Book Review: Living with a Seal: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet

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A while back, Allie, who blogs at VITA Train for Life, reviewed Jesse Itzler's book Living with a Seal. She loved it and after reading her review, I was intrigued. Who on earth would invite a Navy Seal to live with them as a means to get in shape?

Jesse Itzer, entrepreneur and successful businessman wanted to get whipped into shape and he was looking for some mental toughness, so he chose Navy SEAL David Goggins, aka The Toughest Man Alive to train him. Goggins agreed to train Itzler but only on one condition: that Itzler does everything he said.

And he meant EVERYTHING.

This guy is hardcore. The training makes for a good story, but the way Itzler tells it, it's hilarious. There's no whining. There's no quitting. To emphasize Goggins' no-nonsense approach, Itzer only refers to him as SEAL throughout the book.

"What do you want, a fucking leotard? Man, we start, and then, motherfucker, we finish. That's what we do up here," he says. ~SEAL in Living with a Seal

On the first day, SEAL makes Itzler run 6 miles in 14 degree weather. When Itzler complains about the cold, SEAL tells him that "the temperature is what you think it is, bro, not what your computer thinks it is." After the run, they take a tour of Itzler's home gym, where SEAL has Jesse do 100 pull-ups. Jesse tries to quit and SEAL tells him he has "a shitty ass attitude."

And so it goes throughout the book. Each chapter starts with a quote from SEAL and some of them are absolutely hilarious. The funny thing is, SEAL doesn't try to be funny, in fact, I don't recall reading about him ever cracking a smile. The guy is all business. There's one workout where Jesse is running on the treadmill and he starts to feel sick. He has a stomach cramp, which he pushes and releases as gas. He pushes harder and a loud fart ensues. SEAL just looks at him and makes a farting noise in exactly the same tone as the fart. Jesse keeps running but is laughing. SEAL doesn't crack a smile.

IS THIS GUY EVEN HUMAN? Farts are funny, right?

I did a little bit of reading on David Goggins. Besides being a Navy SEAL, he is the only person to have graduated from US Army Ranger Training and Air Force Tactical Air Controller Training. Goggins is an accomplished ultramarathoner and placed fifth in Badwater in 2006 after only running for one year. He has placed multiple times in other ultra-endurance events and holds the record for the most pull-ups (4030) in 24 hours.

David Goggins and one of his many inspirational statements.

Why would Goggins train Itzler? Reading Living with a Seal made me ask this question. Itzler is a big personality with a history as a rapper on MTV and owns the Atlanta Hawks. His wife owns Spanx. Goggins wanted nothing to do with any of Itzler's creature comforts. Was it the money? Or the challenge of pushing this successful guy out of his comfort zone? I kept thinking as I read about the training, what would have happened if Jesse told ever SEAL no?

"I don't want the same shit you guys want. I'm not looking for anything else. I'm going to do the same shit I've been doing. Only I'm going to do it better." ~SEAL in Living with a Seal.

I won't spoil it for you, but besides being entertaining, there's a lot of inspiration here. Goggins continually motivates with his words.

"Coasting is for "pussies" as SEAL would say and it's when you dig deep that you feel the most alive. He lives his life that way. And some of that rubbed off on me." ~ Jesse Itzler, Living with a Seal.

This book is from 2015, so I'm sure some of you have read it. What did you think about SEAL's methods of training? Do you respond to tough love? Or do you prefer a more compassionate coach? What extremes would you go to get in shape?

Welcome to the Book Club! While there's no longer a link-up, I'd love to share your reviews of the book here on the blog. Send me the links and I'll add them to the post! As always, thanks for supporting the Book Club.

Next month, I'm really excited to finally read Endure by Alex Hutchinson. If you follow Hutchinson's Sweat Science column in Outside magazine (he used to write for Runner's World), you know that he applies science to endurance. Hutchinson was one of the few reporters allowed inside access to Nike's sub-2 project. Reviews of Endure have been overwhelmingly positive. My review will be posted on September 21.

I'm linking this post with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for the Friday 5.