Naval Special Warfare physical training guide

Begin every training mode at week one of this twenty-six-week plan. If you already have endurance training experience, you may choose a later starting point for long-distance work, but start continuous high-intensity work and intervals at week one. Follow this weekly order: long-distance run, high-intensity swim, running intervals, long-distance swim, high-intensity run, swimming intervals, then recovery. Run 5.2 miles in week ten. Work around ninety to ninety-five percent of your maximum pace for continuous high-intensity training; after week twelve, do two bouts and move easily between them. Recover for half the work duration unless you choose a different amount beforehand. Running intervals are quarter miles and swimming intervals are one hundred yards. Recover for two to two-and-a-half times the preceding effort’s duration, adjusting between efforts if your times vary; a test result does not set your pace automatically. Add upper-body strength on Monday and Friday, lower-body strength on Tuesday and Saturday, core on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and calisthenics on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. For strength, choose eight to twelve movements and do one set of eight to twelve near maximum effort, with a second set optional. Use your tested push-up, sit-up and pull-up maxima to choose the calisthenic range, choosing which range to use when boundaries overlap. You can choose optional core sessions from any of five periods. Count alternating bridge and bird-dog reps in total, and hold bridges, bird-dogs and supermans for three to four seconds. Choose the core period and your individual strength and calisthenic work before training. Warm up easily for five to ten minutes before long-distance work, or at least ten to fifteen minutes before high-intensity work or intervals, including four to five bursts of fifteen to thirty seconds. After long-distance work, cool down with two to three minutes of easy movement and two to three minutes of brisk walking. After other work, keep cooling down until your breathing and heart rate settle. Choose durations within these ranges, stretch as instructed and practise the test skills. Strength weights and swimming stroke are not set, and there is no automatic progression after week twenty-six.

• Swimming pool