‘Surviving the Cut’ – Sometimes, I’m Thankful That I’m a Girl [VIDEO]

“This is designed to hurt. This is designed to hurt.”

This was uttered over and over again on a recent episode of “Surviving the Cut,” a kick-ass show on the Discovery Channel.

If you haven’t seen it, it’s an intense look at military elite forces training. And simply watching made me want to cry. Holy. Crap.

In last week’s episode, we watched the Navy Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crewmen. They burn more than 20,000 calories a day during their training. Twenty thousand. A day. (Now there’s a diet!) The five-week course is not passed until the hopefuls complete a “non-stop 50-hour pain session.” You fail, you’re out. And while it didn’t feature any pompous, in-your-face scream sessions with Sergeants like we often see in movies, it did have balls to the wall training sessions that make grown men weep (but not these men).

It was hard to watch, to be honest. But something I couldn’t take my eyes off of. It amazes me that these men – some of whom can be classified as boys if you ask me – can endure such physical and emotional stress. (Although 75% of those who begin the training do not “survive the cut.”) And, as we found out at the end, this was just the first step in the training process to become part of the Naval Special Warfare Forces. There’s more training. Cue my crying again.

Bottom line, if you haven’t seen it, watch it. Although, you may want to work with a five-pound dumbbell a little beforehand, so you don’t seem as useless as it’s going to make you feel.