LE Physical Fitness Test Help/Advice

[Balaclava]

First off I see no personal attacks in any of Doc's posts. Second, I tend to agree with his assessment, your aerobic output is where you need the most improvement.

I gave you advice the first time around based on the premise you only had 2-3 weeks to prepare.

Doc alluded to it, but it needs to be made crystal clear; your failed run time has nothing to do with the mechanics of your training and everything to do with how much TIME you spent training. 2-4 weeks of ANYTHING will only do so much for you, especially with a 12something as your starting point.

If you want to improve your 1.5 you need to spend time on Base Building, no shortcuts. In your particular case the aerobic foundation simply isn't there. Doing sprints and speed work at this junction isn't going to do you much good. You yourself observed that when you tried other programs that focused on speedwork (Stew Smith) you didn't get very good results. That's what we call a clue.

The advice you receive now is going to be different from the advice you received at the beginning of the thread because having 2-3 weeks isn't the same as having 45-60 days.

Bear in mind the last 3 weeks of Base consist of HIC and speed work anyway. Additionally, I'd recommend doing more than just 3 LISS/week when possible during BB, in your case you might need a little more mileage than the average bear.

B.

[spemma]

Thanks again guys and perhaps I was running a bit sensitive yesterday, much like my nipples.

I'll go back to BB as I believe I have the flexibility to specify when I'm ready to take it again. I'll add another day of LISS per week in BB as you stated. The LISS doesn't really take much out of me, at least it didn't for the 2 weeks I did it before, so I don't think recovery will be a problem.

[Tym87]

much like my nipples.

Lol.

I would add at least one more day, I'd probably be doing 5 LSS though. Good luck.

[spemma]

hi, it's me again.

how are you all? i've missed you!

i'm progressing through BB as everyone suggested and made some alterations to increase frequency of running as prescribed by some members here.

i'm in my 5th week of BB. i do the 2xSE sessions per week and also 5xE sessions per week (+2E sessions more than per the book), composed of 3xE for 60mins, 1xE for 30 mins, 1xE for 90 mins. i completed 28 miles in total last week and will likely do the same this week.

i haven't heard anything about a new PFT, but let's assume it may be coming in the next 3-4 weeks. since weeks 6-8 of BB flip to HIC and MS now, should i pivot back to what was suggested before? as a reminder, it was 600m resets x 1, fast 5 x 2, long E session x 1, and SE.

or should i switch to a more PFT specific program? one such program is designed as:

• Monday: Pushups, Situps, 100m Sprints
  Tuesday: 400m Repeats
  Wednesday: PushUps, SitUps, Long Run
  Thursday: 400m Repeats
  Friday: PushUps, SitUps, 800m Repeats

the one benefit to the above program that is appealing to me is the inclusion of pushups and situps followed by running. i personally think that learning to run while somewhat fatigued from bodyweight work is a skill to be developed.

or would you all have a different suggestion all together?

i appreciate the help as always and will continue to follow the advice here. even if i appear argumentative at times.

[Tym87]

the one benefit to the above program that is appealing to me is the inclusion of pushups and situps followed by running. i personally think that learning to run while somewhat fatigued from bodyweight work is a skill to be developed.

or would you all have a different suggestion all together?

i appreciate the help as always and will continue to follow the advice here. even if i appear argumentative at times.

I would include a fun run for one of those long E days to help with the running while fatigued. How have you improved since Base Building? Anything that you are still struggling with?

[spemma]

the one benefit to the above program that is appealing to me is the inclusion of pushups and situps followed by running. i personally think that learning to run while somewhat fatigued from bodyweight work is a skill to be developed.

or would you all have a different suggestion all together?

i appreciate the help as always and will continue to follow the advice here. even if i appear argumentative at times.

I would include a fun run for one of those long E days to help with the running while fatigued. How have you improved since Base Building? Anything that you are still struggling with?

when you say long E days, what are you referring to? i assume you mean then not to follow the second program i outlined?

as far as improvement goes, overall i've gotten better at running. i mean, running for 1 hour straight before was kind of unthinkable for me, and now it's not that big of a deal. my pace has stayed at around 10-11 min/mile on the E sessions, but i've been increasing time every week on each E session, so it's tough to tease out pace improvement.

my heart rate seems to be about 5bpm lower on these paces, but that's generous. it's also getting progressively hotter and i run in the evenings, so i know that slows me down.

In terms of improve on, I think my running is still my weakest point.

[StayGrey]

You might want to consider getting the PPLE book. It's a done-for-you program specifically designed to prepare you for LE PFT and academy. It doesn't get as much attention as 1&2 but it's an excellent program, especially if you're not quite sure when it comes to self programming:

https://www.amazon.com/Tactical-Barbell ... nforcement

[spemma]

You might want to consider getting the PPLE book. It's a done-for-you program specifically designed to prepare you for LE PFT and academy. It doesn't get as much attention as 1&2 but it's an excellent program, especially if you're not quite sure when it comes to self programming:

https://www.amazon.com/Tactical-Barbell ... nforcement

thanks! i debated back and forth on that book for a while. things i was reading said TBI and II are all you need, so i never pulled the trigger. plus TBII has the 17-week LE prep guide toward the back so i wondered how different it could be. i might just pull the trigger for $9.99.

[BlackPyjamas]

things i was reading said TBI and II are all you need, so i never pulled the trigger.

Technically you don't need it if you have TB1/2. You would be able to create PLE yourself using 1/2. PLE is the perfect example of a program designed for a specific goal using the systems found in 1/2.

[fazer681]

hi, it's me again.

how are you all? i've missed you!

i'm progressing through BB as everyone suggested and made some alterations to increase frequency of running as prescribed by some members here.

i'm in my 5th week of BB. i do the 2xSE sessions per week and also 5xE sessions per week (+2E sessions more than per the book), composed of 3xE for 60mins, 1xE for 30 mins, 1xE for 90 mins. i completed 28 miles in total last week and will likely do the same this week.

i haven't heard anything about a new PFT, but let's assume it may be coming in the next 3-4 weeks. since weeks 6-8 of BB flip to HIC and MS now, should i pivot back to what was suggested before? as a reminder, it was 600m resets x 1, fast 5 x 2, long E session x 1, and SE.

or should i switch to a more PFT specific program? one such program is designed as:

• Monday: Pushups, Situps, 100m Sprints
  Tuesday: 400m Repeats
  Wednesday: PushUps, SitUps, Long Run
  Thursday: 400m Repeats
  Friday: PushUps, SitUps, 800m Repeats

the one benefit to the above program that is appealing to me is the inclusion of pushups and situps followed by running. i personally think that learning to run while somewhat fatigued from bodyweight work is a skill to be developed.

or would you all have a different suggestion all together?

i appreciate the help as always and will continue to follow the advice here. even if i appear argumentative at times.

Hi spemma,

If It were up to me, personally, id go with the something PFT specific program you've put together.

Now that you have a decent base things should work alot more smoothly.

I do think your PFT specific program, almost hits everything needed for weeks 6-8 (HIC, E, SE), so long as you run it in that way.

I would say for Mondays, do your pushups and situps in SE fashion, along with some back exercise (pullups, inverted rows, or renegade rows, etc). Im not sure what your minimums for your PFT are, but i would try to do 3x40 as a or 3x30. You can finish with your sprints at the end. Just try not to overdo the sprints, because they can mess with your CNS and possibly derail your training due to sickness and/or injury.

Tuesdays your 400M repeats are good. This would akin to doing 600m resets.

Treat Wednesday as your 'Calibration/Mock Test day'. Go for Max effort on your pushups, situps, and your distance run, as if it were test day. This will give you that "experience" youre looking for, when training your pushups and situps in conjunction with your run afterward. Doing your distance run for time, would be like doing the Fast 5.

Thursdays, again, your 400m repeats should be ok here.

and finally Friday Id do the pushups, situps, followed by the long slow run. This would obviously hit your E goal for the week. Your calisthenics can be done in the manner of your choice. Since you have an easy long run right after, For conditioning sake, I would do your calisthenics in some form of conditioning protocol (maybe tabata, maybe 3-5 rds As Fast As Possible of 10-30 reps each, or maybe just AMRAP of 15 reps of each, for 15 minutes)

I know for social-life sake, if Friday takes too long, and you got stuff to do or wanna go out or whatever, I would swap Wednesday for Friday.
so do your pushups, situps and long slow run on Wednesday, and your 'calibration/mock test day' on Friday.

doing your last 3 weeks of BB in this manner, wont get that boost in strength since your focus is not on that, but you should definitely think about getting back on a good block that incorporates MS, after you have completed your PFT.

now, this is NOT a template. This is not even a template for you!! This is a suggestion. This is just how I would go about doing things, If i were in your shoes. So use it if you want it, but in the end you're the one who knows what your body is telling you and how its performing (or not performing).

Whatever you decide, good luck!