Running with a Boat on Your Head One Day? Rucking? Equipment Carry? Or Other Load-Bearing Events?

Navy SEAL selection is renowned for its uncompromising physical standards and relentless challenges. From carrying heavy boats overhead to running for miles in soft sand with a loaded rucksack, teammate over your shoulders, or a log on your chest, candidates are pushed to their physical and mental limits. Specialized preparation is essential, not just to survive selection, but to thrive during its most punishing moments. Understanding and training for these specific demands sets the foundation for success.

Why Load-Bearing Training Matters

Load-bearing exercises such as boat carries, log runs, and fireman carries are cornerstones of SEAL selection. These events test more than just raw strength; they demand full-body coordination, core stability, and the ability to sustain effort under significant load. Training for these challenges requires more than traditional gym sessions; it calls for dynamic movements in unpredictable environments that mirror what candidates will face during selection and in the field.

My training philosophy centers on preparing the body and mind for the unique challenges of special operations, integrating running on soft sand, hills, and bleachers with a weighted ruck. When access to these outdoor environments is limited, substituting with a stair stepper or similar cardio equipment (e.g., a high-incline treadmill) to maintain conditioning and simulate the demands of uneven terrain. The following workout ideas are what we do for cardio on leg days (land). We also swim with fins on leg days. 

Soft Sand Beach Rucking - Prep the Legs and Back

Key Workouts Explained

• Soft Sand Rucking: Running on soft sand with a ruck develops lower back and leg strength, improves proprioception, and rapidly builds cardiovascular endurance. We do this once a week on a local soft-sand beach.
  
  
• Hill and Bleacher Running: Taking a ruck to steep hills or stadium bleachers adds intensity, increasing leg drive, explosive power, and stamina. We do this once a week, alternating with a sprint-running day or a goal-paced running workout.
  
  
• Stair stepper Workouts: For those without access to outdoor hills or bleachers, a stair stepper allows for high-intensity, low-impact training with a ruck. This indoor option keeps the legs working and maintains aerobic capacity, ensuring no training momentum is lost due to inclement weather or location limitations. Try these!
  
  
• Load-Bearing Drills (Logs, Boats, Fireman Carries): Incorporating partner carries, log runs, and overhead boat carries into your regimen challenges grip, core, and shoulder endurance. These drills demand teamwork, communication, and the mental grit required for group tasks and rescue scenarios. Running with a sandbag on the shoulder and doing chest carry can help with log running / "HOT Laps".
  
  
  Sand Bag Chest Carry to Simulate Hot Laps (Log Chest Carry Runs)
  

Physical Benefits: Strength, Endurance, and Resilience

Consistent training with a ruck or other load in soft sand, on hills, or up bleachers dramatically improves lower-body and core strength. The added weight conditions the spine, hips, and shoulders to withstand the rigors of repeated heavy lifts and carries. Moreover, these workouts boost muscular endurance and cardiovascular resilience, enabling candidates to recover faster and last longer during extended evolutions.

Mental Toughness: The Hidden Edge

Perhaps the greatest advantage of these challenging workouts is the cultivation of mental toughness. Navigating soft sand, steep inclines, or endless stairs while burdened by weight forces athletes to confront discomfort and fatigue head-on. Doing it before the sun rises in the winter takes it to another level. Overcoming these obstacles in training engrains discipline, confidence, and the ability to persevere when the mind wants to quit, qualities indispensable for special operations success.

Staying in a Good Mood During Beach Rucks - A Skill or Art? 

Incorporating Load-Bearing Workouts

• Start Light and Progress: Begin with manageable weights and short distances, gradually increasing load and duration as form and conditioning improve.
• Vary Surfaces and Intensities: Rotate between soft sand, hills, stairs, and stair stepper sessions to challenge your body in new ways and prevent plateaus. Also, increase weight and distances progressively, just as if you were new to running.
• Prioritize Recovery: Listen to your body; load-bearing workouts are taxing. Schedule rest days, stretch, and focus on mobility to prevent overuse injuries.
• Simulate Selection: Incorporate group carries, team drills, and time-based challenges to replicate the physical and mental demands of SEAL training environments.
  
  
  
                                   Stretcher Carries with a Four-Man Team

Embrace the Challenge

Preparing for any Special Ops selection requires more than standard fitness; it demands a commitment to challenging the body and mind in every possible way. By integrating these proven recommendations, including soft sand rucking, hill and stair running, and a variety of load-bearing drills, candidates and fitness enthusiasts alike can build the strength, endurance, and mental resilience needed to succeed.

Summary: Here is a list of what we do at StewSmithFitness.com

Core Mission

• Tactical Fitness Training For the Candidate / Recruit: Specializing in preparing individuals for military, special ops, law enforcement, and firefighter selection programs (getting you "TO and THROUGH" training).
  
  
• Functional Training for Both Active Duty / Recruits: Utilizing a seasonal tactical fitness periodization system that balances longer workouts of running/rucking, swimming, and calisthenics during the Spring/Summer when days are longer. Then, the focus shifts in the Fall/Winter to lifting (Cals/cardio maintenance) when the days are shorter/colder. This process has 25 years of proven success building tactical athletes who improve in all areas of fitness: strength, power, speed, agility, endurance, muscle stamina, mobility, flexibility, and grip.
  
  
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• Becoming an Asset for All Types: Even non-tactical athletes want to be of use in situations that require some level of fitness to get through the day. Be an asset, not a liability, in potentially dangerous situations, whether natural or man-made. Fitness can be a common denominator in successfully enduring life-or-death scenarios. 

Specific Programs & Courses

• The Ageless Athlete (Fitness Over 50): A 22-week program designed for beginners to advanced trainees looking to regain fitness, flexibility, and energy.
  
  
• Tactical Fitness Over 40: After training people for over 25 years now, many who started with me in the early 2000s are now in their 40s and beyond. Learning how to shift training to remain an asset while also offering longevity, flexibility, and mobility is central to this 52-week program. (4-part series)
  
  
• Tactical Fitness Course: An 80-minute course on preparing for Spec Ops selection, getting TO and THROUGH the toughest military special ops’ programs using this two-phase system.
  
  
  Seasonal Tactical Fitness Periodization - A 25 Year proven system to become a tactical athlete. 
  
  
• The Never Quit Mindset Book and Course: The "Never Quit Mindset" book and course is a deep dive into building constructive habits that incrementally improve discipline, build mental toughness, and foster a Never Quit Mindset in anything you want to do.
  
  
• Specialized Workout Plans: Specific, tailored programs for Navy SEAL (Phases 1-4), SWCC, Army (SF/Ranger/Airborne), USMC MarSOC / (RECON), Air Force (PJ/CCT), Coast Guard, Law Enforcement (FBI/DEA/FLETC), Fire Fighter, and general fitness too for beginners and advanced athletes alike.
  
  
  

Resources and Content

• • Extensive Content Library: Over 1,000 free articles, 200+ podcasts, and social media content (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram) featuring Spec Ops swim critiques and LIVE QA sessions.
    
    
  • FREE Local Training for those preparing to serve! Check out HeroesofTomorrow.org for our location and schedule.
    
    
    
  • NEW SKOOL.com Tactical Fitness Community
    
    
  • Educational Materials: Over 40 options for eBooks, videos, printed books, podcasts (200+), and online video courses.
    
    
  • Apps: Pushup Push, Pullup Push, FBI workout, and Navy SEAL exercise apps (iPhone/Android).
    
    
  • LIVE QA Sessions Each Week: Monday and Tuesday, 9 am EST on social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook) and Skool.com Tactical Fitness community.
    
    
  • Online Coaching: Personalized programming based on specific goals, equipment, and your time availability.
    
    
  • Membership Site: Access to hundreds of weeks of training, unpublished workouts, and exclusive content, weekly newsletter sent to subscribers with the week's latest articles, videos, and workouts (beginner/intermediate, and advanced special ops prep workouts).

Training is What We Do: 

Need Programming for Fitness Tests and Beyond?  We are all about getting you TO and THROUGH your future training program.  See how that works.