Strong Enough vs Long Enough

“The Mind is Primary”

In the podcast we published earlier this week, Alex and I held a hearty discussion on what we considered to be the “upper limits” of both strength and endurance. The basic question was this: Is there such a thing as too strong, and is there such a thing as too long (or too aerobic)?

When I first conceptualized this conversation, a collection of vintage Gym Jones fitness standards came to mind. In my early days as a strength coach, these were front and center in the niche functional fitness space, and they seemed as good a set of metrics as any to help frame our conversation on the podcast. Before I drop them here, though, I think it’s important to give some context.

Spartans, What Is Your Profession?!?

It’s 2006, and the word “CrossFit” is slowly becoming more and more popular. Tons of repetitions of all kinds of random movements done at high intensity by super-fit people in California? Check!

Then…like a freak typhoon of the eastern seaboard, the movie 300 premiered. Zach Snyder’s graphic novel interpretation of the Greeks’ stand against an invading Persian force took the world by storm primarily due to the fact that it featured (quite prominently), scantily clad jacked dudes. For a culture that had grown accustomed to the bodybuilder-type physiques of early action stars like Arnold Schwarzenneger and Sylvester Stallone, these lithe, athletic-looking Greeks signaled the dawn of a new era of fitness.

Gym Jones

At the forefront of this grassroots movement was the very organization behind the training of the 300 actors: Gym Jones and its fearless leader, Mark Twight. An accomplished alpinist in his own right, Mark Twight was a self-proclaimed nihilist who very intentionally chose to name his facility (and his brand) after the famous 1970’s suicidal cult leader, Jim Jones. Flying the banner “The Mind is Primary,” Gym Jones and its followers flaunted slick physiques, ski ergs, and motivational black and white workout photos behind a seemingly exclusionist brand that seemed to say “we don’t want you here.” I was hooked.

Gym Standards

Of all the popular gym brands at the time, I would argue that Gym Jones featured the most robust set of fitness standards. Hard to achieve in their own day, I feel as though these standards have stood the test of time to maintain a level of mystique nearly two decades later. In their undedited form, the standards that we refer to in the podcast are as follows:

Back squat: 2 times your body weight

Deadlift: 2.5 times your body weight

Front squat: 1.5 times your body weight

Overhead squat: 1.25 times your body weight

Bench press: your body weight for 10 reps

Power clean: 1.25 times your body weight

Turkish getup: half your body weight

Pull-up (straight bar, dead hang, no kip): 15x male, 3x female

60-second fan bike: 55 calories

500-meter Row: 1:30

500-meter SkiErg: 1:30 60-second fan bike: 55 calories

1,000-meter Row: 3:30

1,000-meter SkiErg: 3:30

2,000-meter row: 7:00

2,000-meter ski: 7:00

5,000-meter row: 18:30

5,000-meter ski: 18:30

1.5-mile Run: 8:45

60-minute row: 15,400 meters

60-minute ski: 15,400 meters

10K run: 50 minutes

Thoughts

As we mentioned on the podcast, one of the best things about this list is that it makes no preference towards either strength or endurance. The benchmarks are equally challenging on both sides of the spectrum, and even set the standard for a few tasks that combine both strength and endurance in equal measure. To be able to tackle every single one of these concurrently would be an incredible achievement.

While this should by no means serve as an official “MOPs and MOEs Endorsement” of Gym Jones, I do think it’s important to give credit where credit is due. Although Mark Twight has long since abandoned the Gym Jones project (I’ll let you dive down that rabbit hole of drama on your own time), these original standards hold a ton of weight even in contemporary conversations around “how strong is strong enough and how enduring is enduring enough?”

Give these a shot…and who knows, maybe we’ll start building some of this into our Long and Strong team training program soon…