Workout

Ten General Physical Skills are cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.  Through measurable organic changes in the body, training improves endurance, stamina, strength, and flexibility.  Improvements in coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy come through the practice of activities that improve performance through changes in the nervous system.  Power and speed are adaptations of both training and practice. 

The essence of the Performance of Mission Related Tasks standard is that an individual SEAL can perform well at any and every mission related task imaginable.  This is closely aligned with the reality of life, which provides largely unforeseeable challenges.  With this in mind, training should not be “routine” in sets, rest periods, reps, exercises, order of exercises, periodization, etc.

The three Energy Systems that provide energy for all human activity are known as the phosphagen pathway, the glycolytic pathway, and the oxidative pathway.  The phosphagen pathway dominates the highest powered activities that last less than 10 seconds.  The glycolytic pathway dominates the moderate power activities that last up to several minutes.  The oxidative pathway dominates the lowest powered activities that last in excess of several minutes.  Total fitness requires competency and training in each of these pathways.  Balancing the effects of the three pathways largely determines the how and why of the metabolic conditioning that is a result of PT.