Speed & Movement Training for the Tactical Athlete: Why It Matters & How to Implement It [Safely]

Introduction

The demands of their jobs require tactical athletes (first responders, military, EMTs) to be physically prepared. Preparation includes not only being strong and well-conditioned but also possessing the ability to move in space and do so fast.

In strength and conditioning, we instinctively associate speed training with performing 40-yard dash times, flying 10s, and pro agilities due to athletics. While appropriate for sport, these drills are not ideal for tactical athletes, who often lack the same training background and abilities and must contend with aging.

My background is in training sport athletes, but for the past 5+ years, I have worked with law enforcement. Despite the change, I have found speed training principles and movements that benefit the tactical world if applied with proper consideration. Tactical athletes often perform in short, chaotic bursts where the ability to move and apply force at rapid rates is critical for survival. Many of them prioritize training for strength and endurance, but movement and speed are qualities often neglected.

This article explores what speed and movement training is and is not for tactical athletes and how to properly implement it using specific exercise selections and examples of utilization.

Tactical Athlete Speed & Movement

Tactical speed is not track speed. To keep it simple, I define speed as the rate to get from one point to the other, expanding outside of just a straight line. Development is far more sophisticated than that definition, and understanding that several physical and psychological aspects factor into these abilities is important.

However, when introducing speed work to a tactical athlete, the simpler, the better. Speed and movement training for tactical athletes does not need to break down complicated sprint mechanic drills but instead emphasize movements that coaches can apply to meet the athletes where they are currently to develop acceleration speed (linear and multi-directional), deceleration abilities, and overall build a more capable, moveable body.

Also consider load carriage: many tactical athletes perform tasks in the field with loads anywhere between 20-60 lbs on their body. Carrying much of that weight across their trunk and hips affects their ability to accelerate, decelerate, and move generally, and increases fatigue over time (Kukic et al., 2023).

When done correctly, speed and movement training aids in physical enhancement of job abilities through:

• Increasing tissue tolerance, thus leading to reduced injury potential.
• Increasing force outputs and energy absorption.
• Increasing coordination of motor abilities to perform tasks.
• Increasing confidence in abilities when it matters most.

Speed and movement training can miss the mark when coaches do not treat it as a skill but rather mistake the work for conditioning. When training these attributes, coaches must prioritize proper rest and movement quality. Follow these guidelines to assure quality:

• Perform speed and movement training first in the session while less fatigued.
• Training Quality > Training Volume.
• Ensure full recovery between reps; for sprinting or other high-intensity movements, a minimum of 1 minute per every 10 yards performed is a good rule of thumb.

There are justified concerns when performing speed and movement training with the tactical population. While often referred to as athletes due to the physical preparation required for their jobs, tactical personnel are everyday men and women for the most part with extraordinary job requirements. Even if officers were previously high-level athletes, the lack of high-speed training exposures, the perishability of speed, and common lifestyle factors such as lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and high stress could create disaster.

It is our job as strength and conditioning professionals to help educate and promote speed and movement to the population for its benefits as opposed to creating fear. Avoiding speed work does not reduce injury risk but rather leads to unpreparedness for when it is needed. Like any exercise, there is no good or bad per se, but what is appropriate for the individual and situation.

Implementation

When implementing speed and movement training for tactical athletes, begin with these safety guidelines:

• Follow a plan and build up slowly.
• Stop immediately if something feels off or quality greatly diminishes.
• Consider terrain: avoid concrete if possible; grass, turf, or track are better options.
• Avoid combining speed sessions with high-fatigue circuits or conditioning.

While outliers always exist, if coaches follow these four points, many of the nonsensical reasons for injury will lessen.

Perform speed and movement training early in the session when fatigue is lowest and CNS readiness is highest. Athletes can perform many of the listed movements in a warm-up, including extensive plyometrics such as pogo jumps, skips, and hops, and slowly ramping up to more intensive plyos, jumps, throws, and short accelerations.

Do not take implementation to the extreme; there is no need to include an entire training day for speed and movement. That slight inclusion can deliver the minimum effective dose needed. More frequent, low-volume exposures are optimal at first, as opposed to a singular full session performed sporadically.

The following is an example progression model of how to increase intensity across a long-term training process. This model is on the cautious side, so there may be aspects of the phases blending in the real world; training is not a video game where things are checked off before moving onto the next level. Instead, training is a never-ending project modified as we go.

MEASUREMENTS

When training an attribute like speed, we want to track progress objectively. In tactical settings, tracking can be more difficult than in sport due to limited time, space, equipment, and inconsistent training environments. When examining the characterization of physical fitness in police officers, speed and agility tests were among the least commonly reported measures (Marins et al., 2019).

Just because speed and agility testing is less common does not mean coaches cannot measure performance. Simple sprint testing in the 10–20m range is often the most practical starting point, especially once a baseline of sprint exposure and movement competency has been established. In addition, selective change of direction drills such as shuttles can provide valuable feedback on deceleration and reacceleration abilities.

Many tactical populations also use job-specific performance tests such as Physical Abilities Tests (PATs) or obstacle courses. These assessments often blend sprinting, changes of direction, and task-specific work such as carries, drags, climbs, and load movement. While the tests are not pure measures of speed, they can serve as meaningful performance benchmarks when tracked consistently over time.

I also recommend tracking training volume (total distance) early in the process when reintroducing speed and movement work to a tactical athlete. Progressively increasing the total amount of quality work performed, whether week to week or month to month, demonstrates improved tissue tolerance and work capacity. Improvement should be viewed as a meaningful win and is often more achievable and safer than focusing solely on the stopwatch progress.

The goal is not to turn tactical athletes into elite Olympic-caliber sprinters but to create measurable improvement in the qualities that support faster and safer movement on the job.

Progression Model

Initial Exposures

• Short Distances: 5–10 yards
• Low Volume: 2–3 sets per movement
• Limit free sprinting: none required to start
• Primarily using extensive training exercises (90% / 10% – extensive/intensive training volume)

Development

• Begin increasing intent of exercise
• Slight distance increases: 5–20 yards
• Introduction to resisted sprint variations and hill sprints
• Primarily using extensive training exercises (75% / 25% – extensive/intensive training volume)

Integration

• Increasing complexity
• Distance remains similar
• Begin working in training scenarios: shoothouse drills, live practical scenarios, etc.
• Increase intensive-based exercises (60% / 40% – extensive/intensive training volume)

The length of each stage varies upon the individual; there is no universal recommendation. For example, some may spend more time in the initial exposure phase and only brief training in the integration phase.

Exercise Selection

Coaches can build each stage upon a range of exercises in the following categories.

Plyometrics are performed at lower intensities with higher volumes to reinforce rhythm, fluidity, and timing. They are beneficial to help create tendon resilience, movement variance, and lay the foundation for advancement of power training in the future (Ramirez et al., 2022).

Pogo Jumps

Because work boots restrict the feet most of the time, training the foot and ankle complex is important. Pogo jumps are low-intensity, rhythmic jumps performed either stationary or moving through a variety of directions. Coaches can scale Pogos to most individuals by using support to unload the jump or intensify them by performing them on a small box or bumper plate.

Skips

I am not opposed to all sprinting drills and find great value in incorporating skips in warm-ups. Perform the skips with a focus on flow, not to be confused with power skips which will be featured later.

Hacky Sacks

Hacky sacks involve rotating the foot and hip internally. Athletes can do the drill at a walk pace, skip, or continuously.

Back Hip Pivots

Back hip pivots are great to create dynamic hip mobility and can be done at a walk pace, skip, or continuously. A high number of tactical athletes have restrictions through the hips. Incorporating hacky sacks and back hip pivots helps athletes work on the needed mobility outside of stationary stretches.

Scissor Runs

Scissor runs require strong hips to push down the field and absorb energy with your adductors as you drive your feet in and out like scissors closing. Perform these movements for 10–20 yards or anywhere between 10–30 seconds if stationary.

Multi-directional movement and change of direction speed allow tactical athletes the adaptability to move in the field when required. Train from simple to complex movements and patterns. An example is performing planned changes of direction first, as opposed to working agility-based drills. Agility refers to the participant reacting to a stimulus provided and thus requires making a decision.

Instead, having pre-determined drills or patterns (change of direction) will create a foundation of exposure (Nygaard et al., 2019). Such preparation builds the insurance needed before athletes begin to implement true agility in practical tactical training scenarios. Performing drills also improves deceleration. An undervalued piece to the training puzzle, having the brakes match the gas pedal is a necessity for change of direction speed and agility.

Shuttle Runs

Shuttle runs are a good way to reintroduce deceleration and change of direction. Perform in 3–5 yard increments and increase each rep. An example would be to run or lateral shuffle 3 yards down and back, then 6 yards, then 9 yards, etc. to complete the set.

Change of Direction Zones

Change of direction zones are similar to shuttles, except there is no change in distance; the movement is continuous for a prescribed number of reps or time. I prefer working in shorter distances (3–5 yds) so that there are more frequent decelerations at lower speeds.

Figure 8 Runs

These runs involve curvilinear running through a figure-8 pattern. Perform in a 5–10 yd zone to practice before expanding at higher speeds. Tactical athletes perform more curvilinear running than one would think; consider when they round a corner, or motor vehicle for cover, apprehension, etc.

Deceleration

Performing movements to a stop is a teaching tool to help with deceleration. Start with 5–10 yard sprints to deceleration before increasing distances, allowing higher speeds, or performing on a coach’s command. Perform these movements in shorter distances, 5–10 yards, and for low reps (3–5) or time performed (10–15 seconds).

Perform intensive plyometrics with maximum intent and at lower volume prescriptions compared to extensive plyometrics. Athletes must perform these movements with all-out effort; reps are smooth, violent, and fast. High intensity is more comparable to the intent officers will see in the field. While not guaranteed, hopefully, field work involves a limited number of all-out efforts performing a task, such as dragging a person, running a hose, or breaching a door.

Power Skips

Power skips take the basis of skipping and force the individual to achieve higher outputs by skipping as high or as far as possible.

Medicine Ball Throws

Everyone likes to throw things; perform medicine ball throws in all 3 directions: vertical, horizontal, and rotational. Real-world actions are often not performed in a singular movement plane, so training in multiple planes will help enhance preparation.

Box Jumps

Box jumps lessen the impact from landing as opposed to free jumps, where you must come back to earth. Ensure athletes are landing softly and resetting between reps, treating each jump as an individual rep. Box jumps can also be performed in different directions or starting positions.

Depth Drops

Depth drops help create good landing techniques as well as introduce high levels of energy to absorb in a controlled training environment. I prefer drops compared to some of the things I’ve heard officers have to jump off of in the field.

Broad Jumps

Broad jumps cover horizontal outputs, where tactical athletes perform a majority of tasks. Prioritize jumping out rather than up, and land softly on both feet. Perform these movements for 10–20 yards or 10–20 total reps in a session for the jumps/throws.

Acceleration (sprinting) is the goal for tactical athletes. Sprinting encompasses everything due to the muscular and neurological coordination and higher speed exposures that sprinting offers. When focusing on acceleration speed, keep the distances shorter (5–20 yards).

Sprints are performed from varying starting positions or with the resistance of a sled; resistance ensures proper body positions and training restraints for the best results.

Sled Sprints

Sled sprints are great for improving sprint speed, especially in the acceleration phase, because the constraint assures proper acceleration mechanics (Alcaraz et al., 2018). When you push a heavy sled, you must maintain a strong forward lean and drive the foot behind the hips for forward propulsion. These sprints can be performed from a push, pull, drag, or crossover position and can begin to blend what athletes may see in their work performance assessments.

Various Starts

Certain starting positions, such as the push-up start or jump-back start, place the athlete in a good, proper acceleration position. Performing sprints from an array of positions will be more similar to what officers are accustomed to in the field, where they have to react on a moment’s notice.

Hill Sprints

Hill sprints, or sprints performed on an incline, create a protective mechanism by keeping the athlete in the acceleration phase longer during the sprint. The constraint is a double win for coaches trying to enhance acceleration speed while maintaining safety. Perform these movements for 5–20 yards.

Example Training Session

Sample Session 1:

• Skips – Forward, back, lateral: 1 x 20 yards each direction
• Back Hip Pivots: 1 x 20 yards
• Hacky Sacks: 1 x 20 yards
• Pogo Hops – Forward: 1 x 20 yards
• Power Skips – Horizontal: 3 x 10 yards (Rest 60 sec. b/w each)
• Broad Jumps: 3 x 5 (Rest 60 sec. b/w sets)
• Push Up Start Sprints: 5 x 10 yards (Rest 60 sec. b/w each)

Sample Session 2:

• Skips – Forward, back, lateral: 1 x 20 yards each direction
• Back Hip Pivots: 1 x 20 yards
• Hacky Sacks: 1 x 20 yards
• Pogo Hops – Lateral: 1 x 20 seconds
• Pogo Hops – Single Leg Option: 1 x 20 seconds
• Scissor Runs: 3 x 10 yards each side (Rest 60 sec. b/w sets)
• Lateral Shuffle Zone – 5yd: 3 x 10 sec (Rest 60 sec. b/w sets)
• Crossover Sled Drag Sprints: 4 x 10 yards each side (Rest 60 sec. b/w sets)

Conclusion

Speed and movement training are a necessity in a tactical athlete’s training program. To truly be considered well-rounded and prepared for anything the job demands, operators must be able to move well in space and do so fast when seconds matter most. Coaches must follow proper integration and execution to ensure safety and optimal results. Use the guidelines in this article to build speed and movement exposure appropriately, adjusting to the needs and readiness of the individual.

References

Alcaraz PE, Carlos-Vivas J, Oponjuru BO, Martínez-Rodríguez A. The Effectiveness of Resisted Sled Training (RST) for Sprint Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2018 Sep;48(9):2143-2165. doi: 10.1007/s40279-018-0947-8. Erratum in: Sports Med. 2018 Sep;48(9):2167-2168. doi: 10.1007/s40279-018-0957-6. PMID: 29926369.

Kukić F, Janković R, Dawes JJ, Orr R, Koropanovski N. Effects of Occupational Load on the Acceleration, Change of Direction Speed, and Anaerobic Power of Police Officers. J Strength Cond Res. 2023 Jun 1;37(6):1237-1243. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004426. Epub 2023 Jan 18. PMID: 36727921.

Marins, Eduardo F.1,2; David, Gabriela B.2; Del Vecchio, Fabrício B.2. Characterization of the Physical Fitness of Police Officers: A Systematic Review. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 33(10):p 2860-2874, October 2019. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003177

Nygaard Falch, H., Guldteig Rædergård, H. & van den Tillaar, R. Effect of Different Physical Training Forms on Change of Direction Ability: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Med – Open 5, 53 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-019-0223-y

Ramírez-delaCruz M, Bravo-Sánchez A, Esteban-García P, Jiménez F, Abián-Vicén J. Effects of Plyometric Training on Lower Body Muscle Architecture, Tendon Structure, Stiffness and Physical Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Med Open. 2022 Mar 21;8(1):40. doi: 10.1186/s40798-022-00431-0. PMID: 35312884; PMCID: PMC8938535.