MARSOC Raider Assessment and Selection Preparation (12 week program)

Raider selection is amphibious, so this program is too.

Most preparation programs pick a lane. The Army ones ruck and navigate. The Navy ones swim. MARSOC A&S asks for both, and this is the workbook that trains both — 45 lb rucks and land navigation alongside combat sidestroke intervals and timed treading, on top of a barbell base.

The engine behind it

You test once, the workbook does the rest. Enter a lift for weight and reps and it estimates your one-rep max, sets a training max from it, and calculates every prescribed weight for all twelve weeks as a percentage of that number, rounded to the nearest 5 lb so it matches the plates on the bar. Enter a timed run and it builds your full pace table — Zone 2 endurance through anaerobic capacity, from 200 m out to marathon distance — plus treadmill speed and grade conversions. Nothing is generic. Every number on the page is yours.

What is inside

• Twelve weeks, five days a week, in three four-week phases. Week three of each phase introduces genuine two-a-days — morning run, evening swim — because A&S will not give you a tidy schedule either.
• Rucking at 45 lb dry, heavier than the Army pipelines, with the same 8 oz of water and 50–100 calories per mile added on top, building toward a 12-mile ruck under three hours.
• Treading trained as its own event. Blouse and pants, or hands out of the water, progressing from 5 × 2 minutes to a continuous 12-minute tread. The program deliberately over-trains it — A&S requires 10 minutes, and this event has a high failure rate.
• Combat sidestroke and freestyle interval work with target times generated from your own 500 yd CSS test, plus a full swim pace table from 50 m to 1.2 miles.
• Deliberate over-preparation on the swim as well: you train the 500 yd CSS, while A&S tests 300 m in blouse, trousers and boots. Train long, test short.
• Land navigation instruction — map, compass, protractor, MGRS plotting, pace count, and a progression from 400 m points upward.
• A 3-mile run as the primary anaerobic benchmark, not the 2-mile, matched to what Raider candidates are actually measured on.
• The standards printed on the sheet: 3-mile under 21:30, 14+ pullups, 70+ pushups, 3:30+ plank, 500 yd CSS under 11:00, 12-mile ruck at 45 lb under three hours, 12-minute tread in blouse and pants.

Hybrid Strength Index. The workbook scores you on RLP's own metric — deadlift strength divided by mile pace — and benchmarks it against the field: special operations 70+, infantry, firefighters and MMA 60+, police 50+, climbers and triathletes 40–50, runners 30+. One number that tells you whether you are strong, fast, or actually both.

Who this is for

Marines preparing for Raider Assessment and Selection, and anyone facing a selection that combines load carriage with water confidence.

Specifications

• Format: Excel workbook (.xlsx), auto-calculating. Printable.
• Length: 12 weeks · three 4-week phases · 5 days per week
• Tabs: program · Run Table · Ruck Table · Swim Table · Land Navigation How To · Movement Library
• Equipment: barbell and rack, pullup bar, dip station, rucksack and plates, pool access, measured route
• Delivery: instant digital download

This is a training tool, not medical advice. Clear hard training with your physician if you have any reason to.