How STRONG Do You Need To Be for Special Forces

In my years of coaching, I’ve made it very clear that you need to be strong to get selected. But most candidates mess up by under or overestimating the importance of strength, resulting in either too much or too little strength training.

In this post, I will share real strength data from thousands of Navy SEAL, Green Beret, and Air Force Special Warfare candidates. Afterwards, I’ll share practical strength recommendations, the best exercises to prepare, and walk through 3 sample strength programs.

Why Strength Matters

Firstly, let’s talk about why strength matters. While each selection course is unique, the data we have, shows bigger and stronger candidates perform better.

In a study of 1,290 Navy SEAL candidates, those who completed more reps of 25lb weighted pull-ups were more likely to complete hell week, with the exception of 14 candidates who managed 19 or more reps.

In a now-deleted post from SEALSWCC.com The Naval Special Warfare Fitness director stated candidates standing 6’2 and 200lbs had at least 3 times higher odds of completing hell week than those around 5’6 and 150.

Army

When we look to test this hypothesis in other branches, such as the Army, we see a similar phenomenon. Candidates in the top 25% of lean mass had a 58% selection rate, while those lowest in lean mass had a 20% selection rate. Just look at this chart, which clearly shows the share of candidates being selected going up as lean mass increases.

Does Size Really Matter In Selection?

Well, if you think about strength and size, the two are clearly linked. A bigger, stronger candidate will have an advantage in a physical event like selection, where all else is equal.

For those who doubt this, this is why we have weight classes for everything from powerlifting to arm wrestling. In sports, that don’t have hard weight limits, we do see certain weight clusters. For example, you don’t see 200lb linemen in the NFL because you need a certain level of size to perform.

While you will see a wide variety of shapes and sizes getting selected, there is a trend of bigger and stronger being better.

Strength alone will not guarantee your selection

Let’s be clear about what size and strength will and will not do. Strength training will get you stronger, more muscular, reduce your risk of injury, and improve performance in selection events-assuming you keep up your endurance. But, what strength training will not do is:

• Guarantee you dominate your timed runs
• Guarantee you dominate your timed rucks
• Improve your recovery in endurance events. 

Strength Standards

With those caveats out of the way, how strong should you be? I like my candidates to have at least  

• 155lb Strict Standing Overhead Press
• 275lb Full Range of Motion Back Squat and
• 335lb Deadlift

These numbers are an indicator that you’ve built some upper body mass and strength and have spent time training the hip hinge and squatting movement patterns. If your numbers are below these, you likely need to spend some time in the gym. But, what does the data show on these strength metrics?

Air Force Special Warfare

A recent study of Air Force Special Warfare candidates from 2018 to 2022 found the average student could trap bar deadlift 345lbs for 3 reps and do 15 bodyweight pull-ups. But there’s reason to believe that the true numbers are even higher than that since candidates didn’t receive additional points for deadlifting more than 350 or going beyond 15 pull-ups.

Admittedly, those strength numbers are high, especially the deadlifts. However, that could be thanks to the Prep Course which goes for 8 weeks leading up to A&S.

Navy SEAL

Interestingly, Navy SEAL candidates, who also have their own prep course, were significantly weaker. With the average candidate only deadlifting 1.75x their body weight. So, with the average candidate weighing 180 lbs, they could only deadlift 315.

What this signals to me is a difference in how the prep courses prioritize different aspects of training-and how the different selections have strength demands. More on that later.

But interestingly at BUD/S, deadlift strength did not correlate with Hell Week Success-just take a look at this chart. That said, everybody did deadlift at least 1.5x their body weight, which is notable that there is a minimum threshold of strength required.

The key takeaway from this data

So, what you can take away from this data is, first, that different selection courses have varying degrees of average strength and endurance.

BUD/S, for instance, clearly prioritizes endurance to a greater degree than strength. This is evidenced by the fact not a single candidate passed Hell Week between classes 306 and 317 with a 3-mile time slower than a 7:32-minute mile pace 

Whereas the Army Special Forces Assessment requires a higher level of strength and even body mass in moving apparatuses and all the rucking you’ll be doing.

Air Force A&S, on the other hand, tends to be more of a blend between the two. Recent changes place a larger emphasis on rucking including with the new candidate and operator fitness tests.

How Height and Weight differ 

Here’s how height and weight differ between these branches.

• SFAS candidates were heaviest averaging 183lbs just under 5’10
• Enlisted SEAL candidates averaged 5’10 and 180lbs and officers 5’11 and 180lbs
• While Air Force Special Warfare candidates were just under 5’10 and 173lbs

Best Exercises for Special Operations Training

So now that you have strength targets and an idea of the average size of candidates in each career field. Let’s talk about exercise selection.

In short, you should prioritize exercises that have high carry-over to selection and will directly improve your performance. So, forget about any rules you had in bodybuilding or powerlifting training that said you had to do certain barbell lifts or isolation exercises. The exercises I program most for my athletes are variations of;

• Deadlifts
• Weighted Pull Ups
• Squats
• Weighted Carries for Grip
• And Heavy Rows

All of these fit the criteria in developing core muscle groups you need to be successful-like your legs, back, core, and grip. While there are certainly accessory exercises and muscle groups you want to develop for injury prevention, they are supplementary and not a replacement for developing the core strength you need to be successful.

So, don’t be distracted by funky exercises which, at the end of the day, are not a difference maker in your ability to perform. Sure, do your injury prevention, but it shouldn’t be your whole workout.

Workout Templates

Now, let’s get into the workout templates. There’s a 4-day, 3-day, and 2-day strength training routine. 

4-day per week

The four-day routine is an upper/lower split with additional back work on the lower days, since the back is a large muscle group, and one I prioritize for my athlete.

In this four-day routine, you’ll see it’s focused on the big lifts. In fact, it looks similar to most power bodybuilding programs, just that we’re not doing much isolation work. This is because the primary focus is on building strength and muscle mass-in the places that matter most for selection.

3-day per week

Once you’ve reached a level of strength you’re happy with, or you’re in striking distance of the strength standards I’ve shared previously, you can drop down to 3 days of strength training. This gives you more time to focus on your running, rucking, or metabolic conditioning work, which are all graded at selection.

With this 3-day routine, you could take Friday as a rest day, and what you may find is that an extra day of rest primes your body for your other workouts leading to improved performance in the gym and on the track.

Also, you could take the metabolic conditioning from Thursday and move it over to Friday with nonimpact or zone 2 running immediately following it.

2-day per week

Once you’re far exceeding the strength standards I’ve shared, or if you want to place specific focus on your endurance and metabolic conditioning, it makes sense to drop down to 2-days of focused strength work-with both being full body.

Instead of just focusing on endurance the other days though, you can still add a lot of volume in a short amount of time with metabolic conditioning work immediately preceding your endurance sessions. Here’s what that could look like.

On Tuesday and or Friday, you could hit a circuit of weighted calisthenics or injury prevention and isolation work alongside conditioning work to supplement your existing training volume.

Conclusion

Now, you have general guidelines on how strong you should be, including several strength templates. If you’d like to learn how fast you should be, check out this post.