Don't Set a Timeline to Join -
Set a Performance Starting Line

It is not possible for me to share how many young people tell me they have a 4-6 month deadline before they join a challenging tactical profession. For most people, that is not a logical path for adequately preparing for this journey, especially if your choice of tactical profession is in the special ops arena. Face it - you may need more time than 4-6 months - but that is not a problem because most people do.  Don't set a timeline as a deadline to join, set performance goals as the determining factor before engaging the official enlistment process.  Think of it as a "performance line" you need to reach and don't be like most people. 

 Sure, I get it. You are excited to serve your country or community. You are "ready" to leave your current situation.  You just turned 18 and are an "adult" now - time to get a job.  All of these are valid points on why you set such a short timeline, but depending on your current fitness level and job you are pursuing, you could be several months or even years away from actually being truly ready to endure and perform at the level you need to. 

Ask Yourself - Are You REALLY Ready to Serve? (read this)

Because if you are not ready - it can be the Perfect Storm for Failure. 

More information with Stew Smith LIVE Q and A Video:

What is a Performance Starting Line? Ask yourself the following:

1 - Are you finished growing?  This is not a boy's game. Too many 17-19 year old's attend tough training and most do not make it. 18 maybe legally an adult, but for most people, they do not finish growing into full adult until 20-21 years old. Once again - the article above (Perfect Storm for Failure) applies to this age group as there are more than physical factors that come into play for the teenager today. Get through puberty first - then join.  Some success stories of teens making it through training are impressive. There were typically earlier to manhood, grew up hard working / hard living and had the mindset needed to endure at an early age. 

2 - Training Life - How long have you been physically training? This counts for manual labor jobs, sports, running, swimming, lifting, martial arts, etc for your entire life.  Anything you have been doing and for a long period of time helps with your ability to endure challenging selection programs.  But, the longer you have been training or specializing in something / neglecting other activities, the greater your injury history as well as your strengths and weakness divide. This divide could increase the need for longer periods of preparation for instance if you need to learn how to swim or cannot run far or fast enough due to over-use injuries. The less you have been training is also an issue.  If you are just getting started with athletic movement, you WILL need significant more time to prepare that could be on the 1-2 year time frame.

Related Articles:  What is Good Enough Spec Ops?  (Run, Swim, PT)
                            What is Good Enough -Strength?  (Lifts, plus load bearing)

3 - Where are you now?  Not just on the PST (or physical test you need to pass to get TO the training), but where are you on all the elements of fitness:  strength/power, speed/agility, endurance (run, swim, ruck), muscle stamina, flexibility / mobility, grip.  Are you good at all of these?  The graph below shows how important they all are to building the type of durability and work capacity needed to graduate physically / mentally challenging selection programs:

Use this Physical Assessment Tool to test yourself and discover any weaknesses you may have on the spectrum of the tactical fitness elements.  

4 - Can You Crush Selection Events? Once you have mastered the PT test, that is the first step to get TO the training.  A significant part of your preparation time, should also be to start preparing for future selection challenges which will include longer runs and rucks, longer swims with fins, pool skills, and load bearing of heavy equipment (logs, boats, backpacks, other gear, and even people).  For instance - 4 mile timed runs in under 28 minutes (boats, pants, beach), 2 mile swims in the ocean (70 minutes or less?), rucking at 10 min mile pace, grip strength to endure rope climbs, obstacles, gear carry, and other events like these will be required of you regularly (not just once or twice) WEEKLY.  Are you ready for that?

Finally, if you are still in high school and planning to enlist into special ops pipeline, assess yourself for real. Are you really ready because statistically speaking you are not. Getting TO the training is not the same as getting THROUGH the training. Both phases of tactical fitness require time and persistent preparation to make your body and mind hard enough to withstand the long days and cold, wet, sandy, nights. 

If you are good to go and meeting all the performance levels, feel confident and ready to leave home, get going with the enlistment / officer candidate process.  My opinion is from my own experiences knowing I would not have made it at 18 years old as I barely passed USNA Plebe Summer physical standards and I was a 3 sport athlete in high school and starting training at age 12 with weights and calisthenics.  I also noticed in my own BUDS class is we started out with nearly 75-80% teenagers, but only graduated a handful of them as our class went from 120 starters to 28 graduates over the six months training of BUDS. 

But, if you are planning on going anyway - prove me wrong.  I hope you prove me wrong. 

FREE TRAINING WITH STEW SMITH CSCS!

The Heroes of Tomorrow program was developed by former Navy SEAL Stew Smith, fitness author.  We can help prepare you for ANY profession that requires a Physical Fitness Test and YOU pay nothing for the training!  Warning - it is rather advanced but we can scale it back a bit and teach running and swimming techniques and help you build up to your goal level of fitness

But see WHICH PROGRAM IS RIGHT FOR ME: (ALL SERVICES)

BOOKS AND EBOOKS FOR NAVY SPECIAL OPS

Navy SEAL Workout Phase 1 Beginner Weeks 1-9 
Navy SEAL Workout Phase 2 - 3 - Intermediate Weeks 1-12
Navy SEAL Workout Phase 4 Grinder PT - Four weeks before Hell Week

BOOKs
Navy SEAL Weight Training Book
Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness Book

Tactical Fitness Series - Tactical Fitness, Tactical Strength, and Tactical Mobility is an ALL-encompassing program that focuses on lifting, calisthenics, run, ruck, swim, speed, agility, and flexibility / mobility. Many people focusing on USMC (OCS, RECON, MarSOC) Army Ranger / SF, Air Force Special Warfare, SWAT / Federal Law Enforcement, and Navy Special Warfare have done very well focusing on the Tactical Fitness Series and developing themselves into an all-round Tactical Athlete. 

Tactical Fitness - At the core of this program is the Tactical Fitness Test which measures 12 standards for your physical capacity, including: cardiovascular conditioning, strength, muscle coordination, and stamina. Tactical fitness means having the skills needed to save lives and extend the limits of your endurance whether you are in the military, police, firefighting professions, or just an everyday hero. Also featured in the Tactical Fitness Test called the Dirty Dozen.

Tactical Strength - Tactical Strength is the lifting program used by Stew Smith and his Military, Police, Fire Fighter fitness program called the Heroes of Tomorrow. It is designed to build strength in the upper body, legs, and core to prepare you better for any load bearing activity (rucking, boat carry, log PT, etc). The program also does not neglect cardiovascular activity and will end workouts with rucking or swimming (or other non impact options (row, bike, elliptical) if needed. The cardio workouts will be quick and fast focusing more on speed and agility than long slow distance. We also use the Tactical Strength Test to test elements of speed, agility, and strength / power..

Tactical Mobility is a comprehensive fitness guide for greater mobility, flexibility, and performance—designed for the men and women serving in military, special ops, law enforcement, emergency services. Tactical Mobility is a perfect fit for any fitness program as a stand alone "Mobility day" supplemented into your regular routine and will help you reach the pain free level of fitness. Gaining flexibility and mobility is the goal of the program and it will help with performance and help reduce injuries.

The Warrior Workout Series - If you are solid with making your own workouts, but need some ideas.  This three part series has 300 workouts (100 / book) to pick from focusing on all the elements of fitness and training programs. Each book is organized with periodization cycles in mind along with calisthenics only, weights / calisthenics mix, cardio options and more. Warrior Workout 1   -  Warrior Workout 2  -   Warrior Workout 3. 

Personalized Training Programs
There are many more options as well as personalized training programs member's only program and the new :

Try Our Stew Smith Fitness Members Only Club - #1 Best Selling Tactical Fitness Programs

Questions?  Just email me at Stew@StewSmith.com

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