Every program I write starts the same way. Before I pick a single exercise, I need to know exactly where you’re at right now. In this solo episode, I walk through the process I use to build a 6-month off-season plan for our 1:1 clients, from the first day of onboarding to the day you show back up to your crew.
We cover the onboarding week and full assessment battery (the Type 1 Fitness Test, 5-mile run, the old BLM fitness test, strength testing and a movement screen), how to turn those results into measurable goals and daily non-negotiables, and how I backward plan from fire season using 4-week mesocycles and two 12-week macrocycles. I also get into why I separate off-season from preseason (and don’t hike people in November), why you should train way more than you test, shifting from bilateral to unilateral strength, and how to peak and taper for criticals without being cooked by September.
My goal is for you to walk away able to build your own plan. If you’d rather have us build it for you, 1:1 coaching is open for the off-season.
LINKS
Rugged Athlete 1:1 Coaching: https://www.ruggedathletetraining.com/1on1coaching
A New Fitness Test For Wildland Firefighters: The Type 1 Fitness Test [009]: https://www.ruggedathletetraining.com/podcast/a-new-fitness-test-for-wildland-firefighters-the-type-1-fitness-test-009
Email Austin: austin@ruggedathletetraining.com
SPONSOR
Our sponsor for today’s episode is READYBAR. Save at https://getreadybar.com with code RUGGED20
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro: designing a 6-month off-season plan
00:32 Sponsor: READYBAR
02:48 The 30,000-foot planning doc
04:18 Every program starts with an assessment
04:51 The 1:1 onboarding week
06:48 Goals and daily non-negotiables
07:48 The physical test battery
09:27 The movement screen
11:36 Your assessment performance summary
12:34 Setting measurable goals
14:18 Building the timeline
15:46 Mesocycles, macrocycles and a November start
17:28 Off-season vs. preseason (why I don’t hike in November)
19:31 Test three times, train the rest
20:25 Rant: stop testing your crew every week
21:48 Preseason: getting more specific
22:23 Bilateral to unilateral strength
23:07 Peaking and tapering for criticals
24:18 Training for September, not just day one
26:23 Why the first retest is the best
28:20 Wrap-up and 1:1 coaching
The views shared on this podcast are those of the host and guests and do not represent any agency, department or employer.
