Tomorrow (Sun), July 21, 22 members of Rushe Fitness have a 6am start as we are heading down to Oldcastle in Co Meath to take part in Tough Mudder.
Click here to join our gym family.
The 10-mile course has 30 amazing and tough obstacles throughout it and is sure to be a tough, but very satisfying event.
Mud runs are becoming more and more popular.
Each county is opening their own versions, of the larger national events, and more and more people are taking part in them.
They are a great day out and are fantastic as a team-building event.
With such huge variations in the type and length of these events, it has to be asked;
How exactly should you train for a mud run?
You need to have some level of fitness.
You need to be able to pull yourself through mud and over obstacles.
You also need to be able to run like hell from the guys who may be shooting at you.
As hellish as that may sound to those who have never tried it, it’s not actually as bad as it sounds, and they are really fun to do.
There are a few considerations that you should take into account before you start training for one of these events.
• Your experience
• The type of event
• Are you in it to compete or just to complete it?
• What is your current fitness level?
• Are you part of a team?
1. The first consideration and the one that most people tend to overlook is the actual length of the course.
Tough Mudder is 10-miles or 16km.
Hell and Back is anything from 8-12km from the previous ones we have competed in.
Most of the local ones are all around the 10k length and usually have a 5k option for beginners.
With such a difference in the length of the events, it wouldn’t make sense to train the same way for each one.
Your aerobic base is hugely important in your ability to not only complete the event but also to recover quickly after each obstacle and continue to keep jogging.
You are never running the full 10 or 16km courses all in one go.
The obstacles break up the course and you won’t be doing your 5 or 10k pace in-between either.
The main thing you will need is time on the legs.
So, if you are able to run a 10k without having to stop, that should see you through the longer courses without much issue.
2. The second consideration is your strength level.
With the wide range of obstacles throughout these events, you must have a good base of strength.
• Use bodyweight exercises
• Compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, heavy presses, heavy pulls.
• Functional work like prowler pushes, farmers walks, heavy sledge drags, rope slams, tyre flips.
• Grip strength for the dreaded monkey bars or rings.
Get used to carrying awkward loads on your shoulders, in front of you and on opposite shoulders as you’ll meet something like this in all of these events.
If you have it done in training, it won’t be as big a shock when you have to do it.
3. The next consideration is your speed and agility work
Most people who take part in these events are doing it for fun and just to complete the course.
So, adding in some short sprints, cone drills and exercises like burpees etc., will be enough to see you through the event.
The sprints will be essential for dodging snipers and getting used to quick turns for your ankles and knees can be added in to prepare ahead of time.
4. The last consideration is your mobility work.
The length of the course, the type of the terrain, mud, water, walls, crawling, running, walking and sprinting all take its toll on you over the length of the event.
Keeping yourself mobile and flexible, especially around the hips and lower back will reduce the chances of injury and allow you to complete the course and also to compete in the next event when it comes around.
If in doubt, always remember the 5 P’s
• Proper
• Preparation
• Prevents
• Poor
• Performance.
There you have it; an outline to how you would plan out your mud run to help you to finish the course with ease.
#summershape
If you would like to take part in one of these events, we regularly take groups to them and our Lean in 2019 program is perfect for these events.
Our next phase of classes starts on August 6th and you can pre-book your place now through the link below.
