Strength and Conditioning Workout - A Twisted, Torturous Grind Gut Check Challenge

There's just something about testing what you're made of in a physical and mental sense.

Yes, there are the naysayers of challenges.

But, honestly, f*ck 'em, they're missing the point and failing to see the bigger picture anyway.

Challenges are much more than a hard workout haphazardly thrown together. They're designed to toughen the body and mind. They're designed to see you reach and ultimately face your limits. They're designed to then push your perceived limits to newer, greater heights allowing you to endure more physically and mentally.

Related: The Six Most Brutal Conditioning Exercises

They're not the workouts that "add inches on your arms" or "increase your chest size." No, they're the workouts that'll harden your body and train your mind to withstand any arduous task. They teach resolve. They teach tenacity. They teach resilience in the face of adversity.

The Gut Check Challenge

A twisted, torturous grind is the name given to this challenge. It wasn't born out of the need for a catchy title, but rather, it was named for its apt nature.

The workout feels like it was devised by someone a little twisted - A statement a little true I guess? I do love a good old twisted challenge. In action, it feels torturous and to see it through to completion, you need to truly embrace the grind.

If this challenge was to fit into any dogma, outside of mental and physical toughness building, it'd fall into work capacity.

There's not an athlete alive that couldn't benefit from more work capacity. This is particularly true for combat athletes: MMA guys, BJJ players, wrestlers and the like. The bottom line is the more you improve work capacity, the more you'll be able to endure and recover from. This goes for both the physical and the mental aspects of training and competing.

Here, in this twisted challenge, the work capacity and mental strife are built through sprinting, dragging and carrying. Three powerful training modalities that often get overlooked.

For this session, you'll need to get your ass outside with a heavy sandbag and a sled.

When I say sandbag, I mean a real sandbag - handle-less and horrible. When it reads heavy, it means HEAVY. If you weigh 180, load the bag up to 180. You weigh 200, the bags 200 - you get the idea. When it comes to the sled, I couldn't care less if it's a prowler, a sled or a homemade tire one. As long as it's something you can load up and drag, I'm happy.

A post shared by Phil Bennett (@phil_completemma) on Jan 10, 2017 at 4:23am PST

A Twisted, Torturous Grind - Strength and Conditioning Workout

• 1a. Bear-hug Carry the sandbag x 30 yards (Carry the bag towards your empty sled. Load the sandbag onto the sled then:)
• 1b. Backwards Sled Drag x 30 yards
• 1c. Sprint x 50 yards

Complete as many rounds as possible in 25 minutes.

Closing Thoughts

This session is going to be murderous on the legs, the lungs and the mind. Three places needed for a stronger, more athletic and better conditioned human being.

Embrace the madness, make friends with the hardship and become a hardened version of you.

• Clinch the bag tighter and carry it with purpose.
• Drag the sled with fury and resolution.
• Sprint harder, faster and as if your life depended on the act.

The pain and discomfort are temporary. You will survive it and you will be better for it.