Aerobic Training for the Military Athlete

The Need for Endurance: The Case For Our Approach

Evoke coach and winner of the 2021 Best Ranger Competition, CPT Vince Paikowski conducted a test with one hundred Rangers.  The test consisted of an M4 qualification followed immediately by a 12-mile ruck followed immediately by another M4 qualification. The data were clear: the more aerobically fit* Rangers showed significantly less degradation in marksmanship after strenuous endurance exercise. Rangers with strong endurance were almost twice as fast on the 12-mile ruck as the slowest. Even if the slowest Ranger was the best shot before the ruck, they lost over 30% of their pre-ruck accuracy when they were fatigued. A fatigued state is likely to be when a Ranger needs to be their most accurate.

*if this term is even a little unfamiliar to you, please read this article: https://evokeendurance.com/training-for-the-military-athlete/

Why did this occur?

Marksmanship is a fine motor skill. Fine motor skills degrade in direct relation to increased Central Nervous System (CNS) fatigue. Aerobic endurance training makes both our muscles and our CNS more resistant to fatigue. The Rangers with a higher aerobic capacity had better endurance and experienced less CNS fatigue; thus, their fine motor skills and marksmanship degraded less.

Increased CNS fatigue resistance => reduced marksmanship degradation

Rangers are weapon systems themselves. Proper endurance training increases the weapon system’s range, speed, accuracy, survivability, and lethality.

Why Does This Matter?

The conflicts the US may very well be involved in the not too distant future will look much different than the ones we have fought in the past 20 years. Endurance will play a much greater role.

There is no doubt that most of you can meet the strength standards, but an aerobic 9:00 mile may prove challenging for many. The peer-on-peer conflicts of the 21st century require a more nimble, fast, and agile military athlete. One that can move on foot for much larger distances than required during GWOT. There is no limit to your aerobic ceiling. Professional road runners and triathletes train their entire lives to improve their aerobic capacity. As the study above proved, you can always get faster and more lethal.

On the other hand, there are diminishing returns to training strength. You aren’t going to wield a heavier weapons system if you’re stronger, you’re not going to swing a heavier sledge. If anything, the extra muscle mass will slow you down. Not only because it’s additional weight but because excess muscle mass leeches blood away from the working tissues. In a way, it’s worse than excess fat when it comes to maximizing your aerobic potential. Today’s Rangers are more than strong enough, but improvements in endurance are essential to combat peer adversaries