BOOT CAMP VS SELECTION

Apparently, Tactical Barbell has infected me, because I’m going to keep going military mode in these posts.  I intend to compare two instances of military training that, upon initial glance, may APPEAR to be similar, but once you get to understand them you realize that they’re very much on opposite ends of the spectrum and representative of our own journeys through physical transformation.  If you’ve ever watched a military movie/series OR, of course, if you have SERVED in any manner of military (thank you for your service, btw…assuming you’re an ally…), you’ve most likely witnessed scenes of Boot Camp/Basic Training and scenes of military special forces selection (Navy SEAL BUD/S, Ranger School, Recon Marines, Green Beret, etc).  Again, at initial glance, they appear similar: terrified recruits getting yelled at, enduring much physical turmoil and trouble, minimal sleep, uncomfortable eating situations, etc.  However, it’s worth appreciating how the INTENT behind these two environments is very much different and, in turn: so is the outcome.  Many of you out there in the world of physical transformation may find yourself in a selection process when, in reality, you need to get yourself to Boot Camp.  Let’s explore.

 

It's not like you have a choice really

 

“Boot Camp” (which I do want to want to clarify belongs EXCLUSIVELY to the United States Marine Corps, whereas all other branches have “Basic Training”, but I already digress) refers to the initial phase of military training wherein civilians are brought to a singular training facility and undergo the process of transformation from civilian to soldier (“Marine” technically, but stick with me).  It is a 3 month process, wherein recruits are stripped down to their most raw state and then completely and totally rebuilt into an effective fighting unit.  They are told and taught how to dress, how to cut their hair, how to eat, how to shower, how to walk, how to fight, how to talk, etc etc.  There is A right way to do everything, and learning, mastering and executing it is key to survival and, ultimately, transformation.  Because that’s the key here: this is a TRANSFORMATIVE process.  We take a civilian and transform them into a Marine/weapon.

 

 

Selection, meanwhile, clearly identifies its intent with its name: it is there to SELECT the recruits who are best fit to join the special forces unit.  Selection does not MAKE SEALS/Green Berets/Recon Marines/Delta Force/Ranger/etc: it FINDS them.  Much like Boot Camp, a whole busload of terrified looking individuals are dropped off at some hell on earth, screamed at, subjected to mind games and physically exhausted.  However, unlike Boot Camp, there is no intent to MAKE these recruits into something: the cadre are interested in DISCOVERING who among them has “what it takes” to be part of the team.  Whereas Boot Camp equips you with the skills to success, here, at selection, you needed to already show UP with those tools.  If you hoped to acquire them AT selection: you’re hosed.

Oh the puns!

 

From the outside observer, these environments APPEAR the same, but upon closer examination we realize how much they are opposites.  Similar approaches with radically different intents and outcomes.  This occurs in the world of physical transformation as well, which is why the observant trainee must ensure that WHILE they are observing they are also understanding the context OF the observation.  They may observe what they THINK is someone taking the steps necessary TO transform but, instead, they are simply in the process of “selection”, and attempting to emulate their approach will simply lead to them washing out and ringing the bell.

 

What do I mean here?  I’m talking about the fact that most trainees need to get in shape BEFORE they try to get in shape.  Most trainees are jumping STRAIGHT to selection when they haven’t even gone to boot camp yet!  They’re trying to become SEALS when they still civilians: not yet soldiers.  Think about what Boot Camp is all about: the BASICS (it’s why other services call it “Basic Training”, which I really should have just done from the start of this blog post, but I’m in too deep now).  Now reflect on how many trainees don’t even have “the basics” due to a life of physical neglect.  We actually see this IN the military for real, so the parallels are now life imitating art: new fresh faced recruits will show up after a lifetime of literally NO physical activity whatsoever.  No sports, no playing outside with their friends, no “play” whatsoever, to say nothing of simple regular physical exercise.  They have bodies that no human should have: undermuscled to the point of appearing scrawny yet overfat to the point of resembling a melted candle when they have their shirt off.  The instructors at Boot Camp have their work cut out for them, as does the new trainee in the realm of physical transformation who seeks to make a change.

This is about right

 

Is this trainee READY for basic barbell work?  Hell no!  They’re most likely not even ready for bodyweight work.  They lack basic body awareness, coordination, mobility, flexibility and general strength, along with any sort of conditioning base, meaning they’ll quickly get exhausted in simply attempting to LEARN how to build any of these things.  These folks are already stripped raw and ready to be rebuilt, which is one of the benefits of being at rock bottom: the only place to go is UP!  Just like Boot Camp, we’re about to learn how to do EVERYTHING: now is NOT the time to specialize.  Here was are in the land of GPP: trying to build that wide and broad base of physical abilities so that, if, somehow, we actually make it TO selection, we have the skills and capabilities necessary to BE selected.

 

And this is just from the physical fitness side of things: don’t think you get off easy with nutrition either.  I observe this with trainees all the time: they’re attempting to employ a “selection” diet when they haven’t even gone to diet boot camp.  “Should I bulk or should I cut?”   Dude: you should eat REAL FOOD first.  Because you’ve been living off of hyperprocessed garbage for so long that your metabolic system is broken and nothing is responding the way it’s supposed to.  You’ve been slamming your insulin so hard for so long that your glucagon has effectively waved the white flag and you’ve become “insulin resistant” and on the verge of type II diabetes.  “Calories in/calories out, If It Fits Your Macros right?!”  No!  That is “selection” nutrition.  You have to EARN the right to eat that way by getting through nutritional boot camp first!

And once again, life imitates art here with some steaks for Marines

 

A body that is damaged is going to prioritize healing over everything else.  A body that is damaged is going to prioritize STORING fat over anything else: because fat is FAR more crucial to survival than muscle is, and it’s not nearly as metabolically expensive to produce or maintain.  And a body that is damaged is simply not going to RESPOND to food the same way as a healthy body.  “Calories in/calories out” may determine WEIGHT gain and loss, sure, but if you wanna start talking body COMPOSITION, we suddenly find that other variables matter.  Same with your magical macros.  1g of protein per pound of bodyweight might seem good for gaining…unless your testosterone is clocking in at double digits for a male.  Suddenly, all these calories and all this protein just isn’t have the same effect.  Post workout carbs are probably really cool…unless you’ve given yourself type II diabetes from a lifetime of living off of high calorie processed junk, in which case now we’re monitoring that carb intake and chasing after it with a syringe.  Before you start worrying about the perfect ratio of your macros, see if you can go 7 days WITHOUT eating something that comes out of a box.  See if you can actually survive a whole foods diet.  I don’t care if it’s carnivore or vegan or keto or paleo or Mediterranean or pescatarian or Atkins or Zone etc etc: just see if you can actually eat real HUMAN food for 7 full days.  ONCE you can start doing that, and once you can REPEAT that feat when it ISN’T a dare, THEN we can start talking about nutritional selection programs.

 

Once we graduate Boot Camp, THEN we can start considering selection.  We can pursue those programs like Super Squats, Deep Water, Mass Made Simple, Building the Monolith, BBB Beefcake, Feast/Famine/Ferocity, etc, which, yes, I HAVE referred to as “transformative”, but ultimately we needed to show up READY to transform with all the physical skills and tools and abilities before we could let the programs “select” us FOR transformation.  Because just like military selection, if you show up unready for Super Squats, it’s not going to LET you get ready in the middle of the program: it’s going to wash you out.  Hell, once again, this really happens in the world of physical transformation: “Bulgarian training” wasn’t a protocol that PRODUCED champions but SELECTED them: those that could SURVIVE that style of training were the kind of athletes that were going to BECOME champions because they had “the right stuff”.  Unready trainees that take it on get “washed out” with injury and other maladies.  And once you’ve mastered cooking and eating on a regular schedule and got your body in a generally healthy, THEN we can start trying to manipulate the variable to impact our body composition.  Otherwise, you’ll “wash out” of your bulk and just get fatter, or wash out of your cut and just get skinny-fatter.

Here we see both outcomes

 

Don’t waste the cadre’s time: get yourself through Boot Camp FIRST and THEN show up for selection.