OPEX © 1999-2016

Spartan Race® Gym Training

By James FitzGerald

OPEX © 1999-2016

The concept of Spartan Race® has certainly upgraded the idea behind running. But at the base of the entire event is still just that - RUNNING.   I had a love for running in general. It was the base characteristic of a lot of sports that I played growing up. Cross-country running, soccer, and basketball are well known for having large running distances covered when you play them. When I was removed from the university setting and moved out west, I fell in love with sprinting and running as my coaches and I competed in the Toughest Calgarian Alive competition.   The events in one day were;

• 5K run for time • Shot put for distance • 100m swim sprint for time • 25 ft. legless rope climb for time • 80m sprint for time • Bench press 1 rep max for weight • As many reps as possible (AMRAP) strict pull ups - 1 set for reps • Obstacle course run for time

  Having to run to prepare for both the 5K, the sprint, and other events had their challenges as you can imagine. My initial love of varied pieces of work would later set me up well for the love of training for the Sport of Fitness.

I ran an 11.58 (11.58 second) 100m sprint in a Calgary Track event and an 18:15 (18 minute 15 second) 5K on a road race in training preparation leading up to the same competition. Where I lacked was swimming and upper body strength & muscle endurance but I was able to do well on the obstacle course. Things have not changed that much since then!

OPEX © 1999-2016

As I began entering the “CrossFit years” I was dabbling in the new kid on the block which was mountain running. It was the 5 Peaks racing series that gave athletes an option to run but it wasn’t just running, it was honestly just pain tolerance. Unless you were 110# and 5’1” you were going to have to hurt and bleed to win. I LOVED IT.   Over time, running programs were losing their steam. You’d start with a 5K, get cheered on and have the “you did it.” What was next though? A 10K of course. Those same running programs just so happened to have a running course that always seemed to begin the week after the 5K. Timing was brilliant! You then finish the 10K so what was next after that? A “half” (half marathon which is 13.1 miles)…etc…you know how the story goes. The races just keep getting longer.   Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing un-sexy about running on pavement for hours for a specific time. You just gotta LOVE IT but you also have to be ABLE to do it. Hence the explosion of options like Spartan Race®. Initially there was JUST running but now there’s way more. To understand obstacle racing simply, it’s adding tasks on top of running. I.E. you run on a track - not complex. You run on a track over obstacles - more complex. You run outdoors over obstacles and drag weights - more and more complex.   You get the drift. That is simply Spartan Race®.

There is still such beauty in all aspects of the sport of running. So simple at times like car racing, it’s tough to see. Steve Prefontaine (Pre) said it best when it came to simplicity on a track:

“The best pace is a suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die.”

OPEX © 1999-2016

I mean simple - just put it out there and have at it.   The training for someone to go from an 8 minute mile to a 7 minute mile is a little simplistic - with all things being equal. To go from a 4:01 mile to a 3:59 mile is LESS simple. To have someone run over the land is simple. To have them run over the land and go over pommel horses, under barbed wire, climb ropes, etc…is LESS simple.   So one can see the importance of 2 things sticking out for Spartan Race® training. 1.     Running must be a base of support for training. In all of its glory, no matter how much we want to say it’s not in racing, IT IS. 2.     The ability to do tasks under control without taking away from continuing to quickly move over the land.   In a recent conversation with an elite level obstacle course racer we had the same conversation about the sport. My comments to him were that there will be a divide that must happen in sport vs. fitness in Spartan Race®. This is just like any other sport that you know If they really want to make the elite bleed and fight to be the best, the tasks MUST dictate the race so that it isn’t JUST a “runner’s race” to win.   If you give me any good male Cross Country runner and slap him into obstacle course races, he’ll place quite highly UNLESS the tasks outside of running punish him enough physically (see # 2 above) to make the “more fit” person move forward.

You WILL get the participants and those who want an “experience.” Spartan Race® has done a solid job of engagement and, THUS far, transparency at the top of what their vision is and why they do what they do. (Other companies can learn from this)   As for those experiencing, they need base levels of fitness and “some” running to participate. Arguably as their fitness in the gym improves, so will their average finishing times on successive races. For the higher level racers, the gym work will be imperative to advancing beyond what they already have. With the changing landscape of the races to include the obstacles, the penalties, etc…this will make it MORE and MORE important for those racers wishing to “level up” to have their “gym” fitness dialed in!

OPEX © 1999-2016

On that note, I wanted to offer some initial advice in your thinking around GYM training. You can look at the sport’s requirements at first, but looking at the athlete is more important.   First, let’s assume a few things:

• They can run well • They can adapt to the obstacles and perform all of them

Second, you must throw away things that will be harmful to the progression of the 2 main things mentioned prior which were a base of running and tasks performed under control:

• In the strength and conditioning world, the things that hurt this more than ever for these athletes would be • Complex barbell training • Eccentrics on the lower body • Too much lactate training • Not enough balance in aerobic pieces 

• For example, if someone’s fitness was poor, then something like this; • 5 rounds for time:

• 12 squat cleans at a tough weight • 20 toes to bar • 50 double unders

• This “Might” help them get better at Spartan Race®.   For someone who wants to run well for the next 7 days, continue to train, and honor that system (and they are fit enough for Spartan Race®) the workout above would be death because it contains all things NOT important to the improvement for someone wishing to get better at Spartan Race®.   Some positive factors that we can THROW INTO the mix to keep in the program would be;

• Postural endurance - ass to neck • Smaller upper body muscles • Strength endurance capabilities in dragging, carrying, holding • Maintenance of running while being able to perform other tasks - balance, climb, go over, go under, etc…

OPEX © 1999-2016

So as a base, we now know how to build the GYM training with simple starting points.   So a session in the GYM might NOT look like this;   A. Snatch off blocks - build to a max weight B. FS - 10,5,3,3,5,10 C. 4 sets of AMRAP CTB pull ups - rest as needed + for time: 30 m FR walking lunges - tough 30 HSPU strict 30 BJ - 24” 30 HSPU strict 30 m FR walking lunges - tougher

A session in the GYM might DEFINITELY look like this;   A. clean pull to nipples - 3 moderate reps every 90 sec B. RDL @ 22X1; 3-4 x 4; rest 2 min + Emom - 8 min Odd - bear crawl with vest - 30 sec Even - RC 20’ with vest x 1 + For time - low breath rate, constant movement; 50 m FC - tough unbroken Flywheel Bike (FWB) - 15 cals  3 trips monkey bars - all unbroken Ski Erg - 400 m KB FR carry - heavy - 50 m Run 400 m - tempo 50 m FC - tough unbroken

OPEX © 1999-2016

Session 1 obviously contains complexity, eccentrics and the possibility of higher lactate work.   Session 2 contains postural endurance work, the ability to litmus running in the grinding aerobic work, and it picks on some skills relevant to the sport setting.   There will be many more things to consider as we see the growth of the obstacle course racing sport.  One of the things I hope that the sport keeps in its eyes is the importance of proper progression in strength and conditioning to allow their athletes to REALLY show what they are capable of in the line of fire in competition.  “I hope” finds no place to sit within it. It can be enticing and sexy but it won’t help those that want to get better at and not just experience the Spartan Race®.