If You Have to Lose Weight
AND Get Into BUD/S Shape,
Be Ready for the Long Preparation Journey
(But Start to See Results Quickly...)

Here is a great story of a recruit who needed a lot of help:

There is young man who is an aspiring special operations candidate who needs to not only get in shape to pass the PST, but needs to lose weight in order to meet the height weight standards set by the Navy. Understanding flirting with the minimum standards is not a wise move, dropping well below the weight maximums is the goal and means more than 40 lbs for this candidate. 

Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence as many young candidates are too big to join the military period – much less be fit enough to enter any spec ops program.  In fact, the number one reason why an American cannot join the military today is simply not meeting the height and weight standards as well as the PT test because of that. Generations before largely had issues with education (lack of high school diploma) or criminal records as the primary issues, but today’s generation the biggest issues are physical and medical issues preventing them from service. 

This potential recruit dreamed of losing weight, getting in BUDS shape, and becoming a special forces operator. This is going to be a long journey, but it can be done and results can come quickly with some specific and focused training consistency. 

Every day, the recruit thought about nothing else but losing weight to be able to meet the height / weight standards and crush the PT test to get accepted into the training, then get through the training. Some might even say that he was obsessed with this dream. Others said he was a wishful dreamer with no chance of success. All he could think about was how he could lose weight as fast as possible. 

It Can Take a Long Time to Truly Prepare for These Jobs

Read more about the intangibles that need to be received on this journey.

Then one day something happened that would change everything.  He overheard someone making jokes and saying there was no way he was ever going to lose weight…let alone belong on a special ops team! Sometimes this type of feedback can supercharge you or cause you to quit on your dream.  If you don’t want to hear this kind of feedback, don’t tell small-minded people your dreams. But, for this candidate, that was it! He was so mad he could barely see straight and he got moving!

Pic Credit - D.McBurnett

In that moment he made a commitment that no matter what it took, he was going to figure out how to make this work!  At that very moment, he resolved to go "all in" on his goal! And that is losing weight, getting in spec ops shape, and becoming a special forces operator truly began FOR REAL. 

He was no longer wishing for it or waiting for it... he was on his way.  This is also when you get smacked with some hard truths and reality of the situation and just how long the journey is.  Because it's one thing to say you're committed to lose weight and get in killer shape... 

To say you also have the ability and confidence to get TO and THROUGH SEAL training and serve your country with like-minded people in an elite team setting is quite another thing. 

Like many aspiring special operations candidates at this stage, he realized he faced some critical questions with no immediate answers. 

• How can I safely lose weight? 

• How do I become a better swimmer, runner, and crush high repetition calisthenics too? 

• How can I get stronger to handle the load bearing activities of training (such as rucks and log PT)? 

This is what he did for the next year and a half:  

He has struggled to lose weight for a long time and never succeeded long term. He also came face to face with the fact that getting in spec ops shape at the same time as losing weight is a long road and it's even harder to get through the training after you finally crush the PT test - training never ends.  He was haunted with the misunderstanding that you must be a lean runner or swimmer to succeed didn't help either. But it was the crippling notion that if great athletes quit all the time, how is an overweight weightlifter going to survive training, which caused him to truly start doubting himself. 

As the situation seemed completely hopeless, a light appeared... a beacon of hope in the cold, dark, wet, and sandy moment of discomfort. As if by chance, he discovered the system of tactical fitness phases – getting to and through BUDS were two phases – steppingstones if you will. He saw how things could turn around for him in just in as little time as a month. Being able to see incredible results in a few weeks even though the journey is long was a light at the end of the tunnel each week and month.

Next, he had to prepare himself for the full ride by paying his dues now and doing many of the specific events seen in actual SEAL training to prepare properly to get THROUGH the training (phase 2 of tactical fitness).  This meant longer runs (4 miles) and swims (2 miles with fins in open ocean) and some lifting too in order to prepare for the loads of rucking, logs, and boats. 

In fact, check out this email recently sent to me. He clearly saw how he could accomplish that weight loss goal without falling prey to yo-yo diets, weak discipline, and even thinking about quitting.  And he improved his fitness significantly enough to earn a contract and still have time for finish preparing.