3 Fitness Influencers Challenged US Marines to Feats of Strength

Military fitness tests have become a popular way for fitness influencers to challenge their strength and speed on YouTube—but how do they stack up against the service members who do this stuff all the time? In a new video on his channel, Brandon William teams up with fellow fitness vloggers Magnus Midtbø, and Adam Soaf to take on a trio of active duty U.S. Marines (Cortez, Jupiter, and Martinez) in the Marines Combat Fitness Test.

The first event is an 880-sprint. “Magnus kept a really strong lead, and was pretty much carrying our entire team, since I was dead last and Adam was gassing out quickly,” says Brandon. “What made this challenge even more difficult for everyone was that we didn’t know where the finish line was, which made it very difficult to pace ourselves properly.”

Ultimately, Martinez gains a last-minute lead on Magnus and wins with a time of 2:33, with Magnus taking second place at 2:39. While these are both exceptional scores according to the test’s official criteria, it does mean the Marines win this first round.

The second event is the ammo can lift, where each participant must raise the 30-pound can over their heads for as many reps as possible in a 2-minute window. “The ammo can lift felt easy for the first 50 reps, and then it really started to hit,” says Brandon. “My shoulders were fatiguing out, and I couldn’t get the proper technique down to use my momentum. Magnus and Adam were both struggling to do the same. The Marines, on the other hand, were absolutely crushing this event.”

Out of the three influencers, Adam does the best in this round with 127 reps, securing a perfect score. However, Martinez dominates a second time, churning out a seemingly effortless 162 in 2 minutes.

The third event and final event is the one that even the Marines are dreading: manoeuver under fire. It consists of a 25-yard sprint, a 20-yard crawl, zigzag drills, dragging and carrying a buddy, an ammo can carry, grenade throw, and pushups. In order to achieve a perfect score, the YouTubers must complete the entire gauntlet in 2:07.

“Up until the buddy drag, I was feeling good,” says Brandon. “But the fatigue really started to set in as I was running with Magnus on my back… Running with the ammo cans felt terrible. My legs were burning, all I wanted to do was stop and catch my breath.”

Magnus comes the closest to a perfect score out of the influencers, finishing the exercise in 2:12, just 2 seconds off a gold for his age group. But once again, the Marines are victorious with 885 points out of a possible 900. The YouTubers, for their efforts, bagged a total 705.

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