What a Group PT Workout on the Washington Mall Looks Like

This morning, I woke up at zero dark thirty and made my way to the Washington, D.C., Mall to meet a PT group sponsored by the Lone Survivor Foundation.  As a guest PTer, I tried to give the civilian group a small taste of SEAL training. We did some of the basics and then added in teamwork drills and thinking games to the workout, and they quickly merged into a quick thinking and creative unit.

Here is what we did:

• Short jog 4-5 minutes and a light stretch

• Jumping jacks 20

Warmup with core:

• Crunches 20

• Reverse crunches 20

• Double crunches 20

• Lift crunches 20

• Right crunches 20

• Four-count flutter kicks 20

• Leg levers 20

• Scissors 20

Plank-pose variation for five minutes:

• Regular plank

• Side plank with roll (left)

• Side plank with roll (right)

• Left arm up plank

• Left arm/right leg up plank

• Right arm up plank

• Right arm/left leg up plank

Push-ups leaning rest variations five minutes:

• Push-ups 20

• Leaning rest one minute

• Push-ups 10

• Leaning rest with left arm up/right leg up

• Leaning rest with right arm up/left leg up

Burpee/push-up running pyramid:

• One burpee, run 50 meters, two burpees, run 50 meters

• Three burpees, run 50 meters, four burpees, run 50 meters, five burpees ... work your way up to 10

• Repeat in reverse order (doing burpees or push-ups)

• = 100 total reps

Note: It is easy to go to a happy place with a long, monotonous workout, and there's nothing wrong with doing that to get through some workouts and events.  However, I wanted to give the group a taste of staying engaged mentally (memorizing skills, facts, training, keeping attention to detail, communicating and moving together as a team) all while they were tired physically, stressed, hungry, etc.

Great job. You saw some of the skills it takes to be successful in the teams. It requires you to think, be tough, be a team player, react and do what needs to be done while tired. Good luck and thanks for your participation with the LSF.

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you're looking to start a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com.

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