It is taxing...we did lots of high altitude training as well which seems to help breathing endurance.
If it gets really cold with a wind, I wear a balaclava...(I've got a few black ones left).
I drove through the Rockies(Kansas to Denver, out into Utah).
I'de never been higher than about 5k'(other than flying).
We were at over 11k', and wow, that was an experience. Going up felt like breathing through a snorkel with someone standing on my chest, lol.
I can definately see the benefit of training there.
I always remember Tito Ortiz saying how he trained for all his fights in Big Bear, and how much being conditioned for less oxygen benefitted him in the ring...and I think it really showed.
Commercial flying is awful for me too though. My ears pop and it feels like ice picks being jammed into both.
It literally takes 2 weeks or more for my head to clear after and start to feel normal. I hate that.
I know I'm drifting hear to, but kinda reminds me of watching fighter pilot training. A bachelors degree, then more schooling, then the largest percentile of applicants black out in the centrefuge.
Sorry, you're done, you've got the smarts...but your individual body isn't designed to handle the G-force...Next!
I think the vast majority of people don't realize the physical and mental requirements to be a Spec Ops soldier.
Pretty amazimg to me, and called 'special' for a reason.
I watched a friend's daughter when she was about 5 spin herself in about 20 circles as fast as she could...and walk up and talk to me like it never happened(I'de have knocked pictures off the wall and fallen into the tv, lmao).