The 300 Challenge

[hammer_2020]

After several months of searching, I've finally gotten my hands on the protocol for the original 300 Challenge, and I'm surprised that it's not a completely bodyweight protocol, as Steve Maxwell would have had me believe. After having done TACFit for a while, I'm interested to give it a shot and will probably do so this week after my quarterly fitness test.

Has anyone here done it before, and if so, what were your times? I'm interested to know so as to have a benchmark for my own performance.

[Coach Heins]

Haha...this brings back memories:).

I had just been learning more in depth about CrossFit at the time, which got me looking in greater depth at Gym Jones (had been peaking in and out, reading Mark Twight's articles, for about a year). When he posted about the 300 challenge he created (for the actors and stuntmen of the movie) I'd decided I wanted to give it a go. I also had been talking with my brother-in-law about training with me, and when this goal came up, we committed to 6 months of progressively building up to it.

And it was during this training process, actually, that our blog, Gym Jane (http://gymjane.wordpress.com/) , sprung forth. Here's the origin of the name (http://gymjane.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/origins/) (just scroll down to "The Name", you'll get the reference;)).

At the end of the 6 months, we did the challenge and got these results (http://gymjane.wordpress.com/2007/11/04/the-300/). Modest numbers, but it felt great to have completed THE test. Because, as you pointed out, there are many versions. Nothing wrong with creating a 300 test of your own. It's just, everyone called it THE 300 CHALLENGE, right after the movie came out, without making any reference or acknowledgment of where the original idea came from. And you know, the way in which everyone ravenously jumped on it, trying to cash in on the hype (which as we can see was temporary), just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. Do the original 300 to test your mettle, as most other versions I came across, were modified in a way (though still no small feat) that made it easier.

Here's some more info for your reference:

Gym Jones (http://www.gymjones.com/)

"300" (http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=35)

"300 Opinions" (http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=36)

And some more times of completion:

18:11 (http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=22)

24:11 (http://www.gymjones.com/schedule.php?date=20051214)

23:11 (http://www.gymjones.com/schedule.php?date=20051128) (but this is for 300 HEAVY;))

If you've already been doing TACFIT®, you'll be well on your way to getting some good times (though 135 lbs is not too heavy, if you haven't been training it regularly, the one you probably want to be mindful of are the Deadlifts).

All the best and please post your results when you finish, would love to hear how it went!

s.

[Scott Sonnon]

Mark is a great guy, a brilliant trainer, and a famous alpinist in the 80s and 90s.

[hammer_2020]

Cheers Shane. I only saw the 18:11 time on the Gym Jones site and thought that seemed a bit quick to start with. The other two I missed entirely - thanks for digging them up for me!