What to Know About Navy SEAL Training

In the military, it goes without saying that the Navy SEALs are some of the most highly trained people in the world. They are one of the only teams that can operate at expert level on land, sea, and air — and their missions have become legendary.

Becoming a SEAL means that you will have to exceed the normal requirements placed on military trainees, and that you will have to undergo some of the most brutal training that you'd ever imagine possible. People have gotten seriously injured and even died during Navy SEAL training.

If you want to join one of the best teams in the world, you need to know what to expect from Navy SEAL training.

You will have to meet Navy SEAL training requirements before you can actually join up.

Joining the Navy SEALs is not like joining the National Guard. The requirements for entry are a lot stricter. Before you can even train with the SEALs, you have to be able to do the following physical feats:

• Run 1.5 miles in under 11 minutes
• Do at least six pull ups
• Swim a 500-meter breast stroke or side stroke in under 12 minutes and 30 seconds
• Do 42 push ups in under 2 minutes
• Do 50 situps in 2 minutes

If it sounds hard already, that's because it is. This is actually the bare minimum in order to make it to SEAL training level. Yes, it's brutal.

If you can pass those minimum requirements, Navy SEAL training will start with Naval Special Warfare Prep School, or BUD/S Prep School.

Technically, Navy SEAL training doesn't immediately start once you pass the test. The scores that you make to join the SEALs will be ranked, and from there, the top will be sent to Boot Camp.

You will need to complete Boot Camp, and then get into a specialized program to get ready for the harder part of SEAL training. After Boot Camp, you will get placed in a PREBUD/S training camp.

In order to graduate to Navy SEAL training, you will have to be able to do the following:

• 1000-meter swim (with fins) in under 20 minutes
• 70 pushups in 2 minutes
• At least 10 pullups
• A 4 mile run in 31 minutes

If you can make it, then you can start the actual Navy SEAL training. This will include combat drills, survival training, specialized education, and of course, combat diving school — just to name a few.

Each phase of Navy SEAL training will take 3 to 8 weeks to complete.

Many portions of Navy SEAL training will push you to your very physical and mental limit — and they are designed to do so. At certain points, you may end up having to train as much as 20 hours per day.

Basic SEAL training lasts about 7 months, and all of it will be physically grueling to an extreme. The fact is that if it sounds like it's a lot of work, it is. In fact, most people should not attempt to be a Navy SEAL because it's so physically taxing.

This is not the "Navy SEAL training" that gyms offer. The gym "training" you get is basically a physical fitness thing that might make you pass the first round of requirements for Navy SEAL training. The Navy SEAL program is way more intense, and can make some people physically fail.

Only people in peak physical condition can actually achieve this rank, which means that finishing Navy SEAL training is definitely an accomplishment worth boasting about.