L E S S O N

UNBEATABLE
MIND
Secrets for developing
Mental Toughness and
an Unbeatable Mind!
By Mark Divine

5
L E S S O N

UNBEATABLE
MIND
Secrets for developing
Mental Toughness and
an Unbeatable Mind!
By Mark Divine

5
 Unbeatable Mind Copyright
© 2014-2015
by Mark Divine

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage
and retrieval systems, without permission in writing
from Mark Divine, except by a reviewer who may
quote brief passages in a review.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

STRESS, FEAR, AND COURAGE /p5

WHAT IS STRESS? /p6
3 STAGES OF HEALTHY STRESS RESPONSE /p7
EVERYDAY STRESS /p8
STRESS CYCLE /p10
CHRONIC STRESS /p13
FEAR /p16
COURAGE /p19
FIVE MOUNTAIN TRAINING GUIDE /p34
SEALFIT PHYSICAL TRAINING “ON-RAMP” /p37
JOURNAL /p49

LESSON 5 4
LESSON 5

Stress, Fear, and

Courage

LESSON 5 5
Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.
--Mark Twain

WHAT IS STRESS?
As you begin to learn to manage your mind, emotions and various bodily sensations,
your overall field of awareness expands. This expanding field of awareness is a vital
part of the foundation for mental toughness. It allows you to see more clearly and
not be unconsciously reactive to both external and internal stimulus. One important
facet of developing one’s awareness is to better understand the human body and how
it functions. Part of that includes the awareness of how external stimuli (tiger, angry
spouse, traffic jam) and internal stimuli (thought, feeling and/or bodily sensation)
affect the human body. Learning how to deal more effectively and efficiently with
these stimuli is the crux of Lesson 5.
Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said the “Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear
Itself.” He was only partially correct. Most of the things we ‘fear’ are in themselves not
real threats but merely the perception of a threat. Our minds create stories, which we
believe to be true and act as if they are. Certainly there are real threats in the world
and our brain and nervous systems are structured to allow us to deal effectively with
those threats.
Unfortunately, our brains and nervous systems also have difficulty distinguishing
between real and illusory threats. They treat an existential threat in the same manner
as a pervasive illusory stress, even though the illusory stress has no immediacy or
life threatening nature to it. In both cases, whether real or illusory, the response is
debilitating in the short and long term. Fortunately, we don’t have to be slaves to
our biological survival systems. With some skills and practice we can over-ride those
systems and re-direct them toward our consciously chosen ends. We hope to achieve
that in Unbeatable Mind and give you awareness of real vs. illusory stress, how our
bodies and minds process and react to stress and fear, and some strategies for turning
a fear-based response into a courage-based response.
Let’s look at this as a three-stage process.

LESSON 5 6
3 STAGES OF HEALTHY STRESS RESPONSE

STAGE 1

Develop the awareness to perceive your automatic response to an adverse stressor

as it arises and begins to be expressed in your neuro-physiology. This is witnessing,
the first premise of Unbeatable Mind training.

STAGE 2

Transmute the natural automatic response to the stressor using courage over-ride
imagery, breath control and concentration skills.

STAGE 3

Maintain positive performance while under pressure, demonstrating traits such

as confidence, clarity, focus, resilience and cogent decision-making. Benchmark and
practice this state, making it a habituated part of your personality.

Lessons 1 through 5 deal with stages 1 and 2 above. Learning about stress,
fear and the human body, understanding the AQAL nature of our lives, and calming
our minds and bodies is the starting point. Cultivating our connection to silence and
our “witness” allows us to observe stress and fear objectively before it destroys us
subjectively, and to habituate a new response to the stress.
All this can take a long time to get a handle on so don’t feel bad if you are not
acting like a peaceful Zen warrior in every stressful situation right away. Be patient
and kind to yourself. It is rare to re-program an entire lifetime in a single moment.
The breath control and concentration / meditation exercises we are already
practicing are crucial for both stage 1 and 2. Not only do these practices develop
the self-awareness and spaciousness to observe more keenly what is coming at us,
through us and how we naturally (or un-naturally) react, but they very effectively begin
to re-orient our stress response in a positive direction.

LESSON 5 7
 In Lesson 6 we will take a look at stage 3, transmuting our newfound awareness
of stress and our stress response into performance, solid leadership and wise decisions.
Let’s back up now and look at stress and fear in detail.

EVERYDAY STRESS
Stress is neither good nor bad. It just is. It is a subject that most don’t take the
time to really understand. The purpose of this lesson is to gain a deep understanding
of fear and stress, and develop strategies for overcoming both fear and the negative
impact of stress.
We will use the term “stressors” to indicate a stimulus in the environment (both
external and internal) as well as the way we normally think of stress – which is to
indicate an individual’s psycho-physiological response to such stressors.
So stress is merely the body’s response to a particular stressor. It could be an
extreme fear response to a perceived or real survival threat, or an everyday stressor
that is a real or perceived threat to one’s well-being. Either way, stressors are not the
problem; our perceptions and reactions to them are the problem. If we could just
eliminate or avoid all stressors in our lives everything would be ok, right? Wrong.
Not only is it impossible it would make life extremely boring. The trick is to learn to
manage our response to stressors and develop a new set of tools that allow us to use
“stress for success.”
Stressors that lead to growth, development and increased sense of happiness are
called eustress. This term was first coined by the father of stress studies, Dr. Hans
Selye. Dr. Selye wrote about eustress as a stressor that one can develop a healthy
adaptive response to, which then enhances one’s physical or mental functioning.
An example of this is stress from physical training. When done with an intelligently
designed plan, stress leads to increased strength, stamina, work capacity and durability,
as with our SEALFIT workouts. Distress, on the other hand, is a negative or non-adaptive
response to a stressor, which will then lead to illness, anxiety and depression. An
example of distress would be excessive exposure to a toxin, such as lead based paint,
or noise pollution, smoking, or negative people.
Distress is the more commonly discussed type of stress. Excessive eustress and
distress can both be tough on the body and the mind, mind you, but the latter will
lead to breakdown where the former can lead to breakthrough.

LESSON 5 8
 An important point is that the same stressor can exhibit itself as eustress or
distress depending on how one perceives, and responds to it. The key is awareness
of the stressor and corresponding adaptation or non-adaptation to it.
An example might be useful:

Your spouse, in a rage, storms into the room giving you a glare and
verbal barrage that threatens to knock the earth of its axis. Oh no, what
do you do?
Distressed-based responses will immediately enter your realm of
possibilities, such as to “fight back,” ‘cower’ or “run away.” None of these
will get you very far, and you would likely make the situation worse.
But, you are a trained Unbeatable Mind student. Therefore you fight
back the Distress-based urge to lash out, and offer an Eustress-based
response instead: You kindly inquire as to the source of the frustration and
immediately take any responsibility for your part in the drama. You accept
and apologize for your contribution to your spouse’s angst(assuming any).
You pull out your “active listening exercise” and put it into practice while
seeking a mutually appropriate outcome.

Our reaction to every day stressors such as the above example is outlined in
the “stress cycle” flow chart below. You may want to refer to your Integral Theory
AQAL graphic from Lesson 4 for a refresher on the quadrants, as I’ll refer to those
throughout this lesson.

LESSON 5 9
STRESS CYCLE

This cycle can occur in a single moment and much of it is not conscious. It is
an adaptive process whereby our subconscious mind (“I” quadrant beliefs, UL) and
reptilian brain (“It” quadrant neurophysiological reactions, UR) are in cahoots in an
instinctual drive to preserve life.
Objectively (AQAL Upper Right “It quadrant) the situation/stimulus is the same
regardless of the response - i.e. an angry spouse.
Subjectively (AQAL Upper Left “I” quadrant) you chose to experience and respond
to it differently than you could have, or possibly would have prior to your awareness
training. To say the least, the second response will lead to a deeper connection with
your spouse whereas the first most likely would not!

LESSON 5 10
 Let’s break down each step and also tag it to the Integral Theory model for
additional insights.

TRIGGER STRESSOR

Any external or internal stress-triggering event – such as the perceived angry

person example above or a stored negative emotion released for some inexplicable
reason. In the AQAL model the trigger is experienced in the UL or UR quadrants.

IMMEDIATE FILTER

We process the stressor through our personal consciousness filter. We will

immediately sense the stressor as pleasant or unpleasant, good or bad, right or wrong,
etc. Most of us, however, process stress with some element of fear or negativity. In
the AQAL model this is experienced in the UL “I” quadrant.

JUDGING FUELED BY BELIEFS

After our immediate filtered perception, we will judge the situation in an effort
to classify it into an established belief system. We do this to make “sense” of the
world and fit it into known patterns derived from our life experiences. In the AQAL
model this is experienced in the UL “I” quadrant as a reaction informed by LL “We”
family dynamics and culture.

HABITUATED REACTION

Flight, Flight and Freezeing impulses and conditioned strategies are enacted. In
the AQAL model this is experienced in the UL quadrant, as well as the UR quadrant
as a neurophysiological reaction.

LESSON 5 11
REINFORCING EGO STORY

This is our personal “post event debrief” which typically will reinforce our egoic
position of needing to be right or beating ourselves up. In the AQAL model this is
clearly in the UL “I” quadrant.

FEAR CONFIRMS A CORE STORY / CYCLE CONTINUES

The reinforcing story is driven by and strengthens a core belief. These core
beliefs are often fear based and negative patterns. Examples include unworthiness,
un-holiness, being a bad person, not doing anything right, not being able to defend
oneself, being weak, and the like.
Let’s take a closer look at Core Stories and the associated “life issue” to begin
our awareness study of the hidden fear drivers of our stress and behavior:

Core Story Affected Life Issue Examples

Not good enough Success I suck. I can’t get it right, I am

(incompetent) unsuccessful, worthless, and
insignificant…
Not good enough Love I am unworthy, unlovable, it doesn’t
(unlovable) matter, I am plain and dull…
Unwanted, different Belonging I don’t belong, I am alone,
unwelcome, I don’t fit, I am boring
Not safe Security I am afraid, uncertain, vulnerable,
and helpless
Don’t know, wrong Reason I don’t get it, I am stupid, I don’t
understand, I always get it wrong
Defective, imperfect Self worth It’s my fault, I’m guilty, I’m bad,
flawed, stupid, fat, slow, crazy…
Powerless, beneath Control I can’t do it. I’m a victim, weak,
others powerless and a failure. I don’t
have a choice, I’m a loser…

LESSON 5 12
 The above scripts are all very debilitating stories. I doubt you share them all,
but I bet there is a little bit of a few of them in all of us. I call this our “background
of obviousness” or “BOO”. The beliefs are so subtle and pervasive and when you
realize how damaging they are it will scare the hell out of you. Seeing them through
lens of awareness awareness is the first step in eradicating and changing them. Note
that this is tthe first premise of Unbeatable Mind training – and why that seemingly
simple step is very involved and lengthy process or re-wiring our subconscious minds.
All of this discussion about ‘stress’ and “Core Stories” can be very stressful!
Let’s dig deeper.

CHRONIC STRESS
Chronic stress is a state of prolonged tension caused by repeated and “untreated”
exposure to internal or external everyday stressors. Whether it’s tigers, traffic or your
boss your will body respond the same way if strategies for transmuting the stress are
left undiscovered. Negative effects of chronic stress include:

• Suppression of the immune system

• Anxiety
• Sleep disorders
• Digestive problems
• Breathing difficulties
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Memory challenges
• Delayed wound healing
• Depression

Whether extreme or every day stress, the body will react in a similar manner.
Only the timing and degree of the symptoms will be dependent upon the extremity
and duration of exposure to the stressor.
The two stress responses we need to concern ourselves with are Acute and Chronic.
Acute stress is triggered by a single or series of extreme stress incidents resulting
in a Fight-Flight-Freeze reaction. Chronic stress is caused by prolonged exposure to
every day stress.

LESSON 5 13
 The mechanism to survive extreme threats is hard wired into our brain and
nervous systems. It is commonly referred to here as Fight-Flight or Freeze Response.
This response is characterized by the words themselves – your mind perceives an
acute threat and immediately stimulates the sympathetic nervous system. Soon select
neuro-hormones, such as adrenaline, epinephrine and norepinephrine, are pumped
into your blood stream, causing immediate physical symptoms designed to help protect
you against possible death.

The body’s response to Acute Stress includes these external (UR) symptoms:

• Increased heart rate and respiration

• Elevated blood pressure
• Perspiration
• Muscle constriction
• Sweaty palms
• Inhibition of digestion (more energy for the brain and major muscles)
• Constriction of certain blood vessels (protect against bleeding out if wounded)
• Dizziness
• Auditory Exclusion
• Tunnel vision
• Relaxation of bladder and sphincter

The untrained mind’s response (UL) to acute stress includes these symptoms:

• Fear
• Uncertainty and Trepidation
• Nervousness and Anxiety
• Collapsing of awareness
• Avoidance
• Disassociation with reality
• Self pity

LESSON 5 14
Systemically, the combination of the body and mind’s response can lead to external
responses that can limit our options, such as:

• The Death Grip

• Choking
• Cold Sweats
• Easily Fatigued
• Loss of coordination
• Lack of emotional control

Below is a cool graphical representation of the Fight, Flight or Freeze for the
visual learners.

LESSON 5 15
 So it is clear that how we process (UL) the event information as well as the hard-
wired bodily response (UR) will dictate our ability to respond with power and courage
(Fight!) or weakness and fear (Freeze or flee – though in many cases it is wise to flee!).
How do we use this information to develop our mental toughness and be better
integral warriors? Our goal is to not just survive but thrive in high challenge situations.
As warriors we demand a lot from our physical bodies, affective, cognitive and social
resources (UL lines of development of our conscious self). We need to learn to rewire
our brain and nervous systems to change the way we think, the way we process
information and the way we approach stress in our lives.
In an excellent TED Talk on the science of stress Psychologist Kelly McGonigal
underscores that how we view stress is what matters, as it’s an unrealistic goal to
remove stress, but a fact that we can alter our body’s physiological reaction to stress
by our perception of it. She encourages the following healthy mindset upon the arrival
of stress symptoms: “This is my body helping me rise to this challenge.” McGonigal
offers that when we choose to view our stress response as helpful, we create the
biology of courage and that when we choose to connect to others under stress, we
create resilience. She concludes that stress gives us access to our hearts – the
physical and the compassionate hearts. I encourage you to watch her talk (VIEW at
http://bit.ly/1uCSCsj).

FEAR
Fear as we commonly understand it is stress experienced from the “I” quadrant.
It is the feeling we get when faced with an acute stressor as in an extreme form of
shock. Extreme fear is typically associated with an intense real or illusory potential
of loss (or failure) of something important, such as reputation, mission, life or limb.
Facing your first public speech can be more fearful than death for many of us!
Fear can also come in the form of an everyday stressor – as in fear arising from
a flawed underlying belief system such as the belief that “I am weak and going to get
my ass kicked again today.” Let’s classify these as Extreme Fear and Common Fear.
In both cases a stressor causes the fear and your body will react like it would with
any other stressor, just in a more intense manner.
My friend Tony Blauer (www.BlauerTactical.com) is the developer of the SPEAR
system of self-defense. He is very insightful about this topic. He notes that, in addition

LESSON 5 16
to the natural neurological reaction a person has to fear, he also has a distinct response
to an immediate incoming threat. This is called the “flinch” response. We will save
SPEAR and the flinch response for a later lesson on self-defense. However what I do
want to share are Tony’s acronyms for FEAR:

1. False Expectations Appearing Real: This is akin to an illusory stress –

based on a false belief or expectation. For instance, you may expect
that you will get your ass kicked in a physical altercation because you
have no training. In reality there is no evidence that this is true. In our
Academies I talk about Illusory FEAR being the “gap between the known
and unknown.” So if we can reduce or eliminate the expectation gap,
then fear can be released.
2. False Evidence Appearing Real: This is not based on an expectation;
rather a faulty analysis of the evidence presented us. For instance, you
may have a fear reaction to someone menacing-looking running toward
you, only to find out they are running to catch a ball about to hit you in
the head.
3. Failure Expected, Action Required: I love this – you have no choice but to
take massive action. In a later lesson we will discuss Offensive Mind Set
and the “binary switch.” That is what Tony is talking about here.

We can easily learn to deal with Common Fear using the tools presented in
Unbeatable Mind. Eventually we will be immune to these everyday fear stressors
because we will have changed the underlying belief that causes them.
However, no one is immune to Extreme Fear. I would be foolish to tell you that,
after a year of practicing UM skills, you will go into combat and not experience fear.
Though we usually associate Extreme Fear with a single event, in some cases,
such as combat, it can lead to chronic stress syndrome if the events are repeated over
and over for some duration. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a classic example
of a chronic stress response. Left untreated it will lead to severe chronic stress.

General Douglas MacArthur said:

“If bravery is a quality which knows no fear, then I have never seen a brave man”

LESSON 5 17
And George Patton stated:
“Every man is scared in his first action. If he says he’s not, he’s a goddamn liar. The
real hero is the man who fights even though he’s scared. Some get over their fright in
a minute, under fire; others take an hour, for some it takes days…”

Extreme Fear often results from stand-alone, shocking events with these qualities:
• There is a sudden and unexpected demand that disrupts your normal
posture.
• The task you are performing goes from normal to complex and
unpredictable, as in combat.
• The consequences of failure or poor performance are severe and significant.
• Multiple tasks must be performed together in adverse conditions.

Dr. Asken, author of Warrior Mindset, describes 6 common types of fear and
techniques for managing that fear:
• Realistic Fear: “the tiger” – managed through training & simulations, goal
setting and Imagery.
• Fear of Unknown: “the dark room” – managed by imagining alternate
responses, exploration and simulations
• Anxiety: “subconscious fear expressed as anxious behavior” – managed
through breath control, biofeedback and reframing.
• Illogical Fear: “I’m going to die if I do this bungee jump” – managed
through self-talk and ending the negative thoughts.

Source: Warrior Mindset, by Michael Asken, PhD

Even experienced Navy SEALs feel fear. On the way up to the drop point at 30,000
feet for a free fall parachute jump, the stomach gets knotted and nausea and tunnel
vision are common. Once he jumps off the ramp, though, it seems to dissipate, and
as he gets a full canopy above there is a tremendous release of pressure – a “thank
God” moment!
Signs of pre-event fear are evident in any dangerous military training or combat.
Guys will not show up, will feign illness (or actually get ill), there will be nervous
checking of gear and completely out of line jokes. Basically everyone but the very
stalwart is completely out of whack exposed to the fear of having to face the reality.

LESSON 5 18
 We all experience some form of chronic fear and are subject to extreme fear.
How we respond is the crux of the matter. We seek to maintain optimal health and
performance in spite of stress and fear. We need to avoid the symptoms of chronic
stress syndrome, PTSD, and other adverse effects of stress and prolonged fear.
In the military our training helps tremendously in this matter. Familiarity with a
situation that has a high potential for fear and stress does wonders to mitigate said fear
and stress. Thus we train and practice daily (via the Five Mountains) in Unbeatable
Mind.
Equally important, you will develop body and mind awareness of fear based and
chronic stress events, and will be able to immediately bring it under control with the
skills you have developed. As a result you will be able to think, perform and lead
effectively to accomplish your mission.

COURAGE
It is estimated that 90% of stress arises from mental anticipation of a perceived
hazard or unknown situation. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could learn to think with courage
instead of fear? Feeding the courage wolf when you are going negative is a start!
Jeff Wise (www.jeffwise.net author of Extreme Fear) states:
“Courage is not just for heroes. Fear is an emotion we all deal with, and how we
handle it is everything. How we grapple with our anxieties determines what kind of life
we’ll lead — whether shackled by anxiety and dread, or empowered to conquer new
challenges. Yet we spend most of our time trying to avoid fear, so we muddle along,
rarely getting much better at the art of mastering it. That’s a shame, because with a
little effort we can find the courage to push beyond our comfort zone and tackle new
worlds.”
Courage is not the absence of fear. Rather, courage is effective fear management
combined with an attitude of “bring it on.” Research supports the notion that self-
awareness and consequent self-management lead to a reduction of fear and higher
levels of success in any particular activity. Displaying courage means that a highly
functioning individual is able to bring himself or herself back to homeostatic balance
quickly (as compared to a “non-courageous individual) and take appropriate action.
Courage, then, is the application of a set of skills habituated until they become part
of one’s arsenal of competent actions performed at a conscious and unconscious level.
It is sensible that if you have emotional control, situational and self-awareness

LESSON 5 19
then you will be able to think clearly and process your emotional states efficiently.
As a result you will deal more effectively in a high challenge situation than someone
who does not possess these skills. This is the difference between good leaders and
poor leaders, or those who survive and those who die in a survival situation.
All of the physiological responses to a perceived or real threat have value in
improving your chance of surviving if confronted with a life or death situation. The
problem is that most people don’t encounter tigers or hostiles in their day-to-day life.
Yet, the human body is designed as if we do. The degree of response to a stressor
is highly individualized but the same basic physiological response is encoded in the
brain/nervous system.
What are the key performance factors that allow us to develop awareness of how
we react to acute and chronic stress, and transmute that stress into a powerful and
courageous response? Let’s turn our attention to the Mental Toughness skills that we
will use to control fear and act with courage:

Interoception: the first skill we will look at is essentially “body awareness.” Interoception
is the sensitivity (awareness of) stimuli originating inside of the body. That would
include:

• Temperature
• Muscular tension
• Touch
• Digestion
• Heart rate
• Respiration rate
• Pain
• Body moving in space

Interoception is a fancy way of saying awareness. Another term used is somatics,

which is the body as experienced from within (UL “I” quadrant).

LESSON 5 20
 An example of interoception in action:

You are in the midst of a gut wrenching SEALFIT Operator workout. You
recall UM Lesson 5, and while working you check in with yourself by
bringing awareness to the full experience of your body and mind. You notice
constricted respiration and shortness of breath; your heart feels like it’s going
to explode its beating so hard. You notice your mind obsessing about your
performance of the workout you just finished – Fran followed by an 800M
run. You also notice over-heating, tightness in your left calf and pain in your
right knee. You experience a range of emotions from disappointment to fear
to anger at your knee – all related to your perceived inability to perform and
illusory fear that you may fail again.

As you become fully aware of your full range of internal experiences through
interoception, you will then be able to take specific actions to move your experience
in a more powerful and goal directed manner.

SEALFIT WOD continued:

After learning interoception you can now manage different aspects of your
internal experience. First, you focus on physical attributes that you can
control – specifically your breathing. You increase volume of oxygen intake
by bringing attention to your breathing patterns – slowing down the breathing
cycle, deepening the inhale, and exhaling completely. This action alone
allows you to steady your breath, reduce your felt stress and increase your

LESSON 5 21
 physical output. You additionally bring your attention to your knee and
notice that your alignment has been off with your thrusters and you are
paying the price. Proper body alignment brings your extremities back into
balance. As you down a few gulps of water your body cools down and you
start to feel good. As your mind steadies and focuses, your emotional states
steady as well and you are able to start feeding the courage wolf instead of
the fear wolf. During Unbeatable Mind contemplation you had previously
challenged the underlying belief about what constitutes failure, and healthy
versus unhealthy competition. You decide now to let your “emotional hair
down” and enjoy the process rather than obsess about your performance.
You finish the workout with enhanced state of wellbeing while creating a
powerful benchmark experience.

Of course interoception and concurrent self-management are not one-time

activities, they must be practiced constantly. That is why we call them practices. It’s
a continual process of checking in and managing and modifying behavior. Clearly the
skill of checking in, managing and modifying internal states is useful in all areas of
your life, not just working out. This is the process that can allow you to turn stress
to success.

An integral AQAL assessment of interoception self-management looks like this:

1. UL “I” quadrant - creating the inner resources of awareness and self-
modification (physical, mental, emotional)
2. UR “IT” quadrant - the resources become habituated in the brain/nervous
system
3. LL “We” quadrant - over time in a community of practice they become
acculturated as ‘the way’ things are done. A group expectation emerges
that self-awareness and self-management are the natural process of
human interaction.
4. LR “Its” quadrant - Teams and groups are organized to support the
practices that lead to greater degrees of self -awareness and control.

Interoception is not enough of course. Inner awareness is just a jumping off

point to developing new responses to former programmed reactions. In other words,
new awareness must be followed by new action.

LESSON 5 22
 “The temporary pain of self-discipline is far superior to the permanent pain of
regret” –Coach Divine
This lesson (Lesson 5) includes an interoception awareness practice called a
“body scan.” This practice is recorded by my friend Dianne Shimpkus. Dianne teaches
a program called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. I have found mindfulness to
be a useful tool and another example of a modern approach to an ancient mental
practice. Her voice in the guided audio is a bit more soothing than mine, so I think the
variety will be welcome to you. This practice is intended to help you develop greater
awareness of your “inner felt body.” It is also a very good stress reduction practice,
and helpful if you are having trouble getting to sleep at night.

Purpose Finding: If your purpose is clear and powerful, your response to an acute or
chronic stressor will be more effective than if you are indifferent. Studies of survival
situations find that survivors have a very strong sense of purpose and reason for
surviving. In the POW camps of North Vietnam, Admiral Stockdale found that purpose
as the senior American in captivity. He made it his mission to organize, communicate
with and educate the entire POW population. His strong sense of purpose and values
helped many men survive the tortuous conditions. In the book Unbeatable Mind
I introduce the “3PS” process for defining your purpose, passion, principles and,
ultimately, your stand. I encourage you to revisit Chapter 4 in the book during your
work with this lesson.

Purpose is most powerful when it is grounded in:

• A Stand – inaction would violate a personal stand of yours, such as not

protecting your family
• A Passion – you are passionate about that which is in danger of loss – such
as your reputation or life!
• An Immediacy – the issue is important to you NOW, not sometime in your
future.

LESSON 5 23
For future reading on purpose and survival check out “Man’s Search for Meaning” By
Viktor E Frankl.

Also, to learn more about Admiral Stockdale, check out his book “Courage Under Fire:
Testing Epictetus’s Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior “(Hoover Essays)

Visual Imagery: Consider a physical altercation example. Many of us have been in a

fight, whether by design, ambush or defense. Chances are very good that just prior
to the fight you were envisioning all the bad things your attacker or opponent could
do to you. Why give them such power? Unless they are a psychopathic social deviant
chances are good that they were imagining the same scary story about you. It is much
more powerful to imagine how you are going to dominate the situation and, as my
Ninjustu Sensei used to say “be the subject and not the object” of the fight.

Repetition: Repetition develops a familiarization with the stressors expected “in the
line of duty” and has a positive impact on stress response.

There is a reason SEALs use the “crawl, walk, run” principle in training. The
intent is to layer the training so that the basics become an “unconscious competence”
of the trainee. Each time a training evolution is repeated, the trainees start back at
the basics, mastering them again before moving on to more advanced tactics.
The same is true in the Martial Arts. A good instructor teaches the very basics of
any particular art until they become second nature to the student. The student builds
on the basic skills only after they have become habituated. Even in advanced training,
a good instructor will always go back to basic and ensure proper techniques. A good
instructor will also simulate conditions as you would actually fight in the “real world.”

“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war” – SEAL saying

This repetition effect in proper training layers the skills and knowledge so that
the conscious mind does not have to be involved in thinking about the solution to the
challenge. Combined with realistic training that closely mirrors the expected actual
event, this repetition leads to a strong familiarization of the situation when it happens
in real life. Once committed to learning something new you will feel courageous,

LESSON 5 24
but you will lack the skills and knowledge to feel confidence. The gap is overcome
by developing the competence to complement your courage! I have known many
incompetent, but courageous, young SEALs. A person unaware of their incompetence
is a danger to themselves and others. Becoming conscious of that incompetence
is when the real learning can begin. The student must work hard to gain the skills
and knowledge, and over time they becomeing more conscious of their competence.
Ultimately the competence sinks deeply into their being and the skill is presented
in an unconscious, flowing and graceful manner. This stage is mastery, when true
confidence is experienced. This is the hero’s journey!

Commitment k Resistance k Fear k Learning k Courage k Mastery kConfidence

Breathing Powerfully: You have been practicing breathing techniques since Lesson 1 of
this program. By now you realize how important these tools are to develop awareness
and mental toughness. When I went through SEAL training they did not teach us breath
control or breath awareness. I learned this through my martial arts training prior to
my SEAL experience. The tools proved invaluable not only to help me sail through
the training, but also to be more aware of danger and to control my fear response on
missions. The SEALs are now advocating breath control and concentration techniques
in SEAL training.

LESSON 5 25
 There are many breathing practices, each with a different objective and effect
on the body and mind. The most basic practice is a breath awareness exercise to
mindfully observing the breath. This practice has you in a quiet place just sitting and
paying attention to your in breath and out breath. The breath awareness practice in
lesson 3 is an example of this practice.
Breath control is a distinct practice from breath awareness. In the Yoga tradition
there are hundreds of breath control variations, to include:

• Box breathing­—this is what we are practicing daily (hopefully). Introduced

in Lesson 2, the main purpose is to re-train your breathing patterns.
Eventually you will find yourself breathing deeper and more rhythmically,
and using the breath as a grounding mechanism during a SEALFIT workout,
or any high intensity situation. It is also the bridge to using your physical
training as a spiritual practice.
• Wind Tunnel Breathing—called “ujaya” in Sanskrit and used for moving
with breath in yoga.
• Spirit Breath—sending the breath through a very small opening in an
intense outbreath…used to develop internal heat and “psychic” energy. We
use this with our Warrior Yoga Archer pose.
• Relaxation breath—this is what the SEALs call “tactical breathing” which is
used for what to control the arousal response to stress. The way to perform
it is to deep breath through your nose to a 4 count in and 4 count out.
Another version is to deep breath in for a 4 count, hold it for a moment,
then exhale through your mouth in a relaxed release of the breath. Use this
technique if you are feeling stressed or out of balance. Combine it with a
forward bend and you have a very good 2-minute practice for relaxation
and stress release. Inhale your arms up to the sky, hold, then exhale as you
bend forward and touch your hands to the ground (assuming they reach!).
Inhale back up to “mountain pose” and repeat this 10 times. Feels great.
• Alternate nostril breathing—used to balance the energy between the right
and left hemispheres of your brain.
• Cleansing breath—this is a rapid exhalation used to detoxify the lungs.

LESSON 5 26
Mindful breathing has many positive benefits, including:

• Anxiety reduction
• Chronic pain reduction
• Increased sense of well-being
• Improved immune functioning
• Enhanced lung capacity – breath hold time increases
• Enhanced body awareness
• Enhanced control over internal bodily functions
• Enhanced sense of presence
• Increased energy

Breath awareness and training develops your capacity for focused attention, which
is one of the keys to living as an integral warrior. If you’re focusing on breathing,
your monkey mind and emotions are tempered and in control. There are other breath
control variations, which we will explore in the Advanced Training after the Foundation
Course lessons.

Meditation: Meditation, contemplation and other “sacred silence” practices have

been proven to not only change your brain wave patterns while you are performing the
meditation, but over time will actually change the synaptic make-up of your brain. The
science of neuroplasticity is an emerging science that examines how the brain changes
as the result of long-term meditation, concentration and contemplation practices. The
main point is that we are not stuck with the brains we settled into before UM. We can
grow and develop our brains to work in new ways and utilize them more effectively,
for greater success and happiness in life.

LESSON 5 27
 The picture above is from Andrew Newberg, a University of Pennsylvania-based
researcher whose study of meditators shows through brain scans demonstrated increase
in activity of the pre-frontal cortex, which is the area of the brain that deals with
attention.
Through meditation you are also changing how your brain processes information
and responds to external and internal stressors. Functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI) scans have shown that meditators have less neural response from distracting
noises that were used in attempts to disrupt the meditation. Not being distracted by
‘noise’ in the environment is a good thing.
The brain and nervous system have the ability to change both structurally and
functionally as a result of input from the environment. Similar to breath control,
meditation practice (as well as prayer and contemplative practices) can lead over
time to increases in gray matter density (i.e. a healthier brain). This corresponds to
healthier or more powerful brainwave activity as well an increase in the neurotransmitter
serotonin which helps regulates mood and sleep. So, not only does the brain and
nervous system function more effectively and efficiently, but its basic structure can
and does change. The science is finally catching up to what spiritual practitioners and
warriors have known since the beginning of time that they can modify and manage
their internal states.
Dr. Daniel Amen of Amen Clinics (www.amenclinics.com) is doing some innovative
research on the health of the brain through MRI’s. What he has found should not
surprise us – that unhealthy people have unhealthy looking brains. The implications
though are interesting. If your brain is unhealthy – the images he has shows pits,
divots and valleys in unhealthy brains, then are we truly expressing free will? Can
we think clearly and powerfully if we are unhealthy? Chicken or egg story, right? Is it
faulty thinking that leads to poor lifestyle decision, hence an unhealthy brain…or is
it poor lifestyle decisions that lead to faulty thinking, and an unhealthy brain?
My brain hurts thinking about it!

LESSON 5 28
 For further study of recent research in neuroplasticity, please visit the
sources below:
• Lazar, S.; Kerr, C.; Wasserman, R.; Gray, J.; Greve, D.; Treadway,
Michael T.; McGarvey, Metta; Quinn, Brian T. et al. (28
November 2005). “Meditation experience is associated with
increased cortical thickness”. NeuroReport
• Lutz, A.; Greischar, L.L.; Rawlings, N.B.; Ricard, M.; Davidson,
R. J. (16 November 2004). “Long-term meditators self-induce
high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice”. PNAS
• Sharon Begley (20 January 2007). “How Thinking Can Change
the Brain”. http://www.dalailama.com
• The Sentis Brain Animation Series takes you on a tour of the
brain through a series of short and sharp animations. http://
youtu.be/ELpfYCZa87g

We have just about beat this lesson into a pulp, so I will save some of the good
stuff for Lesson 6. Therein we will continue our discussion of mental toughness training
techniques and focus on the following skills:

1. Positive Attitude & Positive Self Talk

2. Affirmations and Mantras
3. Posture and Aware Body Movement
4. Relaxation
5. Guided imagery
6. Proper Goal setting – long and short term
7. Humor
8. Re-Framing
9. Mental models
10. The Debrief
11. Offensive Mind Set
12. Team Focus

By continually deepening your awareness of the 3 Stages of Unbeatable Mind

mental toughness skills, you are learning to strengthen and develop the capacity to

LESSON 5 29
thrive amidst chaos. It’s becoming ingrained in you as new and enhanced physiological,
cognitive and emotional resources. These resources are necessary to perform optimally
whether in extreme environments under life and death situations or in everyday life
In summary, I would like to turn from theoretical to practical and offer some
insights from the research desk of Jeff Wise, author of “Extreme Fear”. Jeff has some
good insight on fear and courage which mirror many of our teachings at SEALFIT /
Unbeatable Mind. Let’s review 8 of his principles:

PRINCIPLE 1 - GET FIT

Ok this is a no-brainer for us at SEALFIT. We would add that functional fitness

is a much better foundation for courage than the common definition or example of
treadmill fitness. Functional fitness provides a sense of courage to act and move whilst
avoiding injury, especially in a crisis or high-risk situation. The training effect carries
over to assist with stress management against fear and anxiety.
Studies have shown that exercise can ease depression and anxiety. And it can
protect you from feeling stressed out in the future. According to Wise, Princeton
researchers found that rats that exercise grow neurons in their brains that are less
responsive to the stress hormone cortisol. So lest you feel like rat on a treadmill, get
into the gym and start doing CrossFit or SEALFIT 3 to 5 times a week. While there,
turn your training into a “practice” for courage. Couple your fitness training with breath
control, positive mental control, visualizing courage rather getting eaten by the tiger.
You will be rewarded with less stress and a nice peace of mind.

PRINCIPLE 2 - LEAN ON YOUR FRIENDS

In a SEALFIT WOD, or combat, or any intense situation you share initially with
a complete stranger, you form a bond that is unusually strong. Why is that? I have
teammates from the SEALs who I don’t see for years, but when we re-connect I feel
the bond is still there. Oxytocin, the hormone that binds people in a trust relationship
(ie: mothers and children and husbands and wives), has been shown to lessen the
sensation of pain and fear. Those who have been through SEALFIT Kokoro know this
from experience. Through teamwork involving sharing the pain of sacrifice, the shared

LESSON 5 30
risk of a common experience, and truly looking after your teammate, you will forge a
bond that will last forever.

PRINCIPLE 3 - EXPOSE YOURSELF TO MORE

Jeff is preaching to the choir on this one. Pushing the envelope of experience.
Train harder than you expected. Fall down 7 times, and get up 8. Benchmark your
life experiences by going farther, faster, harder…it builds confidence and provides a
ladder of success for the next level. This is how the 20X factor is revealed through
hard physical and mental training…one evolution at a time.
Jeff says: “be sure to reward yourself when you’re successful. The goal is to train
the emotional centers of your brain to anticipate a positive outcome when pushing
boundaries.”

PRINCIPLE 4 - THINK POSITIVE

More than just thinking positive thoughts, and positive self-talk, we must maintain
a positive state of energy and “show up” in the world with this energy. Jeff cites a
research report from a guy named Mark Taylor. Olympic athletes were surveyed by
Taylor about whether they practiced positive mental skills such as silently voicing
affirming thoughts. Taylor found that those who did were significantly more likely to
survive the intense pressure of elite competition and reach the medal stand. This
principle cannot be stressed enough. As stated, I believe the impact of positive
thinking goes well being the mental and into the spiritual realm. Have you ever seen
a negative martial arts master? Or a negative Navy SEAL for that matter? No. In fact
it can’t happen because negativity would attract failure and dis-ease, torpedoing any
attempts at self-mastery and developing courage.

PRINCIPLE 5 - CHANGE THE FRAME

This is a good one. At SEALFIT we propose the use of mental models to help
us re-frame a situation. The AQAL model is an excellent example. We can quickly

LESSON 5 31
asses the 4 quadrants in a crisis situation and reframe from the perspective of a
team member, distressed family members, or ourselves by viewing the situation from
another quadrant (ie: stepping back from the UL inner experience of a crisis, and
looking at the UR physiological response to it as they start to play out in your body).
This re-framing exercise would bring awareness to what is happening to your body, so
you can respond with the proper mental toughness “courage” tools (breath control,
concentration, smooth is fast, etc.)
Mr. Wise asks us to re-frame by considering the larger context and the good
things that might come along with the bad. When a crisis seems overwhelming “write
out best case and worst case scenarios, and how likely they are to come about,”
recommends Rick Harvey, Assistant Professor of Health Education and Holistic Health
at San Francisco State University. “When you can say to yourself, ‘You know what,
the worse-case scenario isn’t very likely,’ then you can stop worrying.”

PRINCIPLE 6 – THINK IN SMALL CHUNKS

One of our powerful mental toughness tools is to collapse our goals to the near
term. I call these micro-goals. Focusing on getting to the next meal at BUD/s is a
micro-goal. It works, trust me.
Think small and take bite size chunks in crisis!
“If you’re bogged down in a massive project at work, then, don’t let yourself
despair at the hugeness of the task. Break it down into pieces small enough that you
can do each one in an hour or less, and focus all your attention exclusively on that”,
says Mr. Wise, a wise man indeed.

PRINCIPLE 7 - GET MAD

Transmuting the emotion of fear to anger is an interesting concept. It works,

but I caution you to use this sparingly. I think we can easily go too far with this one.
Anger can be a powerful motivator when controlled and directed properly. Just be
careful to not let it get out of control and negatively influence your decision-making.
I am certainly not recommending a passive response –a completely non-violent
reaction such as a Buddhist monk may lead to death. That is not the warrior’s path. We

LESSON 5 32
can explore developing strong, positive emotional states that are even more powerful
than anger.
In a major challenge anger is a powerful emotion that can trump fear.

PRINCIPLE 8 - ENJOY THE RIDE

This is one of my favorites. Jeff hit the nail on the head here. I believe that
regardless of the situation we are in, we can find beauty in the sublime nature of it.
By letting go, collapsing our focus to the present (Power of Now!) and releasing the
need to control the outcome, we can transcend into a flow state and enjoy the ride.
Jeff states that “fear isn’t all bad. Intense fear causes our brain to release
chemicals that mimic the effects of marijuana and amphetamines. Time seems to
slow down and pain vanishes; we can run faster and lift heavier weights. There really
have been cases of panicked people lifting cars with their bare hand.”
Many Kokoro graduates have expressed having a spiritual peak moment at 5am
on Saturday or Sunday morning, after being up for countless hours of brutal training
– watching the sun rise and experiencing a sense of sublime wonder at the beauty
that is around us, ever present, just waiting for us to notice.
Smile if you are with me!

See you in Lesson 6. Until then, train hard, stay safe and have fun! -- Mark Divine

“Do or do not. There is no try.” -- Yoda

LESSON 5 33
LESSON 5

Five Mountain Training

Guide

LESSON 5 34
PHYSICAL

Continue your physical training as per SOP:

• Beginners: Start working on the SEALFIT On-Ramp workout program

included at the end of this lesson. These workouts are progressive and
simple in the first month. Do them consistently if at all possible.
• Intermediate and Advanced – continue training hard with versions of the
Operator WOD, SOF WOD, or our online coaching workouts. Add a challenge
this month – 1,000 air squats for time.

I’ve included at the end of this lesson an intro to the SEALFIT “On-Ramp”
Program from my book 8 Weeks to SEALFIT. If you’d like to learn more in this area,
please consider upgrading to our Platinum UM Membership, which includes access
to SEALFIT Online Training for free. Here you’ll find a wealth of physical training
knowledge updated daily, including exercise demonstration videos and daily WODs
for On-Ramp, Masters, Op WOD and SOF WODs.
Nutritional Awareness – Assess your nutritional awareness. Did you do the 24-
hour track and journal your intake exercise from Lesson 4? If not, do it this month!
Compare to Paleo-zone nutrition. Make an honest assessment of your fueling habits
and commit to change just one thing this month. Eliminate, as best as possible, sugar,
breads, cereals and pasta from you diet (I know – ouch!)

MENTAL

Read all Lesson 5 materials, listen to audios, research as your interest leads you, &
review Lessons 1 to 4. Refine your personal Five Mountain training plan.

EMOTIONAL

Continue to refine the Authentic Communication practice: Speak only if these conditions
are present:

LESSON 5 35
 • What you have to say is truthful
• What you have to say adds value to the conversation
• What you have to say is positive and not negative

AWARNESS, INTUITION AND WARRIOR SPIRIT

Continue Warrior Yoga morning practice. Start Body Scan practice and do daily
for one week. Then select your favorites and structure your daily practice to include
one or more of the practices introduced so far: Box breathing, Still Water, Fish Bowl,
Future Me and Breath Awareness guided meditations.
Continue your KISS practice awareness – seek to apply KISS it to your thinking
and planning. Continue to practice a modified news blackout – simply scan headlines
(WSJ left columns, Google news, etc.).

NOTES

LESSON 5 36
LESSON 5

SEALFIT Physical
Training “On-Ramp”
From 8 Weeks to SEALFIT

LESSON 5 37
 Let’s begin our physical training. If you are new to High Intensity training, or
weightlifting in general, you will want to start with our On-Ramp program. Even if
you consider yourself fit, unless you have been doing CrossFit specifically for at least
six months I highly recommend starting here. This program will prepare your body for
the increased load from the weight bearing exercises allowing you to proceed to our
more advanced programs without risking injury.
Remember that quality and accuracy of movement comes before speed and
intensity. Full range of motion and doing the movements safely are crucial to maintaining
durability over the course of your training.
This program is NOT easy. It includes running, rucking, swimming, power and
Olympic lifting, Kettle Bell work, etc. If you are not familiar with those tools, then
please get a basic familiarity before each workout with the tools prescribed.
You will need a jump rope, pull-up bar, a set of kettle bells and dumb bells, and
a good dose of energy. If you are familiar with the bodyweight movements please skip
to workout # 6. Have fun and good luck!
“It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” - Vince Lombardi

LESSON 5 38
On-Ramp

 DAY 1: INTRO TO AIR SQUATS

Warm-up: 25 slow and perfect air squats – review video for form.

Work Capacity: Perform 5-sets of 20-reps with a 200 meter run after each set. Log
your time to track your results.

Cool Down: 1-mile walk and long stretch.

Coaching Notes: The air squat is performed with feet apart at shoulder width, heels
firmly planted into the ground. Extend your arms directly in front of you and pretend
someone is pulling on your wrists. Now push your bottom slightly backward and sit
down without bending your back. Keep your lumbar arch engaged and tight, keep your
heels firmly planted, get your hips below the knee line. At the bottom wiggle your toes
to ensure your weight is on your heels.

Upon standing, stand up in an explosive movement and push your hips slightly into
hyper-extension. Full depth, open hips at the top, engaged lumbar arch and firmly
planted heels is the key.

 DAY 2: INTRO TO BURPEES

Warm-up: Watch video and practice 10-burpees.

Work Capacity: perform 21-15-9 of burpees with a 200 meter run after each set. Log
your time.

Coaching Notes: Burpees are started from the standing position. Drop your body
vigorously to the ground by kicking your feet backward, land in the push-up position

LESSON 5 39
and lower yourself with expedited speed till your chest is touching the ground. Explode
from the ground to the standing position and conduct a 6” inch jump as well as
clapping hands overhead one time.

 DAY 3: INTRO TO BUTTERFLY SIT-UPS

Warm-up: Read Coaching Notes and practice 10-perfect reps.

Work Capacity: Complete 21-15-9 reps of each of the following butterfly sit-ups, kettle
bells swings, and squats; complete a 400 meter run after each set of repetitions.

Cool Down: 1-mile walk and long stretch.

Coaching Notes: The butterfly sit-up is performed with the soles of the feet placed
together and close to the crotch. By conducting this movement the abdominal muscles
are better isolated and the stress on the hips and quads is eliminated. Also do not brace
your feet or place hands behind neck, instead place hands straight above head with
arms extended. Throw the arms forward and pull the body up into the sitting position.
Sit all the way up and touch the toes with both hands. Placing a rolled up towel or using
an Ab Mat under the lumbar arch will greatly increase the success of this exercise.

 DAY 4: REST DAY

1-mile walk and long stretch.

 DAY 5: INTRO TO BOX JUMPS

Warm-up: 50 air squats, 25 knee to chest jumps, front and back, side to side torso
bends.

Work Capacity: Five rounds of 15-box jumps and 15-BF sit-ups. Use an 18-24’ object

LESSON 5 40
to jump on. Of course there isn’t any rest between rounds. Let the sit-ups become
your rest. Learn to breath.

Cool Down: 400 meter walk, full stretch.

Coaching Notes: The box jump is essential to building strong bones and explosive
power. If you can’t do an 18’ jump them simply lower the height to a height you can
make. Upon landing on top of the object open your hips and stand completely erect.
This isn’t football practice; we need to engrain full extension of the hips in your muscle
memory. Jump or step down it doesn’t matter. Don’t do step ups, lower the height, if
it means jumping 2’ then do it.

“It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” - Vince Lombardi

 DAY 6:

Warm-up: 25 slow and deep reps of the following, Squats and pushups. Do a few
pull-ups but don’t wear yourself out.

Work Capacity: Your first benchmark workout. As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP)
in 20:00 of 5-pullups (or sit-ups), 10-pushups, 15-air squats. This equals 1 round.

Cool Down: 1-mile walk, full body stretch.

Coaching Notes: Your goal is 15 rounds. Full range of motion (ROM) is essential. I
have seen too many people try and cheat their way through this workout. If you get
Five rounds with great range of motion, then its better than 10 rounds of crap half
ass squats and pushups.

Get your hips below your knees and your ass on the ground, touch your chest and
extend your elbows each and every rep. Get your chin over the bar and extend your
arms. Attack this workout, rest for no more than 10 seconds at a time. Look in the
mirror right now and tell yourself you are tough and attack this workout. Don’t HOLD
BACK!

LESSON 5 41
 DAY 7:

Warm-up: 25-knee to chest jumps, 50-squats, 50-situps, 800 meter jog.

Work Capacity: Five rounds of: 10-box jumps, 10-situps, 10-squats, and a 500 meter
row.

Cool Down: 500 slow row,

Regular push-up position

One arm up and forward (right then left)
One leg up (right then left)
Superman pose (one arm, one leg) alternate. Keep your abs tight.

Coaching Notes: Your first trifecta workout, this workout is about sustained workload
across a broad time domain. It should take you around 30:00 minutes. Do your best
to maintain the same pacing throughout all rounds. If you have a stop watch with a
lap timer - use it. You don’t want to use all your energy in the beginning, but you also
don’t want to save it till the end.

 DAY 8:

Warm up: 1 set of 10 reps for each of the following, pushups, sit-ups, air squats,
lunges, back extensions.

Work Capacity: 3-mile timed run

Cool Down: A long leg stretch, spend some quality time on your hamstrings and calves.

Coaching Notes: A reasonable run time should be 30:00 minutes or under. The more
conditioned you get and the more effort you are able to put in, the faster your times
will become. Our goal is a 21:00 minute or less run. If you noticed you had pain,
here are some tips:

LESSON 5 42
If your shoes are old get new ones, this is the number one reason for leg pain. Shoes
are like tires; they wear out, 150 -300 miles per pair.
If you felt pain in your Achilles tendons, buy some heel supports. You can find them
at Rite Aid for around $5 dollars. They will elevate your heels just enough to decrease
the rubbing between your tendon and your heel.

 DAY 9:

Warm-up: 800 meter jog, 25 deep squats, 25 pull-ups.

Work Capacity: Five rounds of 20 lunges, 20 sit-ups and 400 meter runs.

Cool Down: 800 meter walk, full body stretch.

Coaching Notes: Touch your knee on the ground each time. Don’t slam it down and
don’t do wrestler walks. Stand up each and every rep. Sit-ups, touch your shoulder
blades and your toes on every rep. Maintain and sustain.

 DAY 10: REST DAY

1-mile walk and long stretch

 DAY 11:

Warm-up: 800 meter jog, 10 or so reps of each

Work Capacity: 400 meter run, 50-air squats, 50-pushups, 50-situps, 50-pullups,
400 meter run.

Cool Down: 400 walk, yoga poses, full body stretch.

Coaching Notes: We are getting you ready for a workout called ‘Murph’. Michael Murphy
was awarded the Medal of Honor for putting his life in danger to save his teammates.

LESSON 5 43
The workout we do in his name is a much longer, harder version of this. SEALs get
together once a year and do this with our full kit on. The workout named in his honor
is as follows: 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, 1-mile run with
45lb vest. This workout separates the crowd. He who can do it under 45:00 minutes
is blessed with all the physical abilities God has granted us. Most people will never
complete this workout; those that do may never break an hour. All of you will be doing
this in less than 50:00 minutes in a few short months.

 DAY 12:

Warm-up: 10-50 meter breath hold sprints.

Work Capacity: 20-40 meter sprints.

Cool Down: 1-mile run.

Coaching Notes: Increase the speed of your runs during the Warm-up, start slow and
build up to full speed. Rest only 1:00 minute between runs.

 DAY 13:

Warm-up: 400 run and 50 squats

WOD: Five rounds of 20 squats and 200 meter runs, wait 5:00 minutes and then do
one set of max pushups in 2 minutes.

Cool Down: 1-mile jog.

Coaching Notes: This looks a lot like your first workout. Let’s see how much better
you feel today than you did on day one. As always, depth of the squat matters more
than the speed. Try and step up the pace of your sprints.

LESSON 5 44
 DAY 14:

Warm-up: 5-100 meter sprints, start at 50% and build up each sprint.

Work Capacity: 21-15-9 burpees with a 200 meter run after each set.

Cool Down: 1-mile run

Coaching Notes: Attack this workout, finish it under 10:00 minutes.

 DAY 15:

Warm-up: 400 meter jog, 1-round of workout.

Work Capacity: Five rounds of 5-pull-ups, 10-push-ups, 20-situps, 30-squats.

Cool Down: 1-mile jog and stretch.

Coaching Notes: If you can’t do pull-ups or have a pull-up bar, you can purchase these
items from our SEALFIT.com online store.

 DAY 16: REST DAY

3-mile run

 DAY 17:

Warm-up: 50-meters of bear crawl. Hands and feet on the ground, GO!

Work Capacity: 50-40-30-20-10 of sit-ups after each set do 150-140-130-120-110

of jump ropes.

LESSON 5 45
Cool Down: 1-mile jog and stretch.

Coaching Notes: If you don’t have a jump rope, you can get one in our SEALFIT.com
online store.

 DAY 18:

Warm-up: 100 jumping jacks, 30-push-ups.

Work Capacity: “GI Jane” your first official benchmark workout. 100 burpee pulls for
time.

Cool Down: 400 meter walk, long stretch.

Coaching Notes: Conduct a burpee underneath either a pull-up bar or rings, ensure
the bar or rings are at least a 8” jump above your hands. Now conduct a burpee and
jump into the pull-up and pull your chin over or past the bar or rings.

 DAY 19:

Warm-up: three rounds of 10 push-ups, sit-ups, flutter kicks

Work Capacity: 4 rounds for time of 25-pushups, 50-situps, 50 4-count flutter-kicks

(1-2-3-1, 1-2-3-2, 1-2-3-3…etc).

Cool Down: 1-mile jog

Coaching Notes: Four count flutter kicks are performed as follows. Lay on your back,
place your hands in the shape of a diamond in the small of your back. Bring your feet
up to six inches off the ground. Kick your left leg to 36” and the alternate legs. Keep
a slight bend to the knee. Keep your head up and don’t put it on the ground. Don’t
put your feet down to rest.

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 DAY 20:

Warm-up: 800 meter run, 25-deep squats, 30-long lunges

Work Capacity: Four rounds of 25-jumping squats, 30-lunges, and a 400 meter run

Cool Down: 1-mile walk

Coaching Notes: Jumping squats are the same as squats, only on the way up you
explode into a jump. Lunges are performed with the knee touching the ground on
every rep, stand up straight after each knee strike.

 DAY 21:

Warm-up: 400 meter run, every 30 seconds do 10 push-ups and 10 air squats

Work Capacity: 3-mile run, every 5:00 minutes do 25-push-ups and 25-squats

Cool Down: 1-mile walk and long stretch.

Coaching Notes: Don’t worry about the odd looks you get – those folks wish they had
the discipline to do what you are doing!

 DAY 22:

Warm-up: 500 meter row

Work Capacity: 1-mile swim, Sub Row 2,000M and 250 4-count flutter kicks.

Cool Down: Long stretch

Coaching Notes: Swimming is another facet of a good athlete. I recommend you get
in the water and learn this valuable skill (it may save your life someday).

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 DAY 23:

Warm-up: 10-practice body blasters, 800 m run.

Work Capacity: 4 rounds for time of 100 Jump Ropes, Run 400 meters, 10-Bodyblasters
(burpee pull-up knees to elbows)

Cool Down: Long stretch.

Coaching Notes: Body blasters will test your mental toughness, do not drop off bar
or rings until the entire rep is complete. Letting go after each rep is acceptable but
weak, letting go in between pull-up and knee to elbow is pathetic.

 DAY 24:

LSD run: 3-5+ miles

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LESSON 5

Journal

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Was I disciplined with my practice this month? How often did I practice? What can
I do better next month?

Am I deepening my connection with my “witness?”

How long can I maintain my equanimity after a practice session? Notice when you
get pulled out of the temporary state of bliss. Is it a phone call or conversation?
What about self-propelled urge to check your email? What does this mean?

Do I feel more focused and peaceful? Can I quickly get myself back to being focused
and peaceful when I notice that I am not?

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How is Unbeatable Mind practice changing my outlook on life? My view of myself?

Other thoughts?

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