These days, endurance races and obstacle races are all the rage for fitness freaks – not only do they break up the monotony of your standard triathlon or 10K race by throwing in some fun endurance challenges but they give you a chance to prove your strength as well as your stamina, balance and even your intellectual ability to strategize. Below we provide a few tips on how to train for an obstacle course, whether it’s True Grit or Spartan Race:
Get Gripping
Any obstacle course will feature a lot of barriers, hanging and climbing over the course of the event – so whether you’re pulling yourself up a wall, swinging across monkey bars or climbing a rope you’re going to need to work on your grip and forearm strength.
Building up forearm strength is simply a case of increasing pull-ups and push-ups in your workout, increasing the amount steadily workout by workout. When it comes to grip strength, you can opt for a few workouts – hanging on a rope for as long as you possibly can or using either a stress ball or using spring collars from the end of your weights bar is a great way to build grip strength quickly.
Comfortable Crawling
You’re going to be a doing a lot of crawling no matter what obstacle course you choose to run and it’s something that can be a lot harder to master than it looks. It’s not exactly something you may be comfortable practicing in a gym setting, but if you’ve got a home gym you’ll be your own audience so get down get down on all fours, keep your hips low to the ground, crawl by pushing your elbows and knees outward for 20 to 50 yards, then repeat.
Train For The Terrain
Hammering 10K out on the treadmill isn’t gonna cut it I’m afraid. Nor is sticking to the tarmac of Aussie roads. No, you’re gonna have to get out on the uneven, rocky or (if you’re lucky) muddy paths. This will be exactly what your body needs and will also help strengthen your ankles for the varying terrain. What’s more, you get to satiate your inner child if you see any puddles and bogs along the way by jumping in!
Beast The Burpee
We love/hate them as much as you probably do, and by utilising your whole body strength along with your cardio conditioning it will prepare you for the obstacle course better than any other exercise.
From a standing position, drop down to the press-up position, then jump your feet forwards towards the hands and explode into the air with a big leap. Land comfortably before dropping back down into the starting push-up position for your next one. Do as many of these with excellent form as you can, then aim for one more tomorrow. Before you know it you’ll be the burpee master.
These are just a few simple little tweaks and additions you can add to your regular workout routine to perfectly prepare you for the obstacle course of your choice.
