Distance runner and endurance athlete Elijah Orr has taken on some pretty wild fitness challenges to go along with his typical long runs. From the One Man Punch workout, the US Marine Corps Fitness Test, and David Goggins’ grueling run-pushup-run challenge, he has gone beyond just logging miles. For his latest YouTube challenge, inspired by fellow vlogger Bronson Holbeck, Orr is taking on a 3-mile medicine ball burpee challenge on a local track. His goal: to finish the challenge in under 1 hour. (Holbeck was able to do it in 63 minutes.)
The rules for the stunt are simple. Do a burpee on the medicine ball, pick up the medicine ball, throw it as far down the track as you can, and then run (or walk) over to the medicine ball and repeat.
“Sounds like hell on earth, right? Let’s try this out,” says Orr. “Probably not too much running involved, I feel like it’s going to be a lot more endurance and strength.”
Although his goal was to go sub one-hour, he quickly realized it wasn’t going to happen. He gets to it, and shares his thoughts on how to optimize your performance, which includes maximizing the roll on the ball when you throw (which often veered left or right).
“The first few laps I couldn’t really figure it out, but I kind of figured out a technique that helped it roll forward the way I wanted it to,” says Orr.
Although he averaged five minutes per lap the first three laps, he slowed down a lot and made a new goal of 75 minutes.
“The last few laps were getting really rough,” says Orr, who noted the sweat was getting on the ball, making it harder to grip the medicine ball. He also had to move to grass when team took over the track.
“I just knew I had to ignore the fatigue and finish strong,” says Orr.
After he finished, he got a head rush, which he attributed to the up-and-down nature of the burpees. His final time is 1:12:55, and he says he did around 516 burpees total, or 43 per lap.
“I’m proud of sub-75, honestly,” says Orr. “Good little workout.”
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