Obstacle Courses: Overview and Training Methods

Spartan Race 2014, Texas

 Mud runs are the ultimate way to test your mettle. They are some of the greatest tests of cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength. The camaraderie and teamwork push you harder and further, and you  tend to learn something about yourself every time you run.

“These are the most prevalent events being held all over the world and draw some of the nastiest elements of adventure races mixed with huge man-made jungle gyms and natural impediments along with goopy tons of mud.” 1) Below is just a smattering of the types of challenges you’ll face on these courses:

Being submerged in an ice bath, hauling sand bags, lifting heavy rocks on a rope, balance beams, cargo nets, crawling under barbed wire, jumping fire, braving electric shocks are just a few of the obstacles you could encounter. Needless to say, you have to prepared for anything. With that being said, you have to train in order to prepare for anything.

If you are thinking about competing here are a few training program tips:

1.    Cardio: After you get done with each obstacle there are usually about 400-1000m of distance that you will either run or walk. You need some long distance and high intensity interval training so your heart rate can come back down before the next obstacle. High intesnity interval training (HIT) can be broadly defined as repeated bouts of short to moderate exercise (i.e. 10 seconds to 5 minutes) completed at an intensity that is greater than the anaerobic threshold. The purpose of HIT is to repeatedly stress the physiological systems that will be used during a specific endurance-type exercise,” 2) similar to that of an obstacle course. For example, you might do burpees for 10-20 seconds as fast as you can, followed by an equal or double rest period. This will spike your heart rate, then your body will have to adapt to the stress by recovering before you have to start again. This will translate when you have to run up and down hills then have to calm yourself to overcome an obstacle.

2.    Strength: You will be doing a lot of upper pulls and pushes to either help yourself or a friend over various obstacles. You want to make sure that your legs and upper body have enough strength and muscular endurance to last. Compound exercises (i.e,  BB squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses) will help. Vary the sets, rest in between sets, and number of reps. Decrease the reps and increase the weight to concentrate on strength (1-5 reps) or increase the reps and decrease the weight to concentrate on muscular endurance (10-20 reps).

3.    COMBINE 1 and 2: Be sure to combine 1 and 2 outside, because it is the only way to make your training as close to the mud run as possible. (e.g., run 400m dashes then do a compound lift).

1. Caldwell, L., & Siff, B. (2001). Adventure racing: The ultimate guide. Boulder, Colo.: VeloPress.
2. Laursen, P., & Jenkins, D. (n.d.). The Scientific Basis For High-Intensity Interval Training. Sports Medicine, 53-73.