If you’re looking to enter a successful SOF career in the future, training your anterior chain is critical for injury prevention, strength, and stability. In this guide, we’ll explain why your anterior chain is significant and introduce exercises you can use to make it more robust.

Although your anterior chain doesn’t do as much lifting during heavy compound movements like rucking, it’s crucial for your body’s stability. Your anterior and posterior chains are like an internal scale – if one side is disproportionally weaker than the other, you will have an imbalance. While your posterior chain does the heavy lifting, the anterior chain must counterbalance the movement and keep you stable. In essence, your posterior chain lifts while your anterior chain stabilizes. Your anterior chain also takes over many of the endurance-intensive exercises that you’ll find in SOF PT tests like pushups and situps.

 

If you workout often, you’re likely already targeting many of your anterior chain muscles on a regular basis. But if you want to supercharge your anterior training, here are some specific workouts you can do:

Fast, simple, and requires little equipment, calisthenics is an excellent and efficient way to strengthen your anterior chain. Simply including a few extra sets of pushups, situps, or planks at the end of your workout can make a huge difference in how your anterior chain performs. If you’re already a fitness master and want to take your calisthenics to the next level, using a weighted vest or performing more challenging variations of the above exercises can give you the extra push you need.

When you think about SOF training, you definitely don’t imagine a bunch of adult men doing somersaults and cartwheels. Despite this, gymnastic exercises and movements like planches and handstands are excellent for developing balance, strength, and anterior chain adaptability (there’s a reason gymnasts have such strong abs). Introducing your body to new, unusual movements is often what it needs to get over a training plateau. Find a cushioned mat or grass field and get moving!

In our posterior chain guide, we dedicated an entire section to mobility and stretching exercises. While having a mobile and flexible anterior chain is beneficial, mobility in this chain isn’t as critical as it is in its posterior counterpart. Unless you’re an acrobat, you won’t often be bending over backward.

Instead, you’ll want to focus on developing the muscular endurance potential of your anterior chain. With this chain of muscles taking over almost all pushing movements, having an anterior chain that can handle the rigors of exercise is critical to your success in SOF selection. From performing pushups to holding plank positions, your anterior chain must have the endurance and stability to perform under pressure and recover quickly.

We created an entire OA guide about building your stamina and endurance, so read that for more in-depth information. But here’s the gist of developing muscular endurance in your anterior chain: do high-rep sets with low weight, then mix in a couple of static holds to get your muscles used to being under tension. Some exercises you can use include pushups, situps, leg raises, planks, and hollow body holds.

As we mentioned before, having a strong, stable body is all about creating anterior and posterior balance. If one side of your body is stronger than the other, it will pull you in that direction. This can lead to bad posture, muscle tightness, and an increased risk of injury. To avoid these symptoms, ensure that you follow a balanced and well-designed daily workout routine. When you guess your way through training, you put yourself at risk. 

Unfortunately, creating your own workout plans is time-consuming, and it’s easy to leave out crucial muscle groups. That’s why we created OA Workout Programs. If you’re on the SOF pathway, these training regimens will ensure that you go to selection armed with the strength, conditioning, and movements you need to thrive. OA Workout Programs are designed and curated by SOF cadre who have gone through selection and know what it takes to succeed. Optimize your training. Visit our workouts page and get started today!