The Wedge: What better time than now? by Bill Dungey
The Wedge: What Better Time Than Now?
by Bill Dungey
Rucking is based on a simple fact; when we burden ourselves with more responsibility, we become something more than what we were.
The Wedge is a free, open-source project for goal-setting, discipline, fitness and teamwork. Developed for firefighters, it’s a program that can be printed by anybody to run a month-long trial of aggressive pursuit toward well-structured goals that finishes with the ENDEX - a ruck march with a healthy dose of PT.
The program can be accessed and downloaded in full here; https://timeandeffort.ca
In 2017, I completed a GORUCK Tough Challenge. Late into the evening that Canada Day, I found a new version of myself through the sand, the fields and the other people rucking bricks through the quiet midnight streets of Toronto, Ontario. Since then, I’ve known that we’re underserved by the typical experience of a life lived without these measures of endurance. I’ve known too, that with properly defined aims and hard work, we can build a platform of confidence that helps us win more regularly.
For a few years now, The Wedge has been seeing active development with a private group of friends. We sit down to set rigid goals using the SMART system (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Sensitive) and plot out a month of aggressive work. Too often, our goals aren’t planned well enough. The Wedge seeks to help participants build correctly defined goals so that when the right amount of work is applied, we can start checking boxes and moving forward.
The Wedge is predicated on one simple rule.
Hitting the mark is based on time, effort, pace and cadence. The amount of time you invest into moving forward, the force you apply to keeping on, the speed with which you’re able to continue and the rhythm you can keep with that work will determine whether or not you succeed. That’s the primary lesson to be learned from this program - it’s not just for a set group of objectives during a month of good, hard, work. It’s in everything you do.
Time. Effort. Pace. Cadence.
The program is steeped in other valuable resources as well - mindset development, journaling and teamwork. The Wedge is built to be used with a group, and it’s best to be conducted with a low-slack or no-slack peer environment. Where a disciplined crew adopts this program, the group dynamic shouldn’t allow for much movement on stated goals. That’s the point.
At the end of the month, the group embarks on the ENDEX. An extended group workout based on rucking and team-based exercises is set off over several hours. The program includes a system to rotate Team Leader responsibilities among participants, but it’s also staged to have dedicated Cadre as well.
Where burden is met, responsibility lurks. When we accept the weight of that responsibility, we force ourselves to grow. Under the weight of our rucks or the cards life has dealt, we are given an opportunity to be better. At the heart of The Wedge, that’s what it’s about - making things better.
Progress isn’t a subscription fee. It’s time, effort, pace and cadence.
If you have a rucking club, a station crew or a group of friends who are looking for a new opportunity to get after it - give The Wedge a good look; the program is available in full, for free at: https://timeandeffort.ca
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - BILL DUNGEY
Bill Dungey, Author
The Wedge
Over the course of seven years, I’ve learned a lot about discipline and goal-setting.
In the earliest chapter of my adulthood, I graduated from the Social Service Worker program at Mohawk College, where I learned the fundamental skills of goal-setting and life-skill development. It wouldn’t be until much later that this theoretical understanding would be put into practice.
I had lived an undisciplined life. Poor diet, no fitness regimen and lack of a determined aim had ultimately led to challenges of health and most of all, wasted time.
Slowly, I started to pivot away from that lifestyle.
Soon after, I began to find new versions of myself.
I know, definitively, that discipline, organization and progress are not only attainable, but are elements of a systematic change anybody can make.
It’s not easy, but worthwhile endeavors rarely are.
I developed The Wedge to run in a private group of friends shortly before becoming a Volunteer Firefighter. I’m actively developing this project to provide a free, open-source Wellness and Fitness Initiative for any growth-minded department to use.
The Wedge can be downloaded from https://timeandeffort.ca
Hey, before you split! We’re always looking for other sharp minds to extract knowledge from. Do you know a prominent persona in the world of rucking, or have a unique perspective from your own personal experience that you’d be willing to share? If so, drop us a line, let us know, and we’ll extend the invite to chat it up and feature your story!
