JOSEPH CROZIER, MA, CSCS,*D
UPSTREAM TACTICAL TRAINING:
PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS
The views expressed herein are those of the author, and do not
necessarily reflect the official position or policy of the Coast Guard,
Department of Defense, or United States Government.
There is an often quoted parable that tells of a man fishing
downstream. While fishing, he sees a person come floating down
the river, struggling against the current and nearly drowning.
He pulls the person from the river, and then immediately sees
another person struggling in the river as well. He pulls that
person out and then sees another, then another, and another. This
keeps happening all afternoon and the fisherman becomes tired.
Eventually the fisherman walks upstream to see why there are
so many people in the water. When he goes upstream, he finds
that people are being drawn to the edge of the water to look, and
there is no safe way to do this so they are falling in. The fisherman
eventually builds a barrier which allows people to look without
falling into the water and therefore, there are fewer people to save
from then on.
This parable is often used to explain the upstream vs. downstream
approach to public health. This approach can and should be used
in the tactical strength and conditioning field. In order to apply
the parable, the tactical facilitator is the fisherman and every
tactical athlete who comes into the training facility with muscle
imbalances, poor movement patterns, pre-existing injuries, or
deficient technique is a struggling swimmer. In a field where
tactical facilitators often work with hundreds of individual tactical
athletes, the facilitator is often presented with two choices: focus
time and attention on specific athletes and possibly let some slip
by, or go “upstream” to “build a barrier” which may allow the
tactical facilitator to affect all of their tactical athletes.
The United States Coast Guard Academy (CGA) is an environment
where the focus of physical training is aimed at both athletic
achievement and military readiness. Roughly 1,000 cadets must
be ready to pass the Academy’s Physical Fitness Examination
twice a year and must earn academic sports credits, often by
competing on one of the 26 different intercollegiate sports teams.
Most of these cadets get their daily physical activity during a
16:00 – 18:00 sports period every day in a 3,000 square foot
fitness center under the supervision of a single tactical facilitator.
One-on-one consultation/instruction with the tactical facilitator
is not feasible for the majority of the cadets, and an upstream
approach is more practical in this type of situation. While certain
approaches may not work at all facilities, the basic suggestions
provided below, which are based on personal experience, could
be beneficial for tactical facilitators to provide upstream training
for their tactical athletes.
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One way a tactical facilitator can make an immediate impact on
the culture of the weight room is by changing the layout and
equipment. Approximately three years ago, the fitness facility at
the CGA was full of machine-based strength equipment. While
these machines may be useful in certain situations, there are
some negative aspects when space is limited for large groups to
train. Machines often take up a large amount of floor space and
are not ideal for large amounts of users to cycle through since
only one individual can operate the machine at a time and the
immediate vicinity must be clear and vacated to allow for prope r
function of the moving parts of the machine. Furthermore, given
the limited dimensions in the facility and the inadequate number
of machines, users often find themselves waiting for someone
else to finish before they can use a machine. This can negatively
protract rest periods. From my experiences at CGA, by removing
these machines and replacing them with a variety of free weights,
kettlebells, suspension trainers, conditioning ropes, and medicine
balls, the room was able to serve many more cadets at one time.
The cadets were also able to focus on more functional, job-specific
activities rather than the limited movements the machines offered.
One of the major advantages of machines however, is that they
are beginner-friendly. Almost every fitness machine has a sign
on it which explains how to use it. The disadvantage of getting
rid of the machines in the CGA weight room and replacing them
with more functional pieces of fitness equipment was that some
users began to feel “lost.” By this, I mean that the individuals were
unsure of the precise movement patterns of certain exercises
without the machines to guide them. To help address this problem,
the following methods were used at the CGA:
•
Televisions were mounted in the room to play PowerPoint
presentations on a constant loop that explained the new
equipment/implements in relation to the exercises within
the program
•
Handouts were placed in the gym with ideas and
instructions for new exercises
•
Tablets were mounted in the gym that were locked into
the frame of a suspension trainer and ran an application
which allowed users to see workout ideas and exercise
demonstration videos
•
Posters were displayed around the facility with detailed
exercise descriptions
NSCA’S TSAC REPORT | ISSUE 34