5. Keep it simple – While many Spartans are new to the sport of Obstacle Course Racing, many of us have backgrounds in other activities from triathletes to runners, outdoorsmen to sportsmen.  The first rule at Spartan Race is Keep It Simple!  Go back to the basics of physical activity and leave the gadgets at home.  Don’t worry about the heart-rate monitor or Garmin computer.  Forget about your special socks and new equipment bag.  As you are preparing for a Spartan Race keep in mind that our goal is to challenge you to return to your roots as a human being with basic survival instincts.  If a wall is in front of you, climb over it.  If a rope is hanging, climb up it.  If a spear is near you go throw it!

4. Bring friends – There is no better feeling than sharing an amazing experience with others.  There is also no better feeling than watching a gladiator knock your friend out while you run past them to glory!  The bottom line is, bring some people to support you in the festival grounds or to run next to you.  When you finish the race and want to give someone a muddy hug, you’ll be happy you did!

3. Got WOD? Got FOD? – Through all of the events that we host on many different continents, people ask the same questions.  How do I train for this, and what should I be eating?  We’ve got you covered on both questions.  Click on the links above to sign up for our Workout of the Day and our Food of the Day and you will be ready to go.  Every day you can get specific workouts and delicious recipes with step-by-step directions emailed to you.

2. This is a lifestyle – Spartan Race is about much more than just a race.  Take a few minutes to read some of our amazing stories of inspiration on our blog.  Learn about people with cancer racing between chemotherapy treatments because they refuse to lose.  Read about soldiers who lost their limbs, but not their courage.  Come see if someone else has a story that is similar to yours.

1. You’ll know at the finish line – This slogan isn’t a cliché to us.  We challenge you to come out to one of our events and just give everything you have.  You may not finish first.  You may not finish last.  However, somewhere between an electrifying starting line, and an empowering finish line, you will figure it out.  You mind will wander as you approach various obstacles and your adrenaline will surge as other athletes pass you and you dig deep to compete.  Then, at some point, the fog will lift and your path to success will be clear.

 

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by Carrie Adams

We’re back with another installment of some of our biggest stories of 2012!  Not surprisingly, many of our top 10 blog posts dealt with, what else, training and nutrition!  Spartans commit to a healthy way of living and it was clear that our community was paying attention and getting it done.

Some of our biggest blog posts of the year were centered around how to get fit and how to eat right.  In addition to providing resources on our blog, at Spartan HQ, we are trying to make it even easier to get these tips delivered to you, so if you want our daily WOD delivered directly to your inbox for FREE, click HERE.

Here are our three biggest training posts of 2012!

Breaking down the Warm-Up: As our own Spartan Coach manager Jeff Godin, Ph.D. CSCS always says, “Always start your workout with a warm-up.” Although flexibility and unrestricted movement may be important for long term injury prevention, static stretching and flexibility exercises are not an important part of a warm-up. Stretching moves a joint through its full range of motion, however it does this passively and does very little to increase the temperature of muscle. The warm-up should be active and move the joints through their full range of motion. The warm-up progresses from low intensity towards high intensity. For some, the warm-up may actually have them gassed by the end. The benefits of a warm-up include; increased tissue temperature, tissue compliance, energy metabolism, movement efficiency and reduced tissue stiffness. The warm-up can also be used to reinforce fundamental movement mechanics related to speed and agility. The warm-up should emphasize proper foot placement to promote acceleration and prevent deceleration.  Read the rest of the post by clicking HERE.

Spartan Ab 300:  In this post, Dr. Jeff gives a great ab workout for the ages!  300 reps never felt so good!  Click HERE for the full workout and breakdown.

Buck Furpee Day:  The burpee is quintessentially Spartan in that there is nothing wasted in the activity.   It carries with it efficiency,  and, therefore, concentrated effectiveness.  When you train, focus on training – don’t over-complicate things.  When in doubt, do burpees.  How did Buck Furpee Day go down?  Click HERE and find out.

Spartan Race Nutrition:

It should come as no surprise that training, while a critical piece of the Spartan equation, it isn’t everything.  You need the right fuel to get that Spartan body and keep moving!   Whether your goals are to lose weight, get lean, or perform better, nutrition has to be a part of your plan.  And if you’re not sure where to start and you want some help from the Spartan team, we have good news!  Just like our daily WOD’s we offer FREE daily Food tips and recipes as well.  Simply click HERE to get signed up for yours!

Eat to Live: Spartan Performance Nutrition: Not sure what to eat the night before a race?  This popular blog post solves that problem with ease!  Our own Spartan Champion and Chick Rose-Marie Jarry provides her favorite recipe for a pre-race trio.

Click HERE for the full recipe.

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