Go Spartan or go home!

Thinking of braving a Spartan Race this year? Clinton Slater, a Reebok Spartan Race SGX coach and co-owner of Outdoor Physical Training, has been supporting racers – from beginners to elites – in the Spartan obstacle course racers for years, and here he reveals some of his top training tips and techniques to get you race ready!

THE WALLS
Training tip: Defeating the Spartan walls is all about explosive power through the legs to firstly get you up onto the wall, then gain balance before using your upper body strength to pull your body weight up and over the wall.

Work on your explosive leg power with squat jumps and use dips and pull ups to get you used to lifting your own bodyweight. But my best advice would be to get out there, to your local park or your back garden, to find something that resembles the walls. Practice jumping up and holding onto the top of the wall, this will build the arm strength you need to hold up your own bodyweight.

Perfect the technique: Don’t hesitate! Run up to the wall in one movement and use momentum to lift you up as you jump and grab the top of the wall. Beware of your knees hitting the wall, it’s about timing! Rotate your elbows forward as you’re jumping to the top, use the drive to lift your body up and over (taking a pause at the top to balance if you need).

THE MONKEY BARS
Training tip: The monkey bars are 70% back and shoulder strength, 20% biceps and 10% will power! I always start training with just ‘hang time’ – Just being able to hand and hold your own body weight. Once you have mastered this, move onto the back pull technique – using your back muscles (Lats) to drive you from one bar to the next, rather than just relying on arms. To do this don’t just hang with arms straight and locked, engage your back muscles to take most of the strain.

Perfect the technique: Use the back pull to move across the bars, pull up first to the bar you’re on and the momentum generated from this move will drive you forwards to the next bar. Once you have your rhythm you can either use the Organutan ‘swing’ movement, or some people prefer to use their whole body to leap from one bar to another with both hands at the same time. Always ensure you have a good grip on the one hand before releasing the other. Try to get into a rhythm and again, try not to hesitate too much as this will affect your momentum.

THE BARBED WIRE CRAWL
Training tip: A great ‘crawl’ comes down to technique. To train, get in your garden or down the park and simply practice crawling. The more you do, the quicker and fitter you’ll get. Coordination is also key, as your alternate leg and arm should be driving forwards at the same time. Core work will play a big part in training for this so get familiar with the plank!

Perfect the technique: Don’t stop! The arms should remain bent throughout and bring your driving knees all the way up to your waist as you push forwards. As you move forwards your hips will come up off the ground but keep them low to save energy and escape getting caught on the wire.

THE SPEAR THROW
Training tip: As not everyone has access to a javelin (!) I would suggest you get a Rugby ball and practice the throwing action-like you would in American football. Or even buy a broom stick and practice throwing it through a hanging tyre at a set target. Note that it’s not all about power, it’s about the angle the spear travels through the air as it hits the hay bail. Remember you have to get the spear to hit and stick.

Perfect the technique: Pull your arm behind your head and in line with your shoulder, try not to throw from the hips as this will cause the spear to wobble away from target. Also, don’t run-up before the throw. Imagine the throwing movement like darts, you wouldn’t have a run-up to the dart board. Instead, step back with one leg and follow through with your hand and wrist at eye level or above. Go for accuracy before power.

THE ROPE CLIMB
Training tip: The obstacle that people fear the most and the one that is renowned for the highest failure rate (there’s a lot of people doing their punishment Spartan 30 burpees here!) There are two types of rope climber, the people who try to elevate themselves purely on arm strength alone (often a fail), or those that use grip and legs, combined with upper body strength. Similar to the monkey bars, you need to get used to lifting your own body weight, but in this case you can drive up through your legs to help.

Best technique: As the rope is dangling, weave your strong leg around the rope to a point where the rope will then be lying over your foot into the inside of your leg. Grab the rope with your hands at chin level and place your other foot on top of the first. Then lean back. Now the important bit – keeping the rope trapped, bring your feet up to your chest (the foetal position) and keeping pressure on the rope just straighten your legs as if you’re trying to stand up. Walk your hands up the rope, extending the body up the rope, into a position where you can repeat over and over again until you reach the bell! Then don’t look down, returning to the ground using the same process in reverse. Take your time, otherwise you’ll feel the burn, quite literally, of the rope!

The remaining 2015 Reebok Spartan Races are open for entry but filling fast:

South London Sprint (September 19) – Ashburnham Palace
South London Super (September 20) – Ashburnham Palace
South London Beast (September 27) – Ashburnham Palace
Visit spartanraceuk.uk for more information or to look ahead to the 2016 season.