
Month 9 of Force Fitness owner training with Building The Elite
Force Fitness owner Rich is a busy guy – business owner, Dad, husband, and a huge fan of travelling with his family. Over the last few months, he’s been in Canada, USA, Dubai and more. How has he coped with training at a high level? Let’s check in with his training over Christmas and New Year.
Force Fitness – bringing elite training inspiration
Force Fitness isn’t a big faceless fitness brand. It’s a direct line from the legendary styles of training that influence us, and people like you who love to push your limits. We’re not all cut out for military life, but we can all put on weighed rucking kit and be inspired by elite forces training.
And that’s why we’ve been reporting on Rich’s own training. He’s set himself some big goals over the past few months, and we think it’s a great insight into how we can all stay active and achieve big things – even when travelling all over the place with a preschooler!
Can you train like the special forces?
9 months ago, Rich started working with Building The Elite, who specialise in training special ops forces for selection. BTE training usually culminates with the entry standards tests for the special forces. Here are those standards:
Running
Under 2 miles - 6 min miles
3-4 miles - 7 min miles
5 miles - 8 min miles
Rucking
50lb pack under 15 min miles for 12 miles
Pushups
100 in 1 set
Pull Ups
15 in 1
Sit ups
70-80 in 1 set
Swimming
460m under 10 mins
Strength training – see below
Power endurance
500m row - 1:30
2000m row - 7:00
Power
Broad Jump - 9ft
Vertical jump - 30
100m Row - 1:20 500m average pace
Month 9:
Month 8 of Rich’s training diverted from the BTE programming, mainly because he was in Canada for most of the month. So he took the opportunity to focus on running at altitude, including 4000ft altitude runs in -16*C temperatures near Canmore and Banff. All of his strength training was ticked off using bodyweight work – one more reason to pack some weighted rucking kit when you’re away from home!
January 2025 was another month of travelling, and Rich focused on running, rucking, and hefty strength sessions set by Building The Elite. Strength work was mostly supersets and giant sets – here’s an example:
Lunge jumps
Into front squats
Into floor presses
Into bent over rows
Unfortunately, Rich was pretty ill over Christmas (as most of us were!) so his training took a bit of a knock. He still ticked off some impressive distance work, including a 15 miler and an 18 miler.
Rich’s highlights of month 9
Running continues to be a surprise highlight in Rich’s training achievements. Bear in mind it wasn’t all that long ago that he was a bodybuilder-turned-calisthenics fan. The lesson here is not to box yourself into one training style. Rich never thought he’d say he loves running – but here we are!
He even entered the Dubai Marathon on a whim, the day after landing in Dubai with his family. Whilst he was confident he could complete the distance he ended up having to DNF due to issues with his back and hips, which later spread into his knees. Having previously been out for 2 years with a torn meniscus Rich decided it was best to stop rather than push on for ego's sake. Still, the endurance work and mindset he’s gained from this year-long training block gave him the courage to enter…and the smarts to stop when his body said "not today".
Next blog: month 10 of Rich’s training
Feeling inspired by Rich’s special-forces-inspired training goals? Check out Building The Elite to learn more about their approach.