The Tough Mudder Training Files: Week #4

I happened to see a facebook entry the other day on a Tough Mudder post that read something like this, 

"I was a Recon Marine and this course was tougher than some of the runs we did during training. Great job on putting together a great course!"

Give me strength Governator!

 ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?! To be honest that this freaked me out a bit because I know my training hasn't quite hit the "nuts" threshold yet. After considering my program (while not bad) and the above comment, I am going to be adding another layer of training this week to get right. If you see me walking around in a daze for the next month or so, don't worry. I am not on drugs or anything - I probably just whooped my own ass a bit. I'll be alright. I think.

Weeks until I get dominated - 6!

Monday - Heavy LB
DB Lunges 5x BW-25lbs, 4x30lbs, 3x35lbs, 2x40lbs, 1x45lbs-70lbs

Training Result - I have not been this sore in my legs in a long, long time...interestingly enough I have been working hard on mobilizing my right hip/ankle and I was sore in different place on my right side than my left. Pretty cool when your own research breaks through into actual training.

Tuesday - Heavy UB
Chins, Neutral Chins, Pull Ups x 5 strict hang
DB 1 Arm Row 10,8,6,4,2x 60,65,70,75,80
Machine Shoulder Press 5 x 10 (ISO Rock Grip Chins x 1 x 5-10 secs)
Unilateral Lat Pulldown 3x5 (Push Ups 3x10)
Various Shoulder Endurance Sets and Fat Pipe Wrist Roller x 5lbs x 3

Training Result - I am not really keeping a strict plan here other than to emphasize a certain area - this workout was back/pulling strength. I haven't felt any soreness in my lats for some time - mission accomplished. The shoulder and grip work - still burning but getting easier.

Wednesday - Kettlebell & Strongman Supersets
Various KB Swings, Cleans, Clean + Press, & Snatches x varied reps.
Supersetted shovel lifts (5x5x45lbs) and various types of farmer's walks w/ 45lb plate x 60 yards.
I started at 2pm and would hit a superset every 2-3 minutes until 3pm as I set up the weight room for the day.

I added in some non-traditional training since the tough mudder course is designed in a "chaos"-style. I thought KB lifts and strongman lifts fit the bill best - some of more "chaotic" training tools you can use. Nothing better to simultaneously challenge your anaerobic endurance,explosiveness, unbalanced core strength/stability, and grip strength/endurance.

Training Result - This workout was easier than I anticipated which means my body is starting to catch back up and I need ramp it up even more next week. This ended being more of a recovery workout since it knocked out more soreness than anything else.


Thursday - Bike/Treadmill Hill Work, Core, & Flex/Mob
I got super busy and only managed to do 25 minutes on the bike on random setting. I was able to move up to level 7 for it so my cardio is slowly coming up, which is very encouraging at the moment since my run sucked on Saturday. I was also able to stretch and roll some at the facility yesterday - very glad I did that.

Training Result - No major leg or lung burn -going to have to attack this day more next week.

Friday - TRX Circuit Day
Elevated Push Ups x 5
Arm Flutters x 5 each side
V - Inchworms x 5
Rows-YTWA complex x 10
1 Leg Squats x 5 each side
* Repeated this 10x as I cleaned up the place. I did the last 3 sets of squats with a jump - killer variation! My arms, shoulders, and back were jello from all the volume this week.

Training Result - My shoulders, core and knee haven't felt this good in unstable, chaos work in awhile. I definitely plan to keep suspension circuits in my training plan after the mudder - nothing better to keep the synergists and core firing correctly.

Saturday - LSD (Long, Slow, Distance) Training Run

5 Miles in 59 minutes - avg pace of 12 mins.

Training Result - I only had to stop once this week compared to 5-6 times last week and I shaved 30 mins off. Having the Ipod back in effect blasting the dulcet tones of Korn (among others) seemed to help. Definitely need to get through it without stopping next week. "Twisted Transistor" was particularly helpful in getting up the big hill in my route - just an FYI...


Sunday - Recovery (Various Mobility & Flex Work)

Training Result - I let myself get too busy and will be doing this on Monday instead...Have a feeling I am going to regret this decision later.