Our Legs Hurt Just Reading This Epic Lower Body Workout

Instagram/djkfitness

You've probably heard the story of Sisyphus before. In Greek mythology the king of Ephra was punished for his deceit by being forced to push a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back past him, repeating this action for eternity.

It’s perhaps not quite the metaphor former Melbourne based trainer Dan Kennedy had in mind when he was looking for a challenge that would test both his physical and mental toughness. But in choosing to complete a 24-hour charity sled push for Beyond Blue, for the second year in a row, he has set himself a task that’s certainly Sisyphean in its enormity and its difficulty.

What about its futility you might ask? The truth is to complete it he may need to mix this mythic metaphor by drawing on Herculean strength and endurance.

7 weeks until I embark on round 2 of the 24 hour sled push challenge to raise money and awareness for mental health. All money donated will go to @beyondblueofficial 🙏🏻 #DKFITNESS #mentalhealth #challenge @kb.performance

“It symbolises what going through hardship can be like,” said Olympian Michael Klim of the challenge, after completing the challenge last year with Kennedy, in which they took turns to push a sled weighing 80kg, 30m for 24 hours. Adds Kennedy: “With the sled push it’s you against the load, not only physically but mentally. It’s really symbolic of the dynamic around mental health issues.”

Kennedy will take turns with his mates to push an 80kg sled for 24 hours at KB Performance, a Melbourne gym owned by Western Bulldogs star Katie Brennan, from 6pm Dec 7 to 6pm Dec 8. Along the way he’ll be joined by friends and volunteers who’ll jump in for 30min slots. All funds raised will go to Beyond Blue.

The 2 most simple things you can be doing daily to either reduce lower back pain or eliminate it all together (+ improve strength, power, posture and speed)... - 1. Hip mobility 2. Glute activation - Comment below with a '👍🏻' if you want me to make an IGTV video of the full mobility and activation sequence I get my clients to go through before they train lower body #DKFITNESS

"This is obviously the second year of running the event and last year we reached our goal of $10,000+," said Kennedy ahead of this years effort. "This year we hope to reach our goal of $15,000!"

To prepare for this years mammoth push, Kennedy is hitting the gym, hard. He took time out of his preparation to share his leg workout, and holy DOMs is it rough.

Weekly goals set, time to implement 😈 - @athletikan are having a sale for the next 2 days on all remaining stock 🔥🎉 Use my code DK20 for 20% off #DKFITNESS #athletikan

Warm up

- Foam roll

- Mobility

- Glute activation (using therabands is an easy way to fire up the glutes)

Main Session

1. Barbell Romanian deadlift 3 x 6-8

2. Barbell box squat 3 x 5

3A. Barbell hip thrust x 10

3B. Dumbbell walking lunges x 20 total

4. Theraband pallof press 3 x 10 each way

5. CONDITIONING: SLED PUSH 10 x 20 seconds max effort (HEAVY), followed by 40 seconds complete recovery/rest

Cool down:

-Static stretch

-Foam roll

Ben Jhoty

Ben Jhoty, Men’s Health’s Deputy Editor, attempts to honour the brand’s health-conscious, aspirational ethos on weekdays while living marginally larger on weekends. A new father, when he’s not rocking an infant to sleep, he tries to get to the gym, shoot hoops and binge on streaming shows.