How to Meet Your Strength and Conditioning Goals in One Fitness Workout

When training, you have options. Many will work out for strength, while others will concentrate for cardio and muscle stamina (conditioning). Some will do both. The struggle for those doing both is the arrangement of these two often-competing workouts. Which comes first if done on the same day? Here is a list of typical workouts that are scalable for those who need more strength or conditioning. However, as you advance and you want to maintain both, try the full workout option below:

Warm-up with calisthentics/jogging -- Squat/toe touch pyramid 1-10 with 100-meter jogs between sets: There are many ways to warm up to get ready for leg day. This is our favorite, especially when done outside with a group of trainees. The squat and toe touch pyramid starts quickly with one squat and one toe touch, followed by a 100-meter jog. The next set is two squats and two toe touches, followed by a 100-meter jog. Work your way up to 10 squats and 10 toe touches; the total jogging distance will be 1,000 meters.

After warming up the legs, you can lift or do the cardio section first. Depending on your strengths and weaknesses, I recommend doing first what you are weakest to be fully prepared and at your best. Here is the lift section:

Repeat four times.

• Deadlift 5 (heavy)
• Hanging knee-ups 10

Depending on what you need to work on the most between deadlift and squats, I recommend going heavier on the first lift and lighter/more reps on the second lift section.

Strength Sets Option

Repeat four times.

• Barbell squats 10 (moderate weight)
• One-handed farmer's walk 100 meters (kettlebell in one hand)
• Walk/jog or rest for 2-3 minutes

If you are already plenty strong and need to work more on your muscle stamina and conditioning, consider the more dynamic circuit below instead of the heavier circuits above, which use lighter weights and more repetitions. This nonstop circuit is focused on resistance training and conditioning more than building strength:

Conditioning Sets Option

Repeat three times.

• Kettlebell swings 20
• Kettlebell squats 10
• Kettlebell Romanian deadlifts 10
• Kettlebell lunges 10/leg
• Jog or bike for three minutes (active rest)

Cardio Conditioning Option

• Run two miles.
• Ruck two miles.

If needed, instead of rucking and/or running, try nonimpact options such as swimming with fins, biking or using an elliptical machine or stair stepper for 30-40 minutes. These are all great ways to "top off leg day" if you need to maintain strength and improve conditioning.

• Swim with fins 2,000 meters for time.

Recovery time: After any leg day, but especially with this much volume and activity, you may want to cool down with 10 minutes of easy cardio, followed by some stretching and foam rolling/massage tool time.

When you look at generic training programs such as this that are not personally designed for you, you need to address how you tackle them to make them fit your time to train, abilities, facilities, equipment and goals. We all need to be strong and have cardio conditioning, and there are many ways to develop both. Finding what works best for you takes time, as well as experimenting with exercises and training methods that fit your abilities and are enjoyable and challenging.

Who does this complete workout? These are the workouts that I coach many special ops candidates. I use these methods and arrangements accordingly, depending on each member's abilities and future service goals.

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