CSAUP stands for completely stupid and utterly pointless, the F3 nickname for events like Tough Mudders, GORUCK challenges, and SEALFIT camps, and I believe they are anything but pointless. These stretch events push you to the edge of your comfort zone, and growth happens when you push through that edge instead of retreating. For this Physical Friday I walk through the events I have done, from marathons to GORUCK Selection and SEALFIT Kokoro, and why you should always have something on the calendar that scares you.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
CSAUP is an acronym from Dave Redding, one of the founders of F3, and it stands for completely stupid and utterly pointless. It describes events like a fourteen-mile Tough Mudder where you finish by running through electric shocks, the kind of thing that makes your wife or coworker say, I don't get it. The joke is in the name, because these events are anything but pointless, they are some of the most valuable things you can do.
Because they stretch you. You thrive on the edge of your comfort zone, and when you push through that edge instead of retreating, your comfort zone expands like concentric circles on an archery target. You learn about leadership, you learn about yourself, you train with purpose, and you build confidence that carries into business, family, and everything else.
SEALFIT Kokoro is a roughly fifty-hour camp with no sleep, run by former Navy SEAL commander Mark Divine in California. It was originally designed as a tune-up for people headed to BUD/S, but plenty of civilians like me attend to test themselves. I trained for it for a year, and I learned more in those hours than I had in years, about leadership, about myself, and about what it takes to succeed at anything. SEALFIT also offers shorter options like the 20X, an eight-to-twelve-hour event built to show you that you can do twenty times more than you think.
GORUCK Selection is GORUCK's most extreme event, a forty-eight-hour test modeled on special forces selection, and it may be the most difficult event on Earth for a civilian. In my class, 278 people started and only one finished, and I was not that one. GORUCK also runs much more accessible challenges, from four or five hours up, led by special forces veterans, that you can do solo, with a friend, or as a custom event for your own group.
Match it to your current level, because what you gain has nothing to do with how hard the event is in absolute terms. If you have never raced, a 5K you have to train for is your GORUCK Selection. Pick something that scares you a little, sign it up on a date, get a training plan, and go, even if you have to walk it and even if you come in last.
Not at all. You can create your own. If the longest ride you have ever done is one hundred miles, set a date to ride two hundred, design the course, and invite friends. Climb a mountain, paddle something long like the Everglades Challenge crowd does, or build any challenge that forces you to train, occupies your mind, and stretches your ability to recover.
I unpack each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
On a recent podcast with Dave Redding of F3, his CSAUP acronym made me laugh because it captures the look people give you when you describe a Tough Mudder, yet I have built a lot of my growth on exactly these events, so I wanted to lay out what they are, what they cost you, and what they give back. I tell the whole story in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I got out of shape by pouring everything into fishing and my business, and the way back started with running, then a Disney marathon, then CrossFit competitions, Ragnar relays, SEALFIT Kokoro, and eventually GORUCK Selection. Each event stretched me a little further than the last. I walk through that progression and what each step taught me in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The fitness is almost the smallest part. Kokoro taught me more about leadership, being a husband, a dad, and a friend than almost anything else I have done. Selection taught me what failure is worth, only one of 278 finished my class, and I learned as much from not finishing as from any success. I unpack those lessons in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Always have something on the calendar that scares you a little. It does not matter whether it is a 5K or Selection, what matters is that it is a stretch for you, that you have to train for it, and that it occupies your mind. Push through the edge of the comfort zone and the circle gets bigger every time. Email me at podcast@saltwaterexperience.com and tell me how your event goes, success or failure, both count. Press play in the player above.
CSAUP · F3 · Dave Redding · Tough Mudder · GORUCK · GORUCK Selection · SEALFIT · Kokoro · SEALFIT 20X · Mark Divine · BUD/S · Disney Marathon · Ragnar Relay · Everglades Challenge · Mike Dunlap · Josh Collins · death race · comfort zone · Physical Friday · Tom Rowland Podcast
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep me ready for long days on the water, in short, focused episodes built for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and anyone who wants to stay in the game for life.
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