletics, a training facility near Fort Bragg that is home to some incredible athletes, and he's also an accomplished emergency medical professional with numerous combat deployments. This combination gives him a unique perspective for a discussion on how we test tactical professionals' fitness, and some ways we could potentially do it better.

What makes training "tactical"? Is it working out in a uniform? Is it wearing body armor? Is rucking tactical? So many questions, and so few clear answers. In this episode we discuss the concept of "tactical PT" and why the lack of a clear definition is such a problem. Don't want to listen to the full episode? Here's the secret: it's all about what you wear. If you look tactical when you do it, that's all that matters. Probably.

From starting out as a D1 collegiate swimmer to coaching Olympic medalists to training operators for the most elite selections, Scott Johnston has a lot of experience when it comes to knowing how to produce high performance. A core element of his methodology is a massive emphasis on aerobic base building, and his results speak for themselves. In the most recent Best Ranger Competition six of the top ten teams prepared by following training from Uphill Athlete, Scott's company. In this episode, Scott explains the foundations of his approach and why methods developed for training mountain athletes work so well for tactical athletes.

A month ago a study on injury prediction technology was released that got the tactical human performance space EXTREMELY riled up. Today, we have the authors of that study on to discuss what they found and the state of the search for the injury prediction holy grail. This team has done some serious work with Air Force Special Warfare to put the latest technology to the test, and as the military pursues ways to address critical levels of injuries and disability, their findings are extremely relevant. Lt Col Ben Hando is a physical therapist and clinical researcher in the US Air Force.  He recently served as the Research Flight Commander at the Special Warfare Training Wing and he is currently a Research Fellow at Kennell and Associates. He serves on numerous Air Force and Joint level committees as an orthopedic physical therapy expert. Dr. Sid Angadi is an assistant professor at the University of Virginia in the Department of Kinesiology and a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. He's a cardiovascular physiologist by training, with research focusing on the use of exercise to improve outcomes for patients with cases from heart disease, to kidney disease, to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Dr. Casan Scott is currently a Senior Data Scientist with NCCI. Previously, he worked as a Research Analyst with the USAF Special Warfare Human Performance Squadron and as a Data Scientist with the Army's 1st Special Forces Group THOR3 human performance team.

Do pedometers work in space? As the Space Force works to implement a wearable device-driven fitness standard, we're here to ask the important questions. Join us as we discuss all this and more. From types of data to influencing behavior change, this episode is an overarching conversation on the various applications of technology in the tactical human performance space, with a critical look at when it is - and isn't - useful. It also serves as an introduction to the next episode, in which we'll dive into more specifics with a team that has been researching this topic over the past several years.

Evan Peikon is a physiologist & bioscientist who focuses on human performance, including consulting for elite athletes and military special operations. If you've read any of his content you know he has a particular interest in how the body utilizes oxygen, and how better understanding that can enhance our training protocols. Our conversation is all about changing paradigms in tactical strength and conditioning, so be prepared to have some of your foundational assumptions challenged.

You guys have nutrition questions, but we aren't nutrition experts, so we called one in to help out! Sam Leyh is a Performance Dietitian working in Air Force Special Warfare. Listen to this episode to learn how abs are made at Burger King and why you start sweating if you eat too much meat. There might be some other more useful content too, but it will be mixed in with plenty of bad food puns. Sponsored by broccoli™

Our guest on this episode, Brendon Huttmann, recently transitioned into tactical human performance after a long and accomplished career in professional baseball.  He held major league strength and conditioning and sports science positions with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Los Angeles Dodgers after working his way up through minor league jobs with the Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, and Kansas City Royals organizations. Join us for a conversation about the similarities and differences between professional sports and tactical.

Debate on strength vs endurance for tactical athletes, balancing both in training, setting baseline thresholds, focusing on long-term progress, differentiating base building from performance training, strategies for reducing injuries and improving physical preparedness in military training, optimizing footwear and training routines

In our first full episode we have a conversation with the one and only Nate Palin about whether "tactical athlete" is a useful term. Nate has been a big part of shaping what tactical strength and conditioning is today, and offers a great perspective. Are tactical professionals athletes? Is the athlete mindset helpful in a tactical environment? Can coaches expect the same things from tactical professionals as they can from athletes? Join us as we dive into all this and more.