The Stay Ready Physical Challenge
Seven events. No fluff. The benchmark that tells you exactly where you stand as a hybrid athlete.
I've been on a search.
As a hybrid athlete — someone who wants to maintain real strength while also logging serious miles — I've struggled to find a benchmark that actually tests both. Most fitness standards reward one or the other. Powerlifters who can't run a mile. Marathoners who can't deadlift their bodyweight. Neither is what I'm after.
A few weeks ago I came across a YouTube video of Nick Bare visiting DJ Shipley and the GBRS Group to run their Universal Performance Standards. It stopped me mid-scroll. Watch it here.
Nick is exactly the kind of athlete I want to model — elite endurance and serious strength. Watching him run through these seven events gave me the data points I'd been looking for.
The Philosophy
GBRS Group — founded by former Tier-1 special operations veterans — built these standards around one question: Can you perform when it actually matters, without warning, 52 weeks a year?
Not after a training block. Not when conditions are perfect. Right now. As you are.
The guiding principle is simple: availability trumps intensity. The goal isn't to peak for one race or one lift. It's to maintain a high average across every physical domain — week after week, year after year.
The target: be perpetually eight weeks out from any physical challenge life throws at you.
The Seven Events
1. Broad Jump — Power
- Standard: Equal to your height
- Elite: Height + 12"
- Be A Pro: Height + 24"
2. Trap Bar Deadlift (5 reps) — Strength
- Standard: 1.5× bodyweight
- Elite: 1.75× bodyweight
- Be A Pro: 2.0× bodyweight
3. Pull-Ups (max reps) — Relative Strength
- Standard: ~10 reps
- Elite: ~15 reps
- Be A Pro: 20+ reps
4. Farmer's Carry — Loaded Capacity
- Standard: Bodyweight total
- Elite: Bodyweight+ for distance
- Be A Pro: Bodyweight+ with composure
5. Bench Press at Bodyweight (max reps) — Upper Body Endurance
- Standard: 10 reps
- Elite: 15 reps
- Be A Pro: 20+ reps
6. Plank Hold — Core Stability
- Standard: 2:00 min
- Elite: 3:00 min
- Be A Pro: 4:00+ min
7. 800-Meter Run — Cardiovascular Capacity
- Standard: ≤ 3:15
- Elite: ≤ 3:00
- Be A Pro: ≤ 2:45
Where I'm Taking This
These are the data points I've been looking for. Seven events. No fluff. No single-discipline bias. A test that demands strength and endurance and power — all at once.
I'm going to use these standards to identify the gaps in my own fitness journey and train toward them. If you're a hybrid athlete trying to figure out where you actually stand — not just in the gym, not just on the road — this is worth running.
Take the test. Be honest. Get to work.
Chris DeLeenheer is the founder of 85 Capital Partners and the co-host of the Unfinished Leadership podcast. He writes about leadership, faith, and the disciplines that compound over a lifetime.
Written by
Chris DeLeenheerChris DeLeenheer is a husband to Libby, a father to four daughters, and a faith-first leader whose life moves between building operating companies, training hard miles, and trying to follow Jesus honestly. He writes and runs out of Waco, Texas, and has spent the last decade quietly learning what it costs a successful man to stay awake — and what it takes, day by day, to find his way back. Quiet Drift is the book from that journey.