Training for the Tactical Strength Challenge

Preparing for the Tactical Strength Challenge is a bit of a beast.

The Tactical Strength Challenge Combines Strength, Muscle Endurance and Endurance

What makes it so hard ? Doing well at the Tactical Strength Challenge combines three different physical qualities. You have to be strong, but you also have to have some going power with the pull ups. In addition, you have to have pretty good skill with both the deadlift and insanely good technique with the kettlebell snatch. And maybe most importantly, you have got to have pretty good anaerobic and aerobic endurance and fitness, as you are going to be working at or above anaerobic threshold on the snatch test.

The snatch test is hard. No two bones about it. Every time I finish the snatches at the Tactical Strength Challenge, I am sucking wind. In April, 2018, I set a goal to win the Women’s 12 Kilogram Kettlebell division.

To set myself up in a position to win, I pushed to 148 kettlebell snatches.

Afterward, I was practically dry heaving for 10 minutes or so.

Now, had I had a slightly better level of aerobic conditioning on game day, I probably would not have been so gassed during the test.

But too much aerobic conditioning might have taken away from my recovery for the pull ups and deadlift.

In essence, I tried to develop my strengths (maximal strength and muscular endurance for the dead lift and pull up) while minimizing my weaknesses (minimize the negative pull snatches had on my total score).

What I did not do: try to make my weakness a strength and let my dead lift and pull up suffer.

Everyone’s approach preparing for the Tactical Strength Challenge will be a bit different based on their own individual strengths and weaknesses. Today I am just going to share some of my past approaches as well as what some of the best do to prepare for the Tactical Strength Challenge and what I believe works best for this particular event.

Deadlift:

Deadlift training will be highly individual. Some people really do well with a high volume or sub maximal work, while others do better training the deadlift less frequently, at higher intensities, or some combination of those two factors.

Chances are, if you have spent any amount of time under the bar, you are already pretty strong, and dead lifts are a bit harder for your body to recover from.

Especially by the time you are pulling 2.5 to 3 times body weight, chances are you need to only deadlift once per week, and train other hip hinge patterns another day, or you need to work at lower percentages of your 1 rep max, for low reps, with lots of reps in the tank.

Working with high percentages OR with sets taken to failure probably is not a good idea.

Instead, focus on either training a few heavy singles, doubles or triples (Westside Conjugate method) and progressing the weights you use, or focus on accumulating more sets at lower percentages with more reps in the tank (Bulgarian Method).

Two different, but possibly workable approaches would be:

Method 1:

Deadlift Day:

Work up to 3×3 @ 75 percent of 1 Rep Max.

Each week, aim to add .5 of a percent or so until week 10-16, where you are hitting 90 percent of your 1 RM for a 3×3.

Method 2:

Deadlift Day:

Do 8 sets of 3 reps @ 60 percent of 1 Rep Max.

Each week, aim to add .5 of a percent or so until week 10-16, where you have worked up to 75-80 percent of your 1 RM for an 8×3.

On the last week of the program, you could deload, and then aim to test out your 1 RM deadlift at the Tactical Strength Challenge.

If you are more of a novice lifter, aim to accumulate more volume with sub-maximal weights with the deadlift, and aim for absolutely perfect technique and practice.

You might be able to get away with deadlift two or more times per week, as the loads are not high enough to be super stressful yet.

Pull up:

Again, a variety of training methods could work well here.

If you are competing in the flexed arm hang division, train the flexed arm hang!

If you are competing in the traditional pull up division, train the pull up!

And if you are competing in the elite division, aim to practice with the bell you will be using in competition!

Specificity is key, and for at least the last six weeks prior to the event, you want to be practicing the specific skill you will be using in competition.

Farther out from the Tactical Strength Challenge, you can focus on less specific variations of pull up training.

For instance, maybe you are six months out from the Tactical Strength Challenge and you are going to be competing in the Flexed Arm Hang Division.

You could start by training assisted pull ups one time per week as well as inverted rows one time per week, as well as bent-over rows one time per week.

You could add weight, reps or sets to this protocol to progress.

3 months out from the Tactical Strength Challenge, you could change the assisted pull ups to 3 sets of flexed arm hanging.

You could progress the amount of time you stay in the flexed arm position or the number of sets you do.

Then, you could cut the number of sets you do in half the week of the Tactical Strength Challenge, to make sure you are fresh and rested.

Then, you will be ready to crush the Tactical Strength Challenge at the end of the week!

If you are competing in the regular pull ups division, you could train pull ups one time per week, bent over rows one time per week and inverted rows one time per week.

Aim to add progress by adding reps or sets each week.

Cut your normal training in half the week of the Tactical Strength Challenge and make sure to rest on Friday. Saturday, you will be ready to crush it!

If you are going to be competing in the weighted pull up division, train with the weight you will use in the event!

You could aim for several sets, taken a few reps (or more) from failure, or you could aim for just a couple sets here. Whatever the case, leave some room for progression each week by adding sets, reps or an additional day of pull up training.

Same as in the other two divisions, give yourself adequate time for rest by cutting the volume and intensity down the final week before the event and you will give yourself the best possible chances for success at the Tactical Strength Challenge!

I have trained with both low reps and high reps, added weight and bodyweight only, and all approaches were really successful! Whatever the approach, I aimed to add volume or intensity slowly to make sure I would be successful.

At my last event, I got 23 pull ups, and I was really excited about that!

The Snatch:

First off, make sure your snatch technique is really good with whatever division you aim to be competing in.

Do understand that your technique may also have to change a bit if you change divisions.

The first time I competed in the Tactical Strength Challenge, I did the Ladies 12 kilogram division.

I was new to swinging a bell and I was afraid I would drop the bell on my feet, so I tended to death-grip the bell.

I did practice snatching quite often, but only attempted the 5 minute snatch test a couple times before the event.

I did end up with 115 or 120 snatches at my first Tactical Strength Challenge, enough to place reasonably well.

For the next Tactical Strength Challenge, I wanted to improve my scoring within the same division.

To practice, I trained the Snatch only one time per week. I simply practiced the 5 minute snatch test, aiming to increase the number of snatches I did each week.

I also improved my technique and stopped death gripping so much.

I started with around 100 snatches, and then worked up to 110, 115, 120, and then 125 snatches per 5 minute time frame.

My training plan looked like this:

Week 1

6 snatches each side for 5 minutes (60 total)

Week 2

8 Snatches each side for 5 minutes (80 total)

Week 3

10 Snatches each side for 5 minutes (100 total); every minute on the minute,

Week 4

11 Snatches each side for 5 minutes (110 total)

(continue adding one snatch per minute until you cannot complete the workout at RPE 7-8. Stay there as long as you need.)

I quickly learned that I needed to figure out how to switch hands and continue right into a new snatch, without wasting time on a “no rep” or one arm kettlebell swing.

I also quickly figured out how to do 20 or even 30 snatches without switching.

At the Tactical Strength Challenge, I completed 144-148 snatches. I believe I did 20 or 30 per hand in the first minute or so, and had sixty or so snatches in in the first minute.

While I was really gassed at the end of the event, and my snatches DID not come in first place, I had minimized my weakness with the snatches enough that I still won the event. I could really shine in the dead lift and pull up component enough that I still came in first.

Realistically, I could have added in another day–or even multiple days–of snatch practice into the week, but I felt that the negatives outweighed the positives here.

I am already training a ton, doing heavy deadlifts, a lot of other hip hinge variations, and frankly, the Tactical Strength Challenge is never my top training priority (I also compete in powerlifting through the USAPL, and it was my main goal to qualify to and compete at Nationals last year).

The one time per week practice–practicing nothing more than the exact test I would replicate–was enough to help me win.

Most of those weeks, I trained at sub-maximal heart rates and intensities. I only pushed really hard on game day.

You don’t Always Need the Most Volume

Quite frankly, you could also train for the Tactical Strength Challenge–and do very well–just training with 5 minutes of snatching. You don’t need a ton of training volume practicing this skill to do quite well.

You could train snatches at a specific heart rate or rate of perceived exertion, and then aim to improve little by little within those parameters.

Of course, on game day, you would expect to work at higher perceived exertion or effort or heart rate because you are COMPETING.

I would still recommend pacing yourself in some regard. Everyone’s strategy is different. But do aim to keep your heart rate from hitting 90 percent of maximum or higher in the first minute or so. That will make the rest of the test more bearable and you won’t gas out two or three minutes in!