Advice for training...?

Question

I just turned 20 years old and I am considering joining the Navy after college when I'm 23 or 24. I want to be a SEAL with my background in swimming. Currently I swim every other day of the week, usually 2 or so miles, nonstop and I am mixing in breaststroke now. I have gone 3 miles without fins, and for sprinting, I go a 22.5 second 50yd. free, so I'm in excellent swimming shape. I do at least 200 push-ups on the days I don't swim. Besides running and abs workouts, what else should I be doing physically to toughen myself up? Keep in mind I have a very strenuous academic schedule studying engineering at Va. Tech I don't have loads of free time. Thanks. Oh any other advice on the process of contacting recruiting officers or anything else I should do to prepare for the military would also be appreciated. I'm set to graduate in 2010.

Answer 1

HOOAH!!

SEAL? Good man.

There is a great Discovery Channel special (I believe) that went through the training...I'm attaching a link for the Wikipedia entry on US Navy SEALs - the links section at the end has some VERY excellent links.

As another poster indicated, a lot of SEAL training, past the basic fitness, is mental. NEVER give up. NEVER surrender.

Contacting a Recruiter is a GREAT idea - I would definitely give them a call (If you want, email me and I'll get you in touch with a Squid recruiter ;-) )...

Consider going through ROTC as well - Good to be an officer, no?

Orion

Answer 2

It sounds like you are off to a great start. Keep building up your strength and your endurance. Work your cardio and build your lung capacity as well. Above all else build up your mental toughness. Try going with less and less sleep (without chemical assistance) while still maintaining your academic performance levels at their peak. Mental toughness is about more then pushing through the pain and the fatigue, you have to be able to keep your wits about you when you are exhausted, miserable, and under stress. Condition yourself to pay attention to details. God dwells in the details. God is immortal. If you pay attention to the details too then you may not be immortal but you just might live longer. Also, take some psych courses, conflict resolution, and other leadership skills courses. As an officer you will be expected to lead from the front, keep your boat team together, and motivate them to operate at their best as individuals and as a team. Having the intellectual skills that are associated with effective leadership will help out tremendously.

Take some small boating classes if you are near the water. I am not talking about becoming a master coxswain or anything like that. With your academic schedule you won't have time for that but a few weekend classes will give you a basic familiarity with one of the SEAL's primary tools. Some civilian scuba lessons or even snorkeling wouldn't hurt either. Don't try to master these skills. The SEALs have their own ways of doing things - just try to get a feel for the basics so that you will have a head start and a comfort level already established when they start to teach you the skills. Go check out the rifle club and get some basic rifle and pistol marksmanship skills as well. Half of learning to shoot is just getting used to the feel of the weapon.

In short build an intellectual and emotional foundation to go with the physical foundation you are already working on.

Answer 3

I'm not navy, but I can guarantee you will need to do a lot of upper body. Pull-ups, log carry, etc. Sounds like you are doing well with pushups.

You will also want to try some breathing and breath-holding exercises. Prepare to drown, and that is not a joke. The trainers are not afraid to drown you as they will immediately revive you. They do it often. You will need to swim something like 50m in one breath underwater with fins. (not positive).

The whole mental thing that everyone mentions is of course the most important. The best way to prepare yourself mentally is to push your body to its limits when you are working out. You must know what it feels like to hit the wall and keep going or it will shock you at SEAL school and that shouldn't be the first time you hit the wall.

Finally, be prepared to laugh at yourself and your SEAL buddies, you will be forced to do some dumb/funny stuff.

Answer 4

KEEP IN GOOD SHAPE! that is a must other wise become more mentally strong, no matter how strong you are stronger always helps! there is something were you can enlist into the navy as a seal, no mos needed! it is called the seal challenge, 40 k enlistment bonus, the officer side is much more selective on both grades and physical shape.

that's about the best I can do good luck, and god bless!

Answer 5

80 percent of Seal training is the mental aspect of it, being in good physical shape helps, but its the mental challenge of it all that gets so many dropped through the course.

Answer 6

You sound like you're in great shape, but your mental strenght is going to be tested. I hope you can work hard with little to no sleep and it a team player. Working with other is important. Good luck.