Train Like You Mean It: How Armed Forces Day Inspired My Best Workouts

Right, so Armed Forces Day is this weekend and I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Every year it comes around and I find myself genuinely moved by it. Not in a sentimental, standing-at-a-distance kind of way. More in a "that is the standard I want to hold myself to" kind of way.

Because here is the thing about military fitness: it is not complicated. It is not about fancy equipment or chasing a one rep max. It is about showing up consistently, carrying load, moving your body, and building the kind of functional strength that actually means something. Sound familiar? That is calisthenics at its core.

So this weekend, in honour of the men and women who serve, I want to talk about training with purpose. And I want to give you something practical you can take into your next session, whether that is in your garden, at the park, or in a full gym.

Why Military Fitness and Calisthenics Are Such a Natural Fit

The armed forces have been doing bodyweight training since before the word "calisthenics" became a hashtag. Push ups, pull ups, dips, squats, carries, loaded marches. These are the foundations of military physical training because they work. They build real, transferable strength. They need minimal kit. And they scale.

That is exactly why I love calisthenics and why it sits at the heart of everything we do at Force Fitness. You do not need a fully kitted gym. You need your body, a bit of kit, and the willingness to put the work in.

The military also teaches something that the fitness world often forgets: load matters. Carrying weight, whether that is a bergen on a tab or a weighted vest for calisthenics training, changes everything about how your body has to work. Your core fires differently. Your shoulders stabilise harder. Even a simple push up becomes a completely different exercise when you add load.

The Case for Rucking: One of the Best Things You Can Add to Your Training

If there is one training method the military has been using forever that the fitness community is finally waking up to, it is rucking. And honestly I am glad people are catching on, because it is brilliant.

Rucking, for anyone who has not come across it yet, is simply walking with a weighted pack on your back. That is it. No complex movement patterns, no high skill requirement, no need to be an elite athlete. You load up a rucking backpack, you walk, and you let the load do its job.

What does that job look like? Think improved cardiovascular conditioning without the joint stress of running. Stronger posterior chain from carrying the load upright. Calorie burn that is surprisingly high because of the added resistance. And a genuinely meditative quality that long walks with weight seem to produce. I have solved more programming problems and worked through more training ideas on a 45 minute ruck than I ever have sitting at a desk.

If you are building a military inspired training week, rucking is your active recovery and your conditioning work rolled into one. Start with around 10% of your bodyweight in your pack and build from there. Three or four sessions a week at a brisk pace over varied terrain is plenty to start seeing real changes.

The Weighted Vest: Your Shortcut to Military Level Bodyweight Strength

I get asked a lot about the single best piece of equipment for someone who wants to take their calisthenics training to the next level. And honestly, without hesitation, it is a weighted vest.

Here is why. Once you can do 20 clean push ups, 10 solid pull ups, and a few sets of good dips, adding more reps is not going to keep building strength the way it once did. Your body adapts. You need progressive overload, and the cleanest way to get that with bodyweight movements is to add load.

A weighted vest for bodyweight training lets you do exactly that without changing the movement. Your pull up is still a pull up. Your push up is still a push up. But now you are pulling or pressing significantly more than your bodyweight, and that is where real strength gains live.

The military uses weighted vests and load bearing equipment for exactly this reason. It is progressive, it is practical, and it works across every fitness level. Whether you are just stepping up from bodyweight basics or you are an advanced athlete chasing your next milestone, a weighted vest belongs in your kit.

An Armed Forces Day Workout You Can Do Anywhere

Right, here is something you can actually use this weekend. I have put together a session that draws on military fitness principles: pushing, pulling, carrying, and conditioning. You can do this with just a weighted vest, or combine it with a loaded rucking backpack for the carries. Scale the reps and load to where you are.

The workout:

•       5 rounds of: 10 push ups, 5 pull ups, 10 bodyweight squats. Rest 90 seconds between rounds.

•       Loaded carry: strap on your rucking backpack or weighted vest and walk for 20 minutes at a strong pace. Aim for slight incline if you can find it.

•       Finisher: 50 bodyweight squats, 30 push ups, 10 pull ups. Partition as needed, go unbroken if you can.

If you have a weighted vest wear it for the whole thing and reduce the weight on the backpack. If you are new to loaded work, do the strength rounds bodyweight and just use the pack for the carry. Listen to your body and earn the load over time.

Train With Respect This Armed Forces Day

There is something important I want to say before we wrap up. Using military training as inspiration is something I think is genuinely valuable. The discipline, the consistency, the functional focus, these are things all of us can learn from and apply to our own training.

But Armed Forces Day is also a moment to genuinely reflect on what service means. The men and women who serve in the UK armed forces are not just fit. They are committed in a way that most of us will never fully understand. They carry weight, physical and otherwise, in ways that go far beyond any workout.

So this weekend, if you train, train with that in mind. Put some intention into it. Dedicate the session to someone who serves or has served. And if you are looking for ways to support armed forces charities, do take a moment to find one that resonates with you. The Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes, and SSAFA are all doing incredible work.

Building Your Military Fitness Foundation

Whether Armed Forces Day has inspired you to overhaul your training or just add something new to what you are already doing, here is where I would start.

Get consistent with your calisthenics foundation first. Push ups, pull ups, dips, squats. Do not rush to add load until your movement quality is solid. Then, when you are ready, look at a quality weighted vest to start building your loaded strength. Add rucking in two or three times a week using a purpose built rucking backpack that sits comfortably and distributes weight properly. And be patient with the process.

Military fitness is not built in a weekend. It is built across months and years of showing up, doing the work, and never losing sight of why you started. That is something we can all take from the people we honour this weekend.

Train hard. Train smart. And this Armed Forces Day, train with a bit of gratitude.