[Richard Vernetti]

Hi all,

I would like to introduce myself,

My name is Courtney and I am a college student who is pursuing a degree in chemistry and getting ready to go for my Ph.D next fall.

This is a path that does require sufficient mental and physical toughness, so I have been studying the warrior ethic for some time. For this reason, SEALFIT is very interesting to me. I want to become a warrior in body and spirit.

I do have a problem though: I have been very overweight and out of shape my entire life. While I lost 80 pounds and have kept that off for over 5 years, I am still significantly overweight and starting from the bottom fitness-wise. My main goal is to increase my fitness level progressively.

I did purchase the book 8 weeks to SEALFIT, but found even the basic training to be too advanced, so I do not understand how to scale the workouts to a point where I can complete them and benefit.

As a college student with limited access to equipment when school is out, I appreciate the “Grinder PT” approach to this training but just am overwhelmed not knowing where to start, how to scale, and what will be beneficial without seeming unattainable. In short, my goal is Crawl-Walk-Run, but I am in the crawl phase.

Any ideas on how to build from the bottom would be appreciated. I also thought there were some videos for Grinder PT in this section (I remember seeing a sample Grinder PT warmup, which alluded to their being other videos, but I cannot find them. Do they exist?)

[Richard Vernetti]

A good resource for scaling would be the CrossFit mainsite. Go to the “Start here” tab and then pick the “BrandX scaled workouts”. SOme of the threads will show how to scale for certain movememnts. Some of the same movements are used in SEALFit. Some movements are not and it would probably be a good idea to ask what an appropriate scale/subbed version would be.

[Richard Vernetti]

If you have the 8 Weeks to SEALFIT book, simply scale the workouts to your level, then repeat that week until you can do the week as required. For example, if a workout prescribes:

50 Burpees
40 Pull-ups
30 Sit-ups
20 Dips
10 Push-ups

For time

You can scale this any number of ways. You can divide the workout into 10 rounds. If the volume is too much, reduce the amount of rounds to something bite size, say 3 rounds or even 2.

The point is to be slow and methodical for awhile as you build up your work capacity. Then each week, try to do more than the week before until you can do the workouts as prescribed. When you can do the workouts as prescribed, start trying to beat your times. Hope this helps.

[Richard Vernetti]

A good resource for workouts is sealgrinderpt.com. Brad McCleod has posted a lot of good workouts on this site and YouTube.

[Richard Vernetti]

Hey Courtney,
I will be starting from the very bottom myself. Maybe we can help each other out by posting our modified workouts in the journal or something. I have very limited resources and live in the middle of nothing so I have to get creative with equipment. Before I found Sealfit I used to just try different things. My neighbors think I am a complete nut-job, as they watched me load a 50lb bag of dog food into my wheelbarrow and roll it across the yard unload repeat. Now my goal is to modify the Masters WOD to something I can accomplish every day and build from there.

[Richard Vernetti]

That’s a great idea! I am a little down further now. I had been working out every day for 2 weeks (not SEALFIT, but building up with David Rutherford’s Doc Frog) then I had an out of town trip which I still trained during THEN I came back and got hit with Strep throat (IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER!?) so I haven’t trained for a week but I WANT TO. 🙁

I have a very minimal setup like you and no teammates interested in fitness either, but the good news is my school gym will be available to use as soon as I am feeling better. My goal is to attempt the SEALFIT on-ramp program from 8 Weeks to SEALFIT.

I think there are newbies out there and we should definitely work together. Be our own team. Maybe Coach Divine will come out with SEALFIT for beginners (“8 weeks to 8 weeks to SEALFIT”) 😛

[SEALFIT Online]

Courtney and SCoffee-
Great stuff! I’m glad you guys got connected and will be accountability partners. That’s the SEALFIT way!

[Richard Vernetti]

Courtney,
Hope you get over your strep attack soon. Strep throat sucks any time of year. I am dealing with my own down problem with an ongoing foot thing. I second the eight weeks to eight weeks to seal fit idea! It would be nice to have access to a gym but I don’t so I will continue to be creative. I will be walking to the closest store only half a mile so not any huge thing and buying a bag of sand to make a sandbag with later this week if it will ever quit raining. Not that I won’t walk in the rain but we have severe thunderstorms and tornadoes around here lately and those are not fun at all. Let us know when you are back in the game.

[Richard Vernetti]

Thanks Coach Dave!

[Richard Vernetti]

Hooyah! Yeah I definitely think I am still recovering, I feel really wiped out the day after I was active, but getting in whatever I can is a goal!

Great idea on the sandbag, I am using a punching bag that I received as a gift but couldn’t find a place to hang.

Keep up the resourcefulness SCoffee 😀

[Richard Vernetti]

Courtney I would like to add nutrition is key in your Sealfit program. Having energy not having the mid-afternoon slump, building and recovery all are linked to nutrition. Having lost 80 pounds and kept it off is fantastic way to go. Now adding a higher level of exercise you may need to adjust your needs again. A place to start might be Nutrition for Athletes: How to Increase Your Energy, Speed and Endurance with Natural Foods. It is an easy read currently only .99 cents on Amazon. All the best in you journey.

[Richard Vernetti]

Hi Courtney,
Before I started with Unbeatable Mind and SealFit, I too was out of shape. My background is similar to yours (academic with PhD = desk jockey with back pain and physical exercise in the form of watching exercise videos on youtube)…

My entry into the whole PT world was “Marc Lauren” and his “you are your own gym”. No equipment needed and you can download exercise videos on his webpage where he does and you follow. The good thing is that you see him sweat and so you feel like working out in a team. For me that was the way to go, then I discovered the Unbeatable Mind Academy and SealFit + Warrior Yoga and I am on my way and feel that this is the path I have been searching for a long, long time! Nutrition, Sleep, Breathing, the whole package.
Good luck to you and keep it up! Stay committed and consider starting unbeatable mind – it will help you.

[Michael Otzen]

Hey guys and girls :o) I’m happy to read your posts and also with quite the same background as Rick, however, trying to get rid of the back and elbow pain with yoga and having been doing that for 9 years now. I have used YouTube a lot for that, especially a channel called Boho Beautiful, but also a yoga teacher called Dashama Konah, whose course I have attended on Udemy.com. Now I am starting up with the very basics of the SealFit Grinder PT.
However, I cannot seem to work out, when to change for video 2? Do I take video 1, 2, 3 and so on every other day, consistently, or do I do video 1 every other day, Monday, Wednesday and Friday until I can do a perfect workout without losing it?
I hope some of you can understand my question and perhaps lead me in the right direction with your interpretation of the program.

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