Try the Manatholon Rooney Style

  In Martin Rooney's latest article/rant on T-nation he bemoaned the demise of real tests of "manhood" in the Olympics and proposed what he called the Manathlon.
  This event is comprised of 5 tests of strength:

• Bench press: max reps at bodyweight
• Chins: max reps
• Overhead Press: 50% of bodyweight
• Dips: an additional 25% of bodyweight
• Barbell Curls: 50% of bodyweight

   You can only go to 20 reps (no extra credit beyond that!) and there is a 20 minute limit in which to do them all.

   I tried the event today and got 73 reps which meant I made the He-Man category on Rooney's arbitrary rating scale! :) 

   What was interesting was I did well on chins, dips and curls and not as well on the bench and press which used to be two of my favorite and best lifts/exercises. But time and injury have taken their toll on my shoulders so I wasn't expecting great things on those two exercises. In fact, the mere ability to do any overhead pressing is an accomplishment for me these days!

   So I think Rooney's Manathlon is a fair test of overall upper body strength....I think it would have been a better barometer of overall strength with the addition of a deadlift and/or squatting pattern as well but that is just me. 

   It can also serve as a good bench mark/baseline series of tests to see how your training is progressing and whether some tweaks are in order or not. It would have been nice to have had some age adjusted formula as well but that is just me, I suppose. 

Train hard and train smart!

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