Former soldier reveals the top fitness tips he learnt in the military
Kevin Toonen, 38, is a strength and conditioning coach for the special forces. He has spent the past 18 years in the armed forces and has served in the likes of Afghanistan and East Timor. With his motto of "You can never be too strong" Kevin now keeps the special forces that are based in Australia in peak condition. He trains the soldiers there so that they are ready for any sort of scenario life can throw at them and so that they are prepared for life or death situations. He knows a thing or two about pushing the soliders to thier very limits and does whatever it takes to get them into their peak physical conditon.
18 Years Dedication:
'A lot of people would be very surprised at the way we train. We've done away with a lot of the yelling and screaming,' claims Mr Toonen. 'We're big on strength training because you can never be too strong. You can certainly be too weak.We work a lot on trunk strength and leg strength making sure they're fit and strong as opposed to looking good in a tight shirt.'
'The fitter and stronger you are, the better prepared you're going to be when the worst case scenario comes,' he said.
Even the everyday person should be fearful enough that if they don't get out of bed and train 100 per cent, they're not going to be prepared for a particular situation.
'In society, a lot of people make it OK to say that trying is good enough, when they really didn't give it 100 per cent. They really gave it a 50 per cent go.
'We're very apologetic and forgiving of people who give half an effort. Where I come from half an effort isn't good enough. You've got to give it 100 per cent.'
Special Forces Training:
Kevin quite often preaches the importance of setting goals and sticking to them. He quite often gives his clients that take part in his strength and conditioning program at Sydney's gym the same advice.'You need to write them down and see them every day. You also need to tell someone about it. You need to be vocal about your goals so you're kept honest,' he said.
'If you say you're going to get out of bed five days a week and train and you only do it once, you lie to yourself. Subconsciously what you're telling yourself is that it's OK to break other rules.
'A lot of people don't understand how much of an impact it has when you break a promise to yourself.'
