GRAVY seals/Prepper training program

GRAVY seals/Prepper training program

I have been talking with friends about the GRAVY seals. Not to ever be mistaken with the navy SEALS. These are people that you can read about and I’m not trying to disparage them. Instead, my goal here is to write them a training program which would allow them to get in to enough physical condition where they are actually physically capable to do something. What this means is you need to train for long periods of time to increase performance. If your goal is to be part of a militia or to be a prepper, you need to be physically fit.

If the entire world shuts down and you are left with just your own equipment you need to be in good enough shape to carry that equipment and survive. Now this does mean carrying some body fat since if things go to pot you are going to need to have some caloric reserves, but not too much since this unneeded weight is going to make being physically active much harder to do. (I’d shoot for 15-20% body fat as a quick number here as well as carry above average amount of lean mass (most people who die of starvation die to a lack of protein reserves not fat reserves)). You won’t be able to rely on vehicles other than a bicycle to carry you over distances since it is likely that gasoline sources will dry up (get ready for the long haul here). You will need to be able to climb and scale small walls, crawl, pop up quickly, and do all of this while carrying supplies like good and water. With all of this in mind here are the basics of the program you need to keep in mind.

Conditioning

You are going to be covering a lot of ground on foot or by your own force production. At some point your vehicle will run out of gas, and pushing a truck is exhausting. This means being able to hike, bike, climb and occasionally swim are needed skills. You need to have good general cardiovascular health and then specific development. For this style of programming you really need to be active everyday and I would even say to go as far as you are walking for at least one hour everyday so your body and tissues are adapted to it. This training program would look like this:

Day	Method	Duration	Intensity
1	Hill sprints	5-15 reps to start	High to max on the way up and walk down the hill
2	Walk	1 hour	Low
3	Ruck	Half hour	Moderate- start with a 5-10% of bodyweight pack and then add weight until you get to 30-70lbs. then increase distance or time
4	Walk	1 hour	Low
5	Jog-walk	20 minutes to start	Moderate to high effort, aim to get to where you jog the whole time then increase the pace then the time
6	Swim	Half hour or more	Low to moderate effort
7	Bike	Half hour or more	Low to moderate effort

You can increase the distance of each of the exercises and feel free to remove one of the walks for biking to just help yourself build up your aerobic motor more without the impact. You can also replace the walks for another swim and even add the walks to other training days since your goal should be to increase your fitness to where walking is not exercise.

Strength

If the world goes to heck the chance to train in a real gym is over, but you can still build strength there while they are open. This means building a good base of strength to use and extra muscle mass, which is calorically expensive, but people who die of starvation can die from a lack of protein typically before they die from a lack of calories. Your basic training program will really just be three days per week of total body training which you could do back to back, but I would suggest training every other day as well as make sure you are only doing the exercises that your body can orthopedically handle.

Day	1	2	3
Exercise 1	Goblet squat	KB swings or deadlifts	Sport specific split squat
Sets x reps	4×10	5×5	5×10 each leg
Exercise 2	Overhead press	Incline bench or pike push ups	Close grip push ups
Sets x reps	3-5×10	3-5×6-8	3-5×12+
Exercise 3	Dumbbell rows	Pull ups	Body weight low rows
Sets x reps	4-6×10-12	20 reps (can just be negatives to start)	4-6×10+
Exercise 4	Pendley death march	Bulgarian split squats	Back extensions
Sets x reps	3-5 x 30 yards	3-5×8-12	3-5×12-20
Exercise 5	Glute medius raises	Calf raise series	Glute ham raises
Sets x reps	4 x 25	4 x 25	3-5×6-12
Exercise 6	Planks each way	Hanging leg raises	Ab wheel
Sets x reps	2 x :30 seconds	50 reps split however you need to	50 reps split however you need to
Exercise 7	Vanity work	Vanity work	Vanity work
Sets x reps	Pump up	Pump up	Pump up

You can google each of the exercises pretty easily, aim to feel this in the target muscles and make sure you are using a full range of motion. Play around with your technique a bit to make sure you are feeling it in the muscles and not the joints. Some exercises like pull ups and pushups will be too advanced to start so you can make them easier by doing push ups with your hands elevated or using a bodyweight assistance machine for the pull ups. Track not just your progress with the sets and reps and the weights you can handle, but the soreness from your sessions. If you are training and not getting sore from the muscles used in the exercise then you should increase the number of sets that you are doing there. The rep number should be pretty close to technical failure, always try to leave one rep in the tank. The goal is consistent progress and every 4-6 weeks take a deload where you go light and do half the normal of sets and then repeat. Do the same type of deload with your cardio work and preferably do them all on the same week. If you are feeling really good on this add in some medball chest passes and box jumps, only 25 reps for the entire session (divided over at least 5 sets) and pick this as the first exercise you do in your workout or superset it with the first movement. Only do one jump or throw exercise each day. Always focus on quality of effort and performance each time. Always feel free to superset exercises to shorten your workout time and increase the metabolic training effect.

Mobility

At some point you are going to have to squat down low, crawl, or get in to other positions to save yourself or others. Don’t be the gravy seal that needs a friend to pick something up off the ground since they can’t bend over to pick something up off the floor. This means doing mobility work throughout the week. Now as simple tests, you need to be able to squat down unassisted and stand back up low enough that you couldn’t pass a basketball under your hips. You need to be able to lunge and reach overhead without compensating. With a few movements that I will list in a moment and see what exercises you are most limited in and in what muscles and start attacking them. Three to four times per week spend 30 seconds in each position for at least three rounds of: full squat, couch stretch, pigeon pose, hanging from a bar to open the shoulders, calf wall stretch, downward dog, cobra pose, and try to get a back bend. You can add in other movements, but for now if you can get a high level of mobility in each of these you are limber enough to move and not get hurt after attaining a variety of positions.

Tactics

Well in this future you will need to be able to live off the land, build shelter, start your own fire, fight/hunt, and a myriad of other skills. I’m not going to even attempt to show any ideas here other than definitely learn all you can and think critically about what skills and tactics are truly useful here. If anyone has some good references for this please leave a comment on this since I’m truly interested.

Summary

My goal here is to put together a basic training program to get someone in shape enough to actually do something if the time comes to actually get ready for the end of times. This means being physically fit enough to be able to rely on yourself. You can learn shooting skills in a month of disciplined work (enough to know the basics), but for some getting to the point they can run a mile in less than 7 minutes might take more than 6 months of disciplined training and eating. If you do too much too fast you can get injured and that makes you at best useless, at worst as a liability for those around you.

When it comes to being prepared you need to be self-reliant and not have any extraneous needs. This means having no addictions and preferably no needed medications to survive. If you have questions about this program and how I would address specific individuals needs please let me know. Thanks as always for reading and have a great day.