What Does The David Goggins Workout Routine Look Like?
What if Cinderella was an African-American man from Buffalo, New York? What if this story had no Fairy Godmother but a very brave, determined mother and a dedicated second grade teacher? What if instead of a ballgown it was a military uniform? What if “happily ever after” included being in the Guinness Book of World Records? Then you would have the story of David Goggins.
Against All Odds
It’s been a rocky road for David. His mother rescued him and his brother from an abusive father, moving him halfway across the country to do so. Even then he had to overcome a number of adversities including bigotry, asthma, stuttering and a learning disability. He tried to join the United States Air Force Pararescue, but a diagnosis of the sickle cell trait removed him from training. He worked in pest control for a while, then enlisted in the Navy. Of course, by this point he had plumped up to 300 pounds and needed to shed them fast. David put his mind to it and lost 106 pounds in three months.
He had to try three times to get through “Hell Week” but he did it. David earned his Navy SEAL trident…barely a month before the 9/11 disaster. In 2005, David lost twelve good friends in Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan. David survived, returned to America and found a way to work through his grief with a little help from Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Though he was more of a weightlifter, David decided to raise money for the Foundation by running long distance races. He would also go on to be mention in the Guinness Book of World Records for doing 4,030 pull-ups in 17 hours. David is largely retired now, but still works out regularly, puts out wildfires, is a sought after motivational speaker and in 2018 wrote his memoirs titled Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds.
Doing the David Goggins Workout Routine
David’s workout is a tough one. It’s a “go hard or go home” deal. You’re in for a beating if you try to match David exactly if you don’t have much exercise experience. Start small and work your way up. The daily routine consists of running for ten to fifteen miles, biking 25 miles, running five or eight miles, then biking another 25 miles and running three or five miles. His core routine consists of two sets of 25 reps of Swiss-ball obliques. He also does four sets of ten reps of Russian sit-ups, three sets of ten reps of V-Ups and three sets of ten reps of broomstick obliques. Though recognized more for his running, David never stopped his body building routine. His strength training routine consists of deadlifts, pull-ups, squats, lunges and pull-ups.
David follows a keto diet, with a little more protein than is typical in such diet plans, with eggs at both breakfast and lunch. There are a lot of salad and vegetables in his meals with a serving of avocado at lunch. A snack is usually yogurt and granola. He supplements with vitamins and protein shakes. The ketogenic diet is low in the carbs but high in the fat. the high protein ketogenic diet David prefers would ideally have a ratio of 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs. David’s hardcore exercise program would burn right through all that fat.
When It’s Time to Carbo Load
Usually, David avoids the carbs, but if he’s training for a race, he’ll fuel up. Those huge muscles need to be pumped full of glycogen. That isn’t to say he’ll go crazy on the high glycemic carbs that send insulin through the roof! He’ll have oatmeal for breakfast, with some fruit and nuts for flavor. Other meals will be rounded with whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes, fruit and vegetables. David also avoids all alcohol. He keeps hydrated with water laced with essential amino acids.
The Schedule David Keeps
David Goggins awakens at the wee hour of three a.m. to run, shower and breakfast before cycling 25 miles to work. He sometimes skips lunch to go running and after work he’ll bike another 25 miles home. He also has an extensive stretching routine in the morning that can last anywhere from two to three hours. His further exercise routine means he usually doesn’t get to bed until 11:30 or midnight. It’s a grueling routine, but he keeps it up.
Though his real talent is in weightlifting, David keeps it in (relative) moderation. He only lifts four days a week, giving his muscles three days to heal and grow. He does fifteen reps of five sets of dumbbell press, bench press, cable cross, chest press and dumbbell flyers to work on his chest. To work on his back muscles, David does the same amount of cable rows, lat pulldowns, deadlifts, one-arm dumbbell rows, back lat pushdowns and close grip lat pulldowns. He works the arms with bicep curls, triceps kickbacks, barbell curls, triceps push-downs, triceps extensions, triceps kickbacks, isolation curls, preacher curls and the intimidating sounding skull crushers. Every day is leg day for David! He does squats, walking lunges, calf raises, stiff-leg deadlifts, leg presses, leg extensions and leg curls.
Mind Over Matter
David Goggins has said “I don’t stop when I’m tired. I stop when I’m done.” It does indeed take a lot of discipline to keep up the grueling work out schedule and Spartan diet plan David adheres to. David does acknowledge that this takes more than simple motivation. It means being obsessed with reaching the goals, letting go of anything holding you back. It means pushing past the desire to quit. According to David “When you think that you are done, you’re only 40% in to what your body’s capable of doing. That’s just the limits that we put on ourselves.” Pushing oneself is always a difficult effort in both physical workouts and other challenges in life. For example, this author has just a little less than two hundred words to go! I can do it! I can do it! Write that article!
What’s Next for David Goggins?
An animated short on YouTube called The Big Red features David Goggins as the punchline. Elon Musk and a collection of other (in)famous people make a voyage to Mars only to find David Goggins has already beat them there! On foot! And now he’s off to Jupiter! In reality, that is a little far-fetched even for David Goggins. However, he did find it amusing enough to link to the animation on his Instagram. It looks like he’s still staying hungry, still running, still keeping his routine. He stays hard and keeps it real. He is currently engaged to Jennifer Kish who handles his social media.
Currently, Goggins has put out the 4x4x48 Challenge. People accepting the challenge agree to either run four miles every four hours for 48 hours or exercise for 45 to 60 minutes of each four hour leg. Tying the effort to a charity is encouraged. Very recently, one such contender was the members of Leamington gym who met the challenge and raised 7,500 Pounds Sterling (about $8480.89 in U.S. dollars) for Myton Hospices.
Conclusion:
David Goggins is a hard man who lived a hard life and works hard. In spite of everything, he has become a top athlete. Holding his schedule would be difficult at best for an ordinary man but David is anything but ordinary! He is an example of what happens when you give it your all and then more.
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