summer-2024 - 22

Differentiating between
training tactical and
sport athletes
By Daniel Borowick, MS, CSCS, former
DEA special agent, owner of DOMEX
Strength & Fitness LLC.
T
actical Athletes,
those in the first
responder profession of law
enforcement, firefighters,
corrections, emergency
medical personnel, and
the military utilize strength
training in their exercise
regimens that better themselves and the respective
communities they serve. Sports athletes utilize
strength training as well to better themselves for the
individual sport and the team they play for.
Sports athletes include team sports and individual
sports. These events do contribute to a team's
achievement but they are inherently based upon the
success of an individual during their specific event.
So, what is the difference between tactical and
athletic strength training?
First and foremost, strength training is training
that finds its foundation in exercises that incorporate
an external load with the human body including
weight, barbells, dumbells, machines, resistance
22 | Tactical Training & Conditioning | Summer 2024
bands, medicine balls, and utilizing your body
weight. In tactical and athletic strength training,
the primary objectives are training the body in the
three anatomical planes of motion which are the
sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes. Furthermore,
both athletes will incorporate the basic movement
patterns of squat, hinge, push, pull, and core-centric.
The tactical and sport athletes do not necessarily
train for aesthetics but for strength, power, and
muscular endurance.
The tactical athlete, depending on their job
description, might train based on what they
have historically known or what they have been
taught. If they are not basing their physical fitness
regimen upon a progressive detailed strength and
conditioning program then they may be falling shy
of achieving optimal athletic performance and their
career. Strength and conditioning is paramount
to elicit premium physiological adaptations that
will result in becoming a better tactical athlete.
A tactical athlete has to be able to have all the
physiological adaptations that a sports athlete has
summer-2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of summer-2024
