Chontosh workout - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Chontosh workout

The workout is named for Capt. Brian Chontosh, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Needed

• 5 Marines.

• 3 30-pound ammo cans and a 50-pound can.

• 2 15-pound dumbbells.

• A 30-pound medicine ball.

• 15 meters of space.

The moves

This timed team workout includes five stations and four rounds of:

1. While carrying two 30-pound ammo cans, one Marine performs lunges for 15 meters, down and back, while keeping time. Three other Marines do repetitions of the following exercises (see Nos. 2-4 below) until the first Marine is done. The fifth Marine rests. Once the lunges are complete, everyone rotates. You complete one round by completing all five stations.

2. Do a push-up while gripping two 15-pound dumbbells. Once you’ve risen, pull up on the dumbbells, first with your right hand and then with your left. That’s one rep. Continue until the Marine at station one is done.

3. While holding a 30-pound medicine ball, extend your arms and slam the ball to the ground. Squat and catch the ball on the bounce. Stand and continue until lunging is complete.

4. Hold a 50-pound ammo can (30-pound can for females) at chest level, lift it over your head, fully extending both arms, and then lower it. Repeat until lunging is complete.

5. Rest. Whoever completes the most reps overall — excluding lunges — is the winner.

History

1. On March 25, 2003, then-1st Lt. Chontosh’s platoon was ambushed on the way to Al Diwaniyah, Iraq. Trapped in a kill zone, he told his driver to cut through a breach along their flank and ordered the machine gunner to start firing his .50-caliber.

2. Chontosh’s vehicle drove into an enemy trench, he climbed out and began to shoot enemy fighters with an M16A2 and 9mm pistol.

3. When he ran out of ammo, Chontosh grabbed an AK47 from a dead insurgent and continued the assault. When that ran out of ammo, he picked up another and continued shooting.

4. After depleting his ammo for a fourth time, Chontosh grabbed an enemy grenade launcher. By the time the attack ended, he had cleared more than 200 meters of enemy trench, killing at least 20 and wounding several others. The workout is designed to “engage your exercise with anything you can pick up on the PT field just as Chontosh engaged the enemy with anything he could pick up off the battlefield.”