Tough Mudder Training Plan
So I've had a few people ask me about my training program for the Tough Mudder.
In training for the Tough Mudder, I will generally exercise 5-6 days each week. Sometimes I will work out more than once in a day, but this is not so much part of my plan bet more that I've got extra energy to burn, or I'm feeling sluggish and know I will feel better if I do something to raise my heart rate for a while.
So the first thing I'm doing is a basic training program for a half marathon. This involves doing runs four times each week, increasing in lenth over a minimum 14 week program. I usually use the training plans put together by Hal Higdon. If you Google his name you will find his website with programs for training anything from a 5k to an ultra-marathon. I don't actually do any of the interval training or speed work he talk about, because I don't care about time that much, I just run because I like it. I use his distances as a basic guideline. The reality is if you can run a couple 10k runs in a week and a ten miler on the weekend without too much difficulty, you can run a half marathon.
Then I'm doing some simple weight training. My goal is to work out each muscle group twice a week using high reps and low weights. I use high reps and low weight because I want to increase stamina and strenth without adding much bulk. This can be all done in two days, or stretched out over many days depending on what you feel like and your schedule for the week. For example, tonight I did my entire body (except legs) as follows:
2 sets of 10 side plank pushups with 12 pound weights. (chest, triceps, upper back)
2 sets of 20 curls with 12 pound weights (biceps)
1 set of 5 handstand pushups plus 10 deep slow breaths of handstand (shoulders)
1 set of 10 lateral arm extensions with 12 pound weights (shoulders)
2 sets of 30 crunches, varies to isolate all the different abdominal muscles. (abs & lower back)
This was a pretty light strenth training program, but I did do 30 minutes of Prana Dande Yoga before I started to get my blood flowing.
And then the thing that really makes it all come together... my yoga program. I'm trying to do at least 30 minutes of Yoga each day. I mostly practice vinyasa or prana dande yoga. I usually make it to about 4 classes each week, sometimes more, usually less. The classes run 60-90 minutes. When I don't make it to a class, I try to do 30 minutes on my own. Often, the days I run, I end up doing my post run stretching with yoga and that takes about 20 minutes, and then I'm done for the day.
I also eat a ridiculous amount of food to maintain this, and drink 6-8 glasses of water and 2-4 cups of tea each day. When I actually maintain this kind of program, I feel amazing. It might seem like this would make it hard to get anything else done, but in reality, I am more productive in my conscious hours because I feel highly energized.
In training for the Tough Mudder, I will generally exercise 5-6 days each week. Sometimes I will work out more than once in a day, but this is not so much part of my plan bet more that I've got extra energy to burn, or I'm feeling sluggish and know I will feel better if I do something to raise my heart rate for a while.
So the first thing I'm doing is a basic training program for a half marathon. This involves doing runs four times each week, increasing in lenth over a minimum 14 week program. I usually use the training plans put together by Hal Higdon. If you Google his name you will find his website with programs for training anything from a 5k to an ultra-marathon. I don't actually do any of the interval training or speed work he talk about, because I don't care about time that much, I just run because I like it. I use his distances as a basic guideline. The reality is if you can run a couple 10k runs in a week and a ten miler on the weekend without too much difficulty, you can run a half marathon.
Then I'm doing some simple weight training. My goal is to work out each muscle group twice a week using high reps and low weights. I use high reps and low weight because I want to increase stamina and strenth without adding much bulk. This can be all done in two days, or stretched out over many days depending on what you feel like and your schedule for the week. For example, tonight I did my entire body (except legs) as follows:
2 sets of 10 side plank pushups with 12 pound weights. (chest, triceps, upper back)
2 sets of 20 curls with 12 pound weights (biceps)
1 set of 5 handstand pushups plus 10 deep slow breaths of handstand (shoulders)
1 set of 10 lateral arm extensions with 12 pound weights (shoulders)
2 sets of 30 crunches, varies to isolate all the different abdominal muscles. (abs & lower back)
This was a pretty light strenth training program, but I did do 30 minutes of Prana Dande Yoga before I started to get my blood flowing.
And then the thing that really makes it all come together... my yoga program. I'm trying to do at least 30 minutes of Yoga each day. I mostly practice vinyasa or prana dande yoga. I usually make it to about 4 classes each week, sometimes more, usually less. The classes run 60-90 minutes. When I don't make it to a class, I try to do 30 minutes on my own. Often, the days I run, I end up doing my post run stretching with yoga and that takes about 20 minutes, and then I'm done for the day.
I also eat a ridiculous amount of food to maintain this, and drink 6-8 glasses of water and 2-4 cups of tea each day. When I actually maintain this kind of program, I feel amazing. It might seem like this would make it hard to get anything else done, but in reality, I am more productive in my conscious hours because I feel highly energized.