3 Rounds of Hell is Here

After I spoke about my challenge of "3 Rounds of Hell" last week I received a ton of emails!!! Some wondering how to do it, some how to train for it, and some doubting it could be done! I'll admit, my initial challenge was pretty brutal, but that is how I wanted it. Yet, I feel like there are things I needed to clear up....

1. Why shouldering the sandbag? This seems to be the most fundamental lift that encompasses the most overall body strength. We can load it very heavy or use a more moderate load and the drill won't be limited by blisters on the hands, major technique flaws, or anything other than the drill itself.

Where some lifts test a dominant area of the body (i.e. upper or lower body strength) shouldering requires everything! If you don't have proper hip or low back strength, you will know it! If you don't have enough upper body strength, you will know it. You simply can not cheat the movement.

2. Are there rules? The only rule I have come up with so far is that the movement must be a clean shouldering repetition. You can't inch it up the body or rest it on the legs. It must explosively reach the shoulder from the pulling position in one clean rep.

3. Can you scale the challenge? I don't think everyone should have the same rules. As of right now this is how I see the challenge

Men:
180 or under: 120 pound sandbag
180-220: 150 pound sandbag
220-270: 170 pound sandbag
270 and over: 200 pound sandbag

Women:
130 or under: 50 pound sandbag
130-150: 70 pound sandbag
150-180: 90 pound sandbag
180 and over: 100 pound sandbag

I will admit, this challenge is not well tested. That is the fun part about what we are creating with Sandbag Fitness Systems, we are writing the book on sandbag training. Unlike most other forms of physical conditioning there is not textbook on sandbag fitness that everyone follows, we are writing the rules. In fact, I wanted to take the challenge for a run myself, heck, I can't ask others what I am not willing to do.

Yep, it kicked my ass! I think within two weeks of training for it I will have all three rounds nailed down. However, I can honestly say that my hips, back, and arms were completely toast! My heart was racing and I KNOW this will have amazing carryover to so many other fitness goals.

In the next few weeks I will write much more about how one progresses and trains for such a challenge to dominate the hardest fitness challenge!