FAQ

I'm sure this will stir up a whole can of defensive bravado and backlash, but I'll pose my question nonetheless.

Can SEALFit really be considered Crossfit, i.e. is it actually in line with those research and results verified methods? I'm skeptical, for a few reasons, but my main concern is this: volume and intensity.

Crossfit methodology is based on carefully prescribing - or scaling - a workout that pushes a person the limit of their work capacity, but does so in a way that still allows them to perform at high intensity. Whether a 1RM Clean or a Cindy, intensity is the constant through all the WODs. From my observations, and dabblings with some of the SEALFit WODs, they are just simply to much volume to allow this kind of intensity.

Take today's WOD for example, just one part of it is 10 rounds of 20 KB swings, 10 pullups, and 400m run. Sure, I could grind through that workout, but it would be just that: a grind. On the other hand, if it was pulled back to 5 rounds the intensity at which I - or anyone else for that matter - could perform would increase exponentially.

I'm not intending to be incendiary, just post an honest exercise science question. Thoughts?

(Oh, and just to anticipate some responses, I'm sure some will say something along the lines of "SEALs and BUD/S candidates are superhumans and they can perform at high intensity longer than you etc." This is just unsound. Even if you're superman, intensity will be far less in a WOD taking 40 minutes than one taking 20.)

You propose the question, is SEALfit Really Crossfit, but you agree that Crossfit didn’t invent anything. You could say that Crossfit Hardcore isn't Crossfit, because they do more that what the Main Site says to do. The athletes that come to SEALFit and Military athlete aren’t here to get a good workout in, they are here to train for a goal, or to build/maintain elite fitness in combat situations. Would a football team practice for 20 minutes, non stop hard core in exchange for the 2.5 hour practice? Would a MMA fighter or Floyd Mayweather stop training 10+ hours a day in exchange for the 1-1-1-1 WOD? Would Lance Armstrong prepare for a Race that requires many days of consecutive competition for a 20 min all out session? The answer is pretty clear. Crossfit relies on the idea that you train hard and short so that you can go out, get all of your life done or go do your sport, while still getting a good workout in. This is not acceptable for elite athletes.

You say you don't agree with what I have said about Crossfit continually changing its methods, but I recently saw a huge article from the Crossfit Journal bashing Gym Jones' method. And anyone who has been around a 100% Crossfit gym knows that many of the coaches think that any other training is weak and inferior to what Crossfit could do. Bottom line is, Crossfit has become a multi million dollar business, because it showed people what has always been true, you can get off your fat *** and get a good workout done in 20 minutes or less, change your diet and lose weight still, so there is no excuse. Many of the followers of Crossfit have been lifting and working out their whole lives; they like it; and they like the idea they can look better with less time in the weight room, or even not in a weight room. They also see how much money can be made, and aggressively attack the "big box" gym because the big box gym is full of turds.

This isn't to say that Crossfit couldn't be incorporated into the elite athletes schedule. For example, say a SEAL had a full day of operational training, ex: Running 6 miles, live fire drills thrown in, Dreager Swim, but at the end of the day they still need to get some sort of extra weight training. Crossfit is perfect, short high intensity, and functional. However, This may not be the case everyday for that SEAL, so he needs more than that short session, so the option of SEALFit seems to be the smarter choice. Why? Because the training provided by SEALFit is more specific to his job, it will make him fast in the water and land, it will help protect his body from injury, and it will better prepare his fine motor skills for his job. In my opinion; you can't always say that is true about Crossfit. So is SEALFit really Crossfit, probably not, but it has taken the best aspects of it and incorporated it into a system of it's own to best prepare the athletes they are training. I!
doubt a 50 year old women would be side to side with you on a SEALFit session, but I know for a fact that a 50 Year old women could be next to you in a Crossfit gym.

"I doubt a 50 year old women would be side to side with you on a SEALFit session, but I know for a fact that a 50 Year old women could be next to you in a Crossfit gym."

Exactly.

SealFit: THESE WODS ARE FOR SEASONED OPERATORS, INDUSTRIAL ATHLETES, AND HARD CORE ADVENTURE ATHLETES. IF YOU ASPIRE TO BE ONE OF US, THEN PROCEED WITH CAUTION...THESE WODS CAN LEAD TO OVERTRAINING - LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!

Crossfit: The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs.

And at the end of the day, don't you usually get out what you put in? If you attack SEALFit with intensity (and you can for the entire hour), you will still get the benefits. It will simply take you longer to adapt to these than it would main site WODs. I haven't been sore in weeks because after doing these WODs, everything else pales in comparison.

To start at the beginning, SEALfit is not Crossfit. One is SEALfit, one is Crossfit, right?

Both employ similar strategies but the differences are obviouse, yes? Your right about intesity being higher if you reduced the overall work but I think your missing the point. Since Fran has been used as a model lets stick with that. There will come a point in Fran when it can not be done any faster, ever. So what do you do then? You either add more weight, add more reps, or add more rounds. In order to progress you have to. So you can see how the natural progression may lead to more volume simply because your fitness level allows for that, if not demans it.

In my opinion. SEALfit is not designed for some fatty just getting off his couch. It is a natual progression for those who's level of fitness has improved to that point. In addtion it adds yet another dimension to your training. "The grind" improves durability, and phsycal as well as mental stamina. A longer workout can be very intimidating and require something of the athlete to keep going.

Recovery is the issue here, and like adding CFE to CF it boils down to progression. You dont dive into what your not physically and mentally prepared to accomplish.

Think of granny and "fran" for trained athletes who have been doing crossfit for years, Fran under 3:00 is not a big deal to granny it is unimaginable. Everything is a progression.

To add my $0.02.

I think the SEALFit program is awesome. There's a lot of smart programming that goes into it and I have no doubt it prepares someone well for BUD/S or Team guys for operations.

However I don't follow SEALFit. Because although I am ultimately training for BUD/S, I have more specific goals that are not addressed by the SEALFit program. For example, I'm trying to get to a 225# C&J and set a 50 mile run PR by the end of the year and there's no way that's going to happen on SEALFit. I have a few other specific goals too. I want to alter my programming toward those goals, so I don't really follow schedules from any website other than the one I create for myself.

I don't really understand the difference between the "stamina" and the "work capacity" sessions. If anyone could explain that to me, I'd appreciate it.

Work Capacity is synomynous with GPP or general physical preparedness. I think a good definition is the ability to tolerate a high workload and to recover sufficiently for the next round, workout or competition.

Stamina is simply staying power or endurance. Work capacity is built primarily through interval type events where as stamina workouts are more steady state. Of course there is lots of crossover and peoples definitions may vary. In the grand scheme of things maybe its just toe may toe ta ma toe.

as it pertains to SEALFit, you'll notice that stamina is also grouped with strength.

I.E.: Find your 3RM Front Squat

Strength/Stamina: For five rounds do 2 reps @ 3RM Front squat, 10 ankles to bar, then jingle-jangles 6x25m sprint back and forth.

When the coaches write this segment they never issue a "for time" order. It's understood that it's to be done briskly, but not at a frantic pace. The adaptation we're striving for is to STAY strong over a longer range of time. We take barbell exercises and Olympic lifts, things that athletes specific to that sport give themselves minutes to recover from, and do them repeatedly with a chaser of some sort to induce fatigue in a much shorter window. It gives a metabolic affect and it really does over a long term cause an adaptation in which necessary recovery time becomes shorter and shorter.
So it's one of those things where strength and stamina are combined and it becomes an adaptation unto itself, at least that's how I see it.

This all can become something of a semantics issue when you start trying to describe stamina/ endurace/ work capacity.

I always believed, though I've never asked the coaches, that the point of the work capacity segment is to show an athlete that through training, although you've already come through a tough stretch with the strength/stamina portion, that you can still rely on the body to perform a long grind where most others would call it a day. Again this is all sport specific for "industrial athletes."

Your mission: clear the beach (warm up: 4x 200m sprint with sandbag), climb this cliff face (weighted pullup 3@ 5RM followed by 20 step-ups w/ 40# DBs 10 each leg), and crawl low through one mile thick brush to avoid detection (10 rounds of 10 alligator pushups , 20m walking lunge, etc.), assault target, exfil (2 mile run.)

Though the scenario I've described doesn't exactly resemble a normal SEALFit workout, hopefully you can kind of see my point. The real world scenarios are varied, and this is the coaches' way of trying to get sport specific for that end, or as close as possible.

SEAL Candidates

Are you a SEAL or SOF candidate wondering whether SEAL FIT is right for you? The following discussion with a SEAL candidate will be helpful:

Lets discuss the PST, first its the minimum standard to get accepted into the program. So in light of that we don't view it as much more than a check in the box. It is merely a test that when the time comes you will totally crush.

Our program is designed for warriors by warriors. All the coaches are Seals who have served or are serving in combat. We design our workouts not for tests but for the battlefield. Having said that you have to understand that BUD/S is a simulation of combat. The entire work tempo in training strongly corilates to the workload and hours a typical assault team endures during a workup and deployment.

So having said that you will notice that the difference between SealFit and other programs is that we have a lot of weightlifting involved. Some will tell you that you need to focus on calisthenics, running and swimming more. Its not false but our philosophy is that the boats, logs, and tanks don't ever get lighter. As a former instructor I have seen more injuries come from guys with weak core strength. These guys are great runners and swimmers but once the logs, boats, and tanks get pulled out they fall to shit.

Also once you get to the team, everything you do will involve weight. You will do nothing without external weight and gear. So if your not ready for it your much more prone to injury.

What we do is focus on power, endurance and mental toughness. The weightlifting we do is all power focused. We don't focus on isolation movement's, we focus on Olympic weightlifting because it builds serious core power. When we run we run hard, we don't do jogs or much long distance running. Why? First it breaks you down and it promotes upper body muscle depletion. The more you run the leaner you get and the weaker you get.

Yes you need to run, but you don't need to run as much as people think. Its like anything else, if your going to do it make it count. So when we run we do sprints and we do them hard. Most of our workouts are 100, 400 and 800 meter sprints. Our goal is sustained work over a broad time domain.

In other words we simulate combat, maintain, sustain explode and then go back to maintaining and sustaining. Over time you will build the capacity to do this for hours and days. You will have the mental toughness to do this wet, cold and tired. This is what it is all about.

Will our program improve your PST? Yes. But at the same time we are going to be getting you ready to not attend BUD/S but to complete it and become a member of the warrior elite. Will you become a Seal if you do SealFit? If the stars are aligned and its destined to be then yes but if your not prepared then no matter what the stars are doing you will never join the club.

Having said that - please read these instructions and ask questions you may have for the BUD/s Prep program directly to the Navy SEAL / SWCC Scouts in these forums.

SEAL Fit Operator WOD (Workout of the Day) is not for trainees, unless they meet these standards:

    * Are competitive athletes trained in CrossFit or Olympic lifting and
    * Have access to a qualified coach, and / or
    * Are former operators or first responders and can exceed the elevated standards on the PST

The main SEAL FIT WOD is a hard-core, functional strength, work capacity, endurance and mental toughness workout designed for Operators and serious "Industrial Athletes" who rely on their bodies to accomplish their job's mission.   The SEAL FIT WOD is NOT for the untrained Navy SEAL candidate, who should focus on reaching the competetive standards on the PST as a primary goal.

The SEAL FIT online coaching program is a way to get virtual coaching support if you seek to embark on this type of functional training -whether you are a SEAL Candidate or a civilian who seeks to learn to train like the SEALs train.

NSW SCOUTS:

The Naval Special Warfare Center has the following to say about SEAL Candidate training:

The Naval Special Warfare Physical Training Guide is the official training/preparation resource endorsed by NSW for all Navy Special Operations programs (SEAL, SWCC, EOD, DIVER, and AIRR). The Physical Training Guide, along with additional supporting documents, can be found here:

http://www.sealswcc.com/Training/Docs.htm

Additional information and discussions related to the Physical Training Guide can be found here:

http://community.active.com/community/fitness/navyseal?view=discussions

The Physical Training Guide supersedes any previous publications such as the “BUD/S Warning Order”. The Physical Training Guide was developed by the NSW Director of Fitness in collaboration with several Spec War operators, instructors, and medical specialists. The recommendations in the Physical Training Guide reflect the most current and accurate knowledge regarding the demands of programs such as BUD/S, the physical qualities necessary to succeed, and injuries associated with participation. The recommendations are evidence-based and empirically driven based on years of research on military and athletic populations. The Physical Training Guide focuses on developing running and swimming proficiency, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility as well as core strength. Recommendations are intended to promote progressive development in these areas within a reasonable amount of time spent training daily and over a realistic duration (approximately six months), and utilizing equipment or facilities likely to be available to the majority of candidates. It is assumed that most candidates are healthy, young, moderately fit, and motivated to improve. It is recommended that the Physical Training Guide be followed fairly closely, but there is allowance for variation or modification in certain circumstances. This includes candidates who have either a lower baseline fitness level or a more advanced level of fitness than the typical candidate. It is also recognized that some candidates will have access to qualified advisers (such as SEAL Mentors) who can help them adjust the basic program to their specific circumstances (fitness level, experience, resources) while still maintaining the core principles advocated in the Physical Training Guide.

In plain english from Coach Dan:

Running is great but a high amount of running such as what a marathon runner does can and will cause upper body muscle depletioin. Keep in mind the more you run the more muscle mass you lose. First to go is the arms and the chest (hint the push-ups). Yes you need to be able to long distance runs as well as short distance runs. But you don't need to do them 4-times a week. If you insist on running 4 or more times per week then make sure you are chaning your shoes every 100-miles.

Our program has all the running you will need already included. We do less running then you think you need for several reasons. Distance running is an anaerobic exercise where you are only working at 40%. In Special Operations selection you will need to condition your body to work at around 60% under a load. So right off the bat you aren't working at the capacity you need to be if your workouts are based on running.

Our workouts are designed to get your running in order, keep your strength up and then push you into long periods of anaerobic phases. During the workouts you want to push yourself as hard as possible and rest as little as possible, no longer than 10 seconds at a time. If you are doing this then you will find that the running is the easy part of your day and its simply a verification of your running capacity.

CrossFit and SealFit were invented to reduce injuries and create stronger, faster, and more hardcore athletes. These systems especially SealFit are designed to get you working at 65-85% of your capacity for short, medium and long periods of time. They were especially developed to be ready for the unexpected. Bottom line more running isn't going to help you it will most likely hurt you over time. Yes, you feel great and I am sure you look good but keep in mind your not at training yet. You aren't humping an 80lb ruck every day for 3-weeks and you aren't sleep deprived, wet, cold or tired. All these things break the body down so you want to arrive at training as healthy and injury free as possible.

You should be swimming and keep in mind that it is a compliment to your running and can be substituted for it. But also keep in mind that the swimming your going to do in training isn't just long distance its stressful. You should be doing Swimming WODS as well. WODS that make you beg for mercy, IE sprints and more sprints, with push ups, sit ups, burpees after each sprint. Your lungs should be on fire. Why, your going to be swimming in full kit in heavy surf when its wet and cold. No one gives a shit how far or how fast you can swim, they care that you are comfortable and conditioned for the extreme and that you are functional when you hit the beach.

Push ups, Your body needs rest and time to recuperate and time to grow. The chest is a major muscle group it needs time to rest. Do push ups once or twice a week and make them perfect and with full range of motion. You will see your numbers increase. Also start doing bench press at body weight and work yourself up to 30 reps with no rest. Your goal is 225lbs for 20 reps no rest. This will help you immensely with your strength and most of all total reps. Dips, shoulder presses and handstand push ups are just as vital as well. 500 hundred push ups a day is 300 to many. My workouts were 20 sets of 10, I called it ten, ten and ten. Ten regular, ten tricep and ten dive bomber, :30 seconds rest and then repeat. I did this once or twice a week and I always averaged over 100 push ups for my entire career.

Screenig tests, take them once a month, this will give you greater time for improvement and once again recovery. Also stick to one system CrossFit or SealFit not both. Why? The workouts are structured to make sure the participant is not overusing one muscle group. Our system is planned out to make sure the participant gets enough rest. If you bounce around then you have a great chance of working a muscle group or joint into failure. There is a reason why we do 3 days on and 1 day off.

Bottom line stick to the plan and let the experts get you ready. We have over a 90% success rate and those that have failed have quit or been to hard headed to stick to the plan. Also quit reading all that runners world and muscle and fitness crap. Its useless garbage, if it was valuable then why do 80% of all runners suffer an debilitating injury. CrossFit and SealFit were designed by experts not muscle heads and gym rats. These systems were designed by exercise physiologists, bio-mechanical physiologists and orthopedic surgeons. All our workouts are tested and constantly modified and researched.

Be safe, train hard, and most of all train smart.

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