Articles by Will Brink

In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in how the tactical community approaches it’s PT training designed to better prepare them for the job. The majority of this change has come from the individual operators looking to improve their general physical preparedness (GPP) for the job via an emphasis on more “functional” training. The term “functional training” or “functional fitness” is all the rage these days in the civilian arena, similar to the overuse of the term “tactical” has been in recent years, but I digress…this positive trend toward training that is more functional and job applicable or “real world” in nature, has recently found some acceptance by various branches of the military and tactical LE community. Everyone and his mother has jumped on the “functional fitness/functional training” bandwagon, and that’s not a bad thing per se. However, let’s just say some do it better then others…

Let’s be honest here, in your twenties, you can beat the snot out of yourself in training and come back for more. By your thirties however, there's a price to be paid for it, and by your forties, you can have almost total incapacitation due to an accumulation of injuries if the training that was done in past decades caused excessive wear and tear.
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Some interesting research going on at locals such as Natick Army Labs looking at the effects of stress, training, lack of sleep, and or reduced calories and their effects on hormones.

After identifying which hormones take a nose dive in response to high levels of stress, etc and which are correlated to performance, there may be an effort to alter/maintain those hormones which could allow SOF/Tactical LE to extend/improve their performance operationally speaking. Nutritional interventions are being examined as well as other possible interventions that could be of considerable benefit to members of the military and law enforcement community, specifically – but not limited to – SOF and Tactical LE.
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Each year I try to attend various scientific conferences that apply to my interests, research, and business. As anyone can see who follows my writings, this conference was right ...