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One of the classic problems with tactical strength and conditioning is that, unlike many athletic settings, you can't assume a common baseline level of fitness. Even in combat arms units, it's normal to have extremely wide ranges of fitness levels in the same unit. The same platoon might have powerlifters, distance runners, and gamers who would rather not exercise at all.

In this episode Nate Palin joins us to share some lessons learned about navigating this challenge. He has coached diverse populations ranging from civilians to special operators, all of whom have influenced his current perspective. We touch on a number of important topics:

• Novelty in training can significantly impact engagement

• Barbells are not always the primary tool in tactical training
• Engagement and enjoyment are crucial for participation in training
• Coaching relationships are essential for effective training outcomes
• Lifestyle conversations often take precedence over strict programming
• Real-time monitoring can enhance training effectiveness and safety

• Performance programs focus on pushing limits, while wellness programs aim to elevate the baseline
• Wellness and high performance are interconnected

• Tactical professionals have diverse roles beyond physicality

• Knowledge sharing is vital for effective coaching
• Motivation is a leader's responsibility, not just a coach's
• Hard work remains the foundation of success in training

On the week's episode we're getting "clickbaity with integrity" in the words of our guest, Dr. Alyssa "Lyss" Olenick. Between her social media presence as @doclyssfitness and her powerhouse training business The Lyss Method she's a big deal as both a coach and a science communicator.

We've been working on getting her on the podcast for over a year, and she definitely delivered. You'll hear about everything from her husband's hair journey to training for Hyrox to running ultramarathons.

As far as credentials, Lyss has a bachelors in health science from Lockhaven University, a masters in exercise physiology from Western Kentucky University and a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from the University of Georgia where she looked specifically at sex differences and female metabolism. She also holds a CrossFit level 2 certification and she's a Certified Sports Nutritionist through ISSN.

If you like what you hear, she offers a ton of great content including both free and paid resources. Training programs, a newsletter, blog articles, ebooks, and more.

We first became aware of the story at the heart of this episode over three years ago. Details were scarce at the time, but we knew that heat casualties had been a major issue for units at Defener Pacific... except for one company that was completely unaffected. And as it turned out, that company had been doing afternoon physical training to deliberately prepare for the heat (plus leveraging H2F experts to optimize the training).

Our guest for this episode was the commander of that company at the time, and he provides a ton of insight into how good training management left his company with zero heat casualties while the battalion experienced 45.

MAJ Christian Wardynski is an Instructor of Economics in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point, which he also graduated from in 2014. After graduating Engineer BOLC, Chris served in the 54th BEB, 173rd IBCT in Vicenza, Italy as a Light Equipment PL, Sapper PL, and BN Air Officer. Most recently, he served as the Company Commander for Bravo Company, 37th Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from West Point, a Master of Science in Engineering Management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago where he also served as a fellow at the Pearson Institute. Chris and his wife, Jackie, have four daughters.
He also provided a bunch of clarifying notes that we'll share here:
He said the DoD vs. VA alignment is a Principal-Agent Problem, but as he described it, it would probably fit the definition of a negative externality better - the DoD's decisions to "overuse"/ or under-rehabilitate soldiers impose uncompensated long-term healthcare costs on the VA (and thus the taxpayer); same for the current commander not considering the cost savings of proper rehabilitation/physical resiliency of soldiers for the next commander. Regardless, both principal-agent issue and externality issue apply. You can tell by this correction that he's a true econ instructor...
For additional context on the heat acclimation they started in May 2021, they had Company STX the second week of June and he initially started reverse cycle PT to see if it'd help soldiers with performance during the STX event. They executed 9x ESB-style lanes focused on individual soldier and engineer tasks, and covered over 30 miles under load in 24 hours. As a bit of risk management for the event, he mandated that all soldiers had to eat at least the main meal of the MRE and a side, or three sides total if not eating the main meal, as well as the entire salt/electrolyte packet every four hours during the event. If they found any soldier who ate less than the required amount, it would result in a summarized article 15 (if there were no extenuating circumstances). It was on the TLs to decide if they needed to eat more frequently and if they wanted to eat on the move or not. Team leaders led their own teams movement through all the lanes and to each station. This provided a great opportunity for them to exercise some initiative and leadership. Surprisingly, zero heat casualties during this crucible event for the ~80 soldiers that completed it, despite a peak ~95 degree heat index in that timeframe.
Regarding Defender Pacific, when he arrived to his company assembly area after the jump, his soldiers looked utterly unphased and appeared completely fresh. The BN TF, however, had about 45 heat casualties by that time. After the BN TF mission was complete, they had a 7 mi ruck to the training area where they'd rest overnight, and his soldiers handled the movement without any issue whatsoever. He did note that they did not have a very hard follow on mission, whereas most other companies in the BN TF had some pretty physically arduous movements/follow-on missions.

This one is a bit of a current events episode. We're diving into two hot topics in Army human performance:

First we dig into the ongoing drama around cutting Athletic Trainers from H2F teams, including the efforts to reverse the decision. This touches on everything from contracting policy to the difference between measuring performance and measuring effectiveness. Embedded Athletic Trainers in military settings have some of the best evidence for effectiveness (including saving more money than they cost), but that's not always how decisions get made.

Then we break down some of the changes from the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) to the new Army Fitness Test (AFT). Specifically, we take a look at the pros and cons of the Standing Power Throw and the the impact of switching select close combat jobs to sex-neutral fitness standards.

We mentioned a few resources/links in the conversation, so here they are:

Petition to members of Congress and senior military leaders to retain Athletic Trainers in the H2F program

Article from an infantry OSUT battalion commander highlighting the value of Athletic Trainers within H2F

Kristen Griest's speech at West Point Founders Day 2021, focused on sex-neutral fitness standards for combat roles

Michael Moss is the author of the #1 NYT bestseller Salt Sugar Fat that rocked the processed food industry (which has been so impactful that it's still in print a decade later, now in 22 languages). He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist formerly with the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and a trusted keynote speaker to global audiences. His latest bestselling book Hooked explores addiction and free will in battle with corporate interests.

He has been a guest on shows like CBS This Morning, CNN The Lead, All Things Considered, and the Daily Show to discuss his work, which has ranged widely from exposing the corporate interests in nursing homes to the Pentagon’s failures in providing soldiers with armor, to the food industry in the context of health, safety, nutrition, politics, marketing, and the power of individuals to gain control of what and how they eat.

He lives with his wife Eve in Brooklyn, where they’ve raised two boys.

If a whole book is a little too much of a commitment for you, you can also read this article version in the New York Times.

Salt Sugar Fat on Amazon.

Hooked on Amazon.

On Monday the Army announced some major fitness testing changes that include removing the Standing Power Throw (SPT) and introducing sex-neutral standards for 21 "close combat" military occupational specialties (MOSs). These changes are marked with a shift from Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) to the new name: Army Fitness Test (AFT).

In this episode we break down the changes and some of the most frequently asked questions with CSM Raymond Harris, the Command Sergeant Major of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), the command responsible for ACFT/AFT and H2F.

Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond S. Harris assumed the responsibilities as Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Eustis, Virginia on Sept 29, 2023.

He enlisted into the Army on March 20, 1996, as an Infantryman. He attended One-Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He has served as a rifleman, machine gunner, automatic rifleman, Bradley gunner, team leader, squad leader, platoon sergeant, first sergeant, and command sergeant
major.

Some highlights from his extensive bio:

He has served in infantry battalions across Fort Riley, Vilseck Germany, Fort Cavazos, Fort Benning, Hawaii, and Fort Campbell. He was a member of The Old Guard. His Brigade and higher level assignments have been with 165th Infantry Brigade at Fort Jackson so basic training, 3rd SFAB, 1st Infantry Division, and V Corps.

He has deployed in support of the Kosovo Campaign, Operations Enduring Freedom Cuba and Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation EADR (European Assure, Deter, and Reinforce) ISO Ukraine. CSM Harris is a graduate of all levels of the NCO Education System, U. S. Army Sergeants Major Academy Class 64.

His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star Medal with one OLC, Meritorious Service Medal, and all of the campaign medals and chest candy badges you would expect based on his assignments and deployments.

CSM Harris is married and has two children.

In 2016 the American Heart Association called for Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF), generally measured using VO2max, to be included as a vital sign. They said:

“The underlying premise of this statement is that the addition of CRF for risk classification presents health professionals with unique opportunities to improve patient management and to encourage lifestyle-based strategies designed to reduce cardiovascular risk.”

In this episode we discuss the arguments made and evidence cited in that statement, as well the update published in 2024.

If you're the type to want follow up citations/further readings, here are a few that we found interesting (but you can find many more cited in the two statements linked above):

People over 60 can still improve their VO2 by just as much as young people, relative to their baseline.

Here's where you'll find the normative values from the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database (FRIEND) that we discussed.

And before you ask, we also briefly address the classic "strength vs cardio" debate. Here are some studies we used to support it:

Association of Resistance Exercise with Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality (yes, we understand that CVD is probably not the right place to look for strength training benefits)

Optimum dosing of resistance training for health and longevity

This episode is all about identifying the right approach to endurance training for different types of athletes. Some people are genetically predisposed to strength and power, while others are built for stamina. While most of us fall somewhere on a spectrum between the two, knowing your athlete archetype can help you determine your optimal approach to training.

This episode is built on Drew's blog post from a month ago, so if you need some written examples of what we discuss you can refer to that.

Some key topics we address:

Strength and power adaptations are largely neurological, while endurance adaptations are largely physiological. As a result, intensity is the key training variable for strength and power, while volume if the key to endurance.

We return to a frequent topic on this podcast, which is the energy systems model routinely found in strength and conditioning education classes.

Zone 2, who it's appropriate for, and when.

Alternate cardio modalities (like biking, rowing, and swimming) and how they fit into training when the primary focus is often running.

The classic "training residuals" chart that appears in so many textbooks, and just a few of the reasons it's probably not accurate for most people.

The human performance community often focuses on physical fitness at the expense of other domains. Recent holistic approaches have improved the ways we address other domains, especially nutrition, mental health, and spiritual fitness. A weak area in many of these programs is financial fitness, and Life Skills for Soldiers is working to fix that.

Financial fitness is a dedicated domain in the DoD's Total Force Fitness model, but it's often treated as separate from the "performance" focused domains.

Our guest on this week's episode is Brendan Duebner, a former artillery officer who served at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and deployed to the Middle East. He served as a headquarters and HIMARS platoon leader and as a liaison officer to the Kuwaiti Artillery forces.

During his last year in the Army he started Life Skills for Soldiers, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to improve service members lives through life skills education. Through this organization he has led a team of over 25 and raised over $150,000 including donations from companies like Nike and Google.

After leaving active duty he completed his MBA at Wharton where he focused on Entrepreneurship and Finance, and he still serves as a member of the Army Reserve's 75th Innovation Command.

In the spirit of measuring effectiveness, Brendan's team also publishes impact assessments from their pilot programs.

This episode covers a lot of ground. On the heels of last week's episode where we had to edit out our discussion of women in special operations, that's exactly where our conversation this week starts.

We originally connected with our guest because of his LinkedIn post about a woman in her senior year at the Naval Academy who has been selected to attend BUD/S, but we quickly move on to focus on how mindfulness fits into human performance.

Jon Macaskill is a retired Navy SEAL Commander turned consultant and mindfulness and meditation teacher. He was born in South Africa but grew up in Ruston, Louisiana.

After graduating high school, he served briefly as an enlisted sailor in the US Navy before receiving an appointment to the US Naval Academy and graduating from there with a BS in mathematics 4 years later. He also has a Master’s degree in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School.

During his 24-year Navy career Jon served in Iraq, Afghanistan, off the coast of Somalia, and in Panama.

After retiring, he served briefly as the Deputy Executive Director for the veteran nonprofit, Veteran’s PATH. He now runs a podcast called Men Talking Mindfulness; does keynote speaking engagements on developing leadership, grit, and resilience; and owns his own consulting company, Frogman Mindfulness. In all three roles, his desire is to improve cultures and individuals through mindfulness, meditation, vulnerability, and compassion.

Jon’s wife, Beka, also served in the Navy and is now a civilian Orthopedic Physician Assistant. Together, they are the proud parents of three children, and after an adventurous 6 months as a family in an RV, they have settled on a small farm in Colorado Springs.