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. 

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-Weekend Wrap Up

Saturday

150 pull ups

Backyard ninja obstacle course x 2

Sunday

150 pull ups

1 mile hike with 2 x 50 pound sand bags.

I have 25 pound sand bags inside of sport backs and backpacks. You can buy a 50 pound bag of sand for under $6.00 and an athletic bag with lots of handles and straps for around $25.00. Maybe even less.

This bag has handles on the top and the sides. Throw it on your shoulders like a wreck bag or carry it like a sand bag.




Or go big guns and get a wreck bag:

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-11/30/15

At the risk of looking as if my workouts are in a rut, I am continuing to post the daily goal of 200 pull ups per day. The reason is the introduction of the ever difficult and insane rigs, wheels, monkey bars and integration of American Ninja Warrior type of obstacles. These cannot be done without proper form, grip, forearm and shoulder strength.

However, there is hope. Now that we are creating a base for pull ups, we can integrate additional exercises. Now that I have routinely been able to maintain this daily amount, I have time for other stuff. Keep in mind that I am knocking these out throughout the day and not all at once. I try to perform 30 - 50 pull ups each hour or two and add fundamental exercised to prepare for traditional obstacles.

Morning:

Sets of pull ups using various grips and platforms to reach 100. Use mountain climbing, bar, post, pole and other platforms requiring both horizontal and vertical grip capability.

Lunch:

Run 5.1 miles as follows:

1 mile warm up

1/4 mile race pace

1/4 training pace

1/3 mile race pace

1/3 mile training pace

1/3 mile race pace

1/3 mile training pace

1/3 mile race pace

1/3 mile training pace

1/4 nuke race pace

1/4 mile training pace

1/4 nuke race pace

1/4 mile training pace

1/10 mile race pace

1/10 mile training pace

1/10 mile race pace

1/10 mile training pace

1/10 mile race pace

1/10 mile training pace

Afternoon:

Sets of pull ups using various grips and platforms to reach 100. Use mountain climbing, bar, post, pole and other platforms requiring both horizontal and vertical grip capability.

2 sets of 10 Romanian Dead Lifts

Evening:

100 push ups

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-10/19/2015

Thanks to Mettle Forger for the following workout idea.  https://www.facebook.com/mettleforger?fref=ts

This is a great workout in prep for Spartan Sprint, Warrior Dash, Savage Race, or Battlefrog.

I incorporated the following workout. However, instead of the the 2 mile run, I ran 5.1 for time as part of my obstacle race training. Other than the run, this workout was challenging and took me some time to do as I was not able to complete all the reps within 2 minutes. Unfortunately at the end of each 2 minute period I only did 30 pull ups, 60 push ups, 60 sit ups, and 75 squats. 

Here are some of the platforms and hand holds I used to complete the pull ups:

This multi-grip pull up bar is awesome.
I added straps for variety

This rope makes a great pull up hand hold

The 4x6 swing set board, the rock climbing hand holds
and Cannon Balls make great hand holds for pull ups

I came back and finished the pull ups in sets of 5's and the push ups, sit ups, and squats in sets of 10s.

Run 5. 1 miles 
Run the first mile easy then finish the run as follows for the duration:
1/4 mile fast
1/4 mile recover speed 

                                                         

Do great pull ups:

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-9/13/15 Weekend Edition

Great for pullups

This weekend I build a rickety balance beam. While finishing up my run, I found a pile of 1 x 6 boards. I grabbed two and threw them over my shoulder and walked .25 miles home. I then made some stakes, drove them into the ground and screwed 6 foot lengths of board to the stakes. Together I have 12 feet of balance beam. The boards are a few inches off the ground so they wobble a lot. Perfect practice for the Spartan Sprints and Savage Races.

6 pull ups with leg lifts x 2

Do following circuit 2 x

Rope climb

6 pull ups with leg lifts

Cinder block sled pull

Balance obstacle

Throw spear 5 times with each hand. Pick a tree and pace off 20 steps. The object is to hit a small target. In a Spartan Race, you must hit a large roll of hay. Practice hitting a small area so that you won't miss the big roll of hay.

These are great for your grip:

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-Aug 1, 2 weekend edition

I made it to the weekend where I can scale down my workouts and do things I want to do. During the week, I try to get in 20 miles of running mixed in with some obstacle style workouts, then rest for Monday's start up. Now I just have some fun with whatever I want to focus on. The plan for the weekend is go to a water park. I want to work on my "presentation" before I go:

Repeat the following 3 times:

6 pull ups with leg lifts from a 4x6 board (wide grip) 

Pull sled through the grass (rope tied with 3 cinder blocks)

10 foot rope climb walking up a wall

18 foot Rope climb

Play at water park

Next day:

Swim 1/2 mile as fast as possible

Use rope to climb wall

Build your sled with three cinder blocks and rope.

Run In Mud Obstacle Race Training-7/24/15

Track or fitness zone work out.

I'm preparing for the upcoming Warrior Dash world champion ship, Spartan Sprint, and Savage Race for my fall schedule. It's important to stay trained, but not overheat. Here's how I workout in the high heat.

Find a track or fitness area and incorporate the workouts into your run. I have a 1/4 mile track I use that is packed full of rope climbs, pull up bars, climbing, and balancing obstacles. It even has truck tires for flipping.

Since it's so hot and humid out, I ran the 3.1 miles around the track with a little modification to take advantage of the shade. I began running the laps to complete a mile, then switched to only running the shady part (about 3/4 of a lap) to complete the rest of the run. Just be sure to complete between 1 and three obstacles every 1/4 or 1/3 mile point. I use the Map My Run app to keep track.

Here is a list of the obstacles.
6 chin ups with leg lifts
tire obstacle x 2
Monkey bars x 2
Climb over 4 foot wall x 2
Monkey bars x 2
6 chin ups with leg lifts
3 x truck tire flips
Incline monkey bars x 2 
Parallel bar work out. Walk on hands for 1 step, dip and repeat until traverse parallel bar distance
Rope climb with 5 pull ups at top 
Balance obstacle x 2
Monkey bars x 2

6 Chin ups with leg lifts

Climbing obstacle x 2

I completed the above obstacles within the first mile doing three at a time.

For the remaining two miles, I ran only in the shade for 3/4 of a lap. I began by completing 5 burpees at the beginning of the shade, run to the end of the shade, perform 5 burpees and repeated until 2.1 miles were completed. That resulted in 40 burpees.

Rest

Walk for .3 miles

12 pull ups with leg lifts (2 sets of 6)

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training

It's another hot day, but a chance to excel. When possible, run in a wooded trail with plenty of shade. I ran the Madison Greenway. I stayed along the fence line to take advantage of the shade. Once finished, I made my way to the playground for an American Ninja Warrior style workout.

Run 4.1 Miles
Hike .6 miles
Plank for 2 minutes. Add 10 spider man push ups for each minute
Side plank for 1 minute each side. Perform 10 side leg lifts and bring upper knee to chest 5 times each side.

Do monkey bar type workout American Ninja Style. Here are examples of what I was able to do:

 

 

Finally, cool down with a few laps in the pool.


Did you know that the military, including US Army and US Army Reserves sponsor great obstacle races? Check it out during your next tough mudder, Savage Race, Warrior Dash, and Spartan Race. Find some great Army style workouts here:

Run In Mud Obstacle Race Training-7/6/15

Warm up:
6 minutes stretching and rotating
10 push ups

Main set:

Run 4.1 miles 
During each mile, perform:
20 burpees
20 supine leg lifts

total: 80 leg lifts and 80 burpees

Later set:
10 pull ups with leg lifts x 3

Mud Run Swag http://www.cafepress.com/redbikepublishing

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-6/26/15

I sleep in on most Fridays to give my body a break. I then do an afternoon workout and run the last run of the week. I might workout a bit on the weekends, but I tend not to run. That way I am more motivated to run on Mondays.

Here is the Friday afternoon workout:

Warm up:
Stretch
Rotate

Main set:
Pyramid push ups from 10 reps down to 1. Then from 1 back up to 10
Run 4.1 miles
Monkey bars and play in the park.

Cool down:
Walk 1 mile

Apparently obstacle race venues like Savage Race, Spartan Race, Tough Mudder, and Warrior Dash are bringing out new challenges. Here's a new one from Savage Race:

Good thing we've been innovative with our workouts. Here are some monkey bar and playground obstacles I've been using to stay ahead of the challenges. Are you ready:

Mud Runs and The United States Military

Did you know the military branches sponsor mud runs. Check out who sponsors the Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, Savage Race....yep, the military....

So, try this army physical readiness manual and get mud run fit...

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-4/28/15

Run 4 miles with obstacles

Run on the curb to practice your balance. 

Run 1 mile

10 Spiderman burpees

10 burpees

Run 1 mile

10 Spiderman burpees

10 burpees

Run 1 mile

10 Spiderman burpees

10 burpees

Run 1 mile

10 Spiderman burpees

10 burpees

Here's how the US Army and the US Army Reserves, sponsors of Tough Mudder, train...

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-4/22/15

Savage Race Georgia April 2015

Run a 5 k with some obstacles

Run 1 mile
4 lengths of monkey bars
10 spiderman burpees
10 burpees

Run 1 mile
10 spiderman burpees
10 burpees
4 lengths of monkey bars on 4x4 post (swing set)

Run 1.1 miles
Rope climb with 5 pull ups

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-Savage Race Results

Great news, 

At the 2015 Georgia Savage Race, I came in first in my age group and qualified for the OCR World Championship. 

Overall I came in 33rd.

Just had to share...


Great exercises in this book...

Run in Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/31/15

Block Party!!!

It's been a while, but time for the block party. We run around our 1.0 mile block and perform obstacle training worthy of Warrior Dash, Spartan Race, Savage Race, Tough Mudder and all the rest (still mad at Battlefrog for cancelling Nashville. But I am grateful for the total refund :))


Run 3.1 miles. Each mile, do the following: I do the first two exercises before the run and the last three along the way.

10 burpees
5 pull ups with leg lifts
6 spiderman burpees
Monkey bars x 2
6 Spiderman burpees 

The run took approximately 22 minutes and the workout took almost eight minutes for a total of 30 minutes.

Run In Mud Obstacle Race Training-3/23/15

Now I am preparing for the Savage Race in Georgia on April 18th. I had the Battle Frog planned for Nashville in June, but that event got cancelled. Oh well, keep training of course.

Went for a late morning workout on the military base (Redstone Arsenal, AL) where I work. There is a fitness trail that is very flat and has a few obstacles on it. Lot's of fun and I hope you have the same opportunity near to where you live and work.

Warm up:
Stretch
Rotate

Main set:

Run four miles

Mile 1

Pull up bars, climbing ladders, and monkey bars

10 pull ups
10 pull ups
climb obstacle
monkey bars
climb obstacle
10 burpees

Run across the top and then jump over each step

Climb under and then over x 2

Mile 2
10 burpees
climb over and under obstacle x 2
short pull ups bars for muscle up practice x 3

Mile 3
10 burpees

Mile 4
10 burpees
10 pull ups
climb obstacle
monkey bars
climb obstacle
10 pull ups

Have fun

Obstacle Race Training-02/04/13

Find these exercises and more
 in US Army Physical Readiness Training

Time to ruck up and work the core. A heavy backpack of at least a third of your body weight will do the trick. March for one to two miles and enjoy the walk with friends or family.

• 2 mile backpack hike

• 3 x Spiderman push-ups (bring knee up to ribs-5 repetitions each side)

• Stretch

• 2 x tripod push-ups (back side in the air, close hand position. Lower your body and extend in a swooping motion).

• Stretch

Try these obstacles. They'll make you ready for any obstacle race.

Obstacle Race Training-01/14/13

Cold and raining outside? It’s 32 degrees here and I’m waiting for the snow. This looks like a great day to workout INSIDE.

• 25 minutes on elliptical
• 10 push-ups with hands on basket ball or medicine ball
• 10 jumping lunges
• 10 push-ups with left hand on basketball or medicine ball
• 10 jumping lunges
• 10 push-ups with right hand on basketball or medicine ball
• 10 jumping lunges
• 10 push-ups with hands on basket ball or medicine ball
• 10 body weight squats
• 10 push-ups with left hand on basketball or medicine ball
• 10 body weight squats
• 10 push-ups with right hand on basketball or medicine ball
• 10 body weight squats
• Pull-ups to muscle failure
• Rest
• Chin-ups to muscle failure
• Rest
• Alternate hand pull-ups to muscle failure
• Stretch

Upcoming Obstacle and Mud Runs

It looks like there are two races that I can find in my home state of Alabama. The Dirty Girl Mud Run and the Warrior Dash.

Here is my schedule of where I’d like to race. Chances are really good that I will make all of them unless a better offer comes up. Stick around for reviews:

• Nashville Tennessee Zombie Run For Your Lives March 30, 2013 
• Georgia Spartan Sprint March 2013 
• Georgia Superhero Scramble 2013 April 27, 2013 
• Nashville 5K Foam Fest 2013 May 4, 2013 
• Moonshine Mud Run TBA 
• Atlanta Georgia Savage Race 2013 May 11, 2013 
• Warrior Dash October 2013 

I haven’t found a better way to keep up with events than with the following Facebook liked pages:

Moonshine-Mud-Run/

Spartan race

Obstacle Race Training

Well, that’s how I’m following the races. If you know of any obstacle races in or near north Alabama, let me know…