An obstacle run is fun, there’s no doubt about that. In one of my last articles I talked about running and how it can influence your testosterone. You’ve learned that there are some great forms of cardio but also some really bad forms.

I know that many people like to participate in an obstacle run at least once in their life. It’s something that most people put on their bucket list the minute they’ve heard from it. You can do these runs without any preparation but your body will thank you if you do some preparation in advance.

During my finals, I received a text from a friend to ask me if I wanted to join them in an obstacle run. She asked me three weeks before this obstacle run took place. “Hell yeah”, I told her and I was looking to prepare in the best way possible.

I did prepare quite intense for the battle of the Ardennes, it’s one of the heaviest obstacles runs in Europe. In those three weeks, I trained myself to a better endurance without messing up my hormonal health. I have to admit that I’ve got a pretty solid basic endurance due to lots of soccer and running in the past.

How do I know the fact that I didn’t mess up my hormones? Well because I went to a doctor and asked him to check my blood the day before the run. I needed to check in any way since it was almost a year ago that my testosterone was at 295 ng per dL. My testosterone was high (>1009 ng/dL was the result), at least high enough in my opinion. I try to find a combination of overall health and hormonal health.

The run itself was a bit heavier than we all expected, due to heavy rain the complete track was full of mud. It was fun but some parts were exhausting. I wasn’t prepared for this but my mindset made me finish it.

That right, I showed what I was made off.

If you want to prepare in the best way possible you should take at least six to nine weeks in advance and use this routine for the last three weeks. This routine didn’t defer much from my original routine, I just added some more HIIT cardio. Looking back to the run I know what I have to change next time I prepare for an obstacle run like this.

 Basic weightlifting won’t prepare you for the obstacle run

If you think you’ll get there by just lifting your weight over and over again your wrong. This run is like a calisthenics workout combined with some running. Your body needs to adapt and use all its muscles to complete the obstacles.

Luckily you can prepare yourself but incorporating some calisthenics into your routine. You can use your local calisthenics park or even a playground to train. I used a tree and a big box to do my box jumps.

Basic weightlifting doesn’t give you the balance you need and calisthenics are a fun way to mix things up. Besides, it doesn’t matter how much you can squat if you can’t do one pistol squat. People tend to look more to people who do pistol squats than people who squat heavy.

I do my pistol squats weighted, so you can call me a total badass.

Long runs are not the solution for a good preparation

We entered to participate in the twelve km (seven miles) run but you could do the 24 km as well. In my whole preparation, I didn’t do one single endurance run. You could do it but I just don’t like it that much. HIIT cardio is a lot better to build a solid endurance in my opinion.

My body reacted well the day after the run but I can imagine that the longer version will be an endocrine system killer. Besides that I don’t see the point in running the same course twice, once was fun enough.

It’s not worth to kill your testosterone production just for a medal and some energy drinks. The purpose of these runs is to offer people a fun time, although I have to admit I like to win and wanted to set a good time.

After I shared all my experiences I’ll give you my routine which I used.

Train on your grip strength

In this race, they used a lot of obstacles that required a strong grip. We had to swing like monkeys from bar to bar above a swimming pool. Climb a rope and hit a bell once you reached the top.

I made both but the other three didn’t make either of them.

I challenged my buddy to do the rope challenge without using our feet and afterward, he was complaining that he couldn’t hold the rope due to the mud on it. I just kept on pushing and used my grip strength to get up and ring the bell.

It’s easy to train your grip strength, just add some dead hangs into your workout and you’ll add some grip strength. You can do pull-ups with a towel attached to a bar if this dead hangs become too easy.

The options are endless but a solid grip strength will help you in this race and a man always has to have a strong grip.

It’s also possible to train for the other obstacle, just go to a playground and find a machine where you can swing from bar to bar. Almost every playground in Belgium has one so if we have it here you must have it too.

Add some box jumps to your routine

I did these at least once a week because it makes it easier to complete some obstacles in the obstacle run. Try to jump them as high as possible, the higher the better.

Here’s a link to my Instagram where I jump pretty high, use it as a motivation.

Hill sprint, do you get the hint?

I like doing sprint but I knew that I didn’t have much time to get myself in the best shape I wanted to be. So instead of doing my normal sprint session on a soccer field, I sprinted on a hill or a bridge and it killed me time after time.

Adding some extra resistance won’t kill you, well at least not in the long run. If you’ve done ten of these sprints you’ll be lucky that you can still breath within the next ten minutes.

Go find a hill that’s at least 100 meters (50 yards) and sprint to the top, once you reached the top you walk down, take a deep breath and go back up.

Make sure that your resting periods don’t take more than three minutes. Three minutes is more than enough if your training to get better endurance.

Fun fact: I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD around the age of 8 and I like to push myself beyond my self opposed limits.

Try to walk or move a lot

Whenever I had the chance I would be walking a bit to stay active. Walking is a form of meditation when your alone you feel free. In this way, you get rid of stress and you stay active.

So basically your only benefit from staying very active. Try to look at it like you’re playing with gravity. There are lots of people who train three or four times a week and sit behind their computer on their rest days.

A rest day doesn’t mean couch potato day, it means that you don’t work out intensely. You can do almost every form of low-intensity cardio.

You can go for a swim but try to swim outside instead of in a regular swimming pool. Chlorine is a well known endocrine disruptor so it lowers your testosterone.

Yeah I know, endocrine disruptors everywhere would be the meme that fits in this situation.

HIIT that shit

On my non-rest day or no- training days it did short HITT cardio workouts that lasted 10 to 15 minutes. You can download free HIIT cardio timers from the google play store or Apple store.

I had three types of HIIT cardio.

• I did 30 seconds sprints , rested 30 seconds and continued to do so for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Same as the first one but with  jump rope.
• I used 30-second intervals but I did a circuit training. I boxed, did burpees, 180 jumps squats, matrix push-ups, jumping jacks and skaters. Feel free to add your preferences.

So my first HIIT workout was number one or two. My third was an intense sprint session that lasted ten minutes. I set my timer and sprinted a short length of a soccer field then I ran back at a speed that was just a bit faster than walking. Once I reached the start I sprinted again and I did this until my timer hit zero.

This third workout is a real killer, don’t forget to walk a bit after you’ve completed this one.

Don’t neglect your stretching

You must stretch on your rest days and before your workouts, most people tend to forget the stretching part. After a workout, I prefer to ride a bike or walk for five minutes.

If you neglect your stretching you’ll end up injured pretty soon. You need to prepare your body before a workout and help it recover on rest days.

So stretch before you start this obstacle run, warm up your whole body. I did this but I forgot to do a warm-up my neck. This resulted in a blocked neck right after the first obstacle.

Yeah, it sucked but I still made it to the finish.

What my training routine looked like three weeks before the obstacle run

The first training routine can be done until one week before the run, the week before the run we take it down a notch.

I’ll give a beginner and harder workout for the training days.

Workout one: the preparation workouts

Monday: upper body

level: beginner 

• dips 5×5 (sets x reps)
• matrix push-ups 5 x 10 (5 times left and 5 times right)
• Australian pull up with reverse grip 5 x 10
• triceps dip between bench 5 x 15-20

The more advanced workout (some exercises were performed weighted)

• Superman push up or explosive dips 5×5
• Hindu push-up 5×20
• Chin-ups (weighted) 5x 5
• Korean dip 5×5

Tuesday: HIIT cardio number one or two

Wednesday: lower body and core

beginner workout

• box jumps 5 x5
• deep bodyweight squats 5 x 20
• hanging knee raises 5 x 10
• plank 3 x 60 seconds

harder workout

• weighted box jumps 5 x 5
• bodyweight shrimp squat 5 x 5
• front lever raises 5x 5 (real core killer)
• plank 5 x 60 seconds

Thursday: HIIT cardio sprint session

Friday: full body

Beginner workout

• push-ups 5 x 10-20
• Australian push up 5 x5
• bodyweight skull crusher 5 x 10
• deep bodyweight squats 5 x 20

Harder workout (performed every exercise weighted)

• clap push-ups 5×5
• pull-ups 5×5
• elevated pike push up 5x 10
• pistol squats 5 x 5

Saturday: the king of the hill aka Hill sprint, do you get the hint?

Sunday: rest day, just being active. Do some low-intensity cardio for 30 to 60 minutes

Workout two: the cooldown week

Monday: full body

Beginner workout

• decline push-ups 5 x 20
• pull up 5x 5
• tiger bend push up 5 x 10
• horizontal jumps 5 x 5

harder workout (one of my favorites)

• weighted muscle-ups 5 x5
• front lever raises 5 x 5
• weighted chin-ups 5 x5
• weighted box jumps 5 x5

Tuesday: rest day, just being active. Do some low-intensity cardio for 30 to 60 minutes

Wednesday: upper body

beginner workout

• incline push up 5 x 10
• chin up 5 x 10
• triceps dip 5 x 10
• pistol squat with a bench 5 x5

harder workout

• weighted dips 5 x5
• push-ups with a clap behind back 5 x5
• handstand push up 5 x 10
• Advanced shrimp squat 5×5

Thursday: rest day, just being active. Do some low-intensity cardio for 30 to 60 minutes

Friday: rest day, just being active. Do some low-intensity cardio for 30 to 60 minutes

Saturday or Sunday: The Obstacle run

What about the day after the Obstacle run?

Well, you’ll be pretty dead on the day of the race; I came home around 11 pm and fell asleep right away. Aim to sleep for about nine hours and make sure you do some stretching and walking the next day.

You’ll probably have some sore legs because they’re not used to run that long. I had some sore legs the day after (Sunday) so on Monday I did a boxing session that consisted out of 15 minutes (HIIT) hitting the bag, 15 minutes (HIIT) kicking the bag and 15 minutes (HIIT) doing both.

My legs didn’t feel sore anymore and the next day I was able to do a lower body day.

You can also take a week off and do active rest every day. Everybody is different and will need other ways to recover from it.

What if I got more than 3 weeks?

It depends on how long you’ve got to prepare. This preparation is a killer and you won’t be able to do it for months. You just have to switch it a bit up. It would look more like this.

• Monday: full body + 10-15 HIIT cardio
• Tuesday: active rest
• Wednesday: lower body + core
• Thursday: active rest
• Friday: upper body + HIIT cardio
• Saturday: 30 min sprint session (see my article on running for the routine) or a 30 min run

In the last three weeks, you can take things up a notch and do my previous mentioned routine.

I hope your Obstacle run goes well.

Stay Alpha and conquer the Obstacle run

Till next time (Well in case you survive the workouts and the Obstacle run)

Alex

 

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