Obstacle course training

Suffering from the winter blues? Feeling tired and lethargic? Need a goal to help get you moving again? This year’s Spartan race might be just the event you need to kick-start your training. March is not too early to start planning for the outdoor season, whatever your fitness goals might be.

Maybe you are contemplating entering the Tough Mudder and the Spartan race. These races, open to all ages and levels of fitness, are great for targeting your training goals. They provide a fun event that will challenge you to get into better shape and perhaps train in disciplines you’ve never experienced before.

The Spartan Race is the world’s largest obstacle race that challenges entrants to “discover their inner warrior.” This popular race offers three levels of difficulty: The Sprint 5-kilometer, 15 obstacle course; the Super 13-kilometer, 21 obstacle course; and the Beast, 20-kilometer, 26 obstacle course.

Tough Mudder is a team-oriented 10-12 mile obstacle course designed to test physical strength and mental grit. The creativity and variety of the obstacles is beyond imagining. Who knows what this year's course will be?

Now that you have set your goal, how are you going to train for it? Regardless of which event you choose, you are going to have to build strength, and increase speed, endurance and agility. At the same time, you are going to need to stay healthy and injury-free so you can enjoy your event to the fullest. Chances are, you are going to need to adjust the way you eat to sustain the new level of training you’re about to embark on.

But how do you train for these events if you don’t have a 12-foot wall or a tunnel to crawl through? If you’re already a runner, then you’ve got that part down. If not, you’ll have to train yourself to run for the distance you’ve chosen to race. Injury prevention comes first; then increasing distance, then speed work. That’s the easy part. Since the exact course is unknown, it is impossible to train specifically for what is coming but there are things you can do to get yourself in the best shape possible for this type of event.

A comprehensive program would include these elements:

• mobility and flexibility
• balance and stability
• gripping
• hanging and pulling
• deadlifting
• pressing
• single leg work
• displaced strength training (e.g. sandbags)
• core work
• cross country running

If you have set one of these events as your goal, you halfway there. You’ve made the commitment and you have the mindset necessary to succeed. Now all you need is the right training plan to get you there! Whether you’ve chosen a team challenge or an individual event, your training should reflect your preference: hire a trainer for a series of half hour sessions, or find a team and share the cost of a trainer. Book now for your event. Fit Forever