Stew Smith Fitness News

When on a Navy war ship (or submarine), you have two issues to deal with: lack of time and lack of space (unless you are on a huge ship, then you will have access to moderate scaled weight rooms -- but you still have the issue of time).This week a Navy Sailor emailed me and got me thinking back to the underway deployments I was on, and what we did to stay fit -- or to at least maintain an advanced level of fitness. He wrote:I'm currently in a deployable billet. I know some people come back a few pounds...

I often get emails from soldiers and civilians who are training for Ranger or Special Forces courses on how to prepare for the Ruck Marches. Many civilians training to join the Army ask more specific questions concerning how the Ruck Marches are performed. For example here is a Ranger / SF hopeful:I'm currently a civilian and about to join the Army and go Ranger, then HOPEFULLY to SF. So, for beginner/first timer's, do I start with about 25 lbs. in my backpack? Is that at a "normal marching" speed or borderline jogging or should I just be walking "briskly"? Finally,...

I had several emails this week that require short and sweet answers, so I have compiled a list of the top five questions that were most commonly asked. They are the following:Are pulls ups and dips considered resistance training? Yes any weight - even your body weight - is considered resistance training. If you are a person who the doctor or trainer recommends adding resistance training into your program, chances are you are probably ONLY doing cardio workouts or a beginner to exercise.Resistance training is moving various joints of your body through a full range of motion with applied force...

Ever since I wrote The Grinder PT – Key to Mental Toughness eBook, I have noticed that the majority of people who attempt one of my toughest workouts I have ever created do quite well on pushups tests upon finishing. This eBook is modeled after the first month of SEAL training, where pushups are done five days a week in the magnitude of several hundred a day. Improving surprised me – I assumed the workout would border on over-training and it does but with proper rest / recovery you can increase pullups and pushups in two weeks. This went against...

This week, I sent several emails to people seeking to ace their military physical fitness tests. In my closing, I always remind people not to give up and that they will "succeed by failing." Some people get it and understand that to improve with pushups, pull-ups, situps, and other high-repetition calisthenics testing exercises, you have to push yourself until you can't do any more reps. Then, you can try a few more of the easier versions like knee pushups, assisted pull-ups or negatives, and crunches respectively. Once you get to that burning sensation, you are reaching the peak of the...