Getting Started- Training for Spartan Race

asianmonkie

Hello!

I was just curious who else out there is training for a Spartan Race, I'd like to pick at your brain for a bit. How do you start training? What kind of exercises should I focus on? Should I lose weight first before I start training for the Spartan Race? Any suggestions is greatly appreciated because I have no idea what I am doing. Thank you!

nhradeuce

Sign up for the Spartan workout of the day. They do a lot of body weight exercises that will help get your body ready. If you are not a running, I would recommend doing the C25K program as well. For the Sprint distance running is not as critical because you can walk the whole thing in a pinch. If you plan to do a Super or Beast then running is more important - 8-14 miles is a LONG walk.

Don't worry about losing weight. If you are eating right and training for a Spartan, the weight will come off.

ObstacleRacer

Do burpees until you hate everything about life. Then do some more. After that you'll be all set. Good luck and have fun!

asianmonkie

Thanks for the advice! Running is my weakness and the only Spartan Race coming near me is the Beast. Just my luck LOL

ObstacleRacer

Thanks for the advice! Running is my weakness and the only Spartan Race coming near me is the Beast. Just my luck LOL

I don't want to discourage you, but doing a Beast as your first race is pretty daunting. Have you looked to see if there are other obstacle races in your area? There are a lot more besides just Spartan.

asianmonkie

I saw the Tough Mudder but that one is just as crazy but with more mud. I'm going to do the Color Run but that's not challenging enough. I need something to work up to that will challenge me. Spartan Race is not going until be August 10th so I think I have enough time to train.

greenhudler

I'm training to do a Spartan Race. Haven't decided yet if it will be a super or the sprint that is near me a little sooner than that. My first suggestion would definitely be to sign up for the WOD and do as many challenges they put out as you can. For example, right now we're doing the 30 burpees for 30 days challenge (look it up on facebook). Feel free to PM me to talk!

nhradeuce

Thanks for the advice! Running is my weakness and the only Spartan Race coming near me is the Beast. Just my luck LOL

The Beast is serious business. It is harder than you think and it will challenge you physically and mentally. The course designers are brutal and they know how to break people.

That said, the SC Beast was my first Spartan and I was 30 lbs heavier than I am now. It was HARD but I finished. A group I train with now all did the SC Beast this year as their first Spartan as well. As they described it, they hated every minute of it - until they finished, then they loved it.

Besides, once you knock out a Beast, the Super and Sprint are easy** to complete your trifecta.

** Warning, depending on which Super you do, it might be harder than a Beast!!!

rebranding101

I'm in the same boat. I'm working on getting my Spartan Trifecta this year starting with the Tampa Sprint, Miami Super, and then the SC Beast. I'm a new runner, so I'm using this as a goal, and I've never done a Spartan or an obstacle run in my life.

Sign-up for WOD, and feel free to modify it if it's too intense.

What I've heard, is If you are planning on running the Sprint, which is usually 3-4 miles, than you should train to run 6. nhradeuce is right, you can easily walk it if you want.

For the super, it's around 7-8 miles, so I've heard you should train to run 10. The beasts are 1/2 marathon's so they recommend being able to run 15 miles. You can always walk bits but it will be a long walk.

I've done some math on the Sprints, and judging by the distance and the number of obstacles in the race, you should encounter an obstacle every 1/4 mile. I do a distance run 1x a week (Just hit the 6 mile mark today for my sprint), and 3 days I typically sprint a 1/4 mile, then immediately do different strength training, then repeat till I hit 4 miles. Also train on monkey bars and try climbing up poles to practice for the rope climbs.

There are other mud runs. Have you looked at the warrior dash? Hit me up if you want to be training buddies.

greenhudler

Also OP I see from your profile that you're a female...you should join the Spartan Chicked group on facebook

AnotherXFitGuy

I also had a group of friends who did the SC Beast. It was our fourth Spartan and the final race for our Trifecta medals. We normally train with Crossfit but add more running into our routines. After surviving the Virginia Super, barely, we decided to put more thought into our training for the Beast. We wanted to run more but without the boredom of just pounding the roads. We started doing interval training. We started 3 months out and increased our distance as we got closer to the race. We started with 4 mile intervals and two weeks before the Beast, finished with a 10 mile interval. We didn't pattern the distance intervals but set up mini WODs at each interval. We did repeat the WODs in sequences.

Example:
Run .75 mile
10 X Burpees/Pullups/Box Jumps
Run 1 mile
10 X Thrusters/Tire Flips/Double Unders
Run .50 mile
10 X Air Squats/Sit ups/Battle Rope

This is how the Spartans are set up. I'm no where near an elite athlete but, due to the training, the Beast was easier then our 10 miler. Some of the runs we did together and pulled each other along, others we turned into mini competitions. We have friends who'll be joining the Trifecta club in 2014 and will use these intervals at least once a week.

Good Luck and Train Hard!

cajun_qt

I've done Spartan and Tough Mudder.

If you can run a mile and a half without stopping, youre golden for the cardio part.

after that - get as strong as possible. im talking Weight Room.

squats, deadlifts, inverted bodyweight rows, pushups, chinups, lunges, bench and overhead press.

extra points if you can push a weight sled or drag a cinder block around on a chain.

good luck!

cajun_qt

oh yeah - for Spartan, practice burpees.

they penalize you when you cant finish an obstacle, unlike Tough Mudder.

asianmonkie

Thank you all for your overwhelmingly scary replies. Guess I've got a long way to go as I've only JUST perfected a 5k run without walking. I will start working on my burpees and I've already started weight training so I'll see how that goes. Good luck to everyone in your endeavors!