Obstacle Race Home Gym

I really like working out in the open air. My equipment is what ever is available. Sometimes it's a constructed obstacle course at a park or around a running track. At other times I use playground equipment and tree branches. However, I do have some favorite equipment in my back yard that I use regularly to stay in shape and prepare for the Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, Spartan Sprint, Savage Race, and Battle Frog. Currently these courses are getting more and more technical and strength demanding.

Aside from the regularly run, burpee, run workout, I perform other workouts to prepare for the strength and grip obstacles.  I very rarely use weights. So, here's what I have...

Carrying and obstacles appear in the Spartan Sprint, the Battle Frog and similar races. The bucket brigade was a new obstacle I encountered. We filled our buckets with gravel and carried it approximately 1.4 miles. The Atlas Stones were a similar obstacles requiring strength. Other carry obstacles include the 5 gallon water can, the wreck bag, Hercules Hoist and more.

Here are some obstacles you can put together to prepare for next year's races,
Bucket brigade: I bought a 5 gallon bucket at Lowe's. I also bought a bag of gravel. Total cost, around 8 bucks.

Weight sled-Pulling weights across the land is very difficult. However, replicating the event is easy. I found some old cinder blocks and bought a 10 buck rope. This is a great core, leg, and arm strengthening exercise. I bought a skinny nylon rope to really work my grip strength as well.

Sandbag-I had an old gym bag with lots of handles and a small roller carry on. I bought a 50 pound bag of sand and put 25 pounds of sand in each bag. I also got the sand at Lowe's. Since I already owned the bags, the sand was around 5 bucks.

Backpack carry-I bought a 50 gallon bag of sand from Lowe's for 5 bucks and added some weight from around the house. Make sure you have a decent bag with working shoulder, chest, and abdominal straps.

Rigs and monkey bars appear in the the Savage Race, Spartan races, and Battle Frog. I use monkey bars, various grips, swing sets, ropes, i-beams, 4x4 planks and other surfaces to get prepared.

Rock climbing hand holds require good finger tip grip strength. They hurt like heck at first, but then practice will get you through it. try pull ups and traversing from one to the other.

Cannon Ball grips are awesome. They are round, slippery, and require a strong palm grip. Takes lots of practice to master these.

Triceps ropes like these provide a great opportunity to develop horizontal grip strength. Most pull up platforms are horizontal, getting you ready for monkey bars types of obstacles. However, these ropes are smooth, vertical and easy to slip off; until you get that strength you need. I feel off the rig many times, but now looking forward to kicking it. Swing from one rope to the other or do pull ups. 

                               


Gymnastic rings are good platforms for rig and monkey bar training. I love them.






Finally, nothing beats a good old fashioned pull up bar rig above your door.