By Freddy C. | Two-Time Games Competitor & One World Owner
Some of you may know me as “Freddy C.,” that fun loving, beer drinking trainer from CrossFit One World. Fair enough! I am always down with having a good time, and I have definitely tossed back my fair share of Sierra Nevada. What most people don’t know is that aside from co-owning One World, I am also a full time police officer with the Union City Police Department. Currently, I am assigned to the traffic unit and I am an operator on the SWAT team. What a life! I get to train people at the gym on my days off. I get paid to ride a Harley at work, and I get to train twice a month with the SWAT team. By the way, I assure you that being on the SWAT team in Union City is not anywhere near as glamorous as it sounds, especially since we are a small team in the suburbs.

I was recently named one of the Union City SWAT's assistant team leaders. The new position provided me the opportunity to attend a Tactical Workshop presented by FTF Tactics. So what the hell does this have to do with fitness and why is it being posted here???? If you have followed the One World blog at all, you know that I am a big promoter of “gaming” workouts. I have always had the opinion that the way you attack a workout needs to be planned out and strategized. The Tactical Workshop addressed how to tactically handle different scenarios. When you consider it, a workout is no different than a SWAT operation.
First of all, let’s define “tactics” and “tactical” via my good friend Merriam-Webster:
Tactics“The art or skill of employing available means to accomplish an end.” 
Tactical
“As related to tactics: small scale actions serving a larger purpose.” 
A SWAT operation is never anything like what you see on television or the movies. What you don’t see is all the pre-operation planning. The operation is assessed for what type of tactics need to be used. Is it a high risk search warrant or arrest warrant? Is it a barricaded subject? Is it a hostage rescue? Is there an active shooter? Each scenario has to be addressed differently. Some operations involve slow and deliberate movement, while others involve a more dynamic team movement.
A workout is no different. There are short workouts that may involve constant movement through the entire workout, or long workouts that are going to involve stopping for a bit to suck in some air and think about why you aren’t home on the couch drinking beer. Regardless of the type of workout, you should put some thought into it before you start. The first tactical consideration regarding the workout is to formulate a plan. I always look at the rep scheme of any workout and make a plan of attack before a I start. I may break up a 21 rep movement into sets of 11 and 10 or three sets of seven. I may give an easy effort for one movement to perform harder at another movement. I plan my tempo during workouts with a run or row. I try to plan out how many breaths I take during any breaks. Every workout can have some sort of plan. In a SWAT operation, obviously the plan can change on the fly, but during a CrossFit workout it is much easier to stick to the plan. I usually run into trouble when I don’t. For instance, I was doing a workout a few weeks ago that was 100 bench presses at 135# for time. I told myself I was going to do 10 reps every 30 seconds. That would have put me at 5 minutes for the workout. When I started the workout, I immediately thought the reps were easy and changed to 10 reps every 20 seconds. At fifty reps, I started to fall apart. Needless to say, I did not finish within my goal time of five minutes, though I am completely capable of finishing that fast.
Crossfitters, in particular, are notorious fast starters/fizzle out finishers. In a SWAT operation, moving faster than your mind processes what your eyes see can cost someone their life. Since CrossFit is a sport, consider that there are very few sports where the athlete gives a maximal effort right at the beginning of the endeavor. I was a wrestler and a fighter. I never went 100% at the beginning of a match. As a matter of fact, my style was a much a slower start in order to wear down my opponent. I often do workouts with the same mindset. So, the second tactical consideration in a workout is to take to heart a well known saying within SWAT circles: “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” Sometimes slowing down your movement slightly throughout a workout can actually make you faster in the long run. Slowing down can benefit your technique/form. Better technique is more efficient. Continue to train efficiently and you will get faster. Slowing down a bit can also help you better utilize your breaks within the workout. Go all out and any breaks you take in the workout get longer and longer as the workout drags on. Shorter consistent breaks mean faster workout times.
On the SWAT team, the best operators aren’t always the best shooters or the guys who are the fittest. The best operators are the guys who are smart. They gained savvy by educating themselves on tactics and thorough experience. They have situational awareness, not tunnel vision. So the third tactical consideration regarding working out is to be a smart CrossFitter. Not only do you need to learn the movements, you need to understand how the movements affect you. For instance, if I know that thrusters kick me in the balls every time I do them, than I have to consider that the rep scheme I used for a workout with 21 thrusters may not be the same rep scheme I use for a workout with 50 thrusters. After you learn movements and how they affect you physically, start taking note about how you handle workouts mentally. Often, breakdowns within a workout occur at the mental level before the physical level. Learning and recognizing how you react to the mental stress of a grueling workout can help you formulate a better plan of attack the next time you take that workout on.
I can’t preach it enough boys and girls. Analyze your workout before you do it. Perform some practice reps as a “scouting mission.” Come up with a plan. In the long run, I truly believe that those “small scale actions serving a larger purpose” will increase your overall power output. The better the power output, the better the results. Be a Tactical CrossFitter.