SOFREP Team PT with Norwood will being this coming Monday, November 21st. We’ll interview fitness experts and offer training and nutrition advice.

Team PT – Monday thru Friday – no more than four times a week in the gym. Strict diet with general guidelines. About an hour session of training a session. The sessions that will be longer are optional and for those intending to go to selection or get into selection type level of fitness.

This is what I intend to start posting, every wee morning, every day, daily Team PT training session. I’ll do it a week out with anyone in the DC Metro area interested in joining. We’ll make sure the flow makes sense and that we aren’t overwhelmed. I’ll have another athlete that will be doing bodyweight training sessions for whoever wants to start anew and hasn’t exercised in some time.

I’ll be training as though I might be headed to selection one day – and have a dear friend who is prepared to rebuild. That athlete will train with body weight and eventually progress toward lifting and something closer to training for selection. My hope is to add a third to the party who is more advanced in age. One thing that is missing from most exercise routines and plans for people are plans tailored for those who are not just veterans, but, basically, old.

No, I didn’t go to the Olympics – but I’ve been an athlete most of my life. I take fitness seriously and it’s an important part of my life; something that’s become increasingly difficult to find time when you’re on your own, not on a team.

My own credentials in training is, obviously, passing selection. Second is a top ten finish at Bataan Death March and second place at Mountain Man Memorial March. I haven’t been back stateside in order to compete in the following years, but – I am now.

However, I don’t intend to put the kind of time I did when I was on a team. I don’t have the time and I’d have to gradually build the energy and stamina back. But, I’d love to – in a reasonable timeframe. I have read studies that suggest you can extend your life by simply running ten minutes a day without stop. If you aren’t working out now, why not start? You know it’s good for you. If you’re thinking about joining the army and heading to selection – why wouldn’t you train with people who have done it?

My style, so to speak has always been the work of Rob Shaul at Military Athlete, now Mountain Tactical Insitute. It’s grueling, difficult, sometimes awful – but helped me discover what it means to be well rounded, fit, and durable. Durability is key, as well as mental resilience, and I know no better way to develop either without fitness training.

We can prepare anyone who wants to join the army and anyone heading to selection. We’ll ruck, run, and ruckrun.

Since leaving active duty ranks many have a difficult time prioritizing fitness the same as they did when active. Well, their priorities have changed and there are only so many hours in a day. But, fitness and training is woven into the SOF state of being.

At any point while on a team, you should be able to pass your own selection with a reasonable and relatively brief train up. Maybe you lost your step at running or rucking but for a team player, there’s no reason to be out of shape. For veterans there is no mandate. But I wonder if veterans would be more productive in their civilians lives if some elements of their military ones carried over. Moreover, I think the community centered around exercising with the same routine and an exchange on the workouts builds a sense of community, a sense of community that some veterans might be looking for in their civilian lives.

Whatever the case, whether you’re headed for selection, want to join a gym but are unsure what you’d do there, or just want to get back into some state of fitness – just try some of this out. Whatever works, we’ll keep. Likewise, whatever doesn’t, we’ll scrap. More to follow!

Featured image courtesy of DoD