Training: Take The 2026 1 Million Pound Challenge

One of the most negligent and/or reckless trends in American law enforcement has been replacing skills or abilities with technology. Case in point, replacing defensive tactics training — fighting — with technology, specifically the TASER.

Yes, I understand that management doesn’t want their officers physically fighting with subjects on the street. Regardless, the desire to keep officers from going hands-on does not jive with the reality that sometimes hands-on fighting is what must take place. 

Before Christmas, the whole country got to see the video of a shoplifter in Canton, Ohio attempting to shoot a police officer. The store’s loss prevention officer and a Canton police officer had to go hands-on and fight because that was what was called for. 

On the heels of the Canton incident, a friend of mine shared a video that was dated a bit, but showed two police officers attempting to subdue an unarmed man and failing miserably. The man ended up stealing the police cruiser and driving away. The video is the definition of pathetic. 

Then there was one more video, again shared by a friend, where a grossly out of shape Sheriff’s deputy was attacked by a prisoner inside the sally port of a courthouse. The prisoner attacks the deputy and snatches the officer’s gun. The deputy in question struggles to fight and then after a very short time appears to just give up from exhaustion. Luckily, another deputy runs in just in time to shoot the armed prisoner.

Citizen Gun Carriers

I give the previous examples because they jibe with the tendency of American citizens who carry firearms to believe they can replace skill and ability with technology. Only in this case, the technology is a firearm.

Many moons ago, I first experienced this mentality when a middle aged man mocked my martial arts training by saying that he didn’t know karate but he knew “ching, ching” and he mimicked the action of racking the slide on a pistol. I would be shocked if most of you haven’t either heard, read, or done that yourself.

One of the most important lessons we can teach those who carry concealed is that they have an absolute responsibility to prevent the gun they’re carrying from falling into the hands of someone else. When I went through the police academy, our defensive tactics instructor made it very plain to us: “If a bad guy gets a hold of your gun, the first thing they are going to do is try to kill you with it.”  That is not hyperbole, that is history. 

Do you as an armed citizen need to be a black belt in the trendiest martial art? No, but you should be able to fend off a physical attack for thirty seconds. My friend and barbell training mentor, Matt Reynolds, put it to me this way; “Strength makes everything better.” Strength makes you a better shooter. Strength makes you better able to defend yourself in a physical altercation. Strength reduces the likelihood of injury. 

“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.” – Mark Rippetoe

 

The 1 Million Pound Challenge

The calendar flipped last night and you now have the opportunity to challenge yourself and seek self-improvement. You might ask yourself where you want to be when January of 2027 arrives. Is your goal is to become a stronger person, because you’re mentally mature enough to understand that muscle is the organ of longevity and that strength truly makes everything better? If so, the next question is how you’ll meet that goal.

It’s no secret that I fully endorse barbell training for strength and that is, in large part, why cancer didn’t kill me a few years back. While I have only been involved in professional strength training for about nine years, I feel that I have some basis to offer advice.

Last spring I worked with my compatriot, Nicholas Orr on his book “A Pipe Hitter’s Guide to Strength and Wellness” and last fall an article appeared in these pages that discussed practical strength goals. With the coming of the new year, I’ve given some serious thought to the subject of strength and the importance of consistency. 

One of the ways that Barbell Logic Online Coaching encourages consistency in their members is by rewarding them with a 1K / 1000 session plaque and t-shirt. The goal is to successfully complete one thousand programmed workout sessions and log your progress. Last year I was able to achieve that goal. 

Of the many pieces of advice Matt gave me, one of them that I have followed to the letter is to keep a notebook and a pencil in my gym bag and to record the workout weights and reps for every session. When you start strength training you’ll encounter the word “tonnage.” That’s the total weight moved for the programmed/assigned lifts (warm-up weight isn’t included in tonnage).

Your tonnage for a training session will vary based on the exercises or workouts. For instance, if you’re lifting heavy weight, close to your max, you will likely be doing low count repetitions. On the other hand, if you’re doing something like a closegrip bench press that’s relatively low weight, but high reps, your overall tonnage will increase. 

I am on a training program that includes three sessions per week…Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each day is different, but I track my weight, reps, and total tonnage. One day it might be 6000 pounds, another day it might be 7500 or more. Before I sat down to write this, I went to the gym and squatted, closegrip benched, and then finished with the leg extension machine. Total tonnage was 10,400 pounds, but that doesn’t happen every time. 

So here’s my challenge to you; hit 1 million pounds of tonnage in the next 365 days. I’m reminded of the old advice about how you eat an elephant…one bit at a time. Yes, one million pounds seems like an insurmountable task. If you tried to do it in a month you’d likely fail. However, with consistency, you can indeed achieve that goal in a year. 

Let’s break down a three-session workout week. If you’re faithful and dedicate yourself to three training days each week, I usually spend 1 to 1.5 hours in the gym total. That’s only 4.5 hours max out of the 168 hours in a week. There are 52 weeks in a year and 52 times three is 156 training days. Take one million and divide it by 156 and you get an average of 6,410 pounds per session. While 6400 pounds might seem like a lot, it’s doable for most people. Maybe you’ll need to spread the 6400 over five different lifts. Let’s just say 6500 for an average. That is 19,500 per week. 

As you can see from the number crunching, the key to success in the 1 Million Pound Challenge isn’t in trying to get it done a short amount of time, it’s to develop reliable consistency, to eat the elephant one bite at a time.

Sure, you’re going to miss some days due to travel or illness, etc., but the key is to consistently track your progress so as not to fall behind. If you have heavier tonnage days, that will help you keep on track toward one million when you invariably miss a day here or there. I suggest not only keeping track weekly, but also monthly. Your monthly average should be about 84,000 pounds. If you can keep that up, you’ll reach your one million pound goal.

The purpose is to develop a positive habit. We don’t go to the gym and engage in resistance training only when we’re motivated or in the mood. To the contrary, we go even when we are tired, busy, annoyed, etc. As we’ve previously discussed in other articles, doing what’s right, even when you don’t feel like it, not only strengthens your body, it strengthens your mind and improves brain health. The time to begin is right now. 

 

 

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.