David Goggins proves you don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to crafting an effective workout routine, sharing a deceptively straightforward workout on social media.
Goggins, a ultramarathon runner, fitness influencer and retired United States Navy SEAL, famously loves a push-up (or two). Indeed, he’s responsible for birthing his own ‘David Goggins push-up challenge’, which has been eagerly embraced by fitness fanatics across the world.
His latest workout, however, takes things to the next level. Responding to fans who asked him to show off a sample calisthenic workout, he’s revealed his favourite go-to, which he calls “nickels and dimes.”
The workout involves doing 5 full pull-ups immediately followed by 10 push-ups – hence the name. All you need is a pull-up bar… And a willingness to ‘stay hard’.
WATCH David Goggins’ “nickels and dimes” workout below.
“I will do this as a standalone workout for an hour or two hours,” Goggins shares.
“When I do this for an hour or two, I will pace it so that I do two sets on the minute – so 2 sets of pull-ups and 2 sets of push-ups on the minute. In one hour, I will do 600 pull-ups and 1,200 push-ups.”
David Goggins
When you consider that you’d probably only do around 36 push-ups during an average F45 session, 1,200 push-ups is a truly brutal number. Of course, you’re not just doing pull-ups and push-ups in F45, but you get the idea. David Goggins is built different.
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Goggins offers some tips on how to get the most out of a nickels and dimes workout:
“If it is a shorter workout, you want to go at a faster pace to maximize the time. You want to get to a point where you can make the transition without any break at all and go immediately from one to the other… Again, the ideal pace is to do two sets on the minute – 2 sets of pull-ups and 2 sets of push-ups on the minute,” he explains.
“Whatever number of pull-ups you do, double it for the push-ups. So if you do 3 pull-ups, do 6 push-ups, etc. Choose a number that works for you, one that you can hold for the designated workout time,” he says.
He also shared a piece of motivation that you should keep in mind no matter what workout you’re doing:
“Some of you may be working with pennies rather than nickels and dimes. A lot of you may need to get loans from the bank before you’re ready for the money! We all start somewhere!”
David Goggins
A piece of advice, though: if you’re new to pull-ups or are working on improving your strength, rather than jumping straight into emulating Goggins’ nickels and dimes workout, start with easier variations or use assistance – such as resistance bands or an assisted pull-up machine – before attempting full bodyweight pull-ups.
David Goggins Full Workout Routine
Outside the nickels and dimes, David Goggins has an intense workout routine that can be divided into three categories:
Strength Workout
- Deadlifts for three sets of 10 reps
- Pullups for three sets of 5 reps
- Squats for five sets of 5 reps
- Lunges for three sets of 12 reps, and
- Pushups for five sets of 25 reps.
The reps indicated here are just for a modest workout, but most of the time Goggins likes to continue reps until failure. He also emphasizes the importance of sufficient rest between sets.
Core Workout
He does this three times a week, and it includes
- Swiss ball obliques for three sets of 25 reps
- Russian sit-ups for three sets of 10 reps
- V-ups for three sets of 10 reps, and
- Broomstick obliques for three sets of 10 reps.
Cardio Workout
Goggins has previously shared two intense cardio routines. Here’s the first:
- 140 lunges
- 140 squats
- 140 lunges
- 100 squats
- 1 minute to rest or hydrate
- 250 jumping jacks
- 1 minute to rest or hydrate
- 230 sit-ups
- 1 minute to rest or hydrate
- Pushups for 18 sets of 10 reps (30 seconds per set)
- 1 minute to rest or hydrate
- 4 sets of 25 arm haulers and 25 pushups
The second routine is just as intense:
- Jumping jacks for 10 minutes
- 10 jumping jacks then 10 pushups – repeat this for another 10 minutes
- 115 alternating lunges
- Push up to planks for 2 sets of 25 reps
- 25 unassisted sit-ups
- 3 sets of 10 jumping jacks then 10 pushups