Welcome to the first Make Your Mark challenge! Every Friday for the month of October, we’re tackling a new and exciting challenge; and this week, we’re going after King Kong. If you’re not yet familiar, here’s what it consists of:

King Kong

Look tough? It is! But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a scaled version for athletes who aren’t quite ready for muscle-ups and handstand push-ups. Here’s how you can scale it:

Make Your Mark Scaled Strength Challenge

Functional fitness is all-inclusive: anyone can do it. If this is still too much for your plate, remember you can scale the pull-ups further and make push-ups more manageable by doing them on your knees.

This week, we’ve talked a lot about building strength — like how you can use wrist wraps to provide extra support for your wrists and accomplish a stronger overhead position, and the progressions you can practice for accomplishing strict handstand push-ups. This week’s strength challenge includes some very basic exercises that are crucial for building a strong foundation. Movements like deadlifts and push-ups train the same muscle groups that help accomplish simple, everyday tasks — like proper posture, and carrying 50 bags of groceries into the house in one trip. (Kidding!) These are exercises everyone can truly benefit from.

Good luck with today’s challenge! And don’t forget to share your times and accomplishments on social media using the hashtag #TheWODLife. Happy Friday, everyone.