You Earned It
You earned your time - be proud. Even though you've been around like minded individuals for the past 2 + months , this isn't the norm. Unless you're returning to Ranger Regiment, you're going to be back around people who haven't made the commitment to elevate themselves like you have.
Your immediate mission is to get healthy. Even if you feel okay, you might not be. Consider that you likely trained for a couple of months before the course, and then went out and did the course. Much of what you had to do at Ranger wasn't great for your body. It likely left your body worn out, with a significant amount of fatigue. This would suggest it’s smart to ease into the resumption of your training.
Here, we'll discuss some thoughts about getting back on track. All of this represents suggestions - alter these as needed.
Post Graduation
After graduation, take some time off. Enjoy some great food, some drinks, and whatever else you haven’t had in a while. Many graduates report that after about 7 – 10 days of doing this, they get tired of it, and naturally, start to shift into a healthier lifestyle. If it’s a bit longer for you, that’s okay too.
What we suggest, like most things, is a gradual shift back towards a sustainable eating pattern. This means that after 2 weeks of junk food all day, you start to only have one bad meal per day. You’ll have an easier time gradually making the change. This is more likely to stick than just snapping back. If you want to learn more about the basics of nutrition, watch this short video from the B/G Performance Dietitian.
Don't forget your mental health too. You just focused for 2+ months on one goal - earning your tab. That's exhausting. Find time to relax and not focus on the military.
We suggest getting to a healthy and sustainable lifestyle because it affects performance. Even if you’re eating junk all the time and staying slim and fit, it’s preventing you from reaching your highest levels of fitness. You work out hard, so why not allow yourself to get as much as possible from those workouts by eating properly?
For exercise, you’ll want to follow a similar pattern of easing into it. Take some time off from working out right after graduation. Maybe that’s 7 days, or maybe it’s 2 weeks. Listen to your body. There's nothing wrong with going for a 15:00 walk rather than a hard 2 hour workout.
After some rest time, you’ll be ready to ease back into workouts. Keep it short with low intensity. For your first week, try 3-4 workouts total, no more than 1 per day, at about 30 minutes each. We recommend some light lifting, easy and slow circuits, or rowing or biking (low-impact and great for cardio) for these workouts. The next week, you could jump to 4-5 workouts, and keep that intensity low, but a touch higher. As the weeks go on, you’ll get back in the groove with things. We recommend avoiding running and rucking for about 2 weeks post-graduation - your body can use a break from that impact.
When we look at fitness over larger periods, it generally cannot increase infinitely. It’s okay to have cycles of higher and lower levels of fitness. You just reached some of your highest levels of fitness. And with that, you accumulated a ton of physical and mental fatigue / wear on your body. This deliberate time off, and then slowly easing back into it, ensures you're giving your body a chance to recover. This helps you in the long term and will allow you to reach higher levels of fitness down the road.
If you're looking for programming to get back to top physical condition, work with Dr. Charlie 1 on 1 within The Blue Program. Work through a blend of hybrid programming, and have Dr. Charlie help you make the adjustments you need to get back on top.
If you’re in the unfortunate position of having to do PT with your unit, just take it easy. This isn’t the time to go all out. People at work might not understand what you went through, but you need to personally be smart about it.
Injuries
The exception to this is an injury. If you have concerns about something and that issue remains after a couple of days, get to a doctor immediately. The sooner you can get a problem addressed and get on the road to recovery, the better. If a physical therapist is recommended, embrace that. They are there to help you and following their guidance can get you back on track.
Most athletes we talk to generally feel normal after about 5 weeks. Feeling normal and healthy is great, but it’s not the same as being very fit. What this means is that as you start to feel better, don't immediately assume you're ready to go run 12 miles. Make it gradual. This will allow you to increase the intensity, duration, quality, and amount of your workouts over the coming weeks and months. This leads to increased fitness levels over time.
What you don’t want to do is jump right back into your workouts 100%, get hurt from overuse, and delay getting back to top shape at your unit. Alternatively, you don’t want to skip workouts for 2 months, get out of shape, and become a liability in your unit.
Sleep & Recovery
Regarding sleep - get plenty of it. Athletes should be getting at least 7 hours of sleep (a generally agreed upon recommendation). More on sleep here. Many people fall short of this. Sleep can act as your most significant tool to ensure you’re recovering, so it’s worth investing the time in. If you were never getting this much, now is a good time to make that habit. And if you never stretched or worked on mobility, this is also a good time to integrate that into your training schedule.
Continue to Earn Your Tab
Lastly, you know you’re special. But don’t become the guy in your unit that everyone hates because you act like you're better than everyone. Instead, remain humble and be a leader. I
If you weren't a leader before you went to school, start acting like one, even if you aren't in the position of a leader.
You learned at school with right looks like. You learned about preparing youself and your team, about making time hacks, about high quality of work and doing things right. Carry that forward. You earn your tab when you go back to your unit and make that unit better. The work is ahead of you.
Make a habit now of being a hard worker. Whether you’re working on your equipment, doing PT, or knocking out admin tasks, do a great job. Everyone should see why you have the capability to succeed at the next level.
If you have some specific concerns or aren’t sure where to start, send us a direct message and we'll get you some help.
Haven't gone yet to Ranger but ready to start training? Check out of guides which will help you get ready for the challenges ahead, and finally get ready to earn your Tab.
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Blue / Green Training designs comprehensive fitness guides for military athletes. Our goal is to enable success and capture potential. Our guides include carefully designed fitness programming and explanations to help our athletes understand the concepts behind it all - something we haven't seen anywhere else. We inspire confidence in our athletes by teaching them effective physical training so they can continue their progress after our programming ends. We guarantee you'll get value from our material.
Blog related to : Ranger School, Ranger Tab, Ranger Training, Ranger Prep, Ranger School Workout Programing