The brutal workout that made Mark Zuckerberg share this post-gym selfie

Mark Zuckerberg has boosted his status as the fittest tech titan in Silicon Valley by doing a gruelling workout that included 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats and a mile-long run.

The Facebook co-founder completed the extreme “Murph Challenge” while wearing a 20lb weighted vest – and in a time reported to be in the top 200 of tens of thousands of people who have taken part in it.

The 39-year-old is the latest billionaire to become laser-focused on fitness after Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, transformed his physique.

The challenge is named after Michael P Murphy, a US Navy Seal who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2005, and who used to regularly undertake the punishing exercise routine.

Americans are encouraged to try it every year on Memorial Day, the public holiday when the US remembers those who died serving in the armed forces.

So far, more than $2 million (£1.6 million) has been raised through the challenge.

Mr Zuckerberg shared a photograph of himself on Facebook and Instagram wearing the weighted vest, and another of his older two daughters, aged seven and five, taking part in their own shortened version of the exercises.

He said: “I try to do the Murph Challenge with the girls every Memorial Day as a tradition to honour those who defended us. This year I got it done in 39:58. The girls did a quarter-Murph [unweighted] in 15 mins!”

The Facebook boss has been sharing his fitness journey online. Recently, he achieved his goal of running a 5km race in less than 20 minutes, clocking 19 minutes 34 seconds. He finished 11th out of 885 runners in the race in California.

He then competed in his first jiu-jitsu tournament and won a gold medal.

Mr Zuckerberg started training in mixed martial arts during the pandemic, saying: “There’s something so primal about it.”

Following his latest sporting venture, commentators on Facebook were impressed.

However, one wrote: “Bro, can you leave one kind of success for us?”

Mr Zuckerberg admitted that the 100 pull-ups were “brutal” and that the “last mile run when your legs are torched from the squats and your heart rate is pegged is pretty brutal too”.

His strategy involved “partitioning” the challenge and doing small numbers of pull-ups, push-ups and squats until he reached the totals required.

He did “a bunch of sets with smaller reps of each alternating”, which was “still challenging”, he said.

According to one commentator, his sub-40 minute time ranked “among the top 200 of over 20,000 participants”.

The Murph Challenge was designed “not just as a physical test but also a mental and emotional one”, according to its website.

“Participants are pushed to their limits and are encouraged to keep pushing through the pain and exhaustion,” it added.

Mr Zuckerberg’s fitness campaign followed what was nicknamed the “Bezos effect” after the Amazon founder’s transformation several years ago.

Mr Bezos worked out with Tom Cruise’s former trainer to achieve his new physique, which has been on display on his yacht recently as he sailed off the south of France.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has also been in training after he was photographed next to the trim Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel on a yacht last summer.

“I’ve got to work out and be in better shape,” Mr Musk said at the time, declaring that he would exercise for 20 minutes first thing in the morning instead of reading his phone.

However, he also admitted: “I don’t really like working out.”