A sport in which a competitor, traveling on foot,
must overcome various physical challenges that are in the form of obstacles.
Mud and trail runs are combined and the races are designed to result in mental
and physical collapse.
I have become quite enthralled with these races, since I have gotten back in to shape and my
first obsticle course race was a Spartan Sprint that was just over 3 miles.
Now, I had been training and I can go out a run a 5K (3.1 miles) in under 30 minutes
fairly easily.
I had also been doing strength training and thought an obsticle course the same length
should be possible in about 45 minutes.
I crossed the finish line in just a hair over 59 minutes and the race winner crossed
the finish line in 29 minutes. I was blown away, so I reached out to him for advice.
He informed me that most of his traing was cardio based with minimal strength training,
so I added more cardio to my training routine.
Now my next race was a Spartan Super that was almost 9 miles and had hill climbs that really took a toll.
I finished in just under 3 hours. The winner...1 hour and 29 minutes!!!
Time for more adjustments before I run The Spartan Beast...
I recently found an article that has a Training Plan recommended by Jeff Godin Ph.D., CSCS,
Spartan’s head of fitness education to help prepare for those grueling hill climbs.
This is a link to the article:
https://life.spartan.com/post/conquer-any-mountain-your-training-plan?c3ch=Email&c3nid=Promotion&utm_source=promotion&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_2017
The Plan:
Find a hill or several hills of varying inclines, and train on them several times per week.
No hills in your area?
A set of stadium stairs, a treadmill with an incline feature, even a parking garage will do in a pinch.
Perform hill intervals in which you sprint or power walk up then walk down.
“This boosts maximal oxygen consumption, increases your tolerance to acidosis, and improves your
ability to utilize fat as a fuel,” says Godin.
“Hill sprints suck as bad as burpees, probably even more so, but if you embrace the hill training
your body will thank you at your next Super or Beast.”
In addition to hill training, Godin recommends strength work in the gym to develop uphill speed and power.
“I would use a complex approach—a strength move followed by a plyometric exercise in a superset format,” says Godin.
To develop a better tolerance for the downhill runs, he advises performing deceleration moves, such as
box jump-downs and tempo squats.
Use this strength routine recommended by Godin to improve your hill climbing prowess.
Uphill Drills
3 X 8+ 8 Weighted Walking Lunges + Power Skips, 25 yards
3 X 8+8 Weighted Step-Ups + Ladder Drill
3 X 8 Weighted Heel Raise + Plyo Dot Drill
Downhill Skills
3 X 6 Tempo Squats (5 seconds down, one second up) + 25 yards Heel Walk
3 X 6 Squat Jump and Stick + 25 yards Toe Walk
3 X 8 Long Jump and Stick + Seated Toe Lifts