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IN THE CLIP, a group of shirtless, muscular athletes load heavy barbells onto their shoulders and walk along an empty stretch of road outside CrossFit East Nashville, struggling under the load. \u201cHow heavy was Jesus\u2019 cross?\u201d a voiceover asks. According to the caption, that\u2019s roughly 300 pounds. So that\u2019s how much weight they\u2019re hauling down the street for this Good Friday workout session. \u201cIs this what sanctification feels like?\u201d one guy asks the camera between sets. The group is boisterously positive, even as they struggle under their burden.<\/p>\n
The workout video comes from Vessel Training Co.<\/a>, a Christian athleisure brand based in Nashville. They\u2019re representative of the type of modern apostle who looks to mark the Easter holiday\u2014and their faith more generally\u2014with a more muscular gesture than kneeling in a pew. Call it Eastermaxxing.<\/p>\n When most Christians celebrate Easter, they attend Good Friday church services, sober evenings marked with remembrances of Christ\u2019s sacrifice. Some really hammer home the suffering, maybe watching The Passion of the Christ and its lurid depiction of the crucifixion. And some shoot for a more literal walk in Christ\u2019s sandals, like Graham Popadic and Spencer Grubbs, Vessel\u2019s founders. \u201cIt\u2019s a simple thing of just carrying a barbell for half a mile, but it’s so deep and meaningful to reflect on what Jesus did on the cross,\u201d Grubbs says. \u201cAs a Christian, that means everything to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Vessel\u2019s post has racked up 938K views and over 600 comments since it was posted earlier this week, with overwhelming approval from both the pious and fitness-pilled. \u201cNot to mention the weight of my sins,\u201d reads one comment with 1,794 likes. \u201cOn a diet of bread and fish with no training or supplements,\u201d reads another (270 likes).<\/p>\n The video is actually a re-post\u2014the original video<\/a>, shared last Easter season, was even more popular, getting over 1.5 million views. \u201cWe had so many people after the fact last year that wished they had heard about it before so they could have done it themselves,\u201d Grubbs said. After resharing this week, Popadic says that they\u2019ve received videos from people as far away as Zimbabwe taking on the challenge.<\/p>\n Not everyone is fully on board, though: \u201cThat ain\u2019t the full weight but it\u2019s the physical weight,\u201d reads one comment (only 21 likes). That was never the point, according to Grubbs. \u201cIt’s just symbolic,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Still, Vessel has created other workouts with similar themes as part of their brand ministry. Since they\u2019ve estimated that Jesus was hung on the cross for six hours, the guys hop up onto a pullup bar and perform dead hangs for six minutes<\/a>. If they falter, the penalty is three devil presses, a double-dumbbell snatch complex, before regripping (thankfully, no nails are involved in this recreation). Rounding out the trinity of workouts are heavy tire flips<\/a>, meant to represent the tombstone that was moved by an angel on the third day after Jesus\u2019s death, heralding his resurrection. \u201cJesus did that for me\u2014I\u2019m doing this for him,\u201d says one of the guys.<\/p>\n These types of workouts kind of fit into the long tradition of Hero WODs like the Murph, meant to commemorate fallen service members\u2014and for Christians, there\u2019s no sacrifice more notable than their Savior\u2019s. Just search \u201cJesus WOD,\u201d<\/a> and you\u2019ll find a long list of routines inspired by different interpretations of Bible verses, with grueling sets of exercises standing in for the 14 stations of the cross or different forms of hardship Jesus endured according to scripture. Grubbs says these Bible-inspired workouts are much more meaningful than any other routine, calling them \u201cso much deeper\u201d than the standard CrossFit routine. \u201cThere’s so much education behind it and conversation that we can have before and after,\u201d he says. \u201cThose challenges and shared suffering bring people together.\u201d This Saturday, they plan to host a workout in Nashville for people to do just that.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the tack they\u2019ve taken outside of the Easter season, too. The Vessel bros say they\u2019ve hosted other workouts for as many as 250 people, where they combined their messages of fitness and faith\u2014inspiring people from outside Nashville to show up to take part in the community. Eventually, Popadic and Grubbs say their plan is to launch an app that will bring these challenges\u2014and daily devotions and fellowship\u2014to like-minded Christians outside Nashville who want to mix their prayers and their pump.<\/p>\n At first, these videos may look like any other fitness highlight reel, but they\u2019re also a direct line to proselytize to an online audience (and yes, promote the Vessel brand too). When I first saw the cross carrying clip, I was immediately reminded of the evangelical tradition I was raised in, where every endeavor was treated as an opportunity to have a conversation with or about Jesus. I remember football teammates gutting through an \u201cIron Cross\u201d workout every Easter weekend. Christianity and fitness have long been connected<\/a>, with prayerful bodybuilders and a more recent class of influencers posting themselves pumping iron to spread the word.<\/p>\n Popadic\u2019s next idea is a bit more of a stunt, meant to cap off the season. Instead of just flipping the massive tire from their tombstone video, he plans to roll it all around Nashville \u201cto round out the story of Jesus,\u201d on Resurrection Sunday. That\u2019s not exactly in line the day\u2019s suit-and-tie traditions\u2014but it\u2019ll make a great post.<\/p>\n Brett Williams, NASM-CPT, PES, a senior editor at Men’s Health, is a certified trainer and former pro football player and tech reporter. You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.<\/p>\n![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/6d7305e4-79ea-4c6f-b658-2f1da9bf88ba_1653484937.file.png\" "\\"Headshot")
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