Trip Moore prepares for SEALFIT

By David RogersWhen some men reach middle age, they settle into comfortable lives devoid of physical challenges.

Trip Moore isn’t one of those men.

For the past eight months, Moore, 44, has filled his early morning hours and lunch breaks with intense workouts designed by Mark Divine, a former U.S. Navy SEAL.

Moore is a familiar face in Palm Beach, having worked for Northern Trust for 11 years and at U.S. Trust the previous eight years. Moore, senior banking officer for Northern Trust’s Palm Beach/Martin County region, has also been a Town of Palm Beach United Way board member since 1999 and has been its vice chairman since 2002.

On June 5, Moore will fly to Encinitas, Calif. The next day he will begin participating in the three-week SealFit Academy.

‘Pushing through pain’

On his website (SealFit.com), Divine calls the program the “world’s leading live-in sports academy for serious special operation candidates and warrior-athletes seeking the ultimate experience to sharpen the blade of their performance.”

The focus of Moore’s preparatory work — guided by SealFit’s online program — is increasing core strength by training with heavy weights and doing push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups. It also includes plyometric exercises to generate explosive power and performing speed sprints to increase endurance.

“It’s a lot of red-line type training and intensity,” Moore said. “I’m very glad that I’ve been doing this for the past eight months because you really gain an appreciation for pushing through pain. I definitely feel I’m a lot stronger. My back, which has given me trouble two or three times in my life, hasn’t given me any trouble.” Moore said he needed several months to prepare for the academy.

A dozen guys will be in his class at the academy, he said. Seven to nine of them are likely interested in becoming special operations unit candidates, Moore said.

“Some of these guys will be half my age, but that’s OK,” said Moore, who lives in West Palm Beach with his wife, Jane, and their daughters, Stella, 9, and Ruby, 7.

‘I admire him’

Some of his friends and colleagues jokingly question his mental health for attempting such a strenuous program at his age, but they clearly admire his determination.

“I thought he was completely insane,” said Nicholas Pollard, private banking manager at the Palm Beach office of Northern Trust. Pollard notes that water training in California is bound to be rougher than in the warmer waters of Florida. “When the water is 60 degrees and with all those obstacles, I can see ligaments snapping all over the place. I think it’s going to be tough,” Pollard said. “But I think it’s one of those things on his bucket list. It’s something he wants to see if he can do. I admire him for that.”

Beth Walton, chief executive officer of the Town of Palm Beach United Way, had a similar reaction to the news. “Oh my God! I’m looking at him and saying are you crazy?” Walton recalls with a laugh. Walton’s daughter Meghan Walton and her son-in-law, Daniel Norwood, met Moore at a recent United Way function in Palm Beach. Both are Air Force service members stationed at different bases in London. Meghan Walton is a security officer. Norwood is an Air Force-qualified Ranger. Walton told Moore about the different types of training her daughter and son-in-law have taken. “And Meghan said ‘Stop telling him, he’ll want to do that next!’ ” Walton laughed. “It was pretty funny.”

Challenge ahead

Moore said the hard work he’ll do at the academy will change him forever.

The banker points out that, while the academy will be tough, completing it is far less of a challenge than long-term SEAL training.

“These guys train for years and years before they are even ready for deployment. The level of work isn’t comparable but I think being trained by these guys who I hold in such high regard will be definitely a life changer,” Moore said. “It’s almost like setting a new normal. A lot of the training is mental, intuition, getting your head straight. It’s a very ‘whole person’ training so I think it’s going to set a new normal for what in life is really difficult and what in life is just a momentary challenge that has to be met.”