SEAL Physical Training Manual

Chapter 12 Weight Training
Long-term heavy-duty combat is the type of combat that puts the greatest physical test on the SEALs.SEALs must be able to carry out any form of heavy-duty combat on any battlefield, whether it is a conventional battlefield such as rivers, jungles, deserts, or mountains, or a special battlefield such as polar regions or the equator; whether it is conventional combat methods or other forms of infiltration operations.Before performing a mission, the SEAL team leader must make a deployment of the type and weight of the load, and decide which weapons to carry (conventional combat equipment or special combat equipment) and the minimum load.

The development of composite weapon systems and detection technology, while improving weapon firepower and combat safety, also puts forward new requirements and challenges for SEALs in heavy-duty combat, because these high-tech combat equipment are usually heavy.

SEALs usually have to carry out weight-bearing combat simulation training, including short-range weight-bearing exercises and long-range weight-bearing exercises.During the exercise, factors such as weather, terrain, body moisture, and environmental adaptability should be considered comprehensively.

Insufficient weight-bearing training at ordinary times will cause the SEALs to lose their physical strength during the weight-bearing battle.

Causes excessive fatigue and muscle strain.

This chapter will introduce weight training from the following aspects to fully prepare for battle:

Human physiological factors and environmental factors;
optimal load;

weight-bearing physical training;

Common injuries and diseases.

Section [-] Human Physiological Factors and Environmental Factors
1.Physical Characteristics and Carrying Weight
Ideally, the weight should be determined according to the individual's body weight, rather than a rigidly prescribed uniform weight.However, in actual combat, the captain is often not allowed to think so much, and all team members must work together to complete the task.Therefore, the upper limit of the load must be calculated in advance, so as to prevent those fighters who are smaller and lighter in weight from consuming too much energy and causing exhaustion.

When fighting, determining the load is more important than choosing weapons and equipment.According to relevant research, the optimal load can be calculated according to the proportion of body weight, which usually refers to the maximum weight that can be borne before the physical consumption increases disproportionately.Although some soldiers have high scores in physical fitness tests, they can theoretically carry 45% of their body weight in equipment and march at a speed of 6.4 kilometers per hour for 8 hours, but the actual load is best lower than this indicator.

The first golden rule: The maximum weight limit is 40% of your body weight.

Taking the weight of 70 kg as an example, the load weight should be 28 kg.

In actual combat, physical energy consumption often exceeds this ratio.Reports have shown that when fighting with heavy loads, physical energy consumption will increase proportionally.If you carry more than 40% of your body weight, you will experience fatigue very quickly.The key is to place the weaponry near the center of gravity of the body.This will reduce physical energy consumption, so soldiers usually use their backs to carry weight.

2.Biomechanical rationale for weight bearing
When the weight exceeds 50% of the body weight, although it will not increase the ground contact time of the feet, it will prolong the walking time and thus reduce the walking speed.As the weight of the load increases, the pressure on the feet on the ground will also increase. At this time, the pace should be reduced, the pace frequency should be increased, and the normal march should be maintained.

Walking in small steps minimizes stress on the body and reduces lower back and plantar injuries.

3.Weight and walking speed
When walking at a self-paced speed (Self-pacing), the human body consumes less energy.However, actual combat often requires soldiers to march at a uniform speed (Forced-pacing), which consumes a lot of physical energy; especially when marching with a heavy load, the physical energy consumption is even greater.The self-selected speed and training intensity of weight training are affected by the following three factors:

load weight
Aerobic capacity
walking distance
When carrying out 23 kg moderate weight training, the self-selected speed should be 30% to 35% of the maximum aerobic metabolic capacity.

When the load is light, the exercise intensity is usually about 45% of the maximum aerobic capacity.However, the exercise intensity of short-distance low-weight training can also reach 60% of the maximum aerobic capacity.Remember: When entering or evacuating the battlefield, two factors, walking speed and carrying weight, together determine the level of physical exertion.Figure 10-1 is a trend chart of negative weight and walking speed curves.High energy expenditure rates (900-1000 calories/hour) can only be maintained for 6-10 minutes.If you want to walk fast at this intensity, you must reduce the load.

Walking at a speed that consumes more than 300 calories per hour will consume a huge amount of physical energy, and you will be exhausted before you reach your destination.Figure 10-2 is the trend chart of marching speed under different terrains and loads. Please note that the physical energy consumption here is 300 calories per hour.

4.body moisture

Weight training must replenish water in time to maintain the water balance in the body.Dehydration often occurs in normal training, and the possibility of dehydration is greater in weight training, and the risk of training is higher, especially when environmental factors are ignored. "Navy Seal Commando Men's Training Guide" has a detailed introduction on how to properly replenish water, and here is just a brief explanation: during weight training, 30 to 2 glasses of drinks should be added every 3 minutes.

Weight training consumes more water than normal training.

5.envirnmental factor

Dry heat/moist heat: Training with weights in this environment puts more heat stress on the body.In addition to resisting thermal stress from the sun or other external factors, the human body also has to deal with thermal stress released by itself.Compared with Alice backpack and other multi-purpose backpacks, which will prevent the heat from escaping from the body, the nylon mesh vest will dissipate heat better.

Low-temperature environment: To train in this environment, you need to wear thicker cold-proof clothing. Strenuous exercise will cause the body to sweat (especially the backpack part is more prone to sweat), thereby increasing physical energy consumption.At the end of training, if the underwear is soaked with sweat, dehydration can easily occur.

High-altitude environment: The higher the altitude, the lower the air pressure and the lower the oxygen content, which reduces exercise capacity.

Sandy ground: Compared with a solid sports ground, the physical energy consumption of sandy training will increase by up to 80%; the worse the ground, the greater the physical energy consumption.

6.lack of sleep

Lack of sleep can reduce thinking skills, mainly including attention, logical reasoning, and thought process.On the contrary, physical fitness is less affected by sleep, and lack of sleep for 3-4 days will not have much impact on physical fitness.

7.protective clothing

During weight training, the breathability and heat dissipation of protective clothing must be considered.In an environment with nuclear radiation and biochemical radiation, it is necessary to wear highly heat-resistant and radiation-resistant protective clothing.

Use of combat personnel protection (MOPP) gear requires specific work/rest schedules and hydration protocols.When wearing MOPP for weight training, the work/rest schedule can be appropriately adjusted down, while the hydration schedule should be adjusted up.Using MOPP appliances is equivalent to increasing the temperature by 10°C, so it is easy to cause high temperature sickness.

The second part of weight-bearing physical training

High-intensity heavy-duty combat requires extremely high physical fitness, and most ordinary people's physical training programs and naval special forces physical training programs cannot meet this requirement.This section mainly explains the physical requirements for weight-bearing combat and how to formulate a weight-bearing physical fitness training plan.

1.Fundamental contents

On the basis of the basic principles of special training (see Chapter 1 for details), weight-bearing physical training includes basic physical training such as strength, speed, and endurance. The training content is as follows:
Weight-bearing "march" training: a basic principle of special training, weight-bearing training.In order to become proficient in a skill, repeated training is necessary.In combat, they can march with heavy loads for a long time, but they must carry out simulated marching training with heavy loads in peacetime.

Resistance training: Weight bearing requires good strength quality.The power weight can improve the weight carrying capacity and combat level.

Aerobic training: Very important for weight training.Marching with heavy loads for a long time requires high physical fitness. Soldiers with strong aerobic metabolism can meet this requirement and walk faster.

Anaerobic training: High-intensity combat requires soldiers to have high anaerobic metabolism and strength quality.Different weight-bearing tasks will use different muscle groups, mainly including two types of military tasks: fast short-range weight-bearing and slow-speed long-range weight-bearing.

Pure strength training and running endurance training will not improve weight-bearing capacity;

Cross-country walking training is the best weight training method.

2.Weight Training Guide

Here are a few basic guidelines to follow when weight training:
At the beginning of training, the weight should be 20% of your body weight, and you should do short-term back weight training once a week.

As the training progresses, gradually increase the load to 25%, 30%, and 40% of the body weight, and it can be heavier according to combat needs.

负重量达到40%时，开始增加行军距离。逐渐提高距离，提高至11、13、15、20千米，至少要提高到20千米。至少进行1个月的越野徒步负重行军训练。

3.How to maintain weight bearing fitness

To march 40 kilometers with a load (16% of your body weight) requires at least the following training:
2 upper and lower body strength training sessions per week;
Run at least 3-4 days a week for 30 minutes each time;

Do weight training at least every other week, preferably every week.

How to achieve the best load in the third section
Calculating the optimal weight for each individual is not easy.The definition of optimal load itself is "contradictory" because under ideal conditions there is no need to load.The factors that affect the best load-bearing mainly include marching speed, load-bearing weight, climate, strength, terrain, clothing, etc.Every war has its own characteristics and requirements.Table 10-1 describes ways to maintain fitness and optimize weight loading while loading.Combining these factors, the correct weight training will surely maximize the weight.

Section [-] Common Injuries and Diseases
In physical training, many major injuries are related to weight bearing.Most damage is not serious, however, any damage can reduce agility and ultimately affect the speed of the team's march.Knowing common injuries can help treat and avoid these problems.Chapter 12 of this book introduces various types of training injuries in detail. The most common weight-bearing training injuries include the following:
Foot Soak (See Appendix C)

Backache
Stress fracture

Muscle nerve paralysis caused by backpack load

Dehydration
Other minor injuries: such as leg pain, foot pain

in conclusion
Appropriate aerobic training and anaerobic training, plus 2 months of back weight training, can increase the weight of the weight, reduce physical consumption, and reduce skeletal muscle damage.

(End of this chapter)