Greg Hess is an assistant professor, athletic trainer, and strength coach at West Point. For years, we’ve discussed the importance of strength training for soldiers, and Greg has successfully implemented many of these ideas with the cadets, which is exciting to see.

Greg is in his 14th year teaching at West Point. Before this, he worked as an athletic trainer at a Division III school in New Hampshire and with the women’s gymnastics team at the University of Pittsburgh. At West Point, he not only teaches in the Department of Physical Education but also plays a crucial role in providing immediate medical treatment to injured cadets. He enjoys the opportunity to teach rather than just train athletes.

Despite having all the industry-standard certifications, Greg realized there was a gap in his clinical know-how for delivering real results to clients. He recognized this at West Point and conducted additional research to improve his effectiveness as a coach and teacher. In his strength development classes, Greg introduces cadets to basic barbell lifts and power derivatives like the power clean and power snatch. He has found that lifters, especially novices, can make significant progress with simple, basic programs and barbell movements. While it can be tempting to include more complicated exercises in a program, Greg has learned that these are often unnecessary and don’t significantly contribute to cadets’ strength progress.

The military has a long tradition of focusing on endurance exercise and body weight movements in its training. Changing this tradition is difficult, but Greg has made progress toward exposing cadets to a more effective approach to training—setting them up for fewer injuries in their careers, better performance test results, and better health and wellness throughout their lives.

Peer coaching is another major component of these classes. Cadets learn how to instruct others in strength training and how to modify programming and exercises when needed to accommodate physical or equipment limitations. Although their experience and expertise are limited, this is a huge step forward in modernizing the military’s strength training culture.