Robb Wolf on working with Naval Special Warfare: Optimizing human performance at the highest level

Written by Robb Wolf (opens in a new tab)

I've been remarkably lucky in my career in the health and wellness space. I've worked across a number of venues with a lot of different people. One of the most interesting, impactful and fun projects I’ve participated in was the Naval Special Warfare Resiliency Program (NSWRP): five years working with some of the most elite warfighters on the planet.<h2>A Brief Historical Context</h2>During the 2000s and 2010s, the US military ran at a deployment pace that was staggering by any historical standard — and the special operations community absorbed a disproportionate share of that load. These communities are always operating at the edge, but the operational tempo of those decades pushed that edge into uncharted territory.Military life is demanding under the best of circumstances. The cumulative toll on the operators and their families was palpable. Could more be done to help these people not just survive their service, but come out the other side actually stronger?That question produced the Naval Special Warfare Resiliency Program.It's worth nailing down what resilience means to understand the goals of the program. <ul><li>In materials science, resilience has a precise <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resilience" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">definition</a>: the ability of a system to absorb energy under stress and return to its original state. </li><li>The practical human version is similar: When you're exposed to stress or challenge, you don't just bounce back — you come back stronger. More capable. More robust. This is not simply about being tough, which matters enormously, but about turning challenge into adaptation and growth.</li></ul>The program was built around that idea. And, somehow, a nutrition geek got asked to help.<h2>What I Shared With the NSWRP</h2>It might seem odd that I'd be asked to work with some of the most elite warfighters in the world — and perhaps it was. But the folks organizing the program asked a simple question: What areas, if modified, could meaningfully improve both the operators and their families? I split my time between both groups.If you know my work, you won't be surprised that my focus landed on sleep and circadian biology and nutrition. Slightly more unique to this community, I also felt it was critical to address stimulant use: caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol.I have to admit my first talk was nerve-wracking. I opened with something like this:"You've all made it through one of the toughest selection processes known. Every day you serve — deployed or training at home — is dangerous, and it all takes a toll. What I want to share today has two goals: to keep you as healthy as possible, for as long as possible, so that you make the decision about when your career ends — not an injury, not a disability. And when you are done, I want you to walk out the door as healthy and functional as possible to tackle whatever comes next. All I ask is that you give this an honest, but critical, shot."It landed. I think I came across as sincere in my desire to help these guys but there was an interesting built-in mechanism that helped to get these ideas across: the community's competitive DNA. Performance metrics in these groups are tracked obsessively: timed runs, obstacle course performance, training exercises. People rank out based on performance. Half the room may have been skeptical of the “nerd stuff”, but a few guys tinkered with the suggestions — and those guys saw improved performance. When asked what they were doing differently, they probably answered with something like: "I started doing what the nerd suggested. It worked."That's how ideas spread in elite units.<h3>Optimizing Sleep</h3>I always started here. Not just because sleep science is compelling, but because virtually everything else I was going to cover threaded back through this topic. Sleep and circadian biology was the load-bearing wall of the whole program.The known costs of sleep deprivation are severe and most people dramatically underestimate them. Think: decreased fine motor skills, impaired executive function, a general impact on health that is massive.A short night of sleep can leave someone as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/work-hour-training-for-nurses/longhours/mod3/08.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cognitively impaired</a> as a blood alcohol content of 0.1. That's massive.I knew I was going to get some eye-rolls here, and I got them. Sleep deprivation isn't just a hazard in the special operations world. It's a selection criterion. Grinding — and extending sleep deprivation to do it — is literally part of how you earn your place. The cultural resistance to treating sleep as something worth protecting runs deep.The reframe I made is that training is not selection. Yes, you proved you can function through extreme sleep deprivation. Yes, sleep deprivation will always be a feature of your work. But the fact that you can survive it doesn't mean you should court it. Every unnecessary night of poor sleep is degrading performance, recovery, and long-term health. When circumstances allow mitigation, you should mitigate.The operational reality did make this genuinely complicated. A massive tactical advantage of these communities is conducting operations at night. That card gets played whenever it can. Let me walk through what that kind of schedule asks of the human body:<ul><li>Arrive at a deployment location 10+ hours out of sync with your normal sleep-wake cycle</li><li>Conduct night operations under harsh light that suppresses melatonin</li><li>Come down off an adrenaline spike while attempting to transition to sleep</li><li>Rely on sleep aids to get there — which may make you unconscious, but is not actual sleep</li><li>Attempt that sleep during your biological daytime</li></ul>I'd be hard-pressed to write a prescription for smashing someone more thoroughly than this.The guys would often find it hard to sleep anyway, face unexpected demands that cut rack time short, or decide to do a blistering workout in the hopes of being tired enough to sleep the next night.Some of this can't be changed. The remarkable operational advantage of conducting activities at night is not going away but some of it can be mitigated. My recommendations were not complicated:<ul><li>Sleep as dark, quiet, and cool as possible. Sleep mask. Earplugs. Whatever it takes.</li><li>Use 1mg of sublingual melatonin rather than sleep aid. Large boluses of melatonin cause problems, but small doses preserve something close to normal sleep architecture. Sleep aid makes you unconscious. That's not the same as sleeping. This dramatically impacts recovery, neuro-inflammation…really every aspect of our physiology.</li><li>Treat exercise, alcohol, and stimulants as sleep variables — because they are.</li></ul>Much of my thinking here was shaped by my friendship with retired SEAL and physician <a href="https://docparsley.com/bio-kirk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr. Kirk Parsley</a>, whose work on sleep in these communities is worth your attention.<h3>Dialing in Caffeine, Alcohol, and Stimulant Use</h3>On stimulants, I focused mainly on caffeine and nicotine. Few in NSW are smoking regularly — maybe the occasional cigar — but chew and snuff have historically been ubiquitous in these communities. My position on caffeine: It's best used while physically moving. Caffeine and sedentary alertness are a less happy marriage. More importantly, if you look at dose-response curves, about 50mg every two hours tends to produce most of the benefits we're chasing with very little downside. Heroic amounts of caffeine are ultimately counterproductive. My practical caffeine intake recommendation: <ul><li>Use more caffeine earlier in the wake period</li><li>As sleep approaches, shift to nicotine in the 2–3mg range as needed.</li></ul>You stay alert. You don't torch the sleep architecture you need.Speaking of nicotine — this one tended to raise eyebrows. Nicotine can actually be a <a href="https://www.spandidos-publications.com/mmr/23/6/398#" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">valuable performance aid</a>. Unlike caffeine, it doesn't disorder sleep architecture in the same way. Tobacco in all forms is a significant cancer risk. Nicotine mints and gum are not. If you dig into <a href="https://truthinitiative.org/sites/default/files/media/files/2019/08/ReThinking-Nicotine_0.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the data</a>, it's pretty clear: Nicotine as a molecule isn't the problem. Combustion and chewing tobacco are.Finally, alcohol. I talked about it essentially the same way I talked about sleep aid: It may feel like it helps you fall asleep but it does not produce restful, restorative sleep: Instead, sleep architecture is disrupted and recovery is impaired. These folks can be as hard charging in their ethanol consumption as any other aspect of life.I couched this in what these guys actually wanted from their careers: If longevity and performance matter, there has to be some give and take on the booze front: <ul><li>Two drinks is better than six</li><li>Timing matters</li><li>Consuming alcohol well away from bedtime protects what little sleep you can get</li></ul><h3>Using Food as Fuel</h3>On the exercise front, these guys do not need motivation to get in the gym or go on a run. In my experience, they often need to be reminded that they are now training for their job (similar to a professional athlete) vs. going through a selection process. NSW has actually brought in top tier strength and conditioning coaches to help steer the training in a productive fashion, and I think this has been a big win for folks in these communities. Nutrition was pretty simple in that although I did not remotely suggest some kind of low carb approach for folks with this type of work output, I did make the case that blood sugar can be deadly with regards to fine motor skills, judgement etc. I made the case for a protein-centric eating plan, good fats to buffer blood sugar and smart use of lower glycemic load carbs. Interestingly, this turned out to be the single greatest area of positive feedback I received, with operators commenting that subtle shifts in their food led to less bonking, fewer “hangry” moments, and better, more stable energy.<h2>What I Took Away</h2>Working with these folks was one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done professionally, and they kept inviting me back for over five years, until the NSWRP wound down as the operational tempo finally decreased (for a while).One of my greatest takeaways from this experience is although there are those among us that are nearly super human, we can all break with enough challenge. Tolerance to sleep deprivation, stimulants, alcohol, all vary widely from person to person, but if one is looking to optimize performance, health and longevity, one cannot ignore the basics of sleep hygiene, sound nutrition, and judicious use of performance aids.