Note: this exercise challenge has been updated and modified. Either version is still a great option if you are looking for a challenge. Check out the new version here: The 99 Workout New and Improved.
I recently came across an exercise workout on Pinterest called “The Ninety-Nine”. It is said to have originated from this blog:ย Beautiful Day 4 Runningย but I can’t find an actual place on the blog where it was posted.
Anyhow, I tried the workout.
And it rocks.
It worked muscles I didn’t know I had, and for someone like me in good shape already, that is a very important feature in a workout. I did have an issue with one aspect of the exercises and that was the leg raises so I changed it up a bit and made a sheet that you can print out and hang on the wall if you want to give it a try. It’s not for the faint of heart but will give you a great workout. The initial exercises took me 55 minutes, then 11 minutes for the run.
The workout consists of 8 set of 5 exercises. The first set starts with 99 reps of each except the push-ups you do 9 reps. Each subsequent set is 11 reps less than the previous set. The 9th set is just an 11 minute run, jog, walk…whatever you can do after almost an hour of calisthenics.
The exercises are fairly explanatory. Jumping jacks and crunches are what they usually are. The wall sit is a squat with your back against the wall. You go down as low as you can and hold the position. Knee lifts you do while standing just alternating raising each knee as high as you can. Push-ups are fairly standard too, though you can always do them on your knees if you need to.
So….do you dare?
101 comments
That’s pretty much the same level of activity in a typical day of our boot camp which I do 4 times per week. I’m going to start replacing one of my daily workouts with this one and see how I like it. I’m going to start the pushups at 40 and go down in increments of 5 though… 9 pushups is nothing for me lol I’ve gotten really “used to” the Fat Blaster workout that I started doing several weeks ago so this will give my body a little bit of a much-needed shift during the three off-days from boot camp each week ๐ Thanks for posting!! I love that it ends with a run… I can get just over a mile in with that 11 minutes! Fitnessssss for the win!
So should I practice this so we can do it each morning in Pigeon Forge? LOL Looks awesome.
Um nope I don’t dare. Maybe I’ll start once I’ve kicked brochitis in the butt. Looks great though!
I’ve fallen off the exercise wagon since going back to work. This looks simple enough…once I find my motivation and energy.
I don’t dare. I will leave that up to you. ๐
maybe! I was doing ripped in 30 wHich i LOVE but i hurt my back and now I can’t do it. This might be perfect until I can get back to it.
Oh my! I’ll have to try this ๐
This looks pretty hard, I think i’ll give it a try.
This looks like a great workout. When my marathon soreness is gone I am going to try this!
You have fun with that. I got tired thinking about doing 9 jumping jacks letting alone 99 of them.
Here’s an idea if this is too scary to try: Start out with the jumping jacks and go for as long as you can then what ever number you fall short on (unless you can get to 99 easily) just start from there, for instance if you could only do 25 jumping jacks, then just do 25 crunches and so on, ending at a 15 minute walk, run or bike/stationary bike ride. And then the next day try to achieve a higher number, higher each day, hey maybe you’ll exceed the 99. Just exercise, that’s the main goal not how many of something you can do
..what tori said. just get movin’. this chart is a little ridiculous for the average person. and i dont think an above average person could do this either wihtout being completely drained before it finishes. just move!
I completely agree with you Toni!! I have nothing else to say since you said it all haha.
I did this. It’s cake if you’re in any kind of decent shape at all. On the other hand if you’re in the shape of a cake you’re going to have trouble you big hippo fat whale gut lard.
According to Dave, I’m a big hippo fat whale gut lard in the shape of cake so there’s no way I could do this. I would need to modify it and work up. I’ll get there someday, not because I want to, but just to say that I can.
no I don’t think I can do that – lol – I really don’t exercise
saved the picture on my wall! hope to try it since I’m always looking to keep my body active when I’m home working!
– Allison
I found where it was on the blog!
http://beautifulday4running.tumblr.com/post/2835984024/when-doing-the-100-workout-for-the-first-time-i
This is just like my morning workout, except I start at 999.
Cool story , bro.
I do this excercise too, except i start at OVER 9000!
And each set is 11 less reps each time not 10…in case you wanna edit that.
Reminds me of a workout me and a mate tried, it was a crossfit challenge.
2500 reps in total
500 reps each of
pullups
squats
pushups
flutter kick
situps
Complete any way you can.
I love this. definitely going to have to try it!!
Rachel, you just love this. I’m pretty sure you’re not gonna do this. ๐ lol
that sounds brutal it seems to be even hard for someone in good shape like you what are the chances for the rest of us who workout rarely. This workout should not be attempted by anyone ot in good shape.
This is too much of a workout … are we humans or machines ??
Are you freaking KIDDING me!?!?
Congratulations, but – ahem – you’re right, I must be VERY faint at heart. As in, ready to have a heart attack just reading this…seems a bit over the top, but who the heck am I to say?
Mission Completed! Awesome workout, it was a good challenge. (:
Awesome
For everyone saying this is unachievable: You can do anything you set your mind to. Get out of your computer chair, turn the TV off, go outside and play. Sprint, climb, play basketball, roll around in the yard. SOMETHING! And when you’re done, eat a plateful of like 100 eggs, and big “dose” of bacon. Also drink a lot of water. Also, stop eating fast food.
awesome workout..
Thi really wasnt that hard I completed this work out in 35 minutes.
I think this would be a good challenge. I’m in pretty good shape… I think I can do it ๐
I’m going to go for it !!!
Whats the rest time in between? Varies with fitness level?
Yes, definitely. I take about 30 seconds in between sets, maybe 10 seconds between each exercise.
Cool workout! I can’t wait to get home from work and try it!
The 99 workout I’ve got to try this out. I find doing jumping jacks hard to do but its worth the effort. Great set of workouts.
I can’t wait to get off work and try it out eitherrr! I am so proud of myself for sticking to working out these last several months, and I have DEFINITELY seen the results I wanted! And all at home! I don’t have a gym membership, but I LOOK like I do haha. And most importanly FEEL like I do. Anyways, cheers to all you guys sticking with it even when it’s hard and you’re sore, it’s so worth it in the end! And I have found that if I eat generally healthy, and just make sure that I get enough vitamins and minerals and protein, I can eat as much as I want! Hell, yes ๐
I was just about to jump on the elliptical for some cardio this morning and stumbled upon this. Seriously, I am going to replace my morning workout with this and see how it goes. Maybe it’ll become a part of my routine! Thanks for posting this!
Sweet! I’m going to try this myself and pass it on to my Sensei. Looks like a great warmup for martial arts.
What is the rest between sets? Or is there a rest?
Yeah, I’m ready for this. I’ll do it ๐
Yeah this is a extreme workout for the average person. I only know this because i just did it. Most would not finish this. It remains me of my online gym workouts. Way To Go TheySmell.com! Yeah baby!
why just 9 push ups? I mean everything else is hardcore and long drawn out reps.
because most people, esp the average person who will try this, their upper body/ arm strength is only strong enough for that many at a time.
Essh really? That’s what you think would be hard for an average person? Not the 450 sit-ups? Or the 8 minutes of wall-sit? Make them burpies instead of push-ups at least, I suggest…
Do you do the entire thing in one shot? Or is this day by day?
484 Crunches in one workout? Maybe not as fit as I thought, but that sounds a little out of my league…
Greg,
A suggestion I tell my clients, break up the crunches into different sets that work different sections of the abs. For example, 400 crunches: do 100 regular, do 100 each side, and do 100 flutter kicks. This works all of your abdominals and is a little easier to get through than running all 400 on one ab section ๐
lol @ Franke, if you need to do more than the amount of push ups per set go ahead, don’t criticize her work out…
btw this is GREAT workout.
Cool! Thank you! I think I’ll take this one or two reps a day and slowly build up to all 9. Because as of right now, I think I’m a little too soft to take on such a hardcore workout like this one.
a lot tips for work out. keeping this +99 tips in my mind & will start to workout. great tips to follow.
thanks
This is neat! I want to try this myself soon!
I apologize, but what is a sec. wall sit?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-wV4Venusw
99 SECOND wall sit
I have to do al the 9 sets on one day ???
all** sorry about that
The point here is to start them, everything can be achieved with courage
First time doing this, completed it. Great challenge
Wow! This looks like one heck of a workout. I pinned it and will have to give it a try soon.
Got to give it a try! This looks fun and exhausting ๐
This might possibly be everything I need to tone up. I’ll print this one out and give to my friends.
I just may have to try this!
Now that is a Workout. Those Jumping jacks are no Joke, hard but they really burn fat
I don’t know if I can hang with this. That’s a whole hell of a lot, but I’ll try it!
Jae Mac, I’m Just Sayin’…(Damn!)
read Stuart McGill
No more crunchies
Pleasevwhat’s jumping jack?
Hey I love this workout its a complete body burner and its simple! I promote NO NONSENSE exercises on my blog. Check it out and tell me what you think:
http://www.muscleandfood.wordpress.com
Follow me by email, I will be introducing some killer workouts just like this!
While I agree that this is a great workout, I would never recommend it to just anyone. This workout is based on many restrictions of ROM and ability and is not suitable for just anyone. Also, no resistance training is involved and, although killer, is completely worthless for anyone starting a new workout regimen with the intent of getting in shape/
I am starting to do this to lose my fat, thanks
me 2 ๐
I dont think I could do 99 sit ups all at once lol. Do we start at the bottom and work my way up everyday doing more?
Hi! I came across your blog today and love it. I love all the healthy recipes and fitness tips. Thanks so much for sharing ๐
I would change some exercises around but this is torture. LOL.
Oh, no! Not gonna try that workout!!!!
I think I’m going to try this out. It looks like an interesting workout. Kind of like a countdown.
we used to start with
1)Thirty knuckle pushups reducing to 20 (that is 10 circuits)
2)fifty situps
3)100 steps duck walk
4) and 40 different kicks on each circuit
that was my from Tae-Kwondo class and used to do only on sunday mornings.
Almost 500 crunches in perfect or good form is crazy
This has been the background on my comp for weeks now, though a diff image. I use it on my active recovery days, works like HIIT Training, love it.
Hahaha, I dare! so i am going to try this out ๐
I took want to build a bit, not sure for how long I will be doing this. But challenge accepted.. ๐
That’s just brutal. I’m currently doing the 200 squats/200 situps/100 pushups programmes, and the’yre painful, but this – this is what Sauron forces on the Fighting Uruk Hai, it’s what they suffer in Guantanamo, it’s how Chuck Norris takes some r’n’r.
I think it’s so much better to leave a little bit for the next day and not do too much. I don’t think the body can deal with that much strain in one day. You got to have some kind of strength for daily living. You can exercise every day instead if you’re feeling like you want to get in shape fast. But to do all of this workout in one day is too much. Eventually you are going to be very tired. You may even lose motivation to keep working out, because it’s so hard. This is exactly what I write about in my books. You can’t build a body in one day. It’s gradual exercise every day. The body will react and shape up eventually.
Interesting workout, I’ll test it out.
Just stumbledupon your post! Always great to find new creative ways to work out to prevent boredom. Thanks for sharing, will give it a try next time!
Post a video of you doing these 9 sets, i bet you will pass out before set 5.
I’ve done this workout start to finish, more than once. Thanks for being a troll, it makes things interesting.
Totally pinning this for future reference!
this is really easy if you put your mind to it i just finished it in about 2 hours it takes a while to finish but you feel like the hulk when you are done lol!
Yeah, actually working out for that long isn’t really good for you.
Just lowering the variety and adding lots of reps doesn’t make a good workout!
Just finished this up after stumbling upon it….Crunches were absolutely brutal! Pretty much had to break it down into 20s to begin with then struggling through 10-15 at a time…..That might sound sad….but….I’m 350 pounds!
Not sad at all Aaron. Most people don’t even try. You got up and got moving! Keep up the great work and just work your way up. This is an extreme workout and again, you have my respect for even giving it a shot!!
Great way to get cardio in while changing it up
This is a great change up to the regular workouts that you usually do. I’m going to try this
Crunches are worthless.
Thanks for the post.
You helped me a lot with it. ๐
great challenge! if i do around 100 jumping jacks, and 100 crunches, each day.. will that be enough to keep my weight from going up?
That’s not something I can answer, you’d have to see for yourself how much exercise you need vs your food intake. Good luck!