Navy SEAL Fitness

[Chilito]

Hey,
I've been doing a powerlifting oriented weight routine for a while now, but I've noticed that my endurance has gone way down because of it. I was going to switch to a calisthenics program to get my endurance back up. Does anyone have any experience with the Navy SEAL Fitness program that Stewart Smith put out? Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

 

[Madmick]

Why has your conditioning suffered because of your lifting? Are you not doing your cardio?

If the lack of endurance is a muscular one (as opposed to a cardiovascular one), then you need to plan an ME phase for lifting. You can't powerlift year-round and expect muscular endurance.

 

[my big toe]

Stew's book is pretty good, but it is geared more towards passing BUD's. There's some good stuff in there, but if you aren't training to be a SEAL, then you should probably do another program. There are some good pyramids in there, but some of isn't very practical, like doing swim/pushup pyramids, sand running, etc. His Maximum Fitness book is geared more towards general fitness.

 

[Bubble Boy]

I can't find my Navy Seals Workout book right now (somewhere in the junk heap that is my garage), so I don't know if it's the same one you guys are talking about. The one I had is also geared toward being ready for BUD's.

I tried to follow the program for a while several years ago. As I recall it was fairly time consuming for a guy like myself working full time, going to school, raising a family, etc.

Speaking very broadly, the program was basically high rep stuff with some strength training. Lot's of running and swimming.
The book had core routines that were pretty brutal. A core routine might look something like:
6 sets 100 pushups
6 sets 100 situps
4 sets 50 pullups
4 sets 50 burpees
etc, etc, etc....
You get the idea. They were huge routines that would take an hour or so to do.
Then you'd run A LOT, usually high mileage (6 - 10 miles) with sprint days also.
Of course they swim a good amount also.
A couple days in the weight room.

Basically when I followed it I worked out all the time, mostly high rep, and lot's of running and cycling (I replaced the swimming part with bicycling because I didn't have access to a pool nearby). I modified it heavily over time to match my schedule until it didn't really look much like the Seals workout at all.

My advice:
If you have the time, do it. But remember it's a lifestyle for these guys trying to become Navy Seals. It's all they do. Figure out what fits into your schedule and maybe modify it some to make it work.
Good luck.