Fun Is No Obstacle! The Men’s Health Urbanathlon obstacle-course race series will put your clients—and your training—to the test in a cool new way.
A competitive run on an urban obstacle course—that’s the Men’s Health Urbanathlon. But it’s more than that: Courses vary from 3 to 5 miles with seven obstacles for participants to jump, scoot, or climb over (for the sprint distance) to 10 to 12 miles and 14 obstacles (in the classic distance). The three-city race series hits Chicago, New York, and San Francisco this fall.
“I like the training process and challenge of these events,” says Sam Owens, MS, NASM-CPT, PES, fitness director at Midtown Athletic Club in Rochester, N.Y., an Urbanathlon competitor who has helped half a dozen clients train for the events. If you or your clients want to race, visit mhurb.com/trainer to register—then check out Owens’ training recommendations here.
Burpee-Squat-Press
Strength and power movement combos are good prep for obstacle courses. One favorite: Do a burpee, followed by a dumbbell squat to press. After three or four weeks, Owens adds an additional medicine ball slam to the mix.
Bear Crawls
Get on all fours, knees bent at 90 degrees, but only hands and feet touching the floor. Move forward for 30 feet, turn around, repeat; aim for 30 to 45 seconds per lap. One tip: Keep your rear as low as possible.
Yoga
Owens recommends yoga or Pilates for flexibility and to help recovery. Yoga or a similar stretching routine balances the running and strength training in most workouts.
Monkey Bars
Head to the playground. In addition to practicing crossing the monkey bars, Owens adds some upper-body movements, such as pull-ups.
Ladder Drills
These can simulate tire obstacles and boost flexibility and leg strength.
Dips on Parallel Bars
This boosts shoulder and triceps strength. In addition, it gives clients practice at lifting their own body weight, which is required on many of the Urbanathlon obstacles.
NASM is once again a sponsor for the 2014 Men’s Health Urbanathlon. As an NASM pro you can get in on the action as an Ambassador, and not only will you receive some great benefits, you can also share a 20% discount with your clients for race entries. Ambassador sign up and program details mhurb.com/trainer
Taken from NASM’s The Training Edge, Sept/Oct 2014
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