Building the Elite: The Complete Guide to Building Resilient Special Operators

I'm still digesting the second edition on Kindle and plan to provide a more detailed review later. However, the second edition is looking great. It's the first edition plus even more information and details, notably with exercises and training plans. It also looks great on my iPad. It's easy to read and the pages / pictures line align perfectly. Kudos to the team for effectively bring this to Kindle.Until I fully digest the additional content in the second edition, here's my review of the physical copy of the first edition from 1/17/2021....''''I've spent the past 5 months digesting the information in this book and it's fantastic. I can't recommend it enough and highly recommend taking your time to fully digest the information. That said, here's a quick overview:- This is by far the best and most complete book I've seen for building and maintaining resilience. All other sources I've seen focus on reducing stress and neglect to mention ways of building stress capacity and the importance of doing so.- The book is filled with a wealth of useful, applicable information heavily covering the mental aspects of resilience while integrating the necessary physical aspects.- The concepts can be applied broadly and to anyone; you don't have to be training for special forces to benefit from this book.Thank you Jonathan and Craig for putting this together!"""I still stick by my review and highly recommend this book to anyone remotely in resilience, fitness, or who is curious about the book in general. The second edition has even more information than before making an even better deal. And now that it's on Kindle, I don't have to lug the book around to reference*!* Which I do on a regular basis as it's my go to reference book for anything resilience or fitness related.Disclaimer - I was provided the Kindle version for free to review here on Amazon but purchased both the first and second edition physical copies with my own money. I'm not employed by them or receive any other benefits. I'm just a guy interested in resilience and fitness.

This is probably THE best book I've come across in terms of translating selection mindset to a civilian population. It explains things I have a hard time verbalizing to my non-SO or non-combat arms military friends. Like the differences between being an athlete and a soldier when it comes to selection, and why the former sometimes struggle. Many many more gems with some great strategies.The training principles are excellent, but be aware you might have a hard time putting together the actual nuts and bolts of a physical training program. I would use this for the mental side of the process, and stick with Jeff Nichols (USN), Stew Smith, Tactical Barbell, etc. for the physical prep.

This is required reading for anyone interested in physical and mental skill development. I have been training on and off (mostly on) with Craig and these methods for over 10 years and I would not be the person I am today, or where I am in life without him and the material in this book. These training methods have gotten me physically and mentally prepared for various difficult life and work tasks, grueling ultra long distance races, running a successful business, and life in general. There is so much great information in here that translates to day to day life, specifically with stress management and performing at a high level, as well as training- You can benefit from these methods even if you are not training for special operations. I have never been stronger, fitter, tougher, or better equipped to deal with stress than when I was training with Craig. With the consistent long term results I got, I can only imagine what this would do for someone in the special operations pipeline.The book is easy to read- the information is clear, coherent, easy to implement, and the stories are relatable and entertaining.Everyone should read this book, whether they are training to be special operators or just want to be a better, more resilient human.

On the surface BTE looks like a fitness book (which it is, my favourite one by far) and geared towards SOF prep (which it is). In the pages however; this is also a book for life since every chapter can be incorporated into every aspect of your everyday life.As a personal trainer, it is literally a Training Bible or a Training Encyclopaedia that provides invaluable advice on program design and every single aspect of training. As a human, it is an all-encompassing resource. The anecdotes it contains give tremendous insight into the realm of human performance and what we perceive as our limits. If you have read Goggins' "You Can't Hurt Me", this is the companion that lays out the practical path to developing both the mental and physical resilience to improve your performance in any aspect of your life.I have owned the first version of the book for over a year, and can say that it was very well-organised. Now, this new, updated and restructured version is even more streamlined. It also gives additional content that peels back some of the layers of the detailed and effective approach the authors have used for years in designing programmes for their countless number of clients at PN and their other ventures. Having taking a year of PN coaching in addition to online training through Ethos, I can testify that their program designs are effective and follow the principles laid out in the book.If you can, I urge you to get the book at this very moment. If not, get it tomorrow. Regardless of when you get it, trust me, you will not be disappointed.

This book contains EVERYTHING you need to understand about physiological and psychological training for performance without getting too far into the weeds on the specifics of theory or obscure methods/models. It's more about how the body/mind is a complex system and how to influence that system in the direction you want. The language is so accessible for a variety of reading levels and the examples are pure gold. I bought it to learn how I can improve as a trail runner and ended up getting a lot more about how to deal with anxiety, fear and how to become a "special operator" in life (as a civilian).

Livre très complet qui présente une approche globale de la préparation. Les méthodes présentées peuvent très facilement être transposées à d'autre secteur que la préparation aux tests militaires.

Great book. It's divided into overviews of the theories that underpin the work and then suggestions on how to practically implement this into designing a training programme. The focus is very much on making your own programme based on your weaknesses but includes templates as what the authors call a "sanity check" on what a programme can look like . I think I got the most value out of the chapter on how to develop the mental skills needed for a selection process. It's something that's not often explicitly explained by other authors. I've found this useful in other areas of life and I imagine others would too. Recommended if you're preparing for any military, police or similar service.

Fantastic resource for any sof candidate or performance coach! Best book I’ve found so far. Great layout with clear and applicable principles.

I first became aware of this book through a post I was shared on social media, I then did some brief Googling about the authors and immediately put in a pre-order. After reading it, I put in an application to train with Craig and Jon, and have been for almost 12 months now. Over that period I’ve seen more progress and less injuries than at any other time in my training “career”.If you want a single book to train by, this is it.