SOF selection attrition rates range from 50-95%. The difference between selected and non-selected is rarely raw talent — it's preparation specificity.
A BUD/S candidate needs ocean conditioning. A Delta candidate needs 30-day ruck durability. A PJ candidate needs rescue swimmer endurance. Generic fitness programs prepare you for none of these.
Limiting Factor serves every major US SOF pipeline with programming calibrated to real selection standards — not civilian fitness goals — and in daily use by active-duty service members preparing for their pipelines. This is the platform the military should have built and didn't.
THE PROBLEM
SOF selection attrition rates run 50–95%. The difference between selected and non-selected is rarely raw talent — it's preparation specificity. A candidate who trained for the wrong test fails the right one.
Generic fitness apps don't prepare you for BUD/S water confidence. Unit PT plans built on cadre experience aren't periodized for ruck durability. Coaches lack visibility into candidate readiness trends until injuries surface and progress reverses.
Each pipeline — BUD/S, SFAS, RASP, MARSOC, PJ/CCT — has unique demands. Same body, different test. Same human, different plan. LIMITING FACTOR builds the right plan for the right pipeline.
CAPABILITIES
Every Special Warfare & EOD Pipeline
BUD/S, SFAS, MARSOC A&S, RASP, PJ/CCT/SR/TACP, Delta/CAG, 160th SOAR, Air Force EOD, Navy EOD, SWCC — each with its own evidence-based periodized program.
Adaptive Load Management
Daily readiness check-ins compute a 0.5–1.05× load modifier (sleep, soreness, energy, stress). Workload is tracked via EWMA-based ACWR (Williams 2017). When acute load spikes above chronic, the system caps the next session before injury — the autoregulation civilian apps don’t do.
Per-Set Logging with RPE
Track every working set: weight × reps × RPE. Inline session history under each exercise. Suggested next-set load based on Helms-style autoregulation rules. Granular data the AI brain can reason over — not just totals.
Mission-Safe Coaching
Every supplement mention is cross-checked against the DoD OPSS prohibited list (DMAA, SARMs, kratom, CBD, prohormones, etc.). Free-text notes are scanned for crisis signals and routed to 988+1, DoD Safe Helpline, and Family Advocacy — not generic civilian hotlines.
Unit-Level Deployment
Multi-team architecture with full data isolation. A Team Lead manages their roster, sees readiness trends, tracks progression, and identifies at-risk candidates — all without touching another team’s data.
Selection-Specific Knowledge
Land navigation, water confidence, ruck mastery, selection mindset — each tailored to the user’s pipeline. A MARSOC candidate sees CWST prep. A Delta candidate sees back-to-back ruck protocols. A SEAL candidate sees CO2-tolerance progressions for pool comp.
Injury Surveillance
Musculoskeletal injuries are recorded by body region, mechanism and severity and reported as incidence, burden and prevalence per cohort. An injury an athlete reports on a morning check-in is queued for the cadre until a record exists.
Standards, Milestones & Outcomes
Graded test weeks whose scores carry across a reclass, results tiered against the unit’s own entrant percentiles, paired retests that show what the program actually moved, and a per-class selection-outcome ledger.
Solo Mode & Installable App
No unit? Train on your own with an adaptive plan and an AI coach. Installs to the home screen on Android and iOS, with consent-gated push reminders.
MISSION PROFILES
OPERATIONAL SCENARIOS
Pre-Selection Preparation
A recruit with a SEAL contract ships to BUD/S in 8 months. Limiting Factor gives them a periodized program calibrated to PST standards and BUD/S water confidence demands — not a generic running plan from a fitness influencer.
Unit PT Program
A Team Lead at an EOD school house manages 30 trainees across different phases. The platform shows who's trending up, who's flagged for overtraining, and who needs intervention — all without spreadsheets.
Delta Selection Prep
A Ranger NCO targeting CAG selection uses the 24-week program built from MTI methodology: progressive rucking to 50 mi/week, back-to-back days, 6-day simulation block, and GTG calisthenics — not guesswork.
vs. EXISTING OPTIONS
ECOSYSTEM INTEGRATION
FAQ
How is this procured?
Can a Team Lead manage their entire schoolhouse?
Does it integrate with wearables?
What's the evidence base?
How often are programs updated?
ORIGIN
Too many capable candidates fail selection because they trained for the wrong test. The platform exists to fix that: pipeline-specific preparation, built with the cadre of the Air Force EOD training squadron that uses it every day, for candidates who don't have time for generic guesswork.
THE NORSE CONNECTION
LIMITING FACTOR is the only AESIR system without a Norse name — by design. The name names the problem. Every athlete has a limiting factor, and selection finds it. This platform is built to identify yours and destroy it before the cadre does.
STATUS
Live and operational. Currently used by active duty military personnel preparing for SOF selection. Built to cut selection attrition with pipeline-specific preparation — and it measures the result with a per-class selection-outcome ledger. app.projectaesir.com