Hey all,

I am a relative newbie when it comes to full on fitness. I was the kid in school that never played any sports but instead grew my brain muscle.

I am training for my second Spartan Race and need some help as far as excercises go. During my first Spartan Race last year (during which I had a blast with my team) I found that after all the training I did to prepare (mostly cardio), I had neglected everything from the waist up. I had never thought about working my upper body and core and paid the price (many, many Burpees) during the race.

I don't have much in the way of a routine right now (work likes to get in the way) and I'm hoping to get some guidance as far as if there are workouts that should be done on certain days before others to get the most effective results. For example, should I do abs before or after chest? Arms before or after chest? Etc.

Thank you Hermanites!

Hey man,

nice to see you are going back to do another one :)

In terms of your excerise routine, you may want to take a look at Crossfit and circuit training

I know alot of people here may not "believe" in crossfit but I personally think it would be perfect for the type of event you are attending, especially with all those burpees haha

If you don't want to do crossfit, that's fine aswell. I like to throw abs in at the end of a workout but it is personal preference. It would be different on a day like back or legs in which case 100% after the workout as some exercises on these days require your core and you don't want your core fatigued for deadlifts. Try out both before and after on other days and see what you like more. You may find if you do it before chest, your stabilisation muscles might be a bit weaker but thats really all

Chest usually starts my week so arms do come later in the week.

Its really all personal preference and not fatigueing a muscle group that may be used the next day as you wont be able to hit that group as hard.

Again, all personal preference but hopefully someone with a bit more insight will jump onto this post also.

Regards

Declan #HTH

great input Declan... but keep in mind crossfit is just circuit training.

cookb2 if you are going to do another spartan race than you definitely want to gain more upper bodystrength!

To begin with you can put together a simple weekly split like this.

Monday: Back & Biceps

Tuesday: Circuit / Total body

Wednesday Chest / Triceps

Thursday: Legs (GLutes and Quads)

Friday: Hamsrings, Shoulders Traps

Saturday Circuit / Total body

Sunday: rest

Then be sure to add in 20-30 minutes of cardio AFTER your training days a few times a week. That combined with the circuits will definitely boost your muscle endurance.

Have you checked out my ROUTINE section of the site? It can help you find what you need with our filter search system. It is pretty cool! #HTH

Now I see this...I used to run this kind of races, but, Is not better a whole body routine for this events?

@rakor, check this out!

As somebody who has done a fair amount of Spartan Races I HIGHLY reccomend doing hill runs and trail runs to get used to the moutain races ! I would highly recommend checking out Yancy Camp which is a great programed geared to the sport of these races. There you can find the same workout the pros do by a top coach. You are going to need a cardio and strangth workout. Whatever you do if you are not used to running increase your miles slowly to avoid any injury. There are tons of Spartan workouts all over the place run by spartans all over the U.S . Let me know if you want me to put you in touch with the closed reginal group tp you so you can join in some fun. The spartan training guide located on the Spartan race site is also a great start!