The One Ton Challenge
Do you remember the calm before the storm? Do you remember the bus ride to the State Championship? The entire team is sitting in silence. Music is blasting at deafening levels in their headphones and anticipation filling the air.
Whether it is high school or college, these are the moments we all miss as athletes; the days when the result actually matters. Winning and losing defines your hard work, your training, and your character. One game. One Goal.
And then it is gone. We graduate, we stop playing, and we enter the real world. High school is four years, and then college is four years, and then, SHIT, the real world is forever, and we forget that feeling of “Game Day” – when pride is on the line and shit matters.
When you talk to athletes, the answer is always the same. Athletes do not miss the practice, the games, or the training. They miss the locker room. They miss that feeling of 20 people that are willing to fight and die for a trophy that means nothing to the outside world, and everything to the people in that room.
Game Day
On October 25th, 2015, “Game Day” became real again. Bryan Boorstein, Anders Varner, and John Cena boarded a plane in Los Angeles headed for Tampa, Fl. to embark on a weightlifting journey. To lift weights with the strongest people at the highest levels.
Six Lifts, One Goal, One Ton
Hard Knocks South, located in Tampa, Fl., owned by John Cena, operated by Rob MacIntyre, and home to the baddest, strongest people in the iron game, would be our battle grounds.
Over the next 72 hours, the seemingly meaningless idea of weightlifting would inspire personal records, create a brotherhood of friendships, and produce a story that will be told for lifetimes.
Bryan and Anders completed the “One Ton Club” challenge with a 2001 and 2007 pound total. Their names have been hand stenciled on the “”Iron Warrior” garage door at Hard Knocks South with 31 other athletes that define the description on the door.
On the flight home from Tampa to San Diego, we knew we needed to pass this gift on to strength athletes everywhere. We needed a way to get the strongest athletes together, focused on a common goal, to lift a shit ton of weight, and prove your strength.
You have committed your life to the barbell, now it is time to see where you stack up against the strongest people in the game.
Set a date, get the crew amped, and get ready to tell the story of a lifetime. Find out if you have what it takes to be a part of the “One Ton Club.”
Want to be an official member of the One Ton Club?
Here are the rules:
- You have a 48 hour window to complete all six lifts:
- Back Squat
- Snatch
- Clean
- Shoulder to overhead anyhow (Jerk)
- Bench Press
- Deadlift
- All lifts must be completed in the absence of wraps and straps. Knee pads and belts are acceptable
- You may complete the lifts in any order and combination over the course of 48 hours. If you are not content with any of the lifts, you may repeat the lift, as long it occurs within the same 48-hour period.
- All lifts must be videoed and follow the below standards:
- Squat – all lifts start standing, hip crease below parallel, and full stand back up with control of the weight
- Snatch – Bar moves from the floor to overhead in one movement. Weight must be stood up. Press outs are allowed
- Clean – Bar moves from the floor to the shoulders. Weight must be stood up
- Jerk – Weight can move anyhow from the shoulders to full lockout overhead with feet together
- Bench Press – Weight begins in a fully locked out position, is lowered to the chest, and is then returned to a fully locked out position without assistance
- Deadlift – Weight starts on the floor and is lifted to a standing position without any pause in the movement. All deadlifts must be pulled with a conventional stance. Sumo Stance will be disqualified.
- Video submissions of the TOP WEIGHT for each lift must be uploaded to Instagram and/or Facebook tagged @sandiegoathletics, and using the hashtag #onetonclub within the same 48-hour period.
- You must take a picture standing on a scale with a clear view of the number, and also uploaded to IG or FB tagged @sandiegoathletics with the hashtag #onetonclub
Once your final lifts have been reviewed and approved, you will receive acknowledgement of validation and a T-shirt will be mailed to you (we will contact you to get mailing address).
