We’ve seen celebrities sink under the pressure of an SAS course, but is it really that hard? This journalist took the test and “died.”
We have all seen the stars of SAS Australia go through challenges that take the mind and body to their limits.
From showering with pepper spray on your face to jumping from a helicopter to a boat at high speed, the type of training to get to this point is unimaginable for most.
So, could I, a 26-year-old woman who wears a size 16 and exercises five times a week, train like a SAS soldier?
As part of the release of Amazon Prime Video The list of terminalspresenting Chris Pratt as a former Navy SEAL officer — the American equivalent of a SAS soldier — who investigates why his platoon was ambushed during a cover mission, invited me to take on the challenge.
Hosted by Sydney personal trainer Jono Castano at his Acero gym, he put us to the test in a group and completed a SAS-inspired workout.
I’m not going to lie, I hesitated a bit with this challenge. Thanks to a diagnosis of celiac disease and a bit of emotional nourishment, I am a plus size woman. Although I do two sports and train five times a week, I felt that these challenges would be far beyond my reach.
While there are many older people who would have killed this, I doubted if I would be one of them.
But, as Jono reassured me before, it was about pushing me to the limit, whatever it was.
“Training like this involves a lot: strength, endurance, speed and intelligence,” he said.
“But when it comes to training, it’s just about moving.
“For a normal person, I would only recommend it based on their goal. If they are advanced and want to try something that drives them, this is for those people.”
He said that every workout should be tailored to each person’s skills and goals and that training for this challenge would be intense, even for someone like him.
The Navy SEAL physical screen test includes a 470m breaststroke that must be completed in less than 12.5 minutes, 42 push-ups in 2 minutes, 50 crunches in 2 minutes, 6 push-ups and a 2.4 stroke. km in 11 minutes.
Fortunately, this workout, despite being a challenge, would not be so horrible.
The workout would be 13 exercises to complete in 45 minutes, plus a warm-up, with a blackboard to mark what we had done during that time.
“A bit of friendly competition to see who can score more,” Jono joked.
When we met in a circle, Jono revealed that we would be warming up to the famous song ‘Bring Sally Up’.
Only, this time, would we do it as push-ups.
Immediately, a thought crossed my mind. “I was wrong”.
I’ve squatted the version dozens of times and my legs are easily my strongest body part. My arms are my weakest.
My shoulders were on after four minutes and then I had to do 50 chest presses with 10kg in each hand in a row.
One exercise, which I found to be the most challenging, was actually one based on balance. With one leg in the air and the other foot on an inflatable disc, throw a tennis ball against the wall and grab the other for 25 rounds.
I can’t balance myself to save my life and my eye-hand coordination is shocking, despite being on sports teams, and I was frustrated.
How could I not do this more basic task?
But Ben Putland, another Steel coach, came and helped me modify the task so that I could actually do a workout while using it.
The stretch that broke me, however, was a mile of trotting on a treadmill with an incline of 8. I knew it would take me about 10 minutes, but what I didn’t expect was how much I would get the incline.
After three minutes, he was out of air.
I didn’t want to do it anymore, but I wasn’t about to be fooled.
At one point, tears began to sting my eyes. He was tired, sore, and embarrassed. I felt like everyone was looking at me, but I knew it probably wasn’t like that.
I tried to distract myself.
One way to do that was to sing Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” repeatedly in my head.
Another was wondering if I would be allowed to take a nap under my desk after training.
But, I overcame it.
Finally, Jono announced that there were 10 seconds left and started the countdown.
He had only passed 5 of the 13 exercises
In the end, I felt absolutely shattered but triumphant. I hadn’t completed all the tasks, but I felt good about what I had done. I had a red face, was out of breath, and for the moment I felt like I would never recover.
It had been hard, and there were many times I wanted to quit smoking or cry during the routine. I had felt so silly compared to all these people that I was very fit. But as I looked around the room, I could see that I wasn’t the only one who regretted my life choices that day.
Jono said the training industry has changed since the pandemic, with people shifting from weight loss goals to more holistic approaches.
“I think it’s amazing. A lot of people create these toxic worlds in our head where it’s about these crazy diets and having to train intensely every day,” he said.
“It’s a positive change. We’re finally seeing the benefits of what exercise is: it’s about movement. It could be something like today or a walk with friends.”
So while I was dying doing this workout, I walked away knowing that any move is a good move.
After catching my breath, I spent the day and even played hockey that night.
The next day, after training, I was in a lot of pain. I could barely lift my arms, my core hurt with every breath and I walked like a cowboy.
It’s not a workout you would do every day, not even every week, but it’s definitely a workout to try if you want to change your routine.
Until then, I’ll put on jeans so I don’t look too silly while my muscles calm down.
The list of terminals appears in Prime Video on July 1st.