Training Inspiration: NZSAS

When most people encounter any amount of endured suffering, they talk themselves into quitting. Getting people to commit to something as simple as a workout schedule or consistently maintain a specific diet is virtually impossible, even if it is for their benefit. This is why people who make it through selections (Special Forces/SWAT) and tough schools (Ranger School) are so few in number. I believe that each of these organizations and schools can teach us how to suffer well and perform at our best.

“He is best that is trained in the severest school” 
-Thucydides ​

New Zealand is a small country and yet their SAS regiment has to maintain the capabilities and lethality of their larger commonwealth SAS peers in Australia and Britain, to the point of seamless integration on joint operations. For this reason, I have been greatly inspired by the NZSAS, specifically their selection and training, for its high demands for constant performance. Though the NZSAS is closely modelled operationally off the British counterpart, their selections are different. Joe Hotai, who went through both the NZ (10 days + 9 Months) and Australian (3 weeks + 16 Months) SAS selections, NZSAS was much harder. All the information I am about to share is generalized for the sake of brevity, but there is more detail on msigwarrior.com or YouTube. 

SELECTION AND TRAINING

​Getting into the NZSAS requires months of continuous selection, literally and figuratively. Applicants must endure a 10-day initial selection with little to no food or sleep. During this time, they are put through several fitness tests where they must score at the top of their fitness class. After the fitness tests, they carry heavy packs for hundreds of Kilometers doing timed land navigation exercises or lugging supplies around mucky environments all day and night with little to no breaks or food. Then selection is topped off with a timed 36 mile/60 KM ruck march that lasts about 12 hours, through the night. Often people report hallucinations and difficulty concentrating after 7 days of being kept awake and on the move. It is common for people to lose 10-20 KG during these 10 days and to be physically wrecked.

​After initial selection is passed, the applicant has to endure a 9-month training cycle where being slow to learn gets you kicked out. During these months, they literally run everywhere they go, have intense PT sessions several times a day in full combat gear, and are required to memorize ungodly amounts of information in very little time and with little rest each night. Not to mention they must competently and safely employ various weapon systems and demolition systems/techniques in mock operational scenarios. This cycle of training is topped off with a week-long patrol where the remaining candidates evade regular army forces and endure 48 hours of grueling interrogation when they are captured by the hunter force.

​Even after an applicant is selected and goes through training, the selection staff could decide you aren’t right for them and toss you back to the regular army. If you do go on to serve in the NZSAS, the new operator will have to contribute right away. If the new operator doesn’t perform well in his first year, he can be tossed out. The saying for many elite forces, including the NZSAS, is: Getting here is hard, but staying here is harder. Every day you must perform and contribute to the mission. This is a unit for blokes/dudes who enjoy the fast pace and constant high-performance demands. 

WHAT IT MEANS FOR ME

With the NZSAS being so small, compared to other Common Wealth SAS units, its members must make up for it by being better skilled in a variety of subjects. Considering that I am running solo most of the time in my self/3rd party defense, my skills really need to be high to make up for being a one-man operation. I have to hit harder, go faster, and last longer despite not having adequate rest/sleep. In fact, this is an issue for many of my readers. The question is, what are you willing to do about it? Is the defense of yourself/your family important enough for you to get off your butt and take your training seriously?

The use of sleep and food deprivation in NZSAS training is not only great for compounding/magnifying mental and physical fatigue, but it can be used as a training tool. At least weekly I will fast through the day and train and workout through the night. In fact that is how most of this article was written. Every hour I am doing a 5-10 minute workout, high paced precision weapons training under a timer, or running my dogs for 2 miles under a timer. After I pull an all-nighter, I will break my 24 hour fast and continue on the following day like normal (breaking a fast always drains you like after having a huge meal), hitting my workouts hard despite being sore, concentrating on my weapons/medical training despite having difficulty focusing, and absorbing new information despite having difficulty concentrating. After the day is done, I do active recovery and prep for the next day. By the time I lay my head down at night, my body will have cut a lot of fat and my brain will be quick to go into REM. This type of training renews your sleep/rest cycle and burns alot of fat. Not to mention that you can adapt to sleep deprivation and perform better and better as you experience it more. You can legitimately train to operate under sleep deprivation as you can train your body to run continuously for hours in a marathon.

TRY IT FOR YOURSELF

​To be real with you, most of the readers can't do what I do on a daily basis since I am retired and have the luxury to do anything and everything I want. However, I do challenge you to voluntarily abstain from sleeping for a night and go on a run every hour or so or do some workout whenever you feel tired. Try to also fast for 24 hours during this period. Nothing but water or black coffee. Even if you think you are too busy with work, I guarantee that you can find the time to do something like this. After all, you found time to read this article. Fasting is incredibly healthy for you, despite the lunatics saying you have to eat all the time. Unless you are a Type 1 Diabetic, you have no excuse. 

INSPIRATION/NOT IMMITATION

Let me finish by saying I am not saying that this is going to make you "just as good as" someone who underwent NZSAS selection, nor am I getting into which is a harder/better unit. Most of selection is useless for our training purposes in civilian life, and I am only interested in concepts I can use to help train better. What we can take from the NZSAS is that they use sleep/food deprivation in a unique way while also putting emphasis on maintaining high performance standards despite these exhaustive conditions. Most selection courses have comparatively limited sleep/food deprivation, which makes the NZSAS stand out in that sense. There is something to learn from if you can find patterns. From there we look into how they work and the science behind it to see if it can sensibly and safely added to our training. Take what is useful and discard the rest.