Mountain Tactical Institute (#122)
As part of my executive coaching work, I try to help busy executives carve out the time to workout, eat properly, and get enough sleep. This is a critical part of building a person’s resiliency, or the ability to bounce back from the inevitable setbacks (see Post #97 for more on resiliency). But, where can you find good resources to help you workout more effectively, eat healthy, and sleep well?
Mountain Tactical Institute
There are an incredible amount of good fitness resources out there, but one resource that I have used over the years that I’d like to share with you is the Mountain Tactical Institute or MTI. Founded by Rob Shaul, MTI is a unique gym in Jackson, Wyoming. Mountain Tactical Institute’s goal is to “improve mission performance for mountain and tactical athletes and keep them safe.” A 1990 graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy, Shaul started the gym as Mountain Athlete in 2007, founded Military Athlete in 2009 and MTI in 2015. In addition to being a lifelong gym rat and self-educated strength and conditioning coach, Rob is a gifted writer and compelling speaker.
I started following Mountain Tactical Institute when I was in charge of the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade. The Institute offers over 250 physical fitness programs to choose from including on the train up to go to Ranger School here and to recover from Ranger School here. These are challenging workouts that do the job and get people ready to be successful during the course. In addition, I’ve incorporated some of his ideas into my training over the years.
Height/Weight
At the beginning of March, Rob shared an article on his ideas on the ideal body weight for mountain athletes, mountain professionals, and tactical athletes. Rob defines mountain athletes as pro alpinists, pro rock climbers, and pro adventure racers. Mountain professionals are people that work as mountain guides, ski patrol, game wardens, and backcountry hunters. Tactical athletes are people that work as infantry soldiers, special forces soldiers, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. Whatever type of athlete you are, there is a balance between endurance needs and strength needs you need to be successful. One component of that is an ideal height and weight which enables you to generate enough power to be successful at your sport. I shared it with some athletic friends who thought it was accurate as well. After reading the article, I realized I needed to lose weight to go faster and climb better on the bike. I’ve included his height/weight table for mountain professionals below. You can read his full article here: Weight.
Nutrition
If the discussion on ideal height and weight has inspired you to lose some weight, you might want to think about how to eat healthier. The first step is to not change anything you are doing and track your calories for a week. You can use a pad of paper or an app like MyFitnessPal or CalorieCounter by Fat Secret. I use MyFitnessPal and have found it easy to use. Understanding what you are eating is an enormous advantage to developing an achievable plan to lose weight intelligently.
Rob, of course, followed the height/weight article up with an article on nutrition. He explores three different approaches to eating healthier and tests them out on himself and others at the gym. You can read the full article here.
If you want an easy to follow plan for eating healthier, follow the Mountain Tactical Institute Nutritional Guidelines:
Eat only — meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, and cheese.
Don’t eat — refined sugar, wheat, bread, grain, rice, and potatoes.
Drink only — coffee, tea, water, zero-calorie drinks (bubble water, diet soda, etc.) Don’t drink sugar and drastically restrict milk/cream. No alcohol.
No caloric restriction. Eat until you are full. No need to count calories or ever be hungry – just eat “clean”.
Do this 6 days/week, then Cheat Like Heck one day/week. (For older athletes — No cheat day.)
It is challenging to change your diet overnight. I have made small changes over the last month due to reading both articles. I swapped my breakfast oatmeal for two hard boiled eggs, a yogurt, and a handful of raspberries. I’m now drinking zero calorie root beer. And I swapped my after dinner desert of ice cream for a serving of Halo Top light ice cream (try the Caramel Macchiato or Sea Salt Caramel flavors). I’ll keep working on eating even cleaner in the coming months. For me, it is a slow process to change my eating habits.
Conclusion
Go on the offensive in 2021 and ensure you are at the ideal height and weight for life, your leadership role, and your outdoor pursuits.