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Stew Smith Fitness News — team building

Teamwork Skills in U.S. Special Ops Programs

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Teamwork Skills in U.S. Special Ops Programs

When asked recently about the most important "non-physical" trait someone who is about to attend BUD/S or any other Special Ops selection program should have, it took a minute to decide on the "most important." Sure, you need mental toughness, a never quit attitude, and must be hard physically, but I think the most important non-physical trait is being a TEAM PLAYER. Of course, there are individual challenges and tests that you alone must conquer, but no one makes it through any selection program by themselves. You must be a team player and help each other get through training TOGETHER....

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Top Ten Mental Toughness Traits

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Top Ten Mental Toughness Traits

After the Mental Toughness (Art or Science) article, a friend of mine asked about what I thought the Top Ten List of traits for mental toughness would be.  After some thought and discussions with some successful, mentally tough people, we came up with this. Mental Toughness – How do we obtain it?  Make it stronger?  Many young people ask these questions of me each day and I wish it was a simple answer.  I wish you could be mentally tough by figuring out a magic solution of phrases or training programs.  But it is not that simple.  Being mentally tough...

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Making it TO and THROUGH Training

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Many people confuse the training programs groups like active duty Special Ops perform to maintain their fitness levels for the demands of the profession with how they prepare for challenging schools like BUD/S, SFAS / SFQC, and PJ training to name a few. Here is a question to better describe a very common issue with candidate training program selection: Stew, I have been watching some Youtube videos showing active duty special ops guys working out like SEALs, Rangers, SF, and others.  They are huge and lifting very heavy weights so I have been lifting more and doing less cardio.  Is...

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Using Special Ops Selection Methods to Test Athletes

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A recent training opportunity with a high school baseball team allowed me to develop a challenge week with their coach.  Not only was the Challenge Test a team building gut check, but it had a system built in that helped calculate overall winners.  This system is the very same method we have used for decades to determine a total score in a physical screening test within the Special Ops community.  This allows for the selection board to determine who has the overall best score as well as the winners in individual events.  The screening test we use for Navy SEAL...

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