Preparing for a Goruck Heavy

[PeterHealey]

Hi all. Not totally committed to this yet but any thoughts/advice on the best TB strength and conditioning combination in preparation for the Goruck Heavy (24+ hours, 40+ miles)? Event is at the end of May 17'. Currently in week 4 of Operator/Black.

[grouchyjarhead]

Haven't done a Heavy yet but I've done a Tough and a Light. TB was great for preparation.

Personally I'd go with Fighter/Green since the mileage is high. You'll want more E workouts than HIC. I'd do some barbell work twice a week, ruck PT and Upper Body Round Robin practice twice a week, and two rucks a week (one short and heavy, the other long and with event weight only). Two easy runs a week for recovery and more E work. That's just my opinion.

Something like...

Mon - TB/Fighter, easy run.
Tue - Ruck PT, short/heavy ruck.
Wed - Off/active rest.
Thu - TB/Fighter, easy run.
Fri - Ruck PT/UBRR practice. Easy run if you're feeling froggy.
Sat - Long ruck with event weight. Throw some PT stops in if you want.
Sun - Off/active rest.

What worked awesome for my last event you might want to try is a "fun ruck". I'd carry an extra weight (e.g. sandbag) twice around a track for 2 miles, then I'd drop it and do PT. Usually crawls across the football field, lunge walks, that sort of thing. I'd then pick the weight back up and keep going. I smoked the event, felt great the whole time, and was used to so many lunged when we lunge walked across a bridge spanning the river in our city (a looong bridge) I felt strong all throughout. I'm recuperating now but when I go for my next event I'm using the fun ruck idea again.

I like EMOM workouts for the welcome party too. Pick a couple different exercises, work up to an hour, and then increase reps and reduce time. Going for a Heavy you're a a step ahead of me but that's how I would do it.

[PeterHealey]

Thanks for your thorough response Grouchy. That template set up looks awesome. Couple questions; what is upper body round robin? Is the ruck PT the track fun run? When you did the fun run on the track with a sandbag was that in addition to a weighted back pack?

[grouchyjarhead]

For the Heavy they do a PT test in the beginning. It used to be old Ranger standards (push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, 5 mile run, 12 mile ruck) but now they're using Stew Smith's Upper Body Round Robin from what I've seen this year. Below is the minimum standards.

(1) Bench Press - 80% of BW for 6 reps.
(2) Push-Ups - 40 in 1 minute.
(3) Sit-Ups - 40 in 1 minute.
(4) Pull-Ups - 6.
(5) Dips - 10.
(6) Rope Climb - 20ft climb. Smith recommends a 20# weight vest, I've only seen without so far though to be honest.
(7) Kip-Ups - 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeqGSKBysqM
(8) 100m Shuttle Run (4x25m) - Under 24 seconds.
(9) 5 Mile Run (40 minutes) or 5 Mile Ruck (75 minutes with 40#).

Ruck PT is just throwing on a pack and doing calisthenics for me. Push-ups, overhead squats, lunges, crawls, stuff like that. Check my article "Incentive Training" for some ruck PT ideas. And yes, I wore my pack the whole time but I would carry a weight during my half mile walks in between exercises.

[Saracen]

One of Grouchy's older posts on GoRuck prep:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tacticalbarbel ... ce_so_far/?

I've been using the card idea for some of my indoor GC sessions, works well.

[PeterHealey]

Thanks for all the info/guidance. I'll keep you posted on the outcome. I have time, its not till end May. I plan on finishing my 12 weeks of Operator/Black and then switch to the recommended Fighter/Green for 9 weeks. This should take me up to the event. As a new person to TB I have to say I am absolutely loving it. I don't think I have ever felt better with a training program and I'm only 4 weeks in. I really can't say enough positive about the whole thing. Thanks again.

[grouchyjarhead]

I've felt the same way Peter. I used a popular GoRuck training plan to prepare for an event and it was just designed to get me tired in my opinion. I attribute my knee injury to some of the odd exercises I had to do. Within just a few months of my MCL tear, I did a Light and had no issues whatsoever thanks to TB. In fact, I was kind of disappointed I hadn't tried the Tough instead. I don't feel like my you know what is dragging on the ground like many other preparation routines - I feel like I'm doing the exact amount I need.