resilience

On Motivation

By Craig Weller / September 27, 2021 / 1 Comment

Everyone wants to know the ‘secret’ to motivation. Like most topics, this isn’t as simple as repeating cliches like ‘just don’t quit’ or ‘stay hard’. These sayings can be useful as simple reminders of more complex concepts, but only if you understand the underlying process and skills that lead to that outcome. Without those underlying […]

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A Pair of Boots

By Craig Weller / January 30, 2021 / 3 Comments

I was still 17 when I enlisted in the Navy. My parents had to sign the enlistment paperwork for me since I wasn’t of legal age. This wasn’t without some resistance. I could have become a doctor. Or a lawyer. These are the two jobs that are supposed to be in your future when you’re […]

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Secondary Emotions

By Craig Weller / October 21, 2020 / 2 Comments

Regardless of your occupation, self-regulation is a key component of resilience and performance under stress.    Self-regulation has an immediate effect, in that it helps you direct your cognitive function and make better decisions in difficult situations.  In the medium-term, it helps to modulate circadian rhythms, prevent burnout, and manage energy and recovery.  And, in […]

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Building work capacity for special operations selection prep

Building Work Capacity for Special Operations Selection Prep

By Craig Weller / August 18, 2020 / 11 Comments

Don’t have access to any weights or only have a few kettlebells or dumbbells?  No problem. Now is the time to work on building your work capacity: the total amount of work you can do in a fixed amount of time.  Work capacity is a blend of power and capacity.  Power = the amount of […]

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Movement Capacity, Fidelity, and Variability

By Craig Weller / July 26, 2020 / 0 Comments

Move well, move more It’s easy to simplify how we think about movement. You take something like a squat, and you work on doing it well. Then, you work on doing it a lot. You add weight, volume, density or complexity. A good bodyweight squat becomes a good goblet squat becomes a heavy barbell back […]

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Optimization

By Craig Weller / July 20, 2020 / 0 Comments

By: Jon Pope “On the occasion of any accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.” – Epictetus   The current situation has affected everyone in one way or another.   Some people have had their lives upended.  Others may be only slightly inconvenienced […]

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Every F**king Day

By Craig Weller / April 16, 2020 / 0 Comments

Nearly everyone knows of Demetrious Johnson – the 11-time UFC Champion, and top contender for greatest-of-all-time MMA fighter.  A few years ago we were hanging out with his long-time strength and conditioning coach, Joel Jamieson, who told us a story about Demetrious and what made him so special.  Demetrious didn’t have what you’d call a […]

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Hardiness personality components in special operations forces

Commitment, Control, and Challenge: How Hardiness Helps Special Operators Succeed

By Craig Weller / March 21, 2020 / 3 Comments

Bodies can be remarkably strong. They’re hard to truly break, and – given the right circumstances – easy to repair. Bodies of SOF candidates are even stronger. So, it should be no surprise that people usually fail out of selection not because of physical factors, but mental ones. The mind breaks before the body. Physical […]

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Special Operations Nutrition: Dealing with the Unpredictable

By Craig Weller / February 16, 2020 / 4 Comments

“What’s your name? Where are you? What day is it?”  I had no idea.  This strange yet vaguely familiar person may as well have been asking me to solve quadratic equations.  As I excavated my brain for answers to his puzzles, he lowered me to the deck of the pool and called for the medic.  […]

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They All Wound

By Craig Weller / January 15, 2020 / 0 Comments

The ultimate ceiling of what you’re capable of as an endurance athlete is astonishingly high. Evolutionarily, we’re the most efficient runners on earth. Well-trained humans can run animals like gazelles to death in the heat. Your own upper limits are heavily influenced by your mental and emotional perspective, as well as the more obvious factors […]

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