The Making of a Navy SEAL

Teammates, a couple questions I often get are, "What's SEAL training really like? Who are the SEALs recruiting these days?" Check out what NBC's Today show learned when they had unprecented access for nine months to the world of the Navy's Silent Warriors.

"From high-tech weapons and underwater demolition to hand-to-hand combat and parachuting into war zones, NBC’s Chris Jansing takes a look at the making of a Navy SEAL." Notice what phrase comes up again and again: Extreme Fitness.

Did you know a Newsweek reporter wrote about Bronze Star Lieutenant Commander Tom Rancich's SEAL Hellweek aka BUD/S? Tom is a CHARLIE MIKE blogger too! N.B. every CM SEAL blogger has written about their BUD/S week. Lastly, read Warrior Elite: Forging SEAL Class 228 by Dick Couch.

CHARLIE MIKE -- ALDEN

What's extreme fitness and why should you care?

Extreme fitness is another way of saying “get out of your comfort zone” fitness. Set your goal just a little out of reach and go for it! If you never push yourself, you’ll never get better at anything you do, whether it’s trying something new or strengthening your muscles. You should care about extreme fitness because it’s about learning a mindset to help you push your boundaries in whatever you do. Your success in anything you undertake is directly linked with your success at controlling your body. In SEAL Team our number one weapon’s platform is our body, first and foremost. Everything else is secondary.

In your life, your body is your experience platform: how your body performs in large part dictates the experiences you can enjoy, from climbing a mountain* (like I did a few weeks ago) to body surfing a wave to bicycling with your children. Each of us has our own goals for our body and what we want to do with it, but a funny thing happens when you achieve a goal: you set one a little harder than the last one because your confidence is stronger…and there’s no going back! Just ask Lance Armstrong!

It becomes a wonderful addiction that can propel you to living a life that you might have felt was unattainable. It was unattainable because you focused on the end goal, not the first baby step. Would you try to do to a 5.5 mile open ocean swim before completing a 500 yard swim? No! Whether you apply the concepts of extreme fitness to your body or other areas of your life is your business, but one thing is for sure, we’re all going to die, so why not get the most of life while we can? I say Go For It!

CHARLIE MIKE -- ALDEN

* aerial photo of Mt. Whitney courtesy of National Parks Service

Work Out with SEAL Stew Smith's PT Group

Guest blogger: Stew Smith CSCS

An aspiring SEAL asked: I am currently training in order to go to BUD/S. I picked up your Perfect Pullup and have been using it a lot but am unsure as to where I should be at physically in relation to the Perfect Pullup and what some good workouts would be to really get the training and muscle growth that I need to be more successful at BUD/S. I was just wondering how do you become a Navy SEAL?

Good question - You need to be able to perform the SEAL PST well and should feel like you could do it again. In fact, my SEAL wanna-be's and I frequently do a double PST = that means:

500 yd swim
pushups - 2:00
situps - 2:00
pullups - max reps
1.5 mile run

Then we do it again...once you get to that zone and can do sets of 80-100 pushups and 20+ pullups you are there but your runs and swims have to be fast too. See Top Ten BUD/S Things You Need to Know Article below:

Some say it takes lifetime of preparation to become a Navy SEAL - I recommend young guys to get involved with:

1. Team Sports - it helps to know what it means to be a team player - working together with a group of people to accomplish a goal / mission...

2. Fitness - yes you need to be fit - getting to a high level of physical fitness will also enable you to grow mentally tough as well. It is tough to go to failure on sets and run so hard you feel ill afterwards. Sometimes it takes getting over these physical hurdles by mentally willing yourself through them...

3. Grades - you have to be smart - many enlisted SEALs are college grads, know a language, logical and analytical thinkers, some are very creative as well.

4. Talk to a recruiter either officer or enlisted recruiter - you can enlist after high school or go officer after college via ROTC, OCS, or USNA - if you do not know these acronyms - then do some research.

5. - Finally - read www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/toptenBUDS.htm - it is the Top Ten Things you Should Know Before BUD/S...

Stew Smith CSCS

FREE WORKOUTS IN MARYLAND - If your travels bring you near Annapolis or Baltimore MD, come join our PT group. We PT, Run, Swim 5-6 days a week usually in the morning during the week and in the afternoon on weekends. We use running, swimming, Perfect Pushups and Perfect Pullups...


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Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author, certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. If you are interested in starting a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle - check out the StewSmith.com Fitness eBook store and the Stew Smith article archive at StewSmith.com. And of course, if you have any questions about fitness for your profession or for your personal health, please feel free to email me at stew@stewsmith.com.

Stew Smith CSCS
Personal Trainer to the Heroes of Tomorrow

What Does It Take To Make It As A SEAL?

Guest Blogger: Tom Rancich

oklanannie said... What guidance, encouragement or suggestions would you make to a young man with the goal of becoming a Navy SEAL? He is in his junior year of college, an excellent student, 4-year swim team member and an all around top-notch young man. What criteria is the Navy looking for - i.e., what does it take to make it as a SEAL?

Stay away from drugs and stupidity—to include excessive drinking, i.e. keep healthy. Then, really consider what a SEAL is—look for the "creed" to be posted in my answer later to Joe G's question—read a few books (Commandos, Brave Men Dark Waters, The Finishing School, Not a Good Day to Die).

Then, after college, join the Navy as an enlisted man. This is important as assuming your eyesight etc. is good (recruiter can tell you) you are guaranteed to be able to go to BUDS. Officers do not get that consideration and the competition for slots as BUDS is too competitive---in that, everyone trying is of such high quality that it becomes almost random selection---Like a 1 in 500 chance---but by then you are already committed to the Navy---so if you truly want to be a SEAL, your best chance is to enlisted—get a shot at BUDS—then try for a commission after a few tours---that is a better career path anyway (wish I had done it that way).

And there is only one key to making it through BUDS---do not quit!
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Lt. Commander Thomas Rancich, US Navy SEAL (Ret.) is the co-founder of VRHabilis, a disabled veteran-owned small business that seeks to employ the highly trained and motivated veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for work in construction and related fields. Rancich and co-founder Elliott Adler are pioneering the concept of using adaptive technology to bridge the gap between industrial and medical technology. Their company contributes proceeds to two worthy causes: a fund for the development of adaptive technology that will allow disabled veterans to pursue their desired career path and the EOD Wounded Warrior Fund.





Through his consulting firm, Off-Shore Consulting, Tom provides professional advice on leadership and team building, often as a motivational speaker, in addition to being an expert consultant to the entertainment industry.

Alden Mills and Charlie Mike blogger Tom Rancich served together in the Teams.