Working out with Navy Seals

[treelizard]

I think that's awesome. I would totally do a program like that if it was offered in my area. For now I will have to stick with weights and treadmills and cardio classes with cheery bright-eyed aerobics instructors I want to punch.

I'm trying to loose weight, challenge myself and get a glympse into this world. To see what its like before having to sign the dotted line so as to speak.

[Tom Yum]

Day 3

If yesterday's theme was smoke em till they puke, today's was you will never do anything right and we can make sure of it.

However, we managed to lug through eventually as a team. We're starting to really see that we're only as strong as our weakest link. At the same time, we try to get that link stronger.

Some folks give up or stop (wrong). That just earns more punishment. The correct thing to do is struggle and count loud. We can get through this with enough team encouragment for the weaker members.

Honestly though, each person has their own weakness and sometimes it's your turn to be the weak link, whether it be leg strength, stamina, upper body strength or just being able to hold out.

Its never easy but we're pulling through. The instructors rip into us individually and as a team. The proper response is to acknowledge and do what they say, don't move until told and follow their command. Most of us are getting this, but there's still a few who roll their eyes.

Lots of duck walking, lots of barrel rolls (a puker for sure), flutter kicks, 8-count body builders, pushups, leg raises, divebombers, lots of running, squat thrusts and some interesting static positions that test your metal and more.

We haven't done pull-ups yet. I forsee pull-ups, dive bombers and some crazy static stuff for the back and shoulders. We're going to be rucking next week with 30 lb packs. This is going to build our legs while toughening our will.

PS - I am improving in all areas of physical fitness. I lost 9 lbs after the first three weeks and have maintained at about 180 (my ideal weight is about 174). At first the instructors commands where somewhat crazy and frightening on day one, filling our heads with doubt added to being broken down physically and mentally.

The perception of yelling has changed; even though its become more viscious its now a very positive motivator and pushes me to go balls to the wall; not afraid to puke because I'll get the f-up and keep at it! It also pushes me to look at the team to make sure we stick together.

Looking forward to the next evolution!

[Tom Yum]

Day 4

Today was all about personal accountability, especially to our team. I'm starting to get warm feelings about them. I don't think I've ever had this kind of group dynamic before or have cared so much about other group members. I feel like I could fight visciously for them if I had to.

Can you get this outside the military? Why can't we get this kind of dynamic in the outside world?

Each of us failed at some point today, whether through excercise or puking and as a result we let ourselves and our team down. We got humbled by a hydration formation followed by log rolls....that bangs your body up pretty well if you do it right and it can also make you spew up chow. 2 members did so.

I think all of us have been finally broken down in some way or another. We're on the same level.

Each day gets harder but in a different way. You're never doing the same thing, but you're bound to do it wrong atleast 3 times, maybe 4.

Our instructors humbled us rather well. Its tough, but I seem to recover well on the mental aspect. When its all over, I feel mentally more alert and satisfied over what I accomplished, still I know there is more ahead and its going to be hard.

They run us into the ground but at the same time, they want us to eat properly and look out for one another. Allthough its physically, mentally and emotionally challenging I'd rather work with people who will forge us through sweat and tears than those who would trade us in for a buck and leave us high and dry.

[Tom Yum]

Day 5

Was its own creative challenge. A few more lessons learned that the group needs to grind into our head over the weekend; the need to carry the weak as a leader and to beat out and show no weakness as an individual.

An ant crawled onto my hand at the end when we were laying still. Then a second and maybe a few more; kept still as best as possible until the very end then pulled them off.

Completed the first week! The next week will prove to be more difficult than the last.

[Tom Yum]

Day 6

Nothing keeps you more honest and humble than ground pounding military style PT and an instructor to count your mistakes and start you over. I'm not allways the fastest runner; sometimes I finish in the top 3 other times I finish in the last 3. Its tough, but I finish. Most of my classmates are kind of thin and came into the program as accomplished runners and cyclists on their spare time; keeping up with them is not just a challenge, its an honor. I have to work at being a good runner since it doesn't come natural.

This program has opened my eyes to some of the challenges that our young men go through in basic training. I can tell its not an easy road for them, but they earn their dinner, shower and sleep everyday!!

People protest and talk smack about our boys overseas, but honestly they probably couldn't handle 30 minutes of this.

Another thing that I'm learning more about is taking care of your body, especially in the nutrition department. In the past I've neglected water consumption; now, I drink about 2 Liters a day. Screw soda. I do drink coffee but I am considering kicking the habit.

I like the team and I want to make the instructors proud. We're learning about teamwork and most of the time its the hard way after f@king up a few times and being punished.

Tomorrow will be day 7 and upon completion, that means we are 70% complete. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope to graduate and be accepted as a lifer, so that I can truly breakthrough into the next level of physical fitness and maintain the lessons learned.

[BoarSpear]

Navy cadences are a little EEERRRRR non pc. (LOL) Orlando rocked, we had Female companies training as well...called Waves...join the navy ride the waves...then they changed it to Wins, so we changed the motto, join the navy feel the wins blow ...hehehehe

I like coke, i like sprite, i like woman who will fu All night...
Verse 2...if you want some pus tonight stomp your left and drag your right,...

Then there was "momma momma cant you see" what the navys done to me, shaved my head and shaved my beard, now they got me lookin wierd...

momma momma cant you see, what the navys done to me, took away my cadillac, put a seabag on my back...

and when we fell in behind a female company the verses changed slightly... (imagine that)...
Momma momma cant you see? whats marching in front of me, got my pants all stickin out, makes me wanna scream and shout...shake shake baby, shake it shake it baby!!

oh yeah cant forget, I wanna be a Navy diver, i wanna be a 69er, left 2 3 4....

the rest are too offensive for all you non-Navy pukes.

[Tom Yum]

LOL....we've done a few cadence runs mixed into our routine, but nothing like that...

I kinda like the cadence runs because you let the rhythm carry you.

[BoarSpear]

yeah 1 keg and 4 sailors, someones gonna still be thirsty...they always stressed to us we are ambassadors of the USA so be sure to maintain military bearing at all times....i tried my best, the times i was to too drunk to walk like a sailor, i made sure to crawl like a Marine.


for all you Sailors...."Oh no, Im not a Marine, im just wearing his hat! HAHAHAHA...hehehehehe....and for all you Marines mickeys big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on.....AHAHAHAHa

[BoarSpear]

....now momma i know you wanted me to be an airborne ranger.... ya said it would keep me outta danger....but i wanna be a navy diver....i wanna be a 69er...

[BoarSpear]

O VEEELCROOOO wheres my favorite Marine? i was trying to describe the corps insignia the other day, its tough to visualize for some people but i figured out an easy way to explain it...Its a buzzard, sitting on a beachball, with an anchor crammed up his screaming "GO Navy"

[Tom Yum]

Day 7

Was a different day than usual. Today was the silent killer. Keep up with the instructor or you'll lose sight and lag behind.

I see the purpose of this: for fitness reasons, it forces you to pick up the pace and work at building stronger lungs and speed up the legs when they are tired or sore. In a war, this would probably mean the difference between getting caught by the enemy and surviving.

We ran long and hard intersperced with some sets of calisthenics. I consistently placed in the middle of the group during each distance - don't know if this is good or bad.

Total running time was probably on the order of 70 minutes, which comprised mostly of moderate paced, long-distance running with some interval work mixed in between. The remaining time was filled with sets of calisthenics.

I've found that if you push the air out hard (both with mouth and nose), you can take a longer time breathing in - I maybe developing some breath control here...hooyah!

This helped me set a pattern during some of the longest parts of the run and finish more consistently within in the middle instead of near the end when fatigue set in.

Note: My legs have become alot thicker and dense since prep week no. 1; alot more, but it ain't just mirror muscle - these legs have been put to work in some of the most inexpensive and innovative ways. Most of my weight loss came from my gut, some from my chest and butt.

I'm down from 188 to 177.
Total weight loss = 11 lbs.

Haven't missed a day yet. I want to finish strong and help the team.

[Britt]

Glad it's working for you, Tom, keep up the good work. I saw the program advertised when I was in Houston and thought about doing it, but I didn't know if it was on the up and up. You've inspired me to step up my calisthenics and up my dip sets from 25 to 40 today.

[Tom Yum]

Glad it's working for you, Tom, keep up the good work. I saw the program advertised when I was in Houston and thought about doing it, but I didn't know if it was on the up and up. You've inspired me to step up my calisthenics and up my dip sets from 25 to 40 today.

Thanks Britt, bump it up!

I don't know if I'll graduate and be accepted to the lifer's program as nothing is written in stone and it aint over until its over. As I've said before, everyday is as challenging and crazy as the one before it (if not more). I keep showing up on time, haven't complained, finished each day thoroughly worked and haven't given up, allthough sometimes its tough keeping up with the instructor. They can smoke you to hell and back from all the training they've done over the years - sometimes all you can do is finish with whatever you've got and draw from your emotional state when they push you past your limit.

Some of the benefits: running everyday plus doing tons of lower body calisthenics has strengthened my legs more than I could do on my own. At first, the pain in my legs made me think I might be injured; the reality was my legs were simply adjusting. My legs are thicker and denser than before. Can't wait to start kicking/kneeing thai pads again...haven't kicked anything since the week before warm-up week 1 and am looking forward to more explosive kicks/knees and being able to go more rounds!!

I neglected my lower body last year and am playing catchup.

We're going to be running with 20-lb packs soon. I get the feeling this will be less about previous mileage and more about inner strength and toughness.

If my legs give out at anytime, I will f@cking crawl or log roll if I have to to get to the damned finish line!

[Tom Yum]

Day 8

We started the day off with an indian run, a run where each person keeps in a line and the last person has to sprint to the front. I broke out like a bat out of hell; I think my running speed has gotten alot better. I haven't been able to sprint like that since I was a teenager.


Today was our most competitive day as we did races against the existing group of graduates from previous bootcamps. We smoked the hell out of 'em and they paid with more difficult excercises. For the first time, I actually beat some folks in races. Most of the races were uphill. There were some interesting team work excercises too.

We did a little bit of running with the packs. And piggy back runs with the partner + pack. You're not going to be moving fast, but you try to push yourself - I don't have long legs, but i tried to take big steps.

Tomorrow will be the mother of all smokers. Not sure what they have in plan for us, but I'm sure it'll be tough.

[Tom Yum]

Day 9

Today was about getting smoked. Just when you think you're running is starting to improve, you get introduced to rucking.....a whole new world.

We rucked (running with a weighted pack) for approximately 2 miles total distance. For those who haven't done this before it will certainly push you to the limits. In the middle of the run, we stopped by a 20 foot hill and ran something like 20 or so sprints up it and then to a certain point which we were timed. I was making time until the end and had to do it again until I made time; I did. Running with a ruck makes your steps lower, watch out for tree roots or rocks - they'll make you take a dive!

I pushed myself to the limit and puked (the kind that comes out the nose) after we'd finished the ruck and when we started another excercise. But once it was done, I was allowed to get hydrated and I felt a helluva lot better. So much, that I was able to forget that I just puked and did some crazy hand-plant spins, then run really quickly and race around a point and not puke.

We did some relays with our packs. One really tall fellow handed it off to me and rather did a chest pass - this guys is probably 6'4" easily so what was a chest pass for a 6'4" fella jammed me in the throat, I made a funny noise but just sucked it up and ran the race.

It was kinda funny; our instructors started messing with us in some funny ways and we deserved it - if you could see a video, you'd understand. We were running like the damned three stooges after all the spinning...

Lesson learned: If you wan to be the best, you've got to pay. Usually the payment is the form of some kind of sacrifice and pain. If you want to loose serious weight in a rather quick time through legit methods, you will pay dearly. If you want to improve your physical condition, you will have to pay dearly. If you want to fight alongside the world's best combat infantry, you will pay dearly. If you're willing to face your weakness and improve it, you will pay. I've fertilized the grass atleast twice during this bootcamp and have probably dripped over a gallon of sweat but I know for sure that my running speed and stamina has improved hand over fist.

If someone can't face the pain and just get the hell up and keep going, they will never improve. Its just a damned mental decision.

We paid tonight. Not sure if we've made it yet. Seems like a toss-up.