“You’re never going to be the best if you don’t train like the best,” says powerlifter Xavier Barkley. He’s called to put his muscle where his mouth is in a new video from Marine veteran Armando Nava, who challenges him to take on the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test (PFT). While his lifting training is not to be sniffed at, Xander soon finds he struggles to meet the rigorous criteria of the PFT.
The first round consists of “dead hang” pullups until failure: Xavier completes 21 reps with perfect form, surpassing the minimum requirement and stopping just shy of the perfect score, which is 23.
Next up are abdominal crunches: Marines of Xavier’s age have to complete 70 reps in a 2 minute window to pass the test, with an ideal target of 115. Xavier manages 85 before he can’t go on. “That shit hurt,” he says. “That was serious, you guys, that was really a challenge.”
The third and final component of the PFT is a 3 mile run. This must be completed in under 18 minutes for a perfect score, with 27 minutes as the maximum cutoff time. The run is where Xavier struggles, and he’s not the first: earlier this year bodybuilders Matt and Mike tried the Marine Corps PFT and as with their other videos, were defeated by the cardio portion of the challenge.
Xavier’s finishing time is 28 minutes, 43 seconds; a failing score. “If I were prepared, I probably would have done a lot better, and I probably would have actually made the time,” he says. “By lap four, lap five, is where I let it slip… It’s not easy, it’s very difficult.”
“[Powerlifting] training is more just a pick up and go, strict build process,” he adds, expressing his respect for the training that the marine corps have to go through in order to be ready in all conditions.
Source: Read Full Article