Sam Averett is a photographer here in Bozeman, MT and has been working with the MTNTOUGH crew for the last couple of years. We recently sat down with Sam and asked him what his favorite high-intensity workout is. He mentioned how much he enjoys the team-based high intensity days, but lately we’ve been working from the Preseason Prep Program. It’s an awesome program designed to get hunters and backcountry athletes ready for a long and trying fall in the mountains.

He went on to state that the Run and Gun has rapidly become his favorite, and go-to workout from the program. It’s a brutal cardio workout that incorporates a ton of running, with calisthenics and strength movements between the run portions.

Sam says, "This workout is an absolute grind. It sucks from start to finish. It’s challenging because you’ve got to transition quickly from a 400m run to a strength movement, and there are no breaks, no time to catch your breath. You’ve just got to keep moving. This is an individual workout - another seriously challenging aspect - with no team to lean on for encouragement and camaraderie. It’s easy to get inside your own head and let off the gas without a team for accountability."

He goes on, "I think those challenges are what really makes this workout a great one for me. It’s definitely not fun, and it’s certainly not easy. It’s super versatile, and you can replace the movements in between the run portions with any similar movement you’d like."

"If you’re looking for a challenge, look no further."

Last week in the lab we ran the workout with four total rounds instead of three. A solid time for ‘Elite’ level athletes in the four round workout is around 50 minutes. With three rounds, elite athletes should shoot for a time around 40 minutes. At the intermediate level in the four round workout a solid time to strive for is around 55 minutes, and the three round intermediate athletes should shoot for around 43 minutes.
Here's the workout with Sam's selected exercises.

RUN AND GUN
3 - 4 Rounds for time
Run - 400m (0.25 mile)
Strict Toes to Bar - 15
Run - 400m (0.25 mile)
Chin-Ups - 15
Run - 400m (0.25 mile)
MTN Climbers - 50 (25 per side)
Run - 400m (0.25 mile)
Ball Slams - 20

Here's the workout as originally written in the Preseason Prep Program.
Feel free to try any exercises you like in between the runs. Have fun with this format. Give it a shot and let us know what you think!