Own the Other 28 Days: Part 1
A Readiness Blueprint for Army Reserve Units
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For Army Reserve soldiers, the monthly Battle Assembly (BA) is a vital touchpoint, but it’s only a sliver of what readiness demands. What about the Other 28 Days every month? That’s when most soldiers are left to figure it out alone, balancing civilian life, work, and service, often without a clear plan for staying physically and mentally sharp. The next 28 days become a gap in structured training and, more critically, a vulnerability in readiness.
The Army expects Reserve soldiers to meet the same physical demands as their Active-Duty counterparts. Whether it's the Army Fitness Test (AFT), a ruck march, or an unexpected mobilization, fitness isn’t optional; it’s essential. The problem? There is not a support system to keep soldiers moving the rest of the month.
I have been working with the Army Reserve Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) since 2024. Over this time, I’ve seen the desire from soldiers to have more resources related to their health, fitness, and overall wellness. H2F has some lofty goals but at the unit level, when time is limited, BA cannot be fully dedicated to H2F, that’s why I’ve been trying to evolve the Other 28 Days Program. The idea is a minimalist, efficient, and deployable strategy to help Reserve units build readiness between drills. But this is more than just sets and reps, it’s the H2F system of education, leadership, and ownership scaled for the US Army Reserve.
Assess at Battle Assembly, Not Just Test
To build real progress between drills, every Reserve soldier needs a clear and actionable starting point. That’s why Battle Assembly should be used not just as a time to execute the AFT, but to leverage it as a tactical assessment tool. The AFT isn’t just a pass/fail gate, it’s a diagnostic opportunity that can serve as a guide in determining physical training needs. When interpreted correctly, each event reveals a component of operational fitness that can inform the soldier’s training focus for the other 28 days of the month.
For instance, if a soldier struggles with the plank, it’s a sign of limited core endurance, a critical factor in rucking, posture under load, and injury prevention. Deadlift deficiencies point to posterior chain weakness, while a poor sprint-drag-carry time could indicate lacking anaerobic capacity and lateral movement ability. Even the two-mile run, viewed as just a cardio test, offers insight into aerobic base, pacing control, and is one of our best injury screening tools.
By breaking down the AFT into its component movements and energy demands, leaders can use it as a readiness dashboard. Patterns will emerge. Weak events aren’t just failures, they’re opportunities for improvement. With that context, soldiers can be given tailored training goals and plans for the rest of the month, transforming a fitness test into a powerful personal development tool. It becomes the starting line for a more focused, more resilient, and more combat ready soldier.
Teach the Why
A plan without purpose is just paper and that’s where leadership, especially NCOs, makes the difference. Before soldiers will truly engage with a fitness program, they need to understand what it’s building toward. That understanding drives ownership. And ownership leads to consistency. This is why “teaching the why” must become a routine part of Battle Assembly, delivered in short, 10-minute huddles, briefings, or post-PT discussions.
These aren't lectures, they are tactical explanations. Each element of the Other 28 Days program serves a direct combat or job-related function, and when soldiers connect training to real-world application, they stop asking “Do I have to do this?” and start saying “I need to do this.”
Strength Training
Strength is more than lifting heavy, it’s load carriage resilience. It helps maintain posture during long rucks, stabilize under body armor, and manage awkward gear during movement. Strength directly improves the two-mile run by making each stride more forceful and efficient. It can also reduce the likelihood of injury by reinforcing the knees, hips, and shoulders. No, you don’t need barbells to get it done. Two well-designed bodyweight or kettlebell sessions per week are enough to maintain or build combat-relevant strength.
Conditioning
There are two engines in the tactical athlete’s system: one for endurance and one for explosive output. Long, slow runs and rucks, what is called Zone 2 cardio, build the aerobic base. That base fuels sustained operations, supports mental clarity under stress, improves recovery between higher-intensity efforts, and AFT events. On the other hand, high-intensity intervals, sprints, sled drags, or hills, mimic battlefield demands: fast movements under fatigue, recover, repeat. Both systems matter. Both must be trained.
Mobility and Recovery
Fitness gains only matter if you can show up unbroken. Recovery is what makes training sustainable. Tactical athletes, especially part-time ones managing civilian jobs and inconsistent schedules, need to treat recovery as training. Foam rolling, banded stretches, yoga flows, and breath work aren’t optional, they’re strategic. Ten to fifteen minutes on a mobility day can prevent weeks of downtime. Range of motion isn’t just for flexibility, it’s for readiness.
Mental Performance
You can have a strong body and still fold under pressure if your mind isn’t trained too. Tactical environments demand emotional control, composure, and clarity under stress. That’s where mental performance tools come in, visualization before training, box breathing during a moment of fatigue, goal setting to anchor purpose. When mental tools become part of your toolkit, stress becomes stimulus, not shutdown.
Get the “Other 28 Days” Resources to Your Unit
Too often, soldiers leave Battle Assembly motivated, but without a map. They’re told to “stay in shape” and “keep working out,” but not how or why. And when the days between BA go by without structure, consistency, and readiness follow close behind. When I started working with Army Reserve soldiers, the most common reason for not working out that I heard was “I don’t know what to do”. That’s why Reserve units must go beyond vague encouragement. They need to have a plug-and-play training program template that aligns with operational needs, time constraints, and real-world environments.
The goal is simple: no soldier should walk out of BA wondering What should I be doing to stay fit? Instead, give them a weekly plan that’s practical, repeatable, customizable, and time-efficient. The “Other 28 Days” model is built for exactly that. It includes:
2x Strength Days (30-60 minutes, minimal gear options): These sessions focus on foundational movements squats, deadlifts, push-ups, rows, lunges. Done with barbells, dumbbells, bodyweight, bands, or kettlebells, they build tissue resilience and tactical strength.
1x Interval Day: Short, high-output sessions using HIIT, hill sprints, sled drags, or bodyweight circuits. These mimic combat bursts and build capacity.
1x Long Effort Day: A ruck or run that lasts 40–60 minutes at a conversational pace (Zone 2). This develops aerobic endurance and mental toughness.
1x Mobility/Recovery Day: Tactical yoga, foam rolling, breathwork, or banded stretching. These sessions reduce injury risk and support recovery between efforts.
Total weekly time commitment? Just a few hours per week. It’s scalable for busy soldiers juggling work, school, and family, while still moving the needle on readiness. This is where the H2F Integrators (Formerly MFTs) come in, they can help scale up or down the program based on the needs of individual soldiers. For scale-down options, please see Maximizing Fitness Efficiency in the MOPS and MOES Blog.
To increase adoption, consider including QR codes that link to demo videos, or hosting a program library on a shared unit Teams page, Google Drive, or WhatsApp group. Accessibility removes friction, soldiers shouldn’t have to guess how to perform a movement or find a routine.
“Other 28 Days” Fuel and Focus
Readiness doesn’t stop with reps and runs, it continues with what goes in your body and what goes through your mind. BA provides a perfect opportunity to reinforce tactical nutrition and mental performance, two pillars often overlooked in part-time military service but critical to full-time mission success. These don’t require expensive supplements or clinical interventions just clear, actionable education soldiers can take home and apply during the Other 28 Days.
Start with the basics. Hydration is the most overlooked performance enhancer. Soldiers should be drinking half to one ounce of water per pound of bodyweight per day, and more if they’re rucking, operating in heat, or recovering from training. Teach them to front-load water early in the day and to use salt/electrolyte mixes if output is high. Protein is another key building block, aim for 0.8 grams per pound of bodyweight daily. Meals should center around lean proteins like chicken, eggs, or steak. Meal timing matters too: emphasize eating protein and carbs post-training to maximize recovery, and don’t go into a long ruck, run, or AFT fasted. For those constantly on the move, share smart snack options: jerky, protein bars, nuts, trail mix, or fruit. Keep the guidance at the ready, and whenever possible, reference a practical model utilize senior NCOs to share experience.
Equally important is building mental performance capacity. When the body is stressed, the brain must lead. This is the difference between staying focused on a casualty scenario or freezing during training. Use BA to introduce and normalize tools like visualization before key events: soldiers should mentally rehearse a successful event. Box breathing (4 seconds in, 4 hold, 4 out, 4 hold) is another great skill for resetting under duress, whether before a workout or in moments of emotional escalation. Encourage soldiers to set and track one physical and one mental goal each month and check in on progress. Finally, teach the power of self-talk cues: replace “I can’t” with “I’ll figure it out,” or “This sucks” with “I trained for this.”
Nutrition and mindset are not side topics they are force multipliers, utilize your Tactical explanations to touch on these topics as well. When built into the culture of Battle Assembly, they produce more durable, focused, and resilient soldiers ready for whatever mission comes next.
Create a Culture of Accountability
Creating a culture of accountability is the keystone for sustaining readiness between BAs. It’s one thing to hand out a fitness plan, it’s another to build an environment where soldiers feel compelled and supported to follow through. That starts at the top. When leaders train, the unit trains. When PT is seen as a priority by the chain of command, it becomes part of the unit’s identity, not just a monthly obligation.
One of the most effective ways to establish accountability outside of BA is to assign a H2F-I or fitness leader in the formation, to manage weekly check-ins. This requires someone who is passionate, it doesn’t mean new software or complex tracking, it can be as simple as using a group chat. Poll the unit every Sunday night: “Did you complete your four workouts this week?” Keep the tone supportive, not punitive. The goal is consistency, not perfection.
Celebrate wins, both big and small. Spotlight soldiers who are putting in the work between drills. Post: “SPC Williams logged 16 ruck miles this month leading the unit.” Public recognition reinforces that fitness is valued, and it quietly raises the bar for everyone else. When soldiers see their peers grinding, it drives internal motivation more effectively than any command directive ever could.
This isn’t about micromanagement, it’s about creating a shared standard, a community. When fitness becomes part of the daily language and rhythm of a unit, it stops being an extra task and becomes a core value. That’s how you shift from compliance to commitment and build a unit that stays ready year-round.
From Weekend Training to Year-Round Readiness
The Army Reserve demands a unique kind of discipline, one that thrives not in the structure of daily PT formations, but in the self-driven consistency that happens between them. The Other 28 Days program isn’t just a fitness program within H2F; it’s a framework for building a more resilient, more capable, and more self-sufficient force. It empowers leaders to assess more than scores, train with purpose, educate with clarity, and build a culture where ownership replaces obligation.
By integrating this model at the unit level, we shift from hoping soldiers stay ready, to equipping them to do so confidently and consistently. From tactical strength and smart conditioning to recovery strategies, fueling protocols, and mental toughness tools, every element works together to enhance mission readiness. More importantly, it respects the time constraints and realities of the part-time warrior while holding the standard of the full-time fight.
When units embrace the “why,” provide the “how,” and follow through with accountability, readiness becomes a shared identity, not just a requirement. Readiness isn’t a BA event, it’s a daily choice. Leaders, make that choice easier, smarter, and mission-driven for every Reserve soldier, every single day.
Mark A. Christiani is a Tactical Strength, and Special Operations Army Veteran. He has human performance experience in the worksite wellness, collegiate and tactical settings. Mark holds a Master of Science in Sports Medicine from Georgia Southern University and several certifications, including CSCS and RSCC. Currently, he serves as an on-site Human Performance Specialist with the US Army Reserves. Mark's extensive background in research, coaching, and injury rehabilitation underscores his commitment to advancing the field of sports science and human performance.