Ripley's Guide to Exercise: The Strangest Workouts

Weirdest Workouts

It’s a new wear and an opportunity for an all-new you! If you’re ready to take your New Year’s Resolution to the gym, we’ve got the perfect workouts to keep you from waiting in line for the most popular machines.

We don’t promise people will be looking at you because of how fit you’re getting, but these exercises are sure to capture attention.

Backwards Running

We’ll start you off with the basics, just some backward sprinting. A man who ran the 100-yard dash in just 14 seconds was featured in Robert Ripley’s very first Believe It or Not! cartoon. If distance is more your thing, you can try walking backward across the whole continent, a feat also featured in Ripley’s first cartoon. We recommend a mirror for beginners and highly caution  against using a treadmill.

Hula Hooping a Tractor Tire

Dragging tires is for the football field, flipping them is for Crossfit, but hula hooping them is for the Ripley’s Gym. A tough feat—as attested by stunt performer Paul Blair, also known as Dizzy Hips—you can expect cuts and bruises when you’re first starting out. If you can get to the point where you can sling a 98-pound tractor tire around your waste, however, you’re sure to end up with some seriously shredded abs.

Tandem Fire Truck Pull

Pulling a firetruck with your best gym buddy is the perfect way to build camaraderie. At close to 16 tons, a firetruck weighs more than all the weights in your local gym combined. Strongman Kevin Fast has been pulling firetrucks for years, and though he’s shown pulling one with his son below, he’s pulled two all by himself. His greatest feat to date was pulling a 416,000-pound plane!

Scroll Work

Once you’ve mastered the raw strength of yanking around vehicles, it’ll be time for a more delicate exercise. By doing push-ups on raw eggs, you’ll build your core and stabilizer muscles. Bill Kathlan can do push-ups on eggs with ease, and is even able to do one-handed push-ups on eggs without breaking a sweat!

Scroll Work

Another exercise in muscle control, scroll work is a strongman feat that creates art by bending metal with your hands. Chris Ryder, also known as “Haircules” is an expert on shaping cold metal with brute force and technique. People will be astounded when you turn an eight-foot steel rod into a backpack-sized piece of art. This craft will lead you to do all sorts of strongman feats, including phone book ripping, fry-pan rolling, and wrench twisting. Just make sure to bend the barbells back when you’re done.

January Rush

With gym attendance spiking an average of 40% in January, all your favorite machines and free-weights will be taken anyways, so why not try something new? Whether it’s scroll work, backward running, or push-ups on eggs, you can get into tip-top shape for 2018 the Ripley’s way!