How to Build a Remote Training System for Tactical Athletes

Introduction

When you’re programming for tactical athletes, military, fire, or law enforcement, the biggest hurdle is this, you’re not always with them. They might be deployed, working nights, or posted somewhere with no gym, no WiFi, and no warning when things change. Equipment is hit or miss. Schedules are chaotic. Communication comes and goes. But training can’t stop. Not in this line of work. It’s not about wins or PRs, it’s about staying alive and keeping others alive. That’s why you need a system that holds up under pressure. One that adapts to chaos. With the right plan and tools, you can coach from 5,000 miles away and still make an impact.

In this article, we will cover six sections of remote training. Some of these sections you may have thought about already, but some may not. The sections are as follows: 

1. Understand the Operational Reality
2. Define Your Non-Negotiables
3. Create a Tiered Programming Framework
4. Delivering with Precision
5. Boost Compliance with Gamification & Feedback
6. Monitor, Adjust, and Evolve

Prior to going through the sections, please note that this article is not a perfect blue print; but rather a adjustable framework for increasing the likelihood of success in the TSAC community. 

1. Understand the Operational Reality

Before you program a single rep, you need to know what your athletes are facing on the ground:

• Unpredictable schedules: Night ops, long shifts, mission recall…..structure is a luxury.

• Equipment limitations: You might have a full gym... or just a ruck and a pull-up bar.

• Connectivity: Wi-Fi may be weak or unavailable. Communication needs to be efficient and clear.

If your program assumes perfect conditions, it’s already broken. Start by programming for the worst-case scenario, then scale up if the environment allows. Typically, this could start with calisthenics and progress to having a full-blown weight room.

1. BW Squat = Calisthenics environment 

2. DB Goblet Squat = Equipment limitations

3. Front Squat = Full gym 

However, it might be in your scenario, adjusting is always going to happen given the operational reality, but quality training can still take place no matter what! However, we need to make sure we define our non-negotiables first. 

2. Define Your Non-Negotiables

Tactical athletes aren’t training for aesthetics or personal records. They need broad, sustainable physical readiness across these domains:

• Strength, size, and power: To carry loads, breach doors, or sprint to cover.

• Work capacity and durability: To handle high-volume, high-stress situations without injury.

• Joint health and mobility: Especially for shoulders, knees, and low backs.

• Movement efficiency: Crawling, carrying, sprinting, dragging, climbing, etc.

This could be reflected in programming that encompasses these adaptations that is easy to perform anywhere at any time.  Build your programming around these functional pillars. Each session should serve a purpose rooted in one of two categories.

1. Mission-specific performance

2. General physical preparation

However, my one caveat would be to not program “hyper specific performance” programs under the “mission specific category. When I define “specificity”. I tend to look at adaptation outcomes rather than directly mimicking movements needed in the field. Typically, most tactical athletes get enough reps of that style of movement on their own.

Now that we have our non-negotiables ready to go, let’s come up with some frameworks of programming to ensure quality programming is met. 

3. Create a Tiered Programming Framework

Instead of one universal program, build three scalable options, see below:

1. Full Gym – Barbell access, racks, sleds, etc.

2. Minimal Gear – Bands, sandbags, kettlebells, maybe a pull-up bar.

3. No Gear – Bodyweight, tempo, isometrics, rucks, towels, stairwells.

With these three tiers, you can adjust for any setting without rewriting the whole program. Sometimes your athletes will be fortunate enough to have a full-blown weight room and other times only the great outdoors. I would also recommend designing movement substitutions ahead of time and plug them in where needed given the dynamic changes that can occur when your tactical athletes are not present at your main facility.  However, once the framework is made; program delivery must be on point. 

4. Delivering with Precision

This is where TeamBuildr really shines. Too many coaches are stuck in the past with excel sheets, print out cards, etc. Modernize training applications to get more out of program deliverables outside the volume & intensity of training. 

• Templates: Build reusable templates for each tier and deploy them to the right users with a few clicks.

• Video demos: Upload custom or platform videos so movement standards are clear, even when you’re not there.

• Surveys and readiness: Check in on stress, sleep, soreness, and compliance without needing a Zoom call.

• Real-time updates: Make quick adjustments based on field reports or mission changes.

The ability to deliver, monitor, and adapt your programming remotely is non-negotiable and TeamBuildr makes it seamless. However, we still sometimes may have compliance issues. Do not worry though, I got some solutions below. 

5. Boost Compliance with Gamification & Feedback

Motivation dips when you’re training alone. Use TeamBuildr tools to keep tactical athletes engaged and accountable:

• Leaderboards: Create intra-unit challenges (who rucks the most volume this week?)

• Direct messages & Team Feed: Personal notes go a long way when your athletes are operating in high-stress environments.

• Consistency streaks: Reinforce discipline by tracking “no-miss” weeks. 

Remote doesn’t mean impersonal. Build relationships digitally to maintain “buy-in”. Once “buy in” is established, coaches must seek to get out of their comfort zone. This is where the next section may come in handy. 

6. Monitor, Adjust, and Evolve

Use TeamBuildr's data features to guide your decisions:

• Adherence rates: Who’s logging and who’s not? Sometimes command structure can use these rates of attendance to provide insight as to why attendance is lacking or to push their guys to get back on the horse. 

• RPE and feedback: Are athletes overloaded or under-recovered? Do we need to regress training on the fly? This is quite normal given the complexity of the tactical S&C world. Don’t shy away from feedback because adjusting intensity and volume can make a massive difference on readiness.

• Performance trends: Adjust intensity based on what the data is telling you; not just your gut. Are the trends predictable or unpredictable? Can we influence ethe training calendar for the year with some data from the online side as well?  These might be some areas to consider getting feedback on to bring to commanders and leadership to help influence policy made at the highest level. 

Remote training is dynamic. What I have personally found is the coach should be ready to adjust programming every 2-4 weeks based on operational tempo, feedback, and training outcomes. However it is never a bad idea to have 16-24 weeks of programming (that is easily adjustable) ready to go ahead of time. So with all that is said and done in this article here are my final thoughts below. 

Final Thoughts

Programming for tactical athletes is never easy, but it’s worth the effort. A strong remote system can be the difference between a prepared warfighter and a preventable injury. With the right structure and tools, you can deliver individualized, mission-ready programming from anywhere in the world. 

I am always open to connecting, sharing ideas, and building with other coaches, so feel free to reach out.  Shoot me an email at CoachKostaTelegadas@Gmail.com or DM me on Instagram @Coach_Telegadas. Now go out there, dominate the field, and make some great online training systems.