anyone else tried this? I have no idea if I could do it or not as I normally train HIT
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lift-100-tons-in-day-sure-why-not-1487505600By Rachel Bachman
Updated Feb. 19, 2017 6:38 p.m. ET
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San Antonio
Ritchie King stepped out of the reclined leg press machine, awe-struck by what he had done: muscle up 1,350 pounds of weight six times.
The 57-year-old retired Army Sgt. First Class, now a pastor, had only one explanation. “The Holy Ghost,” he said.
The eye-opening effort last Wednesday was part of Mr. King’s successful bid to join the 100-Ton Club at the Rambler Fitness Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, an Air Force-led military installation.
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Membership requires a person to lift 100 tons in a single day using free weights or a weight machine. That’s 200,000 pounds, or about 11 large elephants.
The gym hosts the challenge once a year. Members have from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. to lift 100 tons. People log their progress on cards they tote with them: the weight lifted multiplied by the number of repetitions. The reward is a T-shirt declaring their membership.
This year, 48 attempted and 33 succeeded, both highs in the five years the gym has kept records. Although 100 tons is a daunting figure, most who succeeded didn’t look like muscle-magazine pinups. Three were women, reflecting the widening appeal of weightlifting. Most people finished more quickly than they anticipated, typically in two or three hours.
They had similar approaches to reaching this goal. They were already fit from exercising regularly. Many worked out with training partners. Most important, they favored leg exercises, and the reclined leg press in particular.
Master Sgt. Daniel Acosta, a 35-year-old whose hulking shoulders announce him as a weight-room regular, was the first to join the club, finishing in 90 minutes, just after 6:30 a.m.
“I didn’t even think I could do it,” Master Sgt. Acosta said. Minutes later he was telling a friend he would be back in the gym after work. “I still have to do arms,” he said.
His friend, 33-year-old Tech. Sgt. Jay Donnelly, said he bikes often but only recently had been lifting regularly.
Photos: The Weightlifters of the 100-Ton Club
Scenes from a San Antonio military base where gym rats attempted to lift 200,000 pounds in a day
1 of 10
The Berheides lifted weights in the morning, dressed and went to work, then returned to the gym. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
With Elliott Williams looking on, Ritchie King, bottom left, got a spot from Richard Deane, top left, on his way to becoming a member of The 100-Ton Club at the Rambler Fitness Center at ...
From left, Elliott Williams, Larry Hawthorne, Richard Deane, Ritchie King and Reggie Whaley worked together to try to each lift 100 tons of weight in a day. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
Sarah Berheide, left, was one of three women to lift 100 tons in a day and join the 100-Ton Club. Her husband, Adam Berheide, worked out behind her and also joined the club. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
L.J. Martin said he felt good when leaving the gym at about 7:15 a.m. after lifting 100 tons. But he had to excuse himself from an afternoon meeting to sit down. ‘I was just straight-up pooped.’ Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
Daniel Acosta did squats as part of his attempt to become a member of The 100-Ton Club. He was the first to finish the task, at about 6:30 a.m. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
With spotters Richard Deane, left, Elliott Williams, top center, and Ritchie King, right, Larry Hawthorne did leg presses. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
Larry Hawthorne strained at the leg press. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
Aspiring 100-Ton Club members used the honor system, charting their own weights and repetitions on the backs of cards like this. The goal: to lift 200,000 pounds in a day on free weights or weight machines. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
Jay Donnelly, left, hugged Daniel Acosta. Both joined the 100-Ton Club. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
The Berheides lifted weights in the morning, dressed and went to work, then returned to the gym. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
With Elliott Williams looking on, Ritchie King, bottom left, got a spot from Richard Deane, top left, on his way to becoming a member of The 100-Ton Club at the Rambler Fitness Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. Ray Whitehouse for The Wall Street Journal
“Other people, they plan for this, eat right,” Tech. Sgt. Donnelly said during a break about 72,000 pounds into the challenge. “I had wings and potato wedges last night.”
He lifted 30,000 pounds on 300 reps of a seated back-extension machine set at 100 pounds. He made it into the club. The next day, he said he’d had his best night’s sleep ever. But “my back’s killing me,” he said.
The 100-Ton is more special event than an actual club, and appears to be relatively obscure. It was held in 2015 at Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, Miss., but the 100-Ton Club has been consistent in San Antonio, where some version of it has been held since 2010. The club is open to the active and retired military, plus government employees, who have access to the fitness center.
Marlin Richardson, Rambler’s fitness and sports manager, settled on the 100-ton benchmark after trying 50 tons (too easy) and 150 tons (too much). He discourages weightlifting novices from attempting it.
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Club aspirants soon learned the key to joining the 100-Ton Club was the reclined leg-press machine. Most people’s legs are far stronger than other muscles, making it easier to do many repetitions with them. And reclined or linear leg-press machines require people to lift less weight than they would in a similar free-weight exercise—even if the listed weights are the same.
For instance, a man squatting, then standing, while holding a weighted barbell across his shoulders is lifting that weight plus his body weight. Someone on a leg-press machine with a 45-degree incline who performs a similar move is lifting about 70% of the mounted weight plus the weight of the carriage, or the part of the machine that holds it, says Greg Highsmith, category director for strength & accessories at fitness-equipment maker Life Fitness.
First Lt. Sarah Berheide, 25, and her husband, Capt. Adam Berheide, 27, arrived early at the fitness center and lifted for more than two hours before heading to work. Self-described “Type A’s,” they typically do 45-minute, weightlifting-centric workouts four days a week at 6 a.m. Lifting 100 tons was a stretch, they said.
First Lt. Berheide returned to the gym just before 5 p.m. to resume the challenge with 65 tons to go. She pulled on headphones blasting top 40 music and settled into a leg-press machine, with stacked weights lifted with a pulley system.
Such a machine actually can be more difficult than a plate-loaded reclined or linear leg press, says Mr. Highsmith of Life Fitness. That’s because manufacturers use mechanical systems to create resistance that’s less where someone is weaker and more where someone is stronger.
Several people attempting to join the 100-Ton Club agreed that using only free weights, not machine weights, would make it much more difficult—perhaps impossible for most to do in a day.
Capt. Berheide leaned on the leg press and counted down his wife’s final repetitions. She had done 1,208 reps with her legs during the day, including machine reps and dead lifts with a dumbbell. They had planned to do many more dead lifts but “quickly realized that that’s not going to happen,” Capt. Berheide says.
“All for a T-shirt, right?” First Lt. Berheide said as she fist-bumped her husband.
The couple walked to the front desk to turn in their 100-Ton cards. They were sore but not wrecked.
“Now that I know this is achievable, I’d definitely do it again—and shoot for higher,” Capt. Berheide said.
Larry Hawthorne reacted as he lifted weights on his way to joining the 100-Ton Club.
Larry Hawthorne reacted as he lifted weights on his way to joining the 100-Ton Club. Photo: for The Wall Street Journal
Write to Rachel Bachman at rachel.bachman@wsj.com
