Strength Test: 60,000 Pounds in 60 Minutes

By Alan Stein, CCS, CSCS StrongerTeam.com

A friend and colleague of mine was kind enough to share with me an awesome workout challenge that is perfect for athletes at the high school or college level to do once every couple of weeks during the offseason. I tried it the other day and loved it!

For you players, it is a fantastic way to break up the monotony, add some variety to your workout, and spark your competitiveness. For you coaches, it is easily made into a fun team-building workout; pair players up and see who can get the highest poundage on the team, or see which pair can reach the goal the quickest!

Here is the challenge: Lift 60,000 pounds in 60 minutes.

Don't roll your eyes or say "yeah right." Trust me, it is very doable.

You multiply the weight times the number of reps you perform to get total poundage. So if you bench 135 pounds 10 times; you have 1,350 pounds. Only 58,650 pounds to go! You simply keep a running total of weight-times-reps and then add up everything at the end. You are more than welcome to keep a running total to see where you are at all times, but I recommend using a calculator so you don't waste much time.

Here are a few ground rules to make this challenge as effective as possible:

• No leg press (too easy)
• No calf raises (too easy)
• Only full range of motion reps count
• Pull-ups are the only bodyweight exercise allowed (your weight being the weight for the exercise)
• Utilize free weights and dumbbells as much as possible to keep things universal
• When using dumbbells, it's the total weight (bench pressing with 40's = 80 pounds)
• Start the clock on your first rep and end the workout in exactly 60 minutes.

What will your strategy be? Try to lift lighter weights for more reps? Heavy weights for fewer reps? Alternate upper body and lower body exercises? Run through several exercises in a row with no rest? You may want to record and add up a "normal" workout first to gauge where you stand before devising a strategy.

Have fun with it! These exercises will be unconventional and fresh and are the same ones I use with my elite college and NBA players. If you are getting bored with your workouts, you will love this!