‘Physical 100’: Ee-ddeum Reveals They Filmed for Almost 24 Hours: ‘I Left Home at 6 AM’

What fans see on Netflix‘s Physical 100 does not include the entire duration the contestants were on the series. Some contestants took part for a shorter time, depending on when they were eliminated. As the Korean unscripted competition series continued, certain contestants stayed much longer. While each episode was only an hour long, there were breaks for makeup, food, and more. Physical 100 contestant Shim Ee-ddeum reveals the reality of how long they filmed.

One of the longest challenges on ‘Physical 100’ was over two hours

Like most competition series, Physical 100 was filmed months before the official premiere. But fans watched as 100 contestants tried their luck to prove their physique was the best and a shot at the grand prize. The first pre-elimination round had Kim Min-chaol hold the metal structure for over 15 minutes before he was declared the winner. The first quest had pairs of contestants try to hold on to a ball for one minute. The winner is the person in possession of the ball when the time runs out. The quest would have taken 30 minutes or more based on simple math.

The second quest was the bridge challenge, where two teams faced each other with a 12-minute time constraint. For the ship challenge, the time varied depending on how long the conjoined teams would take to hoist the 1.5-ton ship to its endpoint. The hardest quests were Physical 100’s Greek mythology-inspired challenges.

Due to its length, the Atlas challenge on Physical 100 blew the contestants and fans away. Kim Sik and Jo Jin-hyeong withstood holding a boulder on their shoulders for over 2 hours. The following challenges varied in time constraints. For the Physical 100 finale, the five finalists also battled against the clock to see who would win. In an interview with W Korea, Ee-ddeum explains their filming schedule.

Ee-ddeum left home for ‘Physical 100’ bright and early

Like most contestants, Ee-ddeum was contacted through DMs to join the competition series. While Kim Min-cheol and Park Jin-yong thought the Physical 100 casting was a scam, Ee-ddeum saw it as something she would be good at. To W Korea, Ee-ddeum explains she left home to film Physical 100 at 6 a.m.

“I left home at 6 a.m. and got back home at 6 a.m. the next morning,” explained Ee-ddeum. “I opened my eyes and 24 hours have passed.” Her comment means she and the final group of contestants likely filmed for 24 hours. For Woo Jin-yong, the filming schedule was more hectic as he had to report to his second Crossfit gym.

“In the midst of that, I opened my second gym during my second shoot. I did a first class at 7 a.m. in the morning,” said Jin-yong. “The very first class at the gym. How do you think I was?” The contestants have revealed small tidbits about their time in between. Miracle Nelson explained he and his teammate chatted over their meals on Physical 100. Bang Seong-hyeok said he had gained weight the morning of, which proved detrimental on Physical 100 during the consultation challenge.

The ‘Physical 100’ staff thought the Atlas challenge would take 30 minutes

While many of the quests had set time frames, no one expected the duration of the Atlas challenge. It lasted over two hours, but Ma Sun-ho explained the staff did not plan it that way. On Ee-ddeum’s Youtube channel, Su-ho said, “When the staff simuated it roughly, they thought it would be over in 30 minutes,” he said.

But as he was a spectator during the challenge, “So we also had a reaction until the half an hour. As half an hour passes by, we sat down. We got up again and ‘Wow, cheer up, cheer up.’ Suddenly an hour passed by. From then on, even waiting and cheering is hard.” Sun-ho comically admits he could not sit still and would lean on the banister. But no one could show they were tired.

Kang-min commented that after losing the Atlas challenge, he went to eat. He also took a bathroom break. All of which fans did not see as the camera’s focused on Kim Sik and Jin-hyeong.