A Bodybuilder Got Crushed by David Goggins' 'Impossible' Navy SEAL Workout
Author and motivational speaker David Goggins is famous for his commitment in the gym, and he frequently shares insights into just how intensely he trains on social media. He has also inadvertently coined a couple of fitness challenges which have proven popular on YouTube, including the exhausting workout routine he used to lose 100 pounds in a 90-day period back during his Navy SEAL training.
In a new video, Australian bodybuilder and vlogger Zac Perna spends a day recreating this routine, as detailed in Goggins' book Can't Hurt Me, starting with a 4:30 a.m. wakeup call. Perna eats a banana, which is to be his body's only fuel for the morning's first bouts of activity, then sets off for an hour-long bike ride at 5:30 a.m. "It's not too different for me, because I usually do cardio, but not for an hour," he says. "I'm already cooked."
This is followed by a swim in the ocean, although the bracing wind and freezing cold temperatures force him to change tactics and head for a heated indoor pool instead. "In terms of the actual cardio, my lats felt like they were about to tear off," says Perna. "My shoulders were pumped, and I couldn't breathe. So all in all, that was very, very difficult."
Next up, Perna hits the gym for a high-volume circuit workout consisting of bench press, incline press and lots of exercises that work the legs. Goggins performs each exercise for sets of 100 reps as a minimum: Perna does them in supersets to get through the volume more quickly. "It's going to be a lot of pain, it's going to be a lot of sweat," he says.
After another two-hour bike ride, it's finally time for Perna to stop for dinner: grilled chicken breast with a small serving of rice (still more than the "thimble" that Goggins recalls eating) and leafy greens. "I think if I did this diet every single day, I would literally be dead," he says, calculating that Goggins was maintaining a deficit of more than 4,000 calories each day.
"That's crazy," he concludes. "I don't think any human other than David could do this and survive."
You Might Also Like
