Best American Adventures: Get Fit at a Navy SEAL Immersion Camp

We've just updated our popular America's
Best Adventures feature with 50 new trips, bringing our grand total to 100 iconic escapes (see the map, state-by-state list, and photo gallery, too). So no matter what your pleasure—hiking,
heli-skiing, surfing, climbing, biking, or paddling—we've got the perfect adventure
for you. Check in each day for a new, out-the-backdoor adventure highlighted here on our blog.

By Doug Schnitzspahn; Photograph courtesy of Seal Fit

Sure, all that multisport ultratraining makes you
tough. But this will make you even tougher. Since they were first
formed in the early ’60s, the Navy SEAL (aka Sea, Air, and Land) units
have acquired a well-deserved reputation for being the best trained
military units on the planet. And it's not an easy club to join: The
Navy considers the 30 weeks of SEAL training the toughest in the world.

If the idea of training at such an intense level is appealing, sign up for weeklong warrior
camp with former SEALs. The course simulates real SEAL training’s “Hell
Week.” It will put you through the same brutal experiences the SEALs
use to prepare soldiers to suffer in the field, bond, and survive the
terror of close combat. Think cranking out thousands of push-ups,
learning to carry heavy logs long distances as a unit, and being
perpetually covered in mud.

“We’re trying to
shock these guys into reality,” says Mark Divine, a former SEAL and
founder of NavySEALs.com and SEALFIT (not affiliated with the U.S. military). “We want
to take them out of their comfort zone and let them understand that
what they are volunteering for is not Boy Scout camp.”

The
hardest part of SEAL training is not how physically demanding it is but
how mentally and emotionally challenging it is to survive the week. But
Divine and other SEALs who run the camps believe that if you can make
it through the program, the experience will carry over to the boardroom
or any of those “easy” outdoor adventure sports.

Need to Know: NavySEALs (www.sealfit.com) SEAL FIT Warrior Camp costs $1,295 for three days or consider their one-week immersion "SEALFIT Academy" for $4,995. The camp also offers online coaching programs and less intense fit camps.