Get Tough!: The U.S. Special Forces Physical Conditioning Program

By Tom Fitzgerald

Book Overview

Recommends a twelve-week fitness program, demonstrates exercises and stretches, and gives advice on diet, sore muscles, and injury prevention. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312326297
• ISBN13: 9780312326296
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Length: 163 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

When the going gets tough...

This book is designed to put the reader through two workout programmes simultaneously. There is a Calisthenics programme, and a Running programme. This is a 12-week cycle; as Fitzgerald says, special forces are always changing and adapting, so there is no 'official' cycle that remains constant forever. Thus, this is flexible here, too. This book is all the reader needs except his own muscles and desire to succeed. No special equipment to buy or anything else. The back cover says this is not for the timid or the lazy. This is like being in the military. No excuses - just do it!The author is a former Navy frogman named Tom Fitzgerald. He continues his fitness goals by running in the Boston Marathon and other such events. Fitzgerald promises better self-esteem, better motivation, and better accomplishment for those who will complete this programme.The conditioning programme targets five different body parts with 46 different exercises. The running involves running and rapid walking with some intervals of sprinting. There is also a good deal of stretching involved. If you cannot give this one or two hours a day every day for 12 weeks then maybe this is not the book for you. But one could still get it and look at the exercises that have good descriptions and are useful, even if not following the programme. Stretching There is stretching prior to each session. This helps prevent muscle injury and makes one limber. Stretching after also helps healing faster, too.Diet This book does not go too much into diet since there are other books ready for that, but it gives some general rules. Vitamins and supplements are discussed and basic common sense like not drinking alcohol or too much sugar or caffeine before a workout. Their advice is humourous: 'If you're looking around for a mate, consider marrying a nutritionist.'Other general instructions This section deals with sore muscles, shoe and foot care (very important for the heavy running schedule). Keeping count and keeping at it is important too! At the end of the book is a record for keeping track of progress.The Stretching ProgrammeThere are 14 stretches in this, and each of them are done both before and after the calisthenics and running programmes. An important note is that this stretching routine was developed at a university training programme and not by the Navy. The chart at the end of the section shows what you should do, including how much time this should take. The opening stretches should take 5 minutes, and the final stretches should take 2 minutes.The Calisthenics ProgrammeThere are 46 exercises that are done over the course of the week that will exercise ever muscle in your body. There are five main categories. General Warm-up There are 10 exercises in the general warm up, and these exercises work to prepare the whole body for work. Abdominal Exercises There are 11 exercises in the abdominal section, and they work to strengthen and stretch the abs and your lower back. The Side and Ob

A taste of Navy SEALs?

This is the most amazing exercise book I've EVER read. It's literally a crime they don't publish it anymore. Fitzgerald's exercise regimen is guaranteed to give you unbelievably "cut" muscles in a short time. His regimen will also force you to dig deep inside yourself for stamina, willpower, and endurance. Sound familiar? It should: Fitzgerald is ex-UDT. For lower body conditioning, nothing I've seen compares to Fitzgerald's book. However, readers should add the upper-body and cross-training exercises found in the recent publications by Caracci, Helvenston, DeLisle, Smith, and other Navy SEALs.

Best non-equipment book on conditioning I've seen

I purchased this book just a few years ago; it looked easy - until I tried it. These workouts are TOUGH! The first three weeks of the program I could hardly move, I was so sore. As the weeks went by however, I began to feel the toughness, that good "tightness" you get by being in shape. I stopped the program and got away from it for a while, but kept up my running. Now I'm looking to push myself again, and I know what I'm in for this time. It's 95% mental attitude about doing this program, because it HURTS, and it WORKS! I too am very sorry to see this book out of print, because it is effective physically, and mentally. I was going to purchase another copy for a friend, but now I guess they're out of luck - there's NO WAY I'm going to loan them my dog-eared copy, now that I can't get a replacement. Tom, where are you when we need you? Hopefully, writing Get Tough II!

TRULY THE BEST CONDITIONING BOOK EVER !!!

ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, I FOUND THIS BOOK WITHIN THE MILITARY BOOK CLUB SELECTION LIST. AT THE TIME, PHYSICAL CONDITIONING AND AEROBIC TRAINING WERE BECOMING HOT INTEREST TOPICS. AFTER PURCHASING THE BOOK (PAPERBACK) AND THROUGHLY READING WHAT I WAS ABOUT TO GET INTO, I WAS REALLY PSYCHED AND READY TO BEGIN THE TWELVE WEEK JOURNEY TO GET TOUGH!!! SINCE THE TIME I GOT INTO THE PROGRAM, I HAVE COMPLETED THE PROGRAM SEVERAL TIMES . I THINK SO HIGHLY OF THIS BOOK AND PROGRAM THAT I RECOMMEND ITS CONTENTS TO EVERY AVID ATHLETE OUT TO IMPROVE THEIR ENDURANCE LEVELS!! MANY OF MY PERSONAL FRIENDS HAVE RECEIVED COPIES OF THIS PROGRAM AS A CHALLENGE TO TRY AND GET THROUGH IT. PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT THIS PROGRAM IS NOT EASY!!! IT'S ALL INTERVAL TRAINING FOR TWELVE CONSECUTIVE WEEKS- STRECHTING, CALISTICTS, AND YES RUNNING!! BELIEVE ME, IF YOU CAN HONESTLY GIVE IT A TRY AND COMPLETE THE TRAINING AS PRESCRIBED- YOU'LL NOT ONLY FEEL THE BEST YOU'VE EVER FELT IN YOUR LIFE, AND, BE SO FOCUSED AND ENERGIZED IN ALL THAT YOU DO. TRULY AN AMAZING AND WONDERFUL WORKOUT!!! THANK YOU, TOM FITZGERALD!! FROM A LOYAL FAN OF YOURS!!

GREAT BOOK! GREAT WORKOUT!

I am sorry to see this book is currently out of print. Get Tough! is the toughest workout you will ever love. The exercises in this book are simple but strenuous. I liked the fact that the charts are easy to read and easy to photocopy so I can hang them on the wall. My favorite part of the book is the running schedule. (And I absolutely hate running.) It starts out easy and gradually gets harder. By the end of 12 weeks, you should be in the best shape of your life