By Brian Diaz

The fastest growing national “race” category is not the full or half-marathons that all your Facebook friends claim they are training for, nor even the surge in triathlons, but a different type of multi-event race known as an obstacle course. As more and more people flood to the mud-soaked camaraderie, more races are offering distances much farther than the starting two to three miles of an entry-level event.

There are several different races that cover six or more miles of running/obstacle challenges, but the self-proclaimed leader in what I would call the endurance obstacle races is the Spartan Beast. It and similar events can cover 10-12 miles and are designed with a variety of mud tunnels, 12-foot walls, barbed wire crawls, tires, log carries, fire, Spartans and 10,000 volts of electricity, to name just a few of the things your body will need to be prepared to handle, in addition to the run.

The purpose of this article isn’t to provide you with a running plan to get you there (as I’m sure you already have one). Instead, I hope to give you some resistance-specific training to make the obstacles more manageable and make you a stronger, more balanced and injury-free participant.

One of the things working in your favor is that most of these races are team-driven and encourage other racers and teammates to help those who struggle with an obstacle. You don’t have to be the strongest or most fit individual to do these races. But you do have to have some baseline strength and agility beyond that of an ordinary half-marathon participant to make it through without suffering major consequences.

For most of you, full-time jobs and balancing family dynamics are additional time constraints that limit the amount of training that you can do outside of just running. Because of these real-world demands, the two-days-a-week workout plan that I have devised to add to your running routine also has a high-intensity endurance spin to it and not your traditional “meathead” lifting session. This will help you improve your stamina even on your “off” running days. The exercises are very functional and multidimensional to help you navigate the course better with a newfound development of strength with balance. Most injuries come from physiological imbalances and/or added velocity of certain movements while fatigued. I strongly encourage you to seek an evaluation from a physical therapist or an experienced and knowledgeable personal trainer to help identify those imbalances and rectify them before moving forward and participating in this or any other type of high-intensity exercise routine.

The exercises listed below are designed to be done as a series of timed intervals. I would start out at 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off (traditional Tabata-style) before increasing to 30/15 and then 40/20 on/off ratios and go through four sets with additional rest of 30-60 seconds after each set. Each daily routine should not take more than 35 minutes and you should optimally allow at least one full day but hopefully two days in between workouts. Please visit www.YouTube.com/ActivEdgeFit for full tutorial on all of the exercises.

Day 1

  1. Monster walk with dynamax ball slam
  2. Burpees on dynamax ball
  3. Speed skaters
  4. Wall climb tricep press/pushdowns
  5. TRX horizontal pull-ups
  6. TRX side plank with hip flexion/extension (right side)
  7. TRX side plank with hip flexion/extension (left side)
  8. Sandbag rotational thrusters

Day 2

  1. Mountain climbers
  2. Single leg balance squat (right)
  3. Single leg balance squat (left)
  4. Pull-ups with reach
  5. Bench jumps
  6. Tornado push-ups
  7. Plank with alternating hip abduction
  8. Kneeling sandbag rotational press

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Brian Diaz is the head physical therapist and sports specialist at ActivEdge Fitness & Sports Performance. He is a Level II Certified TRX Suspension Trainer and a USA Triathlon Certified Coach. Follow him on Twitter (@JediTriathlete) or go to his website at ExperienceTheEdge.com for more exercise ideas.