So here's a little news flash for anyone who has taken a cursory glance at the PT requirements for Navy Seal training and think they don't seem that difficult - you are sadly mistaken. Although it's a no-brainer that a program designed to develop what are arguably the most elite soldiers in the world would have to be crazy hard, it's easy to look at the requirements on paper and underestimate the challenge. The reason is because the program, in some ways, isn't anything uber fancy or complicated. Running, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, dips, swimming, carrying a ruck - it doesn't really sound like that big of a deal. That is until you actually try it. Keep in mind there is a lot more to Seal training than PT, but these are the foundations of the PT program.
I've been doing this for about 5 weeks now. I've skipped two or three days and let me just tell you, I could tell on the days after I missed. The hardest part for me right now is getting over jumping into the cold water and swimming continuously for 20 minutes after having just run two miles in 16 minutes, then doing 4 sets of 6 pull ups, 4 sets of 15 push-ups, and 4 sets of 20 sit-ups. 20 minutes of non-stop swimming is freakin' hard. One thing I found out recently is that I was making it much too hard on myself. The following strokes are the ones used for training: Combat Swimmer Stroke, sidestroke, or breast stroke. This is very different from what I was attempting to do, which was just swimming on top of the water. So I'm working toward that goal. Meanwhile, you'll notice I'm not letting the "minimum" requirements hold me back. I do as much as I can regardless of what the regiment calls for. If you just try to do the minimum, you'll never cut it when the training gets harder. This basically means I do more reps than called for in as many exercises as possible. The only exception, for now of course, is the swimming.
For anyone who is interested, there are some great instructional videos on YouTube about Seal and other PT training. These videos explain the techniques necessary to enhance the effectiveness of your training. Stew Smith Swimming Video.
I'll post a monthly pic soon, but for now, just know I'm still at it. I've been in a bit of a lull with the cool weather setting in, but I'm trying to stay motivated. More to come next week.
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