Mind Gym
An Athlete’s Guide to Inner ExcellenceThis is a great book for anyone trying to understand how to improve overall performance in any endeavor – not just sport.
How does stress/pressure affect performance? Consider this:
Imagine yourself in a parking lot. On the ground in front of you is a parking stop – the long concrete block that keeps your car from rolling to far forward. Your job is to walk from one side to the other. No problem, right?
Now imagine that the block has just been lifted up 25 feet in the air. Your task is the same, walk all the way across. The block is the same, it has in no way changed.
What’s different is the penalty for failure. On the ground there is no risk of injury or humiliation if you slip off. In the air though, at 25 feet, the question is not whether you will be injured, the question is how bad will it be.
Walking across on the ground is easy. In the air, all control seems to have completely slipped away. Why?
Logic tells us that if you can do it on the ground, you should be able to do it at 25 feet. A deeper understanding of the human condition, however, tells us that understanding how to train the mind to perform in any environment is as – if not more – important as training the body.
I recommend Mind Gym – An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence because it opens the curtain to understanding optimal performance in the extreme environment.
OPERATION: CQC PT
Close Quarters Combat defined (wiki)Close Quarters Battle (CQB) or close quarters combat (CQC) is a type of fighting in which small units engage the enemy with personal weapons at very short range, potentially to the point of hand-to-hand combat or fighting with hand weapons such as swords or knives. In the typical CQB scenario, the attackers try a very fast, violent takeover of a vehicle or structure controlled by the defenders, who usually have no easy way to withdraw. Because enemies, hostages/civilians, and fellow operators can be closely intermingled, CQB demands a rapid assault and a precise application of lethal force. The operators need great proficiency with their weapons, but also the ability to make split-second decisions in order to avoid or limit friendly casualties. CQB is defined as a short-duration, high-intensity conflict, characterized by sudden violence at close range.
The following training method grafts some concepts of CQC with Physical Training to create high intensity training that pushes the body and the mind while teaching individuals to work together in an extreme environment.
Set up the “Room”
It’s not necessary to use an actual room for this training, although that would work nicely. In a gym or garage, setting up the room can be done by putting down a long piece of tape or drawing a line on the floor with chalk for the door (about 3 feet long).
In each corner of the room, write a number on the floor.
- Top left = 1
- Top right = 2
- Bottom left = 3
- Bottom right = 4
Here are a couple examples of setting up the exercises in a room. Room #1 is fairly simple and is great for getting started. Room #2 is much more difficult.
Crawl – learn the SOP
An assault element of 4 individuals “stack” on the door. When the #4 man is in position he/she will initiate assault by squeezing the shoulder of the person in front of them, who passes on the squeeze until the #1 man gets the order to go.
In the first 4 go-arounds, each person should get used to effectively entering the room and going to their position and executing the exercise.
Each time the team will change positions – 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3, 3 becomes 4, and 4 becomes 1.
In the crawl phase, the assault team practices entering efficiently and going directly to their position. When an individual completes all repetitions of their exercise they call call out “CLEAR”. When all members are done, #4 calls out “ALL CLEAR”.
It is important in the Crawl phase to develop “muscle memory” by focusing intently on SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). After each entry, talk about what what went right and what went wrong.
Walk – add intensity
When all members have developed coordinated efficiency in entering the room, properly executing exercises, and communicating with one another, it’s time to turn up the heat.
Intensity is comprised of two main elements in CQC PT:
- Speed of entry and execution of exercises.
- Overwhelming presence – especially on entry.
Pick up the pace of the entry. All members should be in place and executing movements in 3 seconds or less. When entering, the team should be yelling “Go! Go! Go!”, or Move! Move! Move!” The entry should be awesome.
Similar to the Crawl, the team should run through this 4 times – changing positions each time.
Run – Movement in the room and multi room scenarios
After running through the room with increased intensity, it’s time to add additional variables and time each run. Note that time starts when #1 breeches the door.
Movement within the room -
- Team enters the room as practiced, executes movements, and calls out “CLEAR!”. When all members are clear #4 calls out “ALL CLEAR – MOVE”.
- All members move clockwise around room until each person has executed all positions.
- Final “ALL CLEAR!” clears the room and stops time.
Multiple room scenarios -
- Set up 2 or more rooms next to each other and vary the exercises in the each room.
- Enter room #1 and clear it as described in the above (movement within the room).
- When room is “ALL CLEAR”, team stacks on next door and #4 initiates squeeze.
- Go from room to room until all are “ALL CLEAR”.
As with Crawl and Walk, each member of the team should practice each position by running through the scenarios 4 times, changing postions each time.
Notes:
The importance of ACCURACY WITH INTENSITY cannot be overstated in CQC. For this reason it’s important to spend plenty of time in the Crawl and Walk phases. Don’t move ahead until you have it down pat.
Communicate before during and after each assault. Talk about how you are going to execute, motivate and communicate during execution, and talk about what went right and what went wrong – and how you will fix it.
In the Run phase, teams should be working like well oiled machines. Errors in Run phase should be penalized with remediation PT (200 Meter tire drag and 25 burpees).
OPERATION: DIPOMATIC IMMUNITY
Full Mission Profile
Situation:
Ten days ago a NATO convoy was attacked while in Baghdad. After a protracted firefight, one member or the NATO security team was killed, others wounded, and a NATO diplomat taken hostage. Recently intel has pinpointed the location of the hostage as being on an abandoned oil rig in the persian gulf. This platform is also thought to be a location for storing weapons and ordinance.
Objective:
Lock out from submarine aproximately 12 miles from target objective, and transit by SDV to within swimming distance.
Under the cover of darkness, swim to rig and climb to platform where hostage is being held. Locate hostage while eliminating any and all threats as quickly as possible.
Place charges on platform to blow any weapons or ordinance caches.
Swim hostage out to small boat pick up location.
FMP WORKOUT
Swim to Target – Swim 2000 Yards
Climb – 5 Rounds of:
- 10 Pull Ups
- 20 Squats
Hostage Rescue – 4 rounds of:
- Run 100 Meters
- 25 Burpees
Swim to Safety – Buddy Tow 500 Yards - Man A tow Man B 25 Yards – Man B tow Man A 25 Yards (10 Rounds).
Mission Timeline:
Swim to Target - 45 min or less
Climb – 5 min or less
Hostage Rescue – 12 min or less
Swim to Safety – 20 min or less
Notes:
According to the Mission Timeline, you have 1 hour 22 minutes to complete mission.
Swim should be done without fins – worst case scenario
When being Buddy Towed – DON’T HELP
