Stew Smith Fitness News — mental toughness

Here is a question I get often concerning the way a person prepares for Special Ops type training programs for both military and law enforcement SWAT teams. My answer is usually, “It depends - Not only on the training you seek, but your athletic history / background.” Here is his question and my lengthy answer that takes many of the body types and foundation of fitness issues that arise when people start a training plan for Spec Ops.Stew I'm going to guess you've already answered this question somewhere, so forgive my redundancy. I'm 27 and looking to get into the...

First of all - if you are not in the military - do not even worry about this yet. You have to be in the military and have served for 4-5 years with stellar service record. So until you have that...keep the dream alive but focus on the acing the basics first.“Delta Force”, officially known as 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D), is one of the United State’s special missions units primarily focused on the counter- terrorism mission. SFOD - Delta has been through a few name changes over the years. Though it will likely always be known as...

          As a fitness writer / trainer, I enjoy receiving emails from people asking for help with achieving their goals.  In fact, many of the emails I receive each week give me great ideas to develop into articles, APPs, eBooks, and occasionally a published book.  The primary goal of a fitness writer should be to provide insight and safe methods to assist readers with a path to better themselves physically.  This is a very powerful responsibility to hold, because it is often experienced that through increased physical fitness levels people improve their capabilities in many other...

This week I received an email that brought back a few old memories of Army Airborne training in Fort Benning , GA. This young soldier wishes to become an Army Ranger and wants to know what he needs to do to prepare each step of the way.If anyone is preparing to become a member of any Special Operations Group (Army SF, Rangers, Navy SEALs, Marine RECON, Air Force PJs, EOD units, and others) they all must graduate from the Army Basic Airborne Course (BAC) in Fort Benning. Not only is it a prerequisite for Special Ops, but it has become...

Understanding the Psychology of Fitness  When you think about any growth process from goal achievement, fitness training, business / career goals, there is a unique journey that takes place that is not typically easy. In fact, the journey maybe riddled with doubts, failures and learning experiences that can start to replace the focused hard work that you have put in to getting to where you are at that point in time.    I have often used the five phases to describe to people how they are going to feel in the near future about starting a fitness program whether as...