You guys have probably all heard of the US. Navy Seals, right? Well part of their initiation or training process includes them going through what’s called ‘hell-week’.
It is supposed to be the most grueling physical test possible; virtually endless hours of swimming, drowning exercises, combat training, pushups, running, chin-ups, grappling, etc. With very restricted sleeping (~5hours a day.).
You can probably feel your T levels fall like crazy!
Now, if YOU were going to have to go through that training, what would you do (AAS wise) to keep yourself as strong, enduring, and conditioned as possible throughout that? Assuming that you cannot take any daily pills, injections, etc. What would you do? I’m thinking that increased red blood cell count would be good… Perhaps something to stimulated collagen synthesis, strength would be good too, you get the idea…
Lets assume the Navy seals don’t drug test. What would be your drug protocol to survive hell week or something similar?
1st if you are in really good condition (some are and some should not even try) the physical aspect is not all that bad…
Its the psych. aspect of the training that gets to most and forces them to quit…Thats what they are looking to get rid of is the quiters…
Im not sure if any kind of AAS or any other drugs would help you unless you were all meth’d up on crank or something but then that wouldn’t work now would it…
The only testing they do is the usual drug screen …no AAS check
I was in the Marines @ SOTG (Special operations training group) we helped train not only recon marines but navy seals, army rangers and every other special outfit from around the world that wanted to train in amphibious operations…
Overall, I dont see the benefits of steroids making any major significant contribution to passing any military special operations selection courses from SEALs to Delta selection. Really, the most significant aspect as already mentioned is a mental toughness and physical toughness. The mental strength being more important of the two. The ability to “endure” is going to be the significant aspect that makes or breaks. One thing is for sure, steroids wouldnt hurt you, but I dont think their help would be significant enough to warrant usage.
Kind of wondering though, I mean, how much can steroids prevent the body from going catabolic in situations where there is significant duress, like eating 750 calories a day for 3 months with no more than 3 hours of sleep per day. Anybody have any opinions here? Would the individual on steriods have any appreciable benefit or differing appearance from the individual juicing?
This should probably go to the steriod forum.
1st of all, this is the steroid forum, and 2nd, the question you brought up IS the point!
That’s what I’m wondering, what steroids would be used to optimally prevent catabolism, and aid in performance during this.
I was thinking, if you could get a long chain testosterone ester that could help but not too much to cause gyno… Trenbolone with a long ester, like parabolan would be good… Maybe equipoise for the RBC count?
Realistically you want want something simple that helps strength and endurance, Ox maybe, Winny perhaps, you certainly wouldn’t want to be to big or holding water. Also the only time you would have would allow for swallowing a pill, needles are not going to work. Test wouldn’t help much, tren pumps would hinder.
Relax future Navy Seal, your question has to do with what product will give you that necessary aggressiveness and endurance needed to survive Hell Week. There are a few steroids known to promote aggressiveness, such as testosterone, methyltestosterone, etc. The trouble you may find is using these products during that week. Methytestosterone has worked wonders for me in terms of aggressiveness, but you would have to take it throughout the day to be effective, also it would be advisable to consume lots of water, which we know would be virtually impossible during that week, since their goal is to break you down. I think that the best thing for you to do frontload testosterone two weeks prior and a day before the beginning Hell week.
Drinking plenty of water will not be a problem. One thing that gets plenty of brass involved is a training casualty that is heat related or due to lack of consumption of water. Due to this there is special attention to trainees and water, if you need it you will get it. It is reasonable to assume that one could take something in the morning and evening, but probably not any other time due to probability of being caught. If it slipped out of a pocket between being turned into a “sugar cookie” or doing flutter kicks it will be bad news. Of course, a tab wouldnt even be reconizable after your typical day turned it into dust. I still remember when I got caught with handwarmer packets during RIP (ranger indoc program) I thought I could just slide them in the palms of my gloves…
Yeah, maybe something like a higher than normal replacement dosage of test (say 3-400mg) with a large amount of primo (~1000mg) and some equipoise (300mg). Low water retention, test for aggressiveness, prevents muscle wasting, etc.
What is your main concern with catabolism? Is it because you don’t want to lose too much muscle as a result of hell week or is it the performance concerns?
I would actually think it wouldn’t hamper your performance too much as the endurance aspect is the most important factor, in fact i might go so far as to suggest it would help. You would be lugging less BW around, less for chins and runs and not have so much ineffecient type II fibre to provide energy for.
Big guys always struggle more than little guys. You see a few fit big guys around but generally the fittest are normal to small.
One thing that struck me about the US Marines that were attached to our unit in Basra was how big they all were and how unfit they were in a running sense. They would be running laps of the camp at about half speed of most of our guys who were all Paras so all good runners (1.5miles average 8min) but physically much smaller. My point is that being strong isn’t all that helpful when Endurance is the most pertanant physical factor.
But I do think that something that could stave of tiredness would be a major benefit and something to increase aggressiveness and drive to help give you a psychological boost. Unfortunately these seem to be all oral, methyltestosterone, halotestin.
Personally I wouldn’t risk using AAS in case it effected my performance but just make sure I was in the best physical shape possible which might mean losing alot of hard earned muscle.
Creed is right on. When I was in the Sea Wolves, the air insertion and extraction arm of the SEALs, I didn’t get to Coronado Beach because they needed helo pilots immediately in Vietnam so they sent thru Ranger training in Florida. However, all the SEALs I have known, with one notable exception, were typically 6’ or under and trim but wiry as hell. It is a mental focus that gets you thru the training. Bulking up with muscles will work against you as you will require more oxygen and calories than the “skinny” guy who is still on his feet. You’re better off, in my opinion, investing in some mental focus training than in steroids if your goal is to get thru SEAL training.
One common misconception about special forces (probably due to unrealistic movies) is that most recruits are jacked up, huge, and ripped. Its just the opposite. Most of them are extremly thin, very lean, quick and mobile. I don’t see how there is going to be any AAS that is going to allow you to maintain muscle mass when consuming very little food, running all day, and not sleeping.
As was mentioned a few times already, its really a perception thing. Its all mental. They want people that know how to dig deep to take their bodies farther then they knew they could. That “mind-body” connection that even weight trainers want to go for. When lifting, you will feel like you are going to fail quite a few reps before you actually do. They want guys that will never give up.
The best thing to do to prepare yourself for something like this is to do a lot of what you will be doing out there. Run a lot, do a lot of pushups, pullups, a lot of ab and lower back work (this is probably one of the more important ones), swim a lot, get used to holding your breath, etc.
Unfortunately, there is probably nothing other than this kind of preparation that will prepare you for that week.
If you were a well conditioned athlete, had a mental edge, were small, etc., (All the requirements you guys stated), but wanted to retain as much lbm as possible during such a catabolic week… That’s what I wanted to know.
Don’t you think that if one of 2 identical athletes, both trained/conditioned for the SEAL training took a gram or 2 of primo before hell week he’d fair better? Probably less lbm lost… Maybe an increased endurance aspect due to androgen mediated RBC formation?
What about EPO, a lot of runners/bikers/swimmers get caught with that for the red blood cells. I’d imagine a SEAL could use some more RBCs!
And what about the analgesic/pain-numbing effects of androgens? That may help some of the pain of the hell week, too?
Archaic, in my opinion, two identical people, one taking whatever AAS you want and the other taking nothing, with only one being allowed to pass, would result in the “clean” fellow finishing training and the AAS user dropping out. However, I agree that the AAS user would probably retain more muscle mass. Can I prove it? No. It would make for an interesting experiment though. Let’s pit P-Dog against Erika. My money is on…never mind. I don’t want to go there.
In my personal experience the mental ups and downs of taking a lot of a long acting steroid with a number of weeks between shots is not an ideal frame of mind to be in during something so demanding. I stick to short acting steroids/frequent injections for this very reason.
Here is my advice. Just don’t ring that fucking bell no matter what. You look left, you look right and you remember that every other mother fucker can ring that bell but it is not going to be you under any circumstances short of an injury that prevents you from going any further. You have that option to quit. That is what sucks. They let you if you want to. They are looking for people who want to be there and there is no steroid that is going to make you want to be somewhere you want to be no matter how jacked up on juice you are. The mind is a wonderful thing and can overcome anything if you chose to believe. I know this does not really answer your question but it is all a mental game for that adventure, physically it is possible because so many have done it before.
Most militarys do not condone the use of anabolic steroids simply because in a real war soldiers are not going to be popping these pills, or taking shots of testosterone on the battle field. Face it, the best build for a soldier is a thinner, wirery, lean mean build, not a bulked up, puffed up build! Hell I don’t think I could last a mile as a soldier at my weight! - I would probably have to drop down from 230- 170!
To actually try and answer your question: If it’s just one week you need to make it though, then you could take just about any injectable. If you’re going for a longer period, I would reccommend Sustanon. Whatever you do, you would only want to raise levels a bit above baseline since, by your own admission, you will not be able to take anti-E’s.
Personally, I’d build up to a level I felt I could run well at and BF level that would give me some insulation and fat stores to burn (maybe 12-14%) while not being too heavy. Then I’d make sure I was totally recovered going into the week.
Like people have said earlier, it’s primarily mental. If you’re truly trying out for the SEALs you really don’t want to worry about recovering endogenous Test levels, etc. during training - it goes beyond hell week.
The things that will inevitably determine your success or failure with hell week or BUD/s in general have nothing to do with exogenous substances (anabolics, etc.) No amount of anabolics will shield you from the cold, the instructors, the lack of sleep, (you will sleep about 5 hrs. throughout the whole hell week, not 5 hrs a day…some classes sleep more or less, some boat crews get rewarded for winning, etc.) and keeping your head about you under very stressful conditions. Trust me.