The March Madness fitness game is a tournament bracket workout where you replace the basketball teams with 16 exercises, pick the winner of each matchup, and do every exercise that advances — round by round until a champion is crowned. My friend Rick Hart and his group have run this workout around the Final Four for years, and they shared it with me. In this Physical Friday I walk through exactly how to set up the bracket, how to play it, and the twist that makes it brutal.
Watch now: press play in the player above and follow along.
It is a workout built on a tournament bracket. Instead of basketball teams, you seed 16 exercises into the bracket — half barbell movements and half bodyweight movements works well. For every matchup you choose which exercise wins, then you actually do the winning exercise. The winners advance round by round, so by the championship you have repeated your favorite exercise several times. It comes from my friend Rick Hart and his group, who run it every year around March Madness.
Draw a bracket on scratch paper or use a bracket app — I bought one called Bracket Maker Pro for 99 cents in the App Store. Fill the bracket with 8, 16, or 32 exercises, single or double elimination. For a 16 slot bracket I used pairings like 21 thrusters at 95 pounds versus 21 pull ups, 21 kettlebell swings versus 200 flutter kicks, 21 back squats versus 21 GHD sit ups, and 21 deadlifts versus 21 dips. The specific exercises matter less than understanding the format.
In a 16 team single elimination bracket you do 15 total efforts — eight in the round of 16, four in the quarterfinals, two in the semifinals, and one championship. The exercise that wins it all gets performed four times along the way, once in every round it advances through. That is how a workout that sounds like a game ends up being a surprisingly difficult session.
Yes, and that is the fun of it. On an easy day you advance the exercise you would rather do in each matchup — most people pick 21 pull ups over 21 thrusters at 95 pounds. If you have the David Goggins mindset, advance the exercise you do not want to do instead. Rick's group adds a twist: if you pick all the easy ones on Monday, you come back Thursday and do the ones you skipped.
It is one of the best group formats I have found. With a big group you can point at one person and let them pick the matchup, and then everybody does whatever they choose. Nobody knows what is coming, the whole group does the same workout, and the surprise keeps it fun. You can also shuffle the seeds in a bracket app so the same 16 exercises produce a completely different workout next time.
Absolutely. Build the whole bracket from bodyweight movements — push ups, sit ups, flutter kicks, air squats, double unders — and it becomes an excellent travel workout that needs zero equipment. Save the bracket in the app, shuffle the teams, and you have a new session in any hotel room or driveway.
Here is exactly how I set this workout up and play it. I walk through a full example bracket in the episode.
That is the whole game. Pick your matchups honestly and it is fun. Pick them like Goggins and it is a beatdown. I demonstrate the full bracket on screen in the video above.
Everybody understands how a bracket works, and that familiarity is exactly why this workout lands. You are not staring at a whiteboard full of reps — you are playing a game with stakes, and every choice you make changes what comes next. I have been collecting workout games for this series: the deck of cards, the Masters golf workout Rick shared last week, dice games. The bracket might be the most flexible one yet. I show the app version on screen in the episode, so press play above.
Every matchup is really a question about who you want to be that day. Twenty one thrusters at 95 pounds or 21 pull ups — most people take the pull ups, and there is nothing wrong with that. Flip the rule, though, and advance the exercise you least want to do, and the same bracket becomes one of the hardest sessions of your week. Rick's group makes sure you cannot dodge forever: skip the hard ones Monday and they are waiting for you Thursday. I explain how that plays out in the episode above.
The group version is where this workout really shines. Point at one person, let them call the matchup, and the entire group does whatever they pick. Nobody can plan, nobody can pace, and the workout is a surprise to everyone including the person choosing. You can fold in running, swimming, rucking — anything fits the format. If you train a morning crew like I do, this one will wake them up. Watch the walkthrough in the player above.
Strip the barbells out and the bracket becomes a perfect travel session. Push ups, flutter kicks, air squats, sit ups, double unders — seed 16 bodyweight movements, shuffle them in the app, and you have a different workout in every hotel parking lot. The app I use saves the teams and the tournaments, so the setup work happens once. I show how the shuffle feature changes everything in the video above.
This one comes from Rick Hart and his group, and I love it because it turns the most familiar format in sports into a training tool. The bracket gives you structure, the choices give you ownership, and the comeback rule makes sure the hard work never gets skipped entirely.
If you run this with your crew or come up with a bracket of your own, text me and let me know how it went. I am always collecting workout games, and the best ones come from listeners. Press play above and build your first bracket this week.
Rick Hart · March Madness · tournament bracket · Bracket Maker Pro app · David Goggins · thrusters · pull ups · kettlebell swings · GHD sit ups · muscle ups · double unders · deck of cards workout · the Masters golf workout · Physical Friday
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong for life — short, practical episodes you can put to work in your next workout.
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