Adventure, Obstacle, Silly, Soap, Mud, Extreme, Rugged, Spartan, Tough, Gladiator and dozens more renditions of the hottest trend of racing, which is all about Obstacle Courses. The main area calls them Adventure Races, or taking the normal run to a different level.
Some of the races are full of mud, forcing you to traverse long trails of rough terrain. Others shock you, having you run through soap or dumping comically large buckets of get slime over your head. But for all of them, they require more than your average jog in the park. Most of these require full body strength, agility, stamina, conditioning and speed to get through the finish line, without destroying your body.
I have competed in dozens of these races, finishing in the top 1% of many of them, and I can say from experience, these race take a lot more full body training than the average person believes. My team and I train year round to create the specific workout these races demand. This extra effort enhances our chances, giving us a more competitive score in this race, but to truly dominate to competition in these races, I’ve broken this down to a 3 step training process below.
1. Fast Movement
Being able to move quickly from one obstacle to the next is necessary to get through a race with your best possible time. For the shorter distance runs, sprint training should be a top priority . Also this can involve different terrain so fast movement is ideal to get through trails, rocks and more. This workout is broken down to specific exercises and amounts.
Specific Exercises to work on –
- Sprints
- Bear Crawls
- Lunge Walks
- Frog Hops
The Sprint workout
For the workout itself you will be doing this in 3 Rounds! This will take your speed and
conditioning up a notch or two! Rest 2 mins between each round.
Round 1
– 40 Yard Sprint x 3 Round 2
– 40 Yard Lunge Walk – Sprint Back
– 40 Yard Bear Crawls – Sprint Back
– 40 Yard Frog Hops – Sprint Back
Round 2
– 40 Yard Lunge Walk – Sprint Back
– 40 Yard Bear Crawls – Sprint Back
– 40 Yard Frog Hops – Sprint Back
Round 3
– 40 Yard Sprint – 10 Push Ups
– 40 Yard Sprint – 10 Tricep Push Ups
– 40 Yard Sprint – 10 Burpees
2. The Climb
Nearly every single Obstacle Race that you partake in has Walls, Ropes and Cargo Nets for you to climb on. Upper body strength and grip strength is something you will definitely need to work on.Your overall Core Strength should also receive extra attention. The better you can hold yourself up, the quicker you will be able to get through these obstacles.
Specific Exercises to work on
- Plank
- Pull up
- Ropes
- Push Up
- Monkey Bar
- L-Sits
The Upper Body Workout
For this workout it will be all strength related, so most exercises will be either sets or to failure, to
get the muscles working to maximum effort. Complete 3 sets of this workout. Rest 2 mins between each set
- Plank – 30 Second
- Push Up to Failure
- Pull Up to Failure
- Plank – 30 Second
- Rope Climb – 2 from seated position
- L Sits – 10
- Plank – 30 second
3. Agility/Body Control
Throughout all obstacle races you will be traversing through different environments. Some are on steep trails, rocks, over walls, and through barb wire. You will need to be able to have your body react quickly, to get through these environments to the best of your ability. The ability to change direction whether side to side, up and down or with your body low to the ground, is essential for all of these races.
Specific Exercises to work on
- Wall Jumps
- High Jumps
- Precision Jumps
- Spider Crawls
- Bunny Hops
- Frog Jumps
Agility Workout
Complete 3 rounds of this workout. You will be doing each exercise for 30 seconds
with 1 minute between each round of work.
- Spider Crawls
- Bunny Hops
- Frog Jumps
- Precision Jumps (forward/back)
- Wall Jumps or High Jumps
- Precision Jumps (Side to side)
For the overall training and the best way to use this workout, would be:
- Day 1 – Agility Workout
- Day 2 – Upper Body Workout
- Day 3 – Rest
- Day 4 – Upper Body Workout
- Day 5 – Sprint Workout
If you want to add in another Agility workout during the off days you can, but make sure you are getting enough rest in between for the proper results and strength/muscle increase.
So get out there, get dirty and have fun while doing it! Nothing is better than getting outside and being part of a fun environment, where everyone is trying to get through the same type of ordeal!
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