Willing to help an aspiring SOF operator?

[Nicholas Hughes]

Hello all. Before posting, I would like to re-assure all that I have been searching and web and scourging throughout the forum for some time now and decided to elicit the help from some great minds out there.

A little about me: I’m a 21 year old meteorologists in the U.S. Air force. In my high school years, I was blinded by the bodybuilding light and trained using isolation exercises for a couple of years. Improper training left me with unbalanced fitness and extremely poor mobility. My stats: DL-250 BP-285 Press-125 BS-250 Pull-ups 25. At this point I couldn’t even run a mile without wanting to throw up. Throughout basic training, I went from a fairly lean 180lbs to a scrawny 160lbs. Throughout the next two years leading up to now, I have worked on and off trying different cross fit plans, never really sticking to anything. I still have strong fitness aspirations, but I’m just not sure what the best route is to achieve my goal. I’m getting assign to Fort Bragg, NC here in a couple of month supporting the 82nd Airborne. I will be going to airborne school and my ultimate goal eventually is SOWT(Special Operations Weather Team). I need to pass the PAST test but I also want to have a decent strength background to be a great all around athlete. Currently I have been doing the SealFit Operator workouts. I am following the Paleo diet currently to the best of my abilities but I just can’t seem to stuff enough food in my body to fuel the workouts. I have been also throwing in a few SealFit SOF prep workouts as well. I’m loosing overall strength as well as muscle mass( I know function over beauty). All the same while, I am wanting to do 5 3 1 to gain some strength. Many of you are probably thinking “Follow Starting Strength”. I’ve tried this for a month and it KILLED me to not do any conditioning workouts. My main question is: Should I continue with the SealFit WODs in hope of adapting and keep working out the diet, or should I switch to a strength program for a couple of months and try and build a better base? When at Bragg, we will be doing mandatory PT sessions 3 times a week including LSD runs and a few cross fit inspired workouts. This will most definitely interfere with recover and I’m worried SealFit will be out of the cards. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Below are my current stats as well as my overall goals.

Current:
Weight 185lbs
Bench 275lbs
Press 130lbs
DL 315lbs
BS 270lbs
FS (never tried as I have had a back injury)
Max danghang pull ups 10(with 20lbs vest) 20 without
1.5 mile run: 11:20
Fran 6:10
Cindy 20 rounds
Split bar muscle ups: 6 Rings: 1

Goal:
Bench: 275-300
Press: 160-180
DL: 400
BS: 350
DH pullups: 18 (with 20lbs vest) 25 without
1.5 mile run: under 9:30
Fran: Sub 3:30
Cindy: 25+
Ring MU: 30 in less than 5min

Should I continue with main site Crossfit and combine 5 3 1 or continue with SealFit which I am new to? I know my fitness is sub-par as of now, but I am allotting several years to get in fantastic shape. I’m just looking for more guidance other than getting confused between Crossfit Endurance, Military Athlete, Sealfit, SS, 5 3 1, Crossfit Football, and all the other great programs out there. Sorry for the brutally long post, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Keith Homfeldt]

If you are worried about getting ready for the pipeline, I would focus on some of the workouts at specialtactics.com (WFS). Specifically "Guard MC's train up." There are also quite a few STS guys on those forums, that could provide advice. From my experience, cardio/cals are more important for the pipe than back squat, bench, etc #'s. You can improve those once you get to the teams.

[Joel Munoz]

WFS www.stewsmith.com

The complete guide to Navy SEAL fitness.

[Craig Horstman]

i would say look into a linear program like gslp. it will work your weak areas (ie press, dl) and allow you to throw in metcons to work on your conditioning.

[Jerry Pease]

Nick,

Sounds like you are on the right track when it comes to your training and research to prep to be a battlefield airman. I was a BA recruiter for the Air Force for a year and a half until about 6 months ago, it was a program only my squadron had throughout the entire U.S. at the time and I utilized CrossFit and a few other programs to train my guys before they shipped off for BMT. We even paid to send our BA's who were qualified and waiting to leave to go to a certain CrossFit box when I wasn't around to train them.

I do have a question that you didn't mention though... What are you training to get into? The reason I ask... is I didn't see anything in your training about swimming. If you are wanting to get into any of the top 3 (PJ, CCT, or SOWT) you need to become a fish in water my friend. Focus on freestyling, no side stroke, you'll learn that in Dive school and some in Indoc. If you are starting from scratch in this area and don't have anyone who can coach you through it, I suggest to all of my guys to go online and get the Freestyle Made Easy by Total Immersion.

Here's some advice I have for you everywhere else, Don't stick to any specific program. CrossFit is great for an everyday workout, just make sure you get your rest days in. Even the guys in indoc get their weekends. You brought up Sealfit, and CrossFit endurance which are GREAT GREAT GREAT websites, I would also say to check out Rescue Athlete as well. Post what you are trying to get into and what your PAST results are so far and I can give you some pointers from there. Good luck with the endeavor man. Hit me up anytime if you have any questions!

[Tom Stepp]

Nicholas,
First I am not and have never been in SOF. BUT... I have the distinct privilege of working out with more than a few active duty SOF personnel, several who are Air Force CCTs, at Crossfit Fort Bragg. Just moved into a new 12000 sf. building at the back gate to Pope Air Field. Contact Michelle Benedict the owner. She will be glad to hook you up.

[Nicholas Hughes]

Thank you all for the responses and I apologize for mine being delayed. Joel, I actually have that book and have done some of the workouts in there. What drove me away was the lack of weight lifting. It was just high rep cals, running, and swimming..which is great but I'm aiming for more well rounded fitness. Operational fitness. Keith, I have the Guard MC's plan right in front of me now. I will be integrating some of the running as well as swimming (once I have access to a pool). Jerry, I am currently stationed at Shaw AFB as Air Force weather. I want to cross train and go SOWT (special operations weather team). I have been digging all around Special Tactics for information and did get a good deal of information. I'm also registered on Grey Beret. I think when it comes down to it, I will just have to jump in and learn firsthand on the way. Lately I have been really focusing on SealFit WODs..both the operator wods and the SOF wods. I would love to get proficient at swimming, but I lack a pool at the moment. I am hoping Fort Bragg will offer more access to that. I have looked at Rescue Athlete for a while now, have picked up on some good stuff, but I feel like SealFit is more well rounded (just my opinion). Without a pool at the moment, my 1.5 mile run is around 11min. Pull-ups (dead hang) is at 20, max pushups is 85, and sit ups is around 75 in two min. I realize that I need work on my run the most so that is what I am focusing on. Thanks for the recommendation on that book. I will be ordering it shortly. Tom, when I get to Bragg, I will be training at Crossfit Fort Bragg. Hopefully I will have the privilege to run into you while I am there. Thanks again for all of your inputs. They are greatly appreciated!

[Blair Robert Lowe]

CrossFitFootball or 531+CF metcons.

Given that you want to do it over a shorter time, I'd say CFFB. You'll still end up having to do your unit PT, running and rucking. Just scale back on the CFFB if you have to.

SealFit is just a beast. Unless you're a beast, it's just gonna crush you with the volume. Save for it another day when you've built up to it.

Obviously you need to work on your running. 11m is probably something you want to be able to nearly run 2 miles in.

Mix up 400 and 800 intervals one day, jogging for 30m, and a 3-5 mile run somewhere in the week. Target volume for the 4/800 to roughly 3 400s and 2 800s or 4 400s and 3 800s. Start with 3/2 as you can probably already do 2/1 without any problem. Run at about 85%.

[Austin Lieberman]

Nicolas,

This may not be a popular post due to the fact that it is on a cross fit forum but I've got personal experience with EXACTLY the situation you're talking about so here it goes.

1. Crossfit is a great tool but only if used correctly. The key here is to use cross fit as a tool to help you get to your goal. It has been proven by hundreds of hopeful Spec Ops candidates that if you strictly follow cross fit you are setting yourself up for failure at the various different selections/schools.

2. Your training needs to directly address what you are working to attain. For you thats Maximum Push-ups, Sit-Ups, Pull-Ups in 1-2 minutes, a faster 1.5 mile time, and a better swim time (not sure if SOWT has a swim but I know CCT/PJ do) so these exercises and those that supplement them need to be the foundation of your training program.

3. Once you reach a goal of 50% over the minimum scores for cals (at least) and 1 to 2 minutes faster than the minimum scores for run/swim then I suggest you supplement your training with cross fit but if and only if you are smart about the different movements as they can lead to injury and end your dreams of SOWT.

The seal PTG is great for anyone preparing for these types of schools and as someone stated above there are multiple different workout programs on specialtactics.com basically you just need to create a program focused on calls, running, and swimming until you meet your desired standards, then work some cross fit in to get your functional fitness up.

[Tim Cooper]

Originally Posted by Nicholas Hughes

Thank you all for the responses and I apologize for mine being delayed. Joel, I actually have that book and have done some of the workouts in there. What drove me away was the lack of weight lifting. It was just high rep cals, running, and swimming..which is great but I'm aiming for more well rounded fitness. Operational fitness. Keith, I have the Guard MC's plan right in front of me now. I will be integrating some of the running as well as swimming (once I have access to a pool). Jerry, I am currently stationed at Shaw AFB as Air Force weather. I want to cross train and go SOWT (special operations weather team). I have been digging all around Special Tactics for information and did get a good deal of information. I'm also registered on Grey Beret. I think when it comes down to it, I will just have to jump in and learn firsthand on the way. Lately I have been really focusing on SealFit WODs..both the operator wods and the SOF wods. I would love to get proficient at swimming, but I lack a pool at the moment. I am hoping Fort Bragg will offer more access to that. I have looked at Rescue Athlete for a while now, have picked up on some good stuff, but I feel like SealFit is more well rounded (just my opinion). Without a pool at the moment, my 1.5 mile run is around 11min. Pull-ups (dead hang) is at 20, max pushups is 85, and sit ups is around 75 in two min. I realize that I need work on my run the most so that is what I am focusing on. Thanks for the recommendation on that book. I will be ordering it shortly. Tom, when I get to Bragg, I will be training at Crossfit Fort Bragg. Hopefully I will have the privilege to run into you while I am there. Thanks again for all of your inputs. They are greatly appreciated!

Nicholas, I know Im about a year late on this, but how is the progress?