In a new video on his YouTube channel, the former Olympic medalist and fitness influencer Nick Symmonds get a new one weightlifting challenge with his friend and frequent collaborator, Captain Tom, where they each compete to lift a total of 100,000 pounds in just one hour, using only the three main powerlifting movements: bench press, back squat, and deadlift.
“Strategy is going to be everything,” says Symmonds. “This is so challenging because we’re only allowed to use these three moves.” This is further complicated by the fact that you’re only allowed to use one barbell, one bench, and one rack, meaning you’ll waste time loading and unloading weights between exercises.
“I decided to break this up into rested rounds, so every two minutes I’m going to complete 5 back squats, 12 deadlifts, and 9 bench presses,” says Tom. “Each round will be worth around £4,300 until we get to the last two.”
Symmonds, meanwhile, has no plans to schedule the break into his hour. Instead, his strategy is to simply keep moving all the time. “I’m never going to stop moving until timeout is over or I lift 100,000 pounds,” he says. “In racing we have this term called ‘stealing time.’ When the gun goes off and you have adrenaline rushing through your veins and you get out of that line fast, you’re stealing time.”
Symmonds starts his favorite lift, the deadlift, with 200 pounds on the bar, planning to drop 100 pounds later so he won’t have as much trouble squatting and benching. However, as fatigue begins to set in, he changes his game plan a bit and reduces the load on the bench press to 50lbs, and starts taking a few breaks to rest. “I know I said go ahead, but I don’t think that’s possible,” he says. At the same time, Tom has to stretch his back between rounds to ease the pain that builds up.
At the end of the hour, Symmonds has lifted a total of 69,500 pounds, while Tom is much closer to the finish line with a final result of 93,470. Symmonds’ verdict on the entire experience: “Ouch.”
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