“Who are you!?”
I received an email the other day from someone in the area who said he was an active member of a special operations unit with multiple combat deployments and 15 years of service. First and foremost, I must express my gratitude to him and those like him who serve to protect our safety and liberty. That said, he ask a very valid question: “Who are you!?” My understanding from the rest of the email was essentially a question of my motives and qualifications to have anything to do with the training of military personnel if I had not been an active member of the military myself. “A fair question” I replied. The answer that followed crosses many areas of specialized performance which is why it is relevant here.
Most specialized professions or athletes are not experts or even close when it comes to the strength and conditioning aspect of that profession. Nor should they be. A professional football player, hockey player, MMA fighter, Fire fighter, Police officer, you fill in the blank, spends the majority of their time and attention getting better at the skills and strategies associated with their unique profession, not studying anatomy, physiology, Exercise Mechanics TM, periodization cycles, etc. Yes, they participate in physical conditioning training, but not in the science and design of what went into the training itself. Obviously firsthand experience of the profession is helpful in applying the knowledge of design but the military doesn’t let just anyone play soldier just to take a few notes. Neither does the NFL, NBA, NHL, PD, FD, etc. As a conditioning specialist it is paramount to be able to analyze and extrapolate to create appropriate challenges for the highly specialized people we train.
Put it like this: Ronnie Barrett never served in the military, but I sure as hell trust him to make me a combat rifle.
