Physical: 100

Physical: 100
File:Physical 100 (promotional poster).jpeg Promotional poster
Hangul	피지컬: 100
Revised Romanization	Pijikeol: 100
McCune–Reischauer	P'ijik'ŏl: 100
Genre	Reality competition Survival Variety show
Created by	Jang Ho-gi
Written by	Kang Sook-kyung Jo Geun-ae
Directed by	Jang Ho-gi Lee Jong-il
Music by	Kim Seong-soo
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language(s)	Korean
No. of episodes	9 (as of February 21, 2023 (2023-02-21))
Production
Executive producer(s)	Kim Hyun-gi
Producer(s)	Yoon Kwon-soo Han Yul
Running time	51–88 minutes
Production company(s)	MBC Luvworks Media
Release
Original network	Netflix
Original release	January 24, 2023 (2023-01-24) – present
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Physical: 100 (often referred to as simply Physical 100) is a South Korean reality competition series on Netflix. The survival show was created by MBC's producer Jang Ho-gi. It premiered on January 24, 2023, and aired every Tuesday at 17:00 KST (08:00 GMT) timeslot. The finale was the ninth episode, which aired on February 21, 2023.

The show is originally in Korean, but is available on Netflix dubbed into English. The show's premise is to find the ideal human physique based on many tests of performance.

Netflix has announced that a second season is coming.

Format

One hundred competitors, all known for their well-developed physical attributes and physique, go head-to-head against each other in various individual and team challenges, or 'quests' of strength, balance, agility, endurance, strong willpower and strategy. The competition is formatted like a tournament. Following each quest, participants are eliminated until only one remains to win the prize money of ₩300 million (≈ US$240,000). Every participant has a plaster cast of their torso on set; if they are eliminated after a quest, they have to destroy the cast with a sledgehammer.

The show has often been compared to Squid Game, a 2021 South Korean survival drama television series, for their similarities in language and competition-elimination format.

Participants

The show started off with 100 participants, 77 men and 23 women, with some being eliminated each episode. Many of the contestants are professional sportspeople for South Korea's national teams, or are fitness influencers.

Participants

Name	Occupation / known for
Cho Jung-myung	Luger
Choi Hyun-mi	Boxer
Dustin Nippert	Baseball player
Jang Seong-min	Rugby player
Jeong Bo-kyeong	Judoka
Kim Sik	National team skeleton coach
Nam Kyung-jin	Wrestler
Park Jin-yong	Luger
Park Seon-kwan	Swimmer
Woo Jin-yong	CrossFitter and snowboarder
Yang Hak-seon	Artistic gymnast, 2012 Summer Olympics gold medalist
Choo Sung-hoon	Former judoka and MMA fighter, television personality
Yun Sung-bin	Skeleton racer, 2018 Winter Olympics gold medalist
Agent H	Korea Navy UDT/SEAL reservist (petty officer first class) and YouTuber
Caro	Fitness vlogger
Hong Beom-seok	Retired firefighter and Korea Army Special Forces (707th Special Mission Group) master sergeant reservist
Jjang Jae	Korea Navy UDT/SEAL reservist (petty officer first class) and YouTuber
Shim Eu-ddeum	Pilates instructor and YouTuber
Kim Kang-min	Bodybuilder
Song A-reum	Bodybuilder
Cha Hyun-seung	Dancer and model
Lee Yong-seung	Bodybuilder
Kim Ye-hyun	Fencer
Kang Han	Bobsledder
Kim Seong-jun	Fitness model
Kim Seong-hun	Trainer
Son Hee-chan	Ssireum wrestler
Son Hee-dong	Wrestler
Kim Ji-han	Volleyball player
Yun Seok-hwan	Swimmer
Kim Gyeong-jin	Farmer
YoYo	Model
Kwak Myung-sik	CrossFitter and MMA fighter
Carlos	CrossFitter
Park Jung-ho	Prison guard
Kim Chun-ri	Bodybuilder
Kkang Mi	Korea Army Special Forces (707th Special Mission Group) reservist (sergeant first class)
An Da-jeong	Bodybuilder
Park Min-ji	Ssireum wrestler
Jang Eun-sil	Wrestler
Bbulkup	Restaurant owner and YouTuber
Ma Sun-ho	Bodybuilder
Kang Chun-il	Dancer, model and stage actor
Park Hyung-geun	MMA fighter
Jo Jin-hyeong	Strongman and car dealer
Miracle Nelson	Dancer and model
Kim Ji-wook	Diver
Seong Chi-hyeon	Casino employee
Yoo Sang-hun	MMA fighter
Joo Dong-jo	MMA fighter
Lee Guk-young	Musical actor
Lee Ju-hyung	Ice hockey player
Seo Ha-yan	CrossFitter
Choi Gyu-tae	Ballerino
Choi Min-yong	Marathon runner
Choi In-ho	Trainer
Florian Krapf	Advertisement model
Gil Hwan	Scuba diver
Kim Min-cheol	Ice climber, Korea National Park mountain rescue ranger
Kim Byeong-jin	Taekwondo practitioner
Kim Sang-wook	MMA fighter, Korea Navy UDT/SEAL reservist (sergeant)
Kim Eun-ji	Fitness coach
Kim Jeong-uk	Restaurant owner
Vita Mikju	Pole dancer
Park Jong-hyeok	Illustrator
Park Seong-hyeok	Trainer
Bang Ji-hoon	Bodybuilder
Hoju Tarzan	Travel YouTuber
Seol Ki-kwan	Bodybuilder
Shin Dong-guk	Firefighter, Korea Army Special Forces reservist
Shin Bo-mi-rae	Boxer
Shin Se-gye	Stuntman
Dbo	Rapper
Austin Kang	Chef
Yu Ga-ram	Rollerskater
Yun Jun-hyeoup	Model
Lee Da-yeon	Ssireum wrestler
Lee Dae-won	Trot singer and MMA fighter
Lee So-yeong	Fitness model
Lee Jun-myeong	Calisthenics coach
Miho	Fitness coach
Elaine Yuki Wong	Actress
Jeon Min-seok	Coast guard
Jeon Young	Film choreographer and stuntman
Jeong Han-saem	Musical actor
Jung Hae-min	Track cyclist
OVAN	Singer
Chae Wan-ki	Jiu-jitsu fighter
Ha Je-yong	Power lifter and arm-wrestling champion
Hwang Bit-yeo-ul	CrossFitter
Kim Kyung-baek	Korea Navy UDT/SEAL instructor
Kim Da-young	Stuntwoman
Lee Min-woo	Chef
Lee Ye-ji	MMA fighter
Im Jeong-yun	Sports student
Jo Yeon-joo	Cheerleader
Jo I-taek	Actor
Choi Sung-hyeok	Pole dancer
Ko Da-young	Pilates instructor
Park Ji-su	Rugby player

Quests

Each quest differs regarding both the physical challenge as well as the number of contestants at risk of elimination.

Quest 0: Hanging challenge

The 100 contestants were split into two groups of 50 (based on a chosen number) and competed to hang from a bar raised above water for as long as they could. The contestants were ranked according to how long they hung onto the bar before falling into the water.

• Winner from Group 1 – Kim Kyung-baek, Korea Navy UDT/SEAL instructor
• Winner from Group 2 – Kim Min-cheol, ice climber and Korea National Park mountain rescue ranger

Quest 1: Death match challenge

Contestants compete one-on-one to gain possession of a ball. The contestant with possession of the ball at the 3-minute mark proceeded to the next Quest, while the other contestant was eliminated.

Before the quest, contestants were ranked based on their Quest 0 timing, and contestants that were ranked higher had the benefit to choose their opponent and the type of Battle Arena they want to compete in:

• Battle Arena A included many obstacles, emphasizing contestant agility and speed.
• Battle Arena B was simpler, with a large flat area of sand with a pool of water in the middle, emphasizing contestant strength and grappling ability.

If neither contestant had possession after three minutes, the competition was restarted with one minute on the clock. Fifty contestants were eliminated in the process.

Quest 2: Moving sand challenge

Before Quest 2, the remaining 50 contestants were required to select the top three contestants that they would like to be in a team together with. The 10 contestants with the most votes were declared team leaders and ranked based on the total number of votes they received.

• Team Leader 1 – Yun Sung-bin, skeleton racer, 2018 Winter Olympics gold medalist
• Team Leader 2 – Nam Kyung-jin, wrestler
• Team Leader 3 – Kwak Myung-sik, crossfitter and MMA fighter
• Team Leader 4 – Choo Sung-hoon, former judoka and MMA fighter, television personality
• Team Leader 5 – Hoju Tarzan, travel YouTuber
• Team Leader 6 – Kim Sang-wook, MMA fighter, Korea Navy UDT/SEAL reservist (sergeant)
• Team Leader 7 – Ma Sun-ho, bodybuilder
• Team Leader 8 – Jo Jin-hyeong, strongman and car dealer
• Team Leader 9 – Jang Seong-min, rugby player
• Team Leader 10 – Jang Eun-sil, wrestler

Contestants lined up for the team leader they wanted to join. Team leaders picked the four members to form a team of five. Team leaders with a higher rank had the advantage to pick their team members first over the other team leaders. Contestants not chosen had to pick another team.

Teams

Team	Team 1	Team 2	Team 3	Team 4	Team 5	Team 6	Team 7	Team 8	Team 9	Team 10
Leader	Yun Sung-bin	Nam Kyung-jin	Kwak Myung-sik	Choo Sung-hoon	Hoju Tarzan	Kim Sang-wook	Ma Sun-ho	Jo Jin-hyeong	Jang Seong-min	Jang Eun-sil
Members	Kim Sik	Jjang Jae	Kang Han	Shin Bo-mi-rae	Dbo	OVAN	Kim Kang-min	Jung Hae-min	Kim Ye-hyun	Seo Ha-yan
	Cha Hyun-seung	Park Ji-su	Lee Jun-myeong	Kim Min-cheol	Shim Eu-ddeum	Joo Dong-jo	Jeong Han-saem	Park Jin-yong	Seong Chi-hyun	Miho
	Son Hee-dong	Son Hee-chan	Lee Min-woo	Woo Jin-yong	Im Jeong-yun	An Da-jeong	Miracle Nelson	Cho Jung-myung	Choi Sung-hyuk	Yang Hak-seon
	Seol Ki-kwan	Hwang Bit-yeo-ul	Park Jong-hyeok	Dustin Nippert	Bang Seong-Hyeok	Bang Ji-hoon	Song A-reum	Kim Da-young	Lee Guk-young	Park Hyung-geun
Team Colour

After selecting their team members, team leaders picked the team that they would like to compete against, not knowing what the quest challenge would be.

For Quest 2, each team of five had to work together to build a bridge, and then carry bags of sand across the bridge. Teams were not allowed to pass bags of sand to another team member; they had to carry the bags of sand individually to the other end. After twelve minutes, the team with the least amount of sand accumulated was eliminated.

Quest 2 Challenge Results

	Winning Team	Losing Team
Match #1	Team 10 Jang Eun-sil Seo Ha-yan Yang Hak-seon Miho Park Hyung-geun	Team 2 Nam Kyung-jin Jjang Jae Park Ji-su Son Hee-chan Hwang Bit-yeo-ul
Match #2	Team 7 Ma Sun-ho Kim Kang-min Jeong Han-saem Miracle Nelson Song A-reum	Team 6 Kim Sang-wook OVAN Joo Dong-jo An Da-jeong Bang Ji-hoon
Match #3	Team 1 Yun Sung-bin Son Hee-dong Cha Hyun-seung Seol Ki-kwan Kim Sik	Team 9 Jang Seong-min Kim Ye-hyun Seong Chi-hyun Choi Sung-hyeok Lee Guk-young
Match #4	Team 4 Choo Sung-hoon Shin Bo-mi-rae Woo Jin-yong Kim Min-cheol Dustin Nippert	Team 5 Hoju Tarzan Dbo Shim Eu-ddeum Im Jeong-yun Bang Seong-hyeok
Match #5	Team 8 Jo Jin-hyeong Jung Hae-min Park Jin-yong Cho Jung-myung Kim Da-young	Team 3 Kwak Myung-sik Kang Han Lee Jun-myeong Lee Min-woo Park Jong-hyeok

Quest 2.5: Revival challenge

Exclusively for those who were eliminated in Quest 2, contestants were taken to another room, where they found their torsos hanging from the ceiling.

The game required all contestants to hold onto a rope connected to their torso, with 40% of the contestant's total body weight added, for as long as possible to prevent it from falling to the ground and breaking apart. The last five contestants holding their rope re-entered the competition for Quest 3.

Winners

• Kim Sang-wook, who was elected as leader of the surviving team
• Seong Chi-hyun
• Choi Sung-hyuk
• Shim Eu-ddeum
• Lee Jun-myeong

Quest 3: Ship moving challenge

In Quest 3, the six teams had to join forces to create three teams of ten. The teams spent some time debating how they would join, with the last two excluded teams being joined by default.

The combined teams of ten had to each work together to dig up oak barrels from the sand and load them onto a 1.5-tonne ship. The additional weight of the oak barrels was 0.5-tonne, meaning the combined load weighed 2.0 tonnes. The teams then had to drag/push the ship off a wooden platform onto logs in the sand, across the sand-filled arena on the logs, then up a wooden ramp until they could pull a mooring rope over an iron stake.

The two teams with the fastest time progressed to the next Quest, while the team with the slowest time was eliminated.

Quest 3 Challenge Results

	Team 1	Team 2	Team 3
Team Members	Choo Sung-hoon Shin Bo-mi-rae Woo Jin-yong Kim Min-cheol Dustin Nippert Jo Jin-hyeong Jung Hae-min Park Jin-yong Cho Jung-myung Kim Da-young	Ma Sun-ho Kim Kang-min Jeong Han-saem Miracle Nelson Song A-reum Yun Sung-bin Son Hee-dong Cha Hyun-seung Seol Ki-kwan Kim Sik	Jang Eun-sil Seo Ha-yan Yang Hak-seon Miho Park Hyung-geun Kim Sang-wook Seong Chi-hyun Choi Sung-hyeok Shim Eu-ddeum Lee Jun-myeong
Time	13:34	19:55	22:15

Team 1 and Team 2 won with times of 13:34 and 19:55 respectively. Team 3 lost with a time of 22:15 and was eliminated.

Quest 4: Team delegate challenge

The remaining 20 contestants returned to their original teams of five, deciding who among them would compete in each of five different games based on ancient mythology. The winner of each game would advance to the final, while the remaining contestants would be eliminated.

Game 1: Punishment of Atlas

The Punishment of Atlas had contestants hold a 50 kg (110.2 lb) rock for as long as possible, until only one was left standing.

Winner

• Jo Jin-hyeong

Eliminations

• Shin Bo-mi-rae
• Kim Kang-min
• Kim Sik

Shin Bo-mi-rae was unable to lift the stone above her shoulders at all. Kim Kang-min dropped out after about 15 minutes. At just past the two hour mark, Kim Sik also dropped out, leaving Jo Jin-hyeong as the winner. Jo later commented that he was near his own breaking point.

Game 2: Fire of Prometheus

The Fire of Prometheus had contestants running through an obstacle course in repetition to grab a torch; the person holding the last torch would win.

Winner

• Park Jin-yong

Eliminations

• Dustin Nippert
• Seol Ki-kwan
• Miracle Nelson

Nippert stumbled on the first obstacle in the first rep, and never regained the pace of the other three. The remaining matches were closer, hinging on Park Jin-yong scaling the obstacle cleanly and landing in a position to immediately begin running, while Miracle's body was twisting as he came over, leaving him just a moment slower to start running towards the torches.

Game 3: Wings of Icarus

The Wings of Icarus had contestants climb a rope, and endure climbing for as long as possible, until only one contestant remained.

Winner

• Kim Min-cheol

Eliminations

• Song A-reum
• Kim Da-young
• Son Hee-dong

Song A-reum and Kim Da-young, the last two women in the competition, dropped out first. Son Hee-dong lasted a little bit longer, but ice climber Kim Min-cheol was easily able to secure victory.

Game 4: Tail of Ouroboros

The Tail of Ouroboros had contestants chase each other around a track in a bid to tag out the person ahead of them, until only one remained.

Winner

• Woo Jin-yong

Eliminations

• Cha Hyun-seung
• Cho Jung-myung
• Jeong Han-saem

Game 5: Punishment of Sisyphus

The Punishment of Sisyphus had contestants push a 100kg boulder up and over a hill every 40 seconds, as many times as possible, until only one remained.

Winner

• Jung Hae-min

Eliminations

• Ma Sun-ho
• Choo Sung-hoon
• Yun Sung-bin

All four were able to push the boulder over the hill many times, with the winner having the greatest stamina and cardio endurance.

Quest 5: The final quest

The five survivors who competed in the final quest of Physical: 100 were Jo Jin-hyeong, Park Jin-yong, Kim Min-cheol, Woo Jin-yong, and Jung Hae-min. They competed in four games, with one contestant being eliminated in each game. The contestants started in a pentagonal formation, reducing at each stage until it became a dot.

Game 1

The first game was a five-way tug of war, with all contestants trying to secure a key in front of them in order to unlock their padlock. Kim Min-cheol and Woo Jin-yong were the last two to unlock their padlocks, and did so nearly simultaneously.

Replays showed that Woo unlocked himself about a second before Kim did, resulting in Kim being eliminated even though he was a favourite to win following his victories in many of the prior quests.

Game 2

The second game was a "square flip" challenge. The remaining four contestants split into teams of two and tried to flip as many tiles as possible for five minutes. The playing field contained 66 tiles, with 33 of each colour facing up to begin the match. One side of each tile was white and the other was black, and the team with most tiles flipped to their colour won. The losing team had to compete with each other one on one for three minutes.

Jung Hae-min, as the first competitor to release himself in the tug-of-war game, was allowed to select his partner. After first selecting Woo Jin-yong, he changed his mind and instead selected Park Jin-yong. This team won the first team round by a score of 37–29. This left Jo Jin-hyeong and Woo Jin-yong to go head-to-head to progress to the third game. The smaller and quicker Woo easily won the head-to-head round 48-18, meaning Jo Jin-hyeong was eliminated.

Game 3

The third game was a triangular shuttle run, with the remaining three contestants forced to run back and forth between their start point and the "next apex" before the next start signal. As the game progresses, the time to complete the shuttle runs gets shorter.

The contestant who could not make it back to their original point before the next signal lost the game. After 85 reps, done without cease, Park Jin-yong collapsed at his starting position, which led to his elimination.

Game 4

The fourth and final game was infinite rope-pulling. The two contestants had to pull their rope until it was loose, grab the other end of the rope, and then destroy their opponent's torso.

Woo Jin-yong won the final game and thus won Physical: 100, while Jung Hae-min was eliminated. Woo was personally covered in both Insider and The Straits Times after his victory on the show.

Reception

Viewership

The show rose to be the most popular non-English show on Netflix on the third and fourth week after its release.

Critical response

The show received positive remarks from critics for destroying misconceptions around Asian bodies and expanding the definitions of strength. Some critics praised the show for "shattering the gender barrier" by showing women competing on par with elite male athletes, though others, such as Rachael Joo, an associate professor of American studies at Middlebury College, pointed out that the show coincided with a heightened attitude against gender equality in South Korea by designing stages favorable to those with a male body.

Controversies

While the production team stated that there was no rematch in the final game, semi-finalist Jung Hae-min claimed that the final game was filmed twice. In the initial match, the game was halted by Woo's complaints of the equipment and again halted by the production team to oil the machines. When Jung was about to win again, the production team asked to move to a different location, citing issues with audio recording.

Many viewers alleged on social media that there was steroid use among the contestants. Some viewers also alleged that one of the contestants, Kim Da-young, was a school bully, and claimed that it was ironic for her to appear on a show that is not supposed to condone violence.

In popular culture

On February 15, 2023, Netflix posted a tweet commending the women appearing on the show.

A TikTok challenge called the "hanging challenge" was inspired by Quest 0 of the show, and encourages participants to hang from a bar to test how long they can hold on. Participants in the challenge often use the same hanging style the contestants on the show did to hold on for a longer time.

Accolades

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
Baeksang Arts Awards	2023	Best Entertainment Program	Physical: 100	Nominated
Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards	2023	Best Reality & Variety		Won
Asian Academy Creative Awards	2023	Best Non-Scripted Entertainment (Grand Final Winners)		Won
		Best Direction – Non-Fiction (National Winners – Korea)	Jang Ho-gi	Won
		Best Non-Scripted Entertainment (National Winners – Korea)	Physical: 100	Won

External links

• Physical: 100 on Netflix
• Physical: 100 at IMDb
• Physical: 100 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Physical: 100 at TheTVDB