The Mantathalon
A client and I took on a cool exercise challenge today. My buddy Bryan over at Frontdive Fitness sent me the workout Mantathalon from T-Nation last week so today we gave it a shot. Developed by Martin Rooney (well known strength and conditioning coach) to test modern day athletes, the competition encompasses 5 events. Using bodyweight for weight and proportion, each competitor has 20 minutes to complete one attempt to failure (or 20 rep max) of the following exercises in this order:
1. Bodyweight Bench Press
2. Chin-up
3. Half Bodyweight Overhead Press
4. +25% Bodyweight Dip
5. Half Bodyweight BB Curl

Max score is 100- Add your reps up and see where you rank. Check out the link above for the article and videos with description, form guidelines and ranking chart.

At a bodyweight of 172, for simplicity I used 170 for the bench press, 85 for the overhead press and curl and 42.5 for the weighted dip.

A challenging workout that was fun to give a go at. I probably won’t do it often but might use it every few months to remeasure.

Mantathalon Final Score: 20+20+18+16+16=90

After the Mantathalon added:
Lat Pulldown 3 sets of 10
Seated Alternating Iso Row 2 sets of 8
Seated Row 2 sets of 10
Hang Power Clean & Press 2 sets of 10 @ 85lb