PST and Selection Training:
Perfect is the Enemy of Good Enough

When it comes to performing well on fitness tests that are competitive in nature like those of special ops programs, too many times I have seen great candidates sabotage themselves because they wanted to crush a particular strength they had, but they left a weakness that was quickly exposed. Underperforming in one of many events is common and you just have to gut check that weakness when enduring selection, but doing this in Phase 1 of Tactical Fitness (Getting TO the Training) can cause you to not even meet the standards to qualify.

Even if you do qualify to get TO the training, getting THROUGH the training will be even more of a challenge as that glaring weakness will be soon be superimposed over your strength.  For instance, you may be the number one swimmer in your class, but the last runner to leave the Goon Squad (aka - the group that fails the runs).  Or, you may be the number one runner in the class, but weak as hell under the log and the boat, getting crushed, injured, or not a big help to your boat crew. You may also be the biggest and the strongest guy in the class, but no one cares if you cannot pass the runs and obstacle courses. 

Here are some classic examples over the years; luckily, most of these folks were able to focus on their weakness before they shipped:

The Fastest Swimmer - Being a competitive swimmer is great, and you will have no problem with the 500m or 500yd swim in any spec ops program.  Even swimming with big scuba fins will not be a challenge for you for the most part, so it makes no sense focusing your limited training time on getting near Olympic-level performance out of the 500m swims or longer swims later in training. If you are a swimmer and do a sub-6-minute 500 yd swim with some of your abilities, pull back and do the swim at 7:30 with moderate effort so you can focus on the remaining elements of the Navy PST (pushups, situps, pullups, 1.5 mile run) that are typically the swimmer's weakness. You will still beat 95% of the candidates - except for other collegiate swimmers, maybe. Far too often, I see swimmers trying to bust out of a sub-6-minute PST swim when they have a run time over 10 minutes.  You need to get better at running and get used to living in gravity, carrying loads (rucks, logs, boats) and even handling high rep PT.  Don't try to make your swimming perfect, because no one cares if you are the best swimmer if you are also COMNAVGOONSQUAD. 

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The Fastest Runner - When people say "it is a running man's game" they do not mean that is all you should do. For the runner, being able to hit 5-6 minute mile maybe easy for you - even for 4 miles.  That is great, but that fast of a run time usually comes with an equal weakness in rucking, load bearing, and upper body strength. If you neglect these just to maintain a 5 minute mile, you will be hurting more throughout the day. Even if running is part of the plan of the day - so is everything else that you suck at doing. Don't try to make your running faster to the detriment of your strength and overall durability when doing load bearing training such as rucking, log pt, boats, and fireman carries. If you can train easily to do a 6-7 minute mile on the weekly 4 mile timed runs but focus more on lifting, calisthenics, and rucking / swimming with fins, you will be much better off during selection. You will be glad you are a good runner, but you will also be glad you focused your time wisely and built muscle, got stronger, and developed into a PT machine.  The good news is that after hellweek, you will not touch a log or boat again as part of your training so you can crush runs again and not have to worry about getting crushed later in the day. You will still ruck throughout training and when you are active duty. 

 
The Biggest / Strongest Guy - If you decide to keep lifting heavy weights because you do not "want to lose your gains", you will last a few weeks in selection as you will be unable to keep up with the pace of running, swimming, and high repetition calisthenics that is required of the class each day. You may also be unable to finish the obstacle course because, at 220lbs+, the amount of grip required of you is much more than that of a 175 lbs classmate.  Big guys fail runs and obstacle courses if they do not practice running and muscle stamina exercises by dropping the weights and focusing more on calisthenics and cardio. The good news, the big legs that lifting gave you will help you when wearing big SCUBA fins. Often the big guys who could barely pass the 500yd swim without fins were in the top of the class with SCUBA fins. So you have that going for you and the fact that you will not be crushed under a log and a boat the first 5 weeks of selection.

So - What is Good Enough - Assess Yourself (CLICK HERE)