IRON LUNG CHALLENGE

Are you ready to put your aerobic capacity to the test? This treadmill challenge is most likely one of the hardest cardio workouts you will ever do and will test even the fittest of athletes, operators, and individuals.

Background

I first devised this challenge roughly 10 years ago while on active duty in the SEAL Teams to test my aerobic capacity and challenge some of my peers. To this day, nobody has been fit enough to complete Level 3 (myself included).

I have never trained for the test prior to my previous attempts. I just sent it, and it sucked every time. I am going to build a training program to address this and get after it again!

Now if you are like me and you run at least twice per week and are in pretty solid running shape, your response is probably, "Challenge accepted". Trust me, however, even Levels 1 and 2 require a solid foundation of running fitness and aerobic capacity, so be advised and get your mind right.

Your will to continue will be tested, and your mental fitness will be conditioned through this challenge, so stand by. I have literally only performed the test three times because it sucks so bad, haha.

Caution

You need to be in decent running shape for this test. If you cannot run 3 miles in under 22 minutes, then you have some work to do in order to get ready and have a fighting chance of hitting Level 1. For Level 2, you will need to be in the 7-minute mile range for 3-5 miles and have strong legs.

You need to be strong running hills, etc because there is a huge difference between running fitness on flat ground and hills/inclines.

Don't take the "Iron Lung" challenge lightly and ensure that you have a solid running base established before you go all in head first. If you aren't careful, you may go tits up with your "man card" completely punched out.

Iron Lung Treadmill Challenge

This 20-minute treadmill challenge is the toughest individual effort run I have ever done. Just as the name implies, you need a set of iron lungs and iron legs to score well.

If you think you have what it takes to level up your mental and physical readiness, perform the challenge below...

A. General Warm-up

Run 10:00 @ EASY to MODERATE effort @ 2.0% Incline

Coaching Comments:

Begin easy and then gradually increase the speed/ intensity to a RPE or Rate of Perceived Exertion of level 7 out of 10 over the course of 10 minutes.

B. Dynamic Warm-up

-World's Greatest Stretch

-Quad Pulls

-Butt Kicks

-Dynamic Side Lunges 

-Hamstring Scoops 

-Walking Frankensteins

C. Challenge

4 ROUNDS OF:

-Run 1:00 @ 2.0% Incline

-Run 1:00 @ 4.0% Incline

-Run 1:00 @ 6.0% Incline

-Run 1:00 @ 8.0% Incline

-Run 1:00 @ 10.0% Incline

No rest between rounds

Coaching Comments:

Go from a 10.0% incline immediately into the next round at a 2.0% incline with no rest between rounds for a 20-minute challenge. This is very difficult!

The only adjustment that should be made throughout the challenge is the incline each minute. Your speed should be constant.

D. Cool Down as necessary

LEVEL 1 Speed - 7.0 MPH

LEVEL 2 Speed - 7.5 MPH

LEVEL 3 Speed - 8.0 MPH

As you can see, there isn't a large disparity between levels. Even Level 1 requires some serious fitness.

Get Ready! Stay Ready!