Spartan Race Workout: Ready For War

Before we get into this program be sure that you have your running game in check, with that taken care of let’s get to endurance, this  is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. In humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise.

The definition of ‘long’ varies according to the type of exertion – minutes for high-intensity anaerobic exercise, hours or days for low-intensity aerobic exercise. Training for endurance can have a negative impact on the ability to exert strength unless an individual also undertakes resistance training to counteract this effect.

With that said my thought process for this workout kept all the above in mind when putting a program together one needs to break down the activities the body is preparing for, as well as encouraging randomness to promote versatility ultimately increasing maximum output in varying situations. I personally recommend this program when your 3 to 4 weeks out from the race.

 Wayne Mutata

 

Short Circuit Workout on Monday

  • Use the rowing machine for 10 minutes.
  • In 10 minutes, complete as many rounds as possible of a 40kg rope pull (where a rope is attached to a weighted sled) and follow it with a 20m bear crawl.

There is another way to perform this is you don’t have a proper rope, and that is to use a tricep rope to perform 20 weighted bent over pulls and change hand position after 10 reps, then do 10 Burpees. Do this for 10 minutes with as little rest as possible.

  • Rowing Machines – Do 10 minutes more.

 

Tuesday: The Pushing Supersets

  • Rowing Machines – Do a 5-minute warm-up.
  • Then perform seven squats, five press-ups and three pull-ups. Note: Complete this cycle over and over as many times as you can in a 5 minute period.
  • Snatch Grip Dead Lift – Do 4 sets of 5 reps. Note: After each set you should increase your weight by 5kg.
  • Triset 1 – Incline DB Press, Standing Military Press and Tricep Skull-crushers: Do 4 rounds of this sequence, giving yourself 90-seconds rest between sets.
  • Then do 4 sets of 10 of Triset 2 – triceps extensions, lateral raises and narrow-grip press-ups – with a rest break of 90 seconds between each set.
  • Perform 5×10 abdominal rollouts.

 

Rest on Wednesday.

 

Pulling Supersets on Thursday.

  • Rowing Machines – Do a 5-minute warm-up.
  • Pull-ups: do 3; Press-ups: do 5; Bodyweight Squats: do 7. Note: Just as you did on Tuesday, in 5 minutes see how many rounds you can complete in the allotted time.
  • Do 3 sets, five per leg, of Bulgarian split squats with dumbbells and increase the weight each set by 5 kg.
  • Superset – 10m Rope Climb (not using your feet); 10 Barbell Shrugs; and 10 Ex-bar Curls – Do this routine in 4 sets of 10 reps, and between each set take a 90-second break.

*Try inverted body rows with a straight body and underhand grip if you don’t have a rope available.

  • Superset 1- consists of 10 hammer curls, 10 incline front raises and 10 pull-ups 4×10 reps with rest periods of 90 seconds in duration.
  • Hanging Knee Raises – Complete 5 sets of 10 repetitions.

Spartan Race Training

Friday – Intervals

  • You will do two 50m sprints to warm up your body.
  • You will perform the suicide run which is to run 10m, then back, then 20m, then back, then 30m, then back, then 40m, then back, then 50m, then back. Perform 5 rounds of this. Calculate your rest periods as equal to half the time it takes for each round.
  • Next complete a kettlebell farmer’s walk of 80 meters, followed by a one-arm kettlebell overhead carry of 80m (but switch the arms at 40m), culminating in an SUV or small truck tire drag of 80m.

You may need to try the following workouts if you are in the gym and don’t have all the necessary equipment mentioned above.

  • Run on the treadmill for 5 rounds of the following: 5-minute jogging warm-up, 6 300-meter intervals as fast as possible, then walk for half the time this took to complete. * Cool Down – Jog lightly for about 5 minutes.
  • Use the heaviest weight possible to complete 40 walking lunges with dumbbells, 20 for each leg.
  • Squats – Holding a dumbbell at the height of your shoulder with one arm, do 30 of these squats. At 15 reps, switch your arms. Work as hard as possible.
  • Thrusters – Do 60 of these to finish the cycle.

Saturday – Rest

Sunday – Rest