Pavel.

This is coolbert:

In previous blog entries, I have stated that in the Soviet special operations/commando/ranger units, spetsnaz, according to various sources, the standard physical fitness [PT] requirement called for a man, wearing an eight [8] kilogram armored plate strapped to the chest [a SAPI-like armor plate], to be able to do sixteen pull-ups. This was a MINIMUM!!??

[The Soviet/Russian armor plate was not ceramic, it was armor plate steel??]

According to the man who purportedly conducted and supervised the PT of the spetsnaz troops, this standard is actually too low?

Pavel Tsatsouline. Soviet, now Russian, expatriate living, working, and thriving in the U.S.? Expounds upon the PT methods and techniques used to train the spetsnaz troop to a high level of physical aptitude. Novel ideas not previously seen or appreciated in the U.S. prior to the emigration of Pavel and other ex-Soviets/Russians like him.

"consider that in Soviet Spetsnaz units the minimum standard was 18 pull-ups wearing 25lb body armor! Pavel Tsatsouline takes it a bit further (as he did with his men in Russia) stating that as an operator you should shoot for 10 reps with 54lbs of weight"

THE GOAL FOR AN "OPERATOR" [from that I take it to mean a troop actually involved in special operations, that weight consisting of all impedimenta being worn] was much greater?

Here from an interview with Pavel. Thanks to Girevnik on-line magazine [GM]:

"Exclusive Interview with the "Evil Russian" Pavel Tsatsouline"

GM: "How do you train soldiers differently than civilians? For example, how would the training of a soldier compare to the training of an athlete?"

Pavel: "Let us use strength as an example. An athlete can afford to be strong due to large muscles but a soldier or a Marine cannot. In wartime and even during exercises muscle rapidly melts away, thanks to malnutrition, sleep deprivation, and stress. A military man must gain strength by retraining his nervous system to contract his, even shrunken, muscles harder."

In the case of spetsnaz troops, we may be talking here about two distinct groupings of soldiers.

The first being the "professionals". Athletes of Olympic caliber who are full-time competitors as well as CAREER soldiers. Holding significant military rank in many cases, their development and ability at a competitive sport and their military skills be more or less intertwined as a daily routine for years!!

The second group of spetsnaz troops Pavel may have in mind is the two-year conscript, trained in a rigorous manner, BUT NOT A FULL-TIME PROFESSIONAL CAREER SOLDIER.

But, as a conscript, specially screened and selected in advance for obvious physical and mental attributes, also politically correct from the-at-the-time standpoint of the Communist party, etc.

[Suvorov claims that out of every 10,000 conscripts, only TEN would be found to be adequate for duty as a special purpose troop within the Soviet scheme of things!!]

A conscript, already perhaps of imposing physical stature and ability, WHO ONLY NEEDS THE PROPER TRAINING, ENCOURAGEMENT, PUSHING AS NECESSARY, TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED MINIMUM PT GOALS AND THEN WAY BEYOND THAT IF POSSIBLE.

The raw material is already there for Pavel to train, a very high level of physical development, military oriented, achievable is relatively short order.

"In wartime and even during exercises muscle rapidly melts away, thanks to malnutrition, sleep deprivation, and stress" - - Pavel T.

That stress Pavel speaks about is primarily FEAR! Fear of being killed or wounded or captured that WEAKENS! NO AMOUNT OF PT CAN PROPERLY CONDITION THE SOLDIER TO OVERCOME THE LESSENING OF PHYSICAL ABILITY THAT OCCURS IN THE LONG-TERM PRESENCE OF FEAR!! Our bodies, involuntarily, releases adrenaline and other chemicals that provide a boost for enhanced physical activity in the short-term, but also weakens the body in the long-term.

coolbert.