Getting ready to SPARTAN

soldiergrl_101 · February 2017

Hey everyone,
Me and my 5 girlfriends just signed up for our first Spartan race. We are all in very different places physically, the race is in August so this gives us time to prepare.

Any advice you could offer to help prepare, what was your experience, were you in decent shape for the race, what exercises helped you get there, feel free to post any photos you may have for inspiration ect. Would be greatly appreciated

Ben_there_done_that · February 2017

I've only done one Sprint and it was awesome. I'm excited for you gals. Have you already signed up for their "workout of the day" e-mails? Biggest things I saw people were struggling with were the rope climb and the monkey-bar type obstacles with hanging ropes and other odd handles. I No-Go'd the spear throw, since I didn't practice. The burpees are way worse than any obstacle. Good luck!

goldenbeaut · February 2017

thats awesome! I was actually just on the Spartan site not to long ago looking to sign up. I'm in for the advice of others..but best of luck to you gals!

soldiergrl_101 · February 2017

Thanks everyone. I am prior military so once I am there I am sure ill have flashbacks to our confidence course training with rucksacks, full battle rattle and obstacles so at least I have that going for me but its been 11 years ha-ha. I know my upper body is going to need a lot of work. What exercises help you for things like the rope swing and climbing? As of right now I cant do a pull up:(

Ben_there_done_that · February 2017

I want to say the rope climb was all technique, but it certainly doesn't help that everyone puts their muddy feet on it. Hopefully you went to air-assault and remember a thing or two about locking out. lol. You really shouldn't need to do too many pull-ups. Especially if you have a team of 5 helping each other out, the walls shouldn't be too bad. Grip strength should be trained though. I'd work some farmer's carries into your routine.

esjones12 · February 2017

@captbklee - Random tips to follow. Feel free to message me with more questions as I barely check the forums.

- Discuss with your group what your game day plan is. Are you all sticking together no matter what? Are any of you super competitive and will get upset if you are being held up by others? Even if you are all "fit" you may excell at different aspects of the course. For instance I ran with a group at the VT Beast and it was a disaster. I was weak at climbing hills but I'm a beast at technicall downhill and strength obstacles so I was always waiting for them. One of the girls had some major dehydration issues and slowed us up, etc. Being with a group can have its positives as well (like being a lot of fun). The important thing is to make sure you are all on the same page so no one gets upset if you break up during the race.

- Don't undertrain your run. During a Sprint you are probably looking at 2-3 hours with a group with not all being in super shape. [Unless its a tough mountain venue then probably longer]. Of those 2-3 hours you will probably spend a max of 15 minutes on obstacles. Running and building an aerobic base is considerably more important if you are looking to do well and complete the course in a decent time.

- Doing body weight exercises and grip strength will help with obstacles (and hill climbing if you don't skip your lunges!). Most obstacles are technique related. If you can get your hands on some of them prior to the race it will give you more confidence during the race. But I find too many people focus on the obstacles going into their first race. It is easiest to figure out your strength/weaknesses once you experience the course.

- Dropping excess pounds if anyone has them will be a HUGE help. Depending on your current state you can drastically improve your running times and obstacle completion rate by dropping even just 10 pounds. So focus on good nutrition

Ben_there_done_that · February 2017

@soldiergrl_101
@esjones12 That's some on-point advice. Hopefully, I'm redirecting to the OP. I think she could definitely benefit from using you as a resource.

DStroyNKonker · February 2017

@esjones12 That is great advice!

Make sure you start hydrating a few days before. In some races water stations a sparse and you'll get dehydrated fast.

There are a lot of ways to get stronger but if you can get your hands on a rope and learn climbing techniques (using your feet), you will feel like a rockstar when you make it to the top on race day. Get out to a park and swing around on the monkey bars. Take a pole-fit class.

Add some HIIT into your routine and do a lot of burpees.
@captbklee is right, the burpees are way worse that the obstacles at sucking the energy out of you!

Don't wear cotton (socks, underwear, etc.) if you get muddy/sweaty, it'll weigh you down.

Warning; these races are super addictive!

AverageJoeFit · February 2017

All the advice above is correct.

Unless you are super competitive plan on a couple of hours. Eat simple foods the morning before so you don't have to go to the bathroom.

It is a running race so practice running. Depending on were the race is practice running on hills too.

Practice burpees and how to do them efficiently.

I love Spartans and am doing a few this year.

soldiergrl_101 · March 2017

esjones12 wrote: »

@captbklee - Random tips to follow. Feel free to message me with more questions as I barely check the forums.

- Discuss with your group what your game day plan is. Are you all sticking together no matter what? Are any of you super competitive and will get upset if you are being held up by others? Even if you are all "fit" you may excell at different aspects of the course. For instance I ran with a group at the VT Beast and it was a disaster. I was weak at climbing hills but I'm a beast at technicall downhill and strength obstacles so I was always waiting for them. One of the girls had some major dehydration issues and slowed us up, etc. Being with a group can have its positives as well (like being a lot of fun). The important thing is to make sure you are all on the same page so no one gets upset if you break up during the race.

- Don't undertrain your run. During a Sprint you are probably looking at 2-3 hours with a group with not all being in super shape. [Unless its a tough mountain venue then probably longer]. Of those 2-3 hours you will probably spend a max of 15 minutes on obstacles. Running and building an aerobic base is considerably more important if you are looking to do well and complete the course in a decent time.

- Doing body weight exercises and grip strength will help with obstacles (and hill climbing if you don't skip your lunges!). Most obstacles are technique related. If you can get your hands on some of them prior to the race it will give you more confidence during the race. But I find too many people focus on the obstacles going into their first race. It is easiest to figure out your strength/weaknesses once you experience the course.

- Dropping excess pounds if anyone has them will be a HUGE help. Depending on your current state you can drastically improve your running times and obstacle completion rate by dropping even just 10 pounds. So focus on good nutrition

I really love this especially what you said in the first half. Me and my friends are all in various fitness places...One is skinny fit (doesn't workout), the other is a muscle head, I am chubby fit I run all the time, and the other two are much bigger and trying to get better. Two of us are extremely competitive so this conversation would probably be a good thing for us to have before the race. Thanks for the tip!

soldiergrl_101 · March 2017

I will definitely make sure to hydrate. What should I eat that morning? Something light like fruit or starchy like a bagel? Don't want to way my self down but the race is at 12:30/1pm

JoRocka · March 2017

"My girlfriends and I"

and I'd eat a decent breakfast at 8 AM- plenty of time to carb up and digest.

shellnaga · March 2017

I alternated days of doing Insanity workouts and running 3-5 miles five to six days a week to get ready for the sprint. The two different types of cardio helped a ton! Insanity prepped me for burpees and the intervals of the stop and go between running and obstacles. I also had a pull up bar for my door and bought an assisted rubber pull-up band to use....I've never been able to do a pull up on my own. The band is awesome to build strength up.

Getting ready to SPARTAN

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