The 5k Foam Fest is the easiest, all the way down to Spartan Race Sprint as the hardest “beginner-friendly” races. If you're looking for a good reason to get muddy and experience a challenging obstacle course race (the cool kids say “OCR”), our best suggestion is to start with Warrior Dash or Rugged Maniac. Spartan Races and Ultramarathons Are Dumb. Spartan races are the big thing in my neck of the woods right now. For those of you unfamiliar with a Spartan race, it is basically an obstacle course up to 12 miles long. Obstacles include difficult tasks like climbing a big wall, running through mud, and watching an entire episode of The Golden Girls. The Spartan Race is more focused on individual completion of each obstacle, you can have people cheer you on, but they can’t really help you. Tough Mudder has at least half of it’s obstacles focus on teamwork where doing it yourself is almost impossible. In my experience doing both events, I found there is much more focus on strength 3. Asymmetrical Squat. How to do it: Place a weight of choice in your right hand, palm facing up. Stand with legs a little wider than shoulder-width apart, then pivot your right foot 90 degrees The Spartan Race is 80% running and 20% strength. In light of that, Gabb says it’s better to build your aerobic base first before you build on your upper body strength for all the obstacles. According to him, you can expect mostly upper body-related obstacles because you’ll be hanging from monkey bars, rope climbing, and doing a lot of . This is even bigger and better than those one-liners on your day’s task menu. Your first Spartan Ultra means you said yes to a challenge and you finished it, so you should be damn proud of what you did. At the end, enjoy the hardware and a new, accomplished headspace. 11. Again, the Bragging Rights! Yes of course you can. The obstacles are the exact same, there will be a few more of them and they will be further apart. You don’t have to run the entire thing. You can walk if needed. You don’t need tons of training or preparation. It’s a fun race. Do one and see what you think. The key to training for a Spartan Race is to understand the event, assess your goals and conditioning, and prepare your mind and body. Research the Course, Rules, and Obstacles. Assess Your Goals and Conditioning. Get Ready to Run with Focus on Endurance, Speed, and Hills. Prepare for the Obstacles by Strengthening Your Core, Grip, and Flexibility. Here's a 6 week plan to get you in gear. Obstacle racing is the new boot camp. Going back a few years boot camps were all the rage. You’d have a bunch of pretend tough guys (in most cases, although some were legit ex-military PTIs) parading around in camouflage or other tactical gear, and barking orders at people desperate to get in shape. Hydration: Cramping is the last thing you are going to want during a big race, and a lot of that has to do with hydration. Can a beginner do a Spartan race? Yes, you can totally do a Spartan Race. For your first Spartan experience, I would recommend not really thinking of it as a “race,” but rather a test. It’ll test you mentally and

can beginners do spartan race