Fitness: Thanks For Being Part of My Life 

Whatever the Reason, Season, or Lifetime

My journey with fitness started off with a variety of basic and simple reasons inside my own head. We all have them - from weight loss to weight gain, getting bigger, stronger, faster, play sports, or for health concerns, we all have a reason why we started and you need a reason why to continue as well. The problem with reasons is they will typically need to evolve with the times and situations as you age as well. Otherwise, you end your journey and one thing you have to realize is that "Fitness is a Journey - Not a Destination."

For instance, my reason for starting to workout was mainly because I saw the older neighborhood kids lifting weights and getting stronger. I saw it as part of a journey to help them make various sports teams in high school. Fitness training just seemed like a natural progression to get bigger, stronger, faster, more durable to make competitive sports teams. That is how I looked at it as age 12 and still look at fitness as a way to reach goals, no matter what the reason, season, or lifetime goal you have.

Even though you may start off as a follower in this journey, it can enable you to grow and become a leader and a better teammate to your own peer group with the right attitude and a good amount of persistence. As your body grows, so will your world and opportunities - given you are doing other things right in your world - eating right, staying out of trouble, working hard in school, etc. In fact, you may one day find that all other elements in your world are enhanced by fitness as training physically can be a catalyst to all areas in your life being better. 

A New Season

One day, your athletic / sports reasons for training will be over.  Do you lose your reasons to continue training?  Many do.  Do you find new reasons?  Maybe you change your world completely and try something for a season that changes your life completely.  From power sports to triathlon training was something to try - why not? It will help redefine previously created weaknesses of cardio endurance and muscle stamina. Let's see what Seasonal Training can provide? Can I really get good at everything? Maintain strength? Maintain cardio endurance? Improve throughout the training year? Yes - and you can reach new goals that at first seem impossible (like joining a Special Ops Unit), if you restart the journey with the same vigor as you started training years before when you had nothing but weaknesses in all the elements of fitness. 

Reasons also evolve and your fitness training may require changes. You may have to try things you are not good at doing for quite some time before you see any progress.  But, not unlike that first weight you ever lifted, it took time before you could any amount of significance or see the results on your body. From power sports to military, then to special ops requires a new journey from strength, power, speed, and agility and evolve into muscle stamina and endurance.  However, you still need to maintain the other elements of fitness from your previous training life as you move into a new season of training. 

Getting Good At Everything can happen and happens all the time within the Tactical Athlete world of training and it requires a good reason WHY, a change in your seasonal training habits, and still is a journey of a lifetime. 

A Lifetime of Training

As I look back at previous reasons and seasons of training, I realize I was building what I am now - complete with experiences in a wide variety of training regimens. Being successful in training all the elements of fitness has been a life long journey. The journey laid my foundation into a new genre of fitness that we now call Tactical Fitness - Getting Good at Everything. 

This journey has taken me into my 5th decade with nearly 4 decades of training for some reason / season or another.  This is my life - not only personally enjoying staying physically fit, but teaching the many lessons learned along my journey.  What I did right - what I did wrong - what would I change if I could go back to teenage Stew Smith are the many things that I bring to workout creation and design each day.  Coaching a generation of young men and women who seek to go into harm's way as a profession serving their country and communities gives me hope for our future.  Thank you for being part of this journey whether you traveled along side me, guided me, or were willing to listen to my guidance.

Thanks Fitness - You Give Me Purpose. 

The Tactical Fitness Series

Tactical Fitness is not just for the military, police, and fire fighters, but for everyone. Tactical fitness means having the skills needed to save lives and extend the limits of your fitness abilities whether you are in the military, police, firefighting professions, or an asset to yourself and your family. Your fitness level could be the difference in any life or death situation whether natural, accident, or man-made.  A tactical athlete requires getting good at strength / power, speed / agility, muscle stamina / endurance, flexibility / mobility, and grip - together these build an increased work capacity to get the job done and durability to handle the heavy loads and long miles of movement. 

Tactical Fitness Series - Tactical Fitness, Tactical Strength, and Tactical Mobility is an All-encompassing program that focuses on lifting, calisthenics, running, ruck, swimming, speed, agility, and flexibility/mobility. Many people focusing on USMC (OCS, RECON, MarSOC) Army Ranger / SF, Air Force Special Warfare, SWAT / Federal Law Enforcement, and Navy Special Warfare have done very well focusing on the Tactical Fitness Series and developing themselves into an all-round Tactical Athlete. 

Tactical Strength - Tactical Strength is the lifting program used by Stew Smith and his Military, Police, Fire Fighter fitness program called the Heroes of Tomorrow. It is designed to build strength in the upper body, legs, and core to prepare you better for any load bearing activity (rucking, boat carry, log PT, etc). The program also does not neglect cardiovascular activity and will end workouts with rucking or swimming (or other non impact options (row, bike, elliptical) if needed. The cardio workouts will be quick and fast focusing more on speed and agility than long slow distance. We also use the Tactical Strength Test to test elements of speed, agility, and strength / power.

Tactical Mobility is a comprehensive fitness guide for greater mobility, flexibility, and performance—designed for men and women serving in the military, special ops, law enforcement, and emergency services. Tactical Mobility is a perfect fit for any fitness program as a stand-alone "Mobility day" supplemented into your regular routine and will help you reach a pain-free level of fitness. Gaining flexibility and mobility is the goal of the program and it will help with performance and help reduce injuries. 

Tactical Fitness Over 40 

In a world where fitness can be the difference of life and death, we will be older for a longer period of time than we were younger. Learning how to progress into those decades smartly with added longevity training - typically in the form of active recovery days and mobility days is going to increase your abilities and decrease your pain. The following series is a new programming focused on an often neglected market of active duty and retired veterans of the tactical professions who need to rebuild and take their fitness to the next level in order to enjoy the later half of their lives:

Tactical Fitness (40+) Foundation Rebuilding - Recovery from Injury or Inactivity (Part 1)  This new beginner plan forces you to "treat yourself like a beginner." Even if you do not feel like it, giving yourself a few weeks to easily work your way back into the weight room or any fitness program will pay off and help you rebuild after a long period of inactivity.  
Book  | Ebook  |  Amazon Kindle / Paperback 

Tactical Fitness (40+) - Taking It To The Next Level (Part 2) -
Are you ready to advance your fitness level? Well, Taking It To The Next Level after Rebuilding the Foundation (Part 1) is what this 12 week program is all about. Are you Ready to Advance Your Fitness? Progressing into more of an intermediate program with this book will be a steady increase of activity to include running (every other day), adding weights to calisthenics, and other non-impact cardio options. 
Book  | Ebook  |  Amazon Kindle / Paperback

 Tactical Fitness (40+) - Ready to Compete - (Part 3) (Intermediate / Advanced levels) – After you have progressed through the previous phases, you maybe ready for something new.  Maybe a new challenge or “up your game” to a level that pushes you physically, but also focuses on stress relief and recovery after tough workouts.  This program is a great prep for any of the Tactical Fitness, Tactical Strength or Tactical Fitness for the Athlete Over 40 advanced level programs. Book    |  Ebook   | Amazon Kindle / Paperback

 Tactical Fitness For The Athlete Over 40 - Actively Pursuing Recovery and Maintenance - This is part 4 of the above series that is rather advanced but still focused on adding in an easy day and / or mobility day to the week as a way to recover in the middle of the week. This will enable for a better workout number 4,5, or 6 as the week moves into the weekend. Running every OTHER day, eating to train, and adding mobility / pool days will add life to your days. 

Book  | Ebook  |  Amazon Kindle / Paperback 

There is More To StewSmithFitness.com than You May Know

(In fact, there are more than 40 books, 1000+ articles, online coaching - and more). If books are not the accountability factor you need, consider Online Coaching with Stew:

Online Coaching Programs (Personalized for Your Goals, Time, Equipment, etc..)

Who is Stew Smith CSCS? Coach, Trainer, Writer, Podcaster: I'm the former Navy SEAL that tactical candidates go to for books, ebooks and online coaching to prepare themselves to get to and through intense tactical assessment and selection programs and qualify for service in their chosen tactical profession.  See More at StewSmithFitness.com

Where to Find More Information About Optimal Performance Training Programs

When you start training again, consider the seasonal tactical fitness model.  I call it A WAY to train and obviously not the only way to train. But it offers the opportunity to never neglect your weaknesses, helps with flexibility and mobility, but will also put you at a level of physical abilities where you are happy with your overall ability to do just about anything. We have a system where the seasons dictate our training. When it is nicer outside, we tend to run and do more calisthenics. When it is colder and not so nice, we lift more, run less, and still maintain our outdoor activities with shorter runs and rucks. Check it out: Seasonal Tactical Fitness Periodization System.