Jumping death-defying gaps, climbing walls, swinging and climbing ropes, slithering through crammed watery tunnel ways and otherwise negotiating all manner of insane obstacles. It might sound like a premonition of the opening scene for an upcoming James Bond movie, but no, it’s actually the premonition of what for many of us will be an upcoming fun-packed weekend, without a single secret agent or super-villain in sight.
The latest phenomenon to hit the exercise and fitness world is obstacle and adventure racing, the latest in a line of hardcore activities to rock the exercise and fitness world, knocking the last nails securely into the coffin of the Lycra-clad fitness emporium era of yesteryear.
Nowadays it’s all about getting down and dirty, and pushing to the limit. No comfortable heart rate zones anymore, it’s all out or all over.
Inspired by classic military assault courses, obstacle races are, not surprisingly, tough. It’s no wonder soldiers the world over have used this style of training to get fighting fit for hundreds of years. It incorporates a huge array of challenging physical movements, out in the elements, and set in a race format.
The movements themselves are the prime examples of what have come to be known in the fitness industry as ‘functional’. They’re all about negotiating obstacles both natural and man-made, and doing it quickly and efficiently.
Running up slopes, jumping up towards bars or ledges and bounding up large steps or scaffolding structures all require a high degree of power in the legs, combined with balance, coordination and timing. Swinging across monkey bars, pulling one’s body weight over walls or other obstacles and climbing ropes all require the addition of excellent upper-body strength too.
Nowadays it’s all about getting down and dirty, and pushing to the limit. No comfortable heart rate zones anymore, it’s all out or all over
The cumulative effect of all these, combined with the running necessary to get from one obstacle to the next, places a significant burden on the cardiovascular system. As your heart strives to pump blood to the working muscles that need it, and your energy systems continuously shuffle to meet the varying demands of each phase, the body well and truly undergoes a full and total body workout.
Perhaps the best part of all is that obstacle racing requires what a training sergeant would most likely define as ‘guts’. The ability to crawl, slide, slither and bound one’s way past a series of challenging obstacles against time requires mental and physical robustness.
Achieving this by conquering obstacle courses tends to result in a huge sense of satisfaction. If you’ve never considered obstacle racing before, then it might be just the sort of challenge you were looking for. You can enter races locally, or even join the growing international trend of fitness holidaying.
Obstacle races are held all over Europe and getting a group of friends together to prepare for and participate in one can be an immensely enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Like all big things meanwhile, obstacle racing is not without critics. Just like other modern disciplines out there based on the more hardcore approach, obstacle racing has been associated with higher injury risk than traditional activities performed in more controlled and structured environments.
As with most sports and physical activities, some injuries are unavoidable, resulting from simple misfortune. Others however, are indeed avoidable, and adequate preparation is the key here. Underestimating an activity like obstacle racing is a dire mistake. Just because this and many other challenges are of course achievable, this is no licence to take them lightly.
The full-body movements involved in obstacle racing require good levels of endurance, strength and flexibility, and if you don’t sufficiently develop these attributes, to put it bluntly, you’re probably going to get hurt.
A basic preparatory programme should be followed diligently leading up to the event of your choice, and participation absolutely should not be a spur-of-the-moment thing for the temporary decoration of social media newsfeeds. Respect the discipline of obstacle racing and its traditions and it will pay you back generously. Underestimate it and it will return you a swift lesson. That said, how should one go about building a solid base of fitness for obstacle racing? Let’s look at the basics.
Your feet are your transport, so equip yourself with a quality pair of running shoes to support the alignment of your feet in all terrain. Running is your first priority as this is ultimately how you will get from one obstacle to the next and finish the race.
If you’re a beginner, start on the comfortable flat surfaces of promenades or running tracks, and leave plenty of rest in between sessions to recover and avoid overuse injuries like shin splints. Progress from continuous steady-pace runs of not more than half an hour to longer sessions involving changes of speed, intermittent bouts of fast, medium and slow paces.
Once you feel confident, venture out onto the running and walking trails to get used to varying terrain. Introduce stops every five minutes to include some bodyweight exercise circuits including press-ups, sit-ups, dips on benches or steps and pull-ups if you’re strong enough and have the suitable apparatus along your route.
Gym sessions and free weights at this point will help increase your strength further, and cardiovascular machines in the gym that differ from running will mix up the training stimulus, helping to develop well-rounded and versatile fitness accommodating a range of different movements.
Any functional training styles like kettlebell training, weightlifting and crossfit exercises will go a long way too.
matthewmuscatinglott@gmail.com