The Dragan Challenge is a a great way to train endurance. It consists of one movement — the alternating curl and press. The curl isn’t strict, using momentum is fine since endurance and not isolation is the goal. The actual challenge is about beating Dragan Radovic but for us mere mortals, it’s about doing 100 reps with the dumbbell that you can control. When you reach 100, move up in weight.
According to Draganchallenge.com there are now standards:
Elite Category – 100 reps with 2 x 20kg dumb bells
Intermediate Male Category – 100 reps with 2 x 12kg dumb bells
Female Category – 100 reps with 2 x 8kg dumb bells
And this workout can be done for time: the fastest 100 lifts with a chosen weight.
Here’s a heavy version:
I didn’t realize there was a challenge called this but I’ve been doing clean and press in an endurance fashion for years. In fact, it’s one of my favorite things to do. I don’t know why but there’s a rhythm to it and once I get in the groove, I just keep going. This is one reason I make people do 5:00 of clean and press for our kettlebell certification. I feel it’s that important.
And of course I love to hear how losing fat through weight training is impossible. Training like this certainly can do it. Plus, this is a great way to train for endurance when you’re dealing with a lower body injury. Don’t stop training like everyone else who never gets results — find a way like this to train around it.