Client Success Story - How Derrick brought his peak performance while avoiding injury

Derrick is a soldier and I helped him prepare for a brutal 5 day competition in the Florida heat.

This competition involved the ACFT, stress shooting, land navigation, sleeping in the field, and an 18 mile ruck march to finish things off.

He was a pretty fit guy when I met him, but he had some nagging hip and back issues (as many soldiers do) and needed to drastically improve his cardiovascular fitness. He was also concerned about nutrition to fuel him properly throughout the week.

He knew a lot about fitness. We needed to put the pieces together into one program that could address everything – power, speed, strength, endurance, and durability, all while staying healthy and injury free.

Here’s what we focused on:

We did enough strength training to keep his deadlift up (he was very close to maxing it on the ACFT) but didn’t do more than was necessary. We needed that time and energy elsewhere.

We only ran 2-3 days per week, using a variety of targeted methods to increase his speed. Why not more running? We didn’t need to. We had a specific goal for every single training session – no junk miles that would beat him up.

We incorporated calisthenics a couple times per week – again, targeted training, no junk volume to keep injury at bay.

We came up with a specific fueling strategy, specifically for the 18 mile ruck, using foods that were available and sat well on his stomach.

The result?

He scored 592/600 on the ACFT, an increase of 40 points.

He performed at his peak the entire week, without any of his previous injuries affecting his performance in any way.

He only lost first place on the 18 mile ruck because of a logistical failure in his support that he couldn’t prevent (you know how the Army is….)

Derrick absolutely crushed it and is now working with me to prepare for Ranger school.

Preparing for an academy, basic training, or an event that requires you to perform at your peak in a lot of different scenarios? Book a free consultation below and let’s get you trained up.

If you’re looking for a fitness trainer in the Mt Juliet/Hermitage/Nashville TN area, online fitness training, or just need some advice to get your fitness program started, contact me


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