Dave Castro, Thomas DeLauer, and a handful of others recently completed a 35-mile ruck with 35-lb packs. The whole group completed the 11-hour event while fasted as an experiment to see how their bodies would handle an all-day effort without the use of bars, candy, or other high-carbohydrate foods typically consumed by endurance athletes during events. DeLauer documented the whole experience in his video "The MOST PAINFUL FASTING Experience I've EVER Been Through."

The thruster requires a long line of action against the normal force of gravity with a load plus body weight, creating one of the most profound accelerations possible. The movement works from full flexion to full extension at the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and arm, and involves most of the major muscle groups. These factors earn the thruster its reputation as "the most draining of all exercises."

The muscle-up is a movement that begins from the hang, passes through portions of a pull-up and a dip, then finishes in a supported position with arms extended.