Spring 2025
Adapting popular civilian trends for military use
With each new year, differing fitness trends arrive in the general population and are adopted by the men and women in our military services profession. In 2025, some of these trends include wellness programs, functional fitness/tactical or hybrid training, strength/resistance and conditioning training, and GPS technology or AI-powered fitness apps.
Wellness programs have been around in the private sector and the first responder profession; however, the presence of the US Army’s Holistic Health and Fitness program (H2F) is widely ingrained in multiple Army bases throughout the country. The H2F program is designed for the overall readiness of the soldier through the five pillars of physical, mental, spiritual, nutritional, and sleep. This program has subject matter experts (SME’s) in each of these domains that work hand-in-hand with the US Army’s soldiers to better equip themselves for a heightened performance on or off the battlefield. The SME’s in each of these domains are: physical – National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), Certified Strength and Conditioning Coaches (CSCS), athletic trainers and physical therapists; mental – credentialed counselors and cognitive cpecialists; spiritual – chaplains; nutritional – dietitians and nutritional educators; and sleep – occupational therapists.
Functional fitness is a term used more and more today, which describes the physical aptitude or
readiness for an individual to be ready and able to physically handle anything they may encounter during their day. To train functionally is to incorporate multi-plane exercises that mimic every movement. They will push, pull, rotate, squat, hinge, and lunge. These are the foundational movements of strength training, but are further ingrained in this training modality. Within the military world, tactical athletes have to exhibit all of the aforementioned physical attributes daily.
They cannot choose one physical or physiological adaptation over another but need to concentrate on all attributes as they may be required to exhibit those skills, whether for their daily job in garrison or on the battlefield. This training is considered to be a hybrid approach in which the soldier will need to be able to exhibit feats of strength, power, and muscular endurance, aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, flexibility, and mobility.
Interval Training
This type of exercise is associated with maximal uptake of oxygen and increasing cardiac output. When we train harder and more intensely, we consume oxygen at maximal levels. Interval training will increase our VO2 Max, lactate threshold, and overall anaerobic and aerobic metabolism. Interval training is associated with training at 70%-80% of your maximal heart rate/Zone 3, or 80%-90% for Zone 4. Additionally, intervals typically occur anywhere between 30 seconds to 2 minutes for anaerobic gains, more than 8 minutes or more for lactate threshold, and 2-5 minutes for VO2 Max. The work-to-rest ratios can be 1:1 or 1:2 depending on the soldiers’ conditioning level. An entire HIIT workout can be programmed anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, which does not include a proper warm-up and cool-down.
High-Intensity Interval Training
More commonly referred to as HIIT, this is a form of interval training associated with short and timed periods of very high intensity. HIIT is associated with training at 80%-90% and higher of your maximal heart rate or Zone 4, and can be close to the 90%-95% range or Zone 5. The benefits of HIIT are similar to interval training, with the added benefit of increased running speed and running economy. HIIT training can be higher/greater than VO2 max. HIIT training can last for as little as 10 to 30 seconds, with the work-to-rest ratios being 1:1 or 1:2, depending on the soldier’s conditioning level. Rest times are critical, especially with HIIT, because the intensities are prescribed at higher percentages.
During HIIT, our glycolytic energy system increases our blood lactate levels, which in turn increases our anaerobic capacity and our metabolism. An added benefit of HIIT is the increased
caloric burn post-workout, which is called the Excess Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) effect or the “EPOC/After-Burn Effect.” It is said that the EPOC Effect can elevate caloric burn up to 24 to 48 hours post-exercise. An entire HIIT workout can be programmed anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, which does not include a proper warm-up and cool-down.
» ALSO SEE: The importance of carbohydrates in the tactical athlete’s diet
GPS technology, AI-powered fitness apps, fitness trackers, and smartwatches are popular trends
and more prevalent within the military. They not only track your workouts with immediate feedback, such as total volume and intensities through monitoring sets and repetitions, but they also track heart rate zones and much more. You can monitor your exercise regimen with data analysis. Additionally, you can devise a more meaningful plan going forward and prevent physical/mental fatigue and/or the dreaded but not readily admitted byproduct called “overtraining.”
Other features even monitor the individual’s sleep patterns. With a suggested seven to nine hours per night, according to the National Institute of Health, the soldier can actively monitor how their daily performance is affected based on their sleep levels. A lack of sleep affects physical and mental ability. Some individuals may sleep less than seven hours per night, which may have negative ramifications on their overall well-being. A lack of sleep also raises cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone that directly influences sleep. Cortisol, which is known as the body’s “stress hormone,” is highest in the morning and lowest at nighttime. Stress affects the body’s levels of cortisol and can influence one’s sleeping patterns. Chronically high levels of cortisol can hurt the body in terms of weight gain.
Daniel J. Borowick, MS, CSCS, and founder of DOMEX Strength & Fitness, is a former DEA Special Agent with over 27 years of tactical experience in federal and state. Borowick was previously a strength and conditioning coach serving in the U.S. Army’s (H2F) Holistic Health and Fitness Program. You reach him through their website at www.Domexstrengthandfitness.com, the Domex Exercise app @ https://www.bridgeathletic.com/store/preview/domexstrengthfitnessstorefront-56536, or Domexstrengthandfitness@gmail.com.
