Any former army with front line experience?

>80% of time digging trench to sit in
>5% shooting at something you cant see
>5% eating
>5% shitting
>5% getting chewed out

What would your opinion be on doing a shitload of pushups, pull ups, lunges, front/side planks and 70 lb kettlebell swings?

Literally treating those as endurance activities as a way to prepare.

Most of being a SEAL is about the knowledge and expertise. From a fitness standpoint, focus on getting through boot camp first.

I was never a SEAL but I have worked with them (just outer cordon shit for HVTs, I was just an airborne infantryman) They arent all jacked. They are all in great physical shape but I met one who was like 165 pounds and probably close to 6 feet tall. Skinny as fuck. They all know their job though VERY well, and they all have that never quit mindset, which is the only thing that will get you through those tier one military schools. There job is to wash you out. Anyone can build strength,you just have to ask yourself if you honestly have that discipline and be honest. It is possible that you do and you will still fail. Injuries happen and not everyone can be good enough. Honestly though? If you dedicated you LIFE to training you could be a good candidate in a year. Not everyone is a badass the day they volunteer. If you can do the mininum required to stay in the program and you give maximum effort you have a chance.

Also worth noting that they are not stupid. If you are an idiot you will never make it even if you are a physical prodigy.

you clearly have no familiarity with the military, particularly how selection is run for special operations units.

Honestly have no idea about kettle bell shit, lunges, or side planks. havent really done them except for planks but didnt have to very often at work. Pushups I usually got a little over 100 pushups on my pt test..but thats way over the necessary amount for a perfect score. So check the chart. I could do about 30 pull ups in my prime but its not a huge thing unless you go marines. Most of my soldiers couldnt even do 10 straight out of basic unless they were also airborne qualified. You do an assfuck amount of pullups in airborne school but its no longer graded so you get tons of fat female airborne bitches who cant do one with airborne wings.

Just realized you said 40% bf. Probably 2 full years maybe a little longer, but as I said your whole life would have to be training for that from that kind of starting point. Like I said though I was not in the mavy let alone a SEAL. My father actually was, but all the talk in the world doesnt give me an idea what its like to go through it.

Okay, good input and thank you.

I guess what I'd like to distinguish is that I am not asking about how to pass their PT tests, I understand that gets easier every year. Rather, I am asking what conditioning matters for _war_.

The fuck are you doing walking, dumbass. Call in a chopper.

Sometimes air is black. I was on a tiny remote cop the size of a football field with my platoon and one other platoon. We didnt have local air assets. Do a real deployment then get back to me. BAF/superfobs like leatherneck, shenk,and airborne dont count.

Naval Special Warfare (parent command that SEALs fall under) and MARSOC have put out really great resources for prepping for their respective selection courses. There is a lot of overlap. Endurance is key, don't overthink it. Phase 1 of BUD/S is 7 weeks. A&S is 7ish weeks, SFAS is 2 weeks, RASP is like 6-8weeks, all these courses are just built around making you do several really hard things every day with incomplete rest and seeing if you give out. If you are trying to do this, congratulations, that is your sport now, so program training that is matched to that specialization. That is why a lot of people will say Crossfit is great prep for the military. The downside is Crossfit doesn't generally include enough running and swimming, so you'll want to up that volume on your own. But also check out the NSW Physical Training Guide and the MARSOC guide, they are designed to prepare you for the courses. If you're not actually planning on trying out for a special operations unit, don't waste your time following one of their programs, there are better ways to train to whatever goals you actually have.

I see. Thank you for this input.

So TLDR, any calisthenics/lifting with huge volume that makes you resistant to burnout is good, plus do not neglect running/swimming?

I guess to get into specifics, what sets/reps would you suggest for basic barbell moves? 10x10? 5x20? More than that?

As for running and swimming, how much and how often? What kind of pace goals?

What's a good functional strength routine to follow that won't make me look like a skeletal?

Probably not what you want to hear, but as I said already, do crossfit WODs. Run or swim for intense cardio 3 days a week at least and supplement those with some basic strength training.

What's the end goal body going to look like?

Look at some soldiers in a unit like Ranger battalion where they actually uphold the standards. It wont make you look like Zyzz but you will have the ability to do your job.

>rank the following attributes in order of importance

>endurance
>endurance
>endurance
>endurance
>endurance
>everything else
Seriously, just don't be a weak willed faggot.
Giving up is the biggest issue facing every new soldier.
Realizing you have issues and time and training will fix them is your greatest advantage.
If you can sleep well and eat well, Army is easy mode no matter what job.

Unless you're a micro manlet or lanklet you can pretty much do any job with ease with some training.

idgaf about looking like jyzz, I want to be able to have the muscle and endurance to be of use when shit goes down

youtu.be/d6crXhryjoE
would this video be an accurate routine example

To even get a SPECWAR contract, you’ll have to do a 500 meter Swim sidestroke or breast in under 9:30, 70+ push-ups in 2 minutes, 70+ sit-ups in 2 minutes, 12+ pull-ups and a mile and a half in sub 9:30. That’s just to earn the contract, that all happens before you even head to boot.

It seems more like numbers used to assess fitness than a routine. Obviously training those exercises will improve the ability to do them though, as I am sure you already know.

not true

probably 5 years, 2 years to turn you into a normal human being, then 3 more years to train for buds

Not really. Try to come up with a rational scenario where being able to lift heavy would be helpful in relation to all the effort that is required to maintain the muscle mass

Muscular endurance is what's best. The point is to have people who don't give out, not necessarily the fastest or strongest

Carrying equipment weighing 80+ pounds for miles and miles? You get more endurance from having more muscle mass you schmuck. Not only that but people who run more than 4 km have a far higher chance of dying early than people who don't.

>What?

Heart muscle can't really be repaired. If you tear it, you pay the toll to God.

4 km a day*

Walking is a whole different story but there's a reason long distance runners have a bad habit of dying early.

Not to mention most SPECWAR contracts are fucking traps to get a whole lot of recruits. That they know are going to fail. But upon failing, they have little choice in what MOS/rating they're reassigned to.

not military but I've been seriously considering it after college. looked at the different branches and what they have to say about fitness. in short:
be in pretty good physical shape (pushups, situps, dips, pullups, chinups, bicycle kicks, etc.). your cardio should be on point though. like 5k tier. other than that, for sf, learn to play mind games with yourself (be able to go to your happy place at the drop of a hat).

Yep. Currently locked in a HM contract, shipping to boot December 4th. Gonna do my 5 Years, do NROTC in college then try for EOD or SEAL officer

try for Recon Corpsman. pro-tip, when you go to school commission in the Marine Corps

Isn’t that SARC? I’ve looked at it, seems the pipeline/trainings would be a bit much for just a 5 year contract, could I do it straight out of A school?

YES it is possible but you need to start coordinating with guys in the community, and you need to already have the fitness to pass the PST. Check out the reconcorpsman site, they have information on who to talk to and begin the process. I believe it's best if you talk to them before you ship to boot.

Also, if you go to school and commission in the Marine Corps, you'll have to compete for the infantry/ground intel MOS at TBS but after you finish IOC/the rest of your pipeline, you would retain your BRC graduation I'm fairly sure, and so you would have a much higher likelihood of going to a Force Recon platoon for your first platoon commander assignment, and you might be able to stay there instead of going to conventional infantry.

plus the obvious fact that you will know guys at the Force Recon companies who will hook you up if you have a good reputation, that's just how it works. but you have to earn your spot, get there and perform there first

Thanks for being so helpful user :)

No problem. Another option is to try to get a slot at BUD/S after you've been an HM in the recon community for a bit. It'll be easier to get to BUD/S as an enlisted guy, and then you can do a commissioning program and you don't have to worry about doing SOAS because you will already have a trident. That said, more competitive for enlisted SEALs to get those enlisted commissioning programs, but on balance you definitely get an advantage.

and the reason I say "easier as an enlisted guy" is most people who want to be SEALs either at the Naval Academy or in ROTC don't even get the chance to go to the officer assessment and selection course (SOAS) because slots are severely limited. You can go through the program and do very well and just get fucked over by big Navy manpower requirements, unless you have a serious "in" with the community, and for the Navy that pretty much means having a trident already. All of this applies almost exactly the same to EOD in terms of you could try out for that community as well, then try to commission after you have your crab. EOD and NSW selection have a lot of similarities. DEFINITELY DIFFERENT but process wise are similar. And both have that culture where they look out for their own guys so if you're trying to be an officer there, it just helps to be one of them already. They hate boot LTJGs leading guys who have been on the team for 4-7 years.

I completely feel that, just gotta make as many connections I can while I’m a corpsman. Thanks again, I appreciate you taking the time

You're welcome user. Train hard and don't fuck this up. I wish you so much more than luck.