The Navy SEAL Physical Fitness Guide 49
Basic Workouts
The most important issue with respect to workouts is recovery. Rest is an
exceedingly important factor in recovery from strenuous workouts, so back-to-back high
intensity workouts are not encouraged. Experts recommend a hard day followed by an easy
day, and at least one day of rest over a seven day period. This can be an excellent plan, but
you should also let your body be your guide. Some days when you go to workout and feel
great, this day can and should be a hard workout day. On other days when it is an effort to
even get your workout clothes on, this should either be a rest day or an easy day.
Easy days could be a run, bike, or swim at a very comfortable pace for 60 minutes
or more, an easy short workout, or a short hump with a light load. A hard day may be
intervals, fartleks, a fast pace for a specified period of time, a long hump with a heavy load,
or a competition among team members. The key is to make it fun, challenging, and
interesting.
Table 3-12. Energy Expended (kcal/hr) on a Climber
at Designated Weights and Feet per Minute
Weight in
lbsFeet Climbed Per Minute
40 60 80 100 120 140