How should a woman prepare for US Navy SEAL training?

Can't speak to Navy training specifically, but your body will do what it can do -- Mentally, take it one cycle at a time and don't quit. It's all you can ask of yourself

The only thing I can say about preparing physically is to research all SEAL workouts out there. Find what works for you and do that.

Bone density for women is (usually) not as thick as it is for men...hence the easier ability to break/stress fracture. Not saying this won't happen to men in BUD/S.

BUD/S, by its design, is supposed to weed out those that can't physically cut it. The course has an attrition/failure rate of 70-85%.

My advice: Do all that you can to prep and when you get to the course, you need to do all that you can to stay. However, I caution you that you will want to listen to your body. An ache is an ache, but pain is pain and a telltale sign something is wrong. That's the physical side of the house. As for the mental side, be that team player. Show drive and determination without sacrificing your integrity.

Don’t be swayed by all the glamour as seen on TV. Seals are not the only special ops kids on the block. Check out the other branches, they have their own Pipe Hitters (Spec Ops for those confused by the term). And you might find a specialty that interests you more. Good luck!

Train, Train, Train

Lots of folks don't make it through BUDs due to injury. When I was medically retired and going through transition classes I had a ton of BUDs drops who were all getting out for various injuries they received while going through school. Necks, backs, knees and various other injuries. So get your head wrapped around that training is extremely tough and inherently dangerous for anyone regardless of gender. There are millions of Seal training preparation workouts out there so there isn't much new to say in regards to training prep other than the mental toll from training is just as bad as the physical. Good Luck. Like you said, less than a dozen women have attempted what you are going after.

You already posted all the reasons I would advise you NOT to try it. Muscle mass, strength, bone density, and skeletal differences make your chances of being seriously and possibly permanently hurt substantially higher than the male candidates and it's high enough for them.

As someone who is not elite, take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

I believe that in those types of environments goal-setting is huge. Planning to make it to each meal, for example, is a useful mental and psychological technique. Made it to breakfast? Outstanding! Take your 15 minute break and enjoy stuffing your face. Pat yourself on the back and get back to it. Next checkpoint is lunch. Keep this up until you can handle more, and then your goals go from sun-up to sundown, full days, weeks, and phases. This method even helped me out during the low points of my deployment back in '08.

Second, bulk up. You have to get that muscle density if you stand a chance. Do whatever it takes to increase the capacity and endurance of your frame. This may mean incorporating grey-skull LP on top of another SEAL-oriented workout regiment. For that, I might recommend Mountain Tactical.

You plain a simply shouldn't even be accepted. There are so many levels against it. Not saying women shouldn't be in the military but men and women are extremely different. Not just in physical structure but also what they can deal with mentally. When I was deployed women attached to my command were so emotional and at some point in BUDs they will bend the regulations for you and that's not fair to the men that earned their place among the elite. I was stationed on Coronado and have seen what those guys endure. Go fly Cobras or A-10s. Just stay out of the way so you don't become a liability.

I have a perspective on this that may draw hate today, but it has been common sense for the rest of history. Don't try to be a man. Don't try to beat the best men at their own game. Be a woman. Be the best woman you can be. That's not becoming a SEAL.

It appears as if you already know a great deal more than the average member of this site. I am sure you have researched each of the women entering the pipeline and read up on or maybe even contacted them individually, if not you should.

As your notes indicate there have been physical inhibitors, not the psychological ones (so far as they had gone into training.

Any and all Special Ops programs require that the individual be of elected fitness and mental strength. The doggies and stressors are individual, you should find the most physically demanding training program established by ex SF and mirror it as closely as you can. There are a few programs, maybe near you.

In any case I hope you are the first.

Why?