#17The 200!
By Andy | posted on 1 November 2008 | 12 comments
Around one month ago, on a Sunday afternoon, I was standing at one of the team's regular spots doing a little bit of "un-structured training". You know what I’m talking about, it was one of those days where I didn't have a lot of focus and concentration and was just doing movement that I was already comfortable with.
Sensing that I needed a little motivation (and a smack upside the head), Dan declared a simple challenge for me to accomplish in the following month. Something for me to channel my attention on. It was a simple task; successfully break a ten foot precision with a one step run-up off a wall and land on a 3 inch wide flowerbed edge.
I know I don't particularly have the biggest of jumps, but a few intensive training days and I'm sure to crack the leap. Ah, but here's the catch... The forfeit for failing to do it would be two hundred muscle-ups in one day. Something that I really didn't want to do because the last time myself and Dan had a muscle-up session it ended at around 75 and one very sore chest and arms. So, on with the Jump!
This is the point where I'd probably talk about my training and the battle with the challenge and how I managed to complete it. Instead I'm going to skip to the end and tell you that I failed to do the jump. Yes, for one reason or another I didn't manage to do it and yesterday turned out to be one crazy, long, muscle-up day.
Dan agreed to actually do the forfeit with me, so we set to meet at a scaffolding spot we use to train and plan our method of attack. Being a lot better, and more dynamic, at muscle-ups than I Dan went for sets of five at a time where as I went the 'tortoise' route of a single rep. We'd do the first one hundred in the morning, have lunch and then finish off the rest.
"the jump is still there... taunting me"
Honestly, I initially didn't think I'd be able to do the whole two hundred, but was determined to put this fear to one side, look at the challenge logically and just take it one step at a time. Surprisingly, after the first twenty or thirty, both of us settled into a nice rhythm and quickly realised that it might take a while but was definitely achievable.
After three and a half hours (plus a lunch break in the middle) of both of us doing the same movement over and over I learnt two things: Firstly, placing a forfeit into challenges is a real good way of pushing the perceived boundary of what your body can do... You complete the challenge; you've pushed yourself to overcome that task. You forfeit and you see how far you can push your body in a completely different way. In the end, you win no matter what the outcome because it's all about discovering (and pushing) your limits. Try it yourselves, challenge each other, create a hard but realistic forfeit and see where it leads.
The second thing is that the jump is still there... taunting me. So now I have three weeks to do the same challenge but with a new forfeit (30 sets of 10 Double-taps!). This time, however, I understand that my body is capable of a lot more than I think it is and just needs a little more focus and concentration... The very two things that I was lacking one month ago.
Thanks to Dan for proposing and doing the forfeit with me. So, is there any other team member up for the challenge of being part of the 200?
Labels: Challenges
About the Author : Andy12 Comments:
Nice one Andy I was wondering what happened to the challenge.
I'm up for the 200 challenge aswell.
By 
, at
10:48 pm, November 01, 2008
Andy, vis a vis our little discussion at lunch today, (and these aren't muscle-up related for anyone else reading)
6 pull-ups and 30 press-ups every 5 minutes will do the trick.
I'll do the muscle-up challenge too... I just haven't decided if that will be a warm-up or once I've already beasted myself.
Another for the 200... Only condition is that it has to be done in a half-day. No problem for a Spartan like yourself, Mr 4Life.
By 
Dan, at
12:10 am, November 02, 2008
Cool, two more for the elite 200! nice one guys.
Chris, is that over 12 or 24 hours?
By Andy, at
8:40 am, November 02, 2008
do I qualify even though I live overseas?
By , at
3:58 am, November 03, 2008
Guys guys guys, we can't refer to the mighty 300 spartans and only do 200 muscle ups.
Did 302 yesterday in 2h25, ROO ROO ROO.
By Thomas, at
5:32 pm, November 03, 2008
Ahm but in sets of 3 only young Thomas... try it in sets of 5 and then se how long it takes you ;)
By Dan, at
12:50 am, November 04, 2008
lol muppet. I still did 302 !
By Thomas, at
2:43 pm, November 04, 2008
hahahahaha...
Amazing Andy.
But i agree with Thomas. You can't refer to the Spartans and accomplish only 200 repetitions. You must go for the 300.
(E.N.: I wish I could complete 100 muscle-ups on one afternoon)
Dude, that would be so cool. But I live in Sweden so I can't participate.. But I WILL do something similar myself! ;)
Good luck to all of you!
//Youtube nick: catjumper
Real name: Sebastian
;)
By bomb, at
11:58 am, November 19, 2008
Is anyone wondering how Thomas was doing sets of 3 and reached 302? That's some dodgy French mathematics, right there!
By Chris, at
2:17 pm, November 20, 2008
Exactly.. it does beg the question, Chris.
Ok, done. 300 in just under 2 hrs 30 minutes. Much easier doing it in sets of 3. Maybe we should set that as the time limit?
By Dan, at
11:43 pm, November 27, 2008
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