Weightlifting for a Spartan Race
In just a few weeks, I will be making a trip to rural Indiana for what I can only anticipate will be a grueling, 13-mile and 30-obstacle Spartan Race known as the “Beast”. I signed up without any concept of what I was doing, and it is still safe to say I’m mostly in the dark. My wife affectionately refers to my information gathering approach as “the opposite of smart,” and she isn’t likely wrong.
Nevertheless, I finally got around to researching some of the obstacles I might expect to encounter, all of which I am woefully unprepared to overcome. I am the kind of guy that likes to “gut it out” more than train with precision.
In this case, training with precision would mean either going to an obstacle course-style gym (which I, probably incorrectly, perceive to be the fitness-equivalent of going to Comic-Con) or visiting neighborhood playgrounds and climbing around the monkey bars by myself (which could result in restraining orders or my picture on the local evening news).
Instead, I’m doing an ad-hoc, semi-diversified set of training that includes lifting heavy weights, yoga, high intensity interval training, and some long(ish) runs. While I am training for a Spartan Race, it would be fair to say that I’m not really preparing for a Spartan Race since I will not have touched a rope or any other kind of obstacle leading up to the event.
I’ll eventually cover my yoga and endurance work, but wanted to focus on my “heavy” weightlifting first.
I do my weight training on Mondays and Fridays right now and work all of the other exercise types around those days.
My weightlifting is based on the StrongLifts 5×5 program. As a non-bodybuilder just looking to get and stay strong, this was my go-to for the first three months of the 2021. It beefed me up and I found myself lifting more than I ever had before. The concept is five sets of five reps of a small handful of core exercises – think squats, deadlifts, etc.
With all of the food I was eating at the time I was doing this program, I looked something like a cross between the Michelin man and a camper from the movie Heavyweights, but hey, at least I was stronger.
Since March, though, I’ve been trying to cut body fat and, in a deep caloric deficit, there is no way I can do the same amount of weight and reps that I was doing before. So here is what my modified program looks like to retain as much strength as possible leading up to the Spartan Race.
Monday
Warmup
I always warm up, but how I do so varies. Sometimes it is 10 minutes of easy yoga, sometimes dynamic stretching. But I always start my lifting with warm muscles for all the obvious reasons.
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Weights
All of my “five sets of five reps” from the StrongLifts 5×5 have turned into “three sets of three” since I started cutting weight in March, and are done with heavy weights. The intent of this is to maintain as much muscle mass as possible, even while my body is actively in a catabolic state.
Another general note: I take a rest in between each set of weights and do “palmer cooling” to keep my body temperature lower and enable my body to keep going. I learned this trick from the Huberman Lab podcast, which I highly recommend. I do this between all sets during weight training and at the end of all workouts, per the protocols that Andrew Huberman describes. It sounds scammy but my subjective experience is that it’s real. So here are my primary Monday lifts:
3 sets of 3-5 squats (set of wide-grip pullups between each set)
3 sets of 3-5 bench press (set of wide-grip pullups between each set)
3 sets of 3-5 barbell rows (set of wide-grip pullups between each set)
Why the pullups between each set? One thing I noticed in my minimal research of the Spartan Race is that practically every obstacle requires me to pull myself around – up ropes, across very unpleasant-looking monkey bar-like contraptions, and a host of other things I don’t regularly make time to do in the normal course of life.
Pullups seem to be the closest accessible exercise for preparing me from an 80/20 perspective, minus the aforementioned and ill-advised options of joining a ninja gym or hanging out with kids on the playground.
Once I complete my big lifts, I finish my workout off with one full-body superset, focusing on higher rep, lighter weights. In short, I take less weight and max out. Mondays look like this:
Dumbbell flyes
Chin-ups
Deltoid flyes
Skull crushers
Bicep curls
Calf raises (just holding 60 lb. dumbbells in each hand)
Leg raises
Kettlebell swings
The philosophy behind this final superset is two-fold. First, to isolate and work muscles that, while utilized, are not necessarily emphasized during my bigger lifts. There is also probably some vanity and aesthetic concern as well, if I’m being honest. Biceps aren’t the most useful muscle group, but I assume my wife prefers large arms to puny arms, so I’m working on it.
Second, to increase muscular endurance. One thing I noticed during my “lots of heavy lifting and nothing else” stage is that I got really good at squatting 300 pounds, while simultaneously being unable to hold my 35 pound daughter for over a minute at a time. There is practical value in lifting less weight for longer periods of time in everyday life, outside of Spartan Race prep.
Cool Down
For my cool down, I more or less stretch in a hot shower. Nothing fancy, but I make sure to get all major muscle groups.
Friday
Warmup
Same as Monday… sometimes 10 minutes of easy yoga, sometimes dynamic stretching.
Weights
I do the same basic plan as Monday but with different exercises (except squats stay the same, and kettlebell swings in my final superset). I still mix in my palmer cooling between sets as well.
The main difference is that, per the StrongLifts program, I do only one set of deadlifts instead of five. My understanding is that it works enough of the same muscles as squats and you don’t want to overdo it.
3 sets of 3-5 squats (set of wide-grip pullups between each set)
3 sets of 3-5 should press (set of wide-grip pullups between each set)
1 set of 3-5 deadlifts
And then I’m onto my higher rep, lighter weight superset. The only thing that changes for my Friday workout is the exercise for each muscle group. The Spartan Race will require diversity of movements, so this is my subtle way of changing it up:
Incline or decline bench press (I alternate each week)
Chinups
Dumbbell shoulder shrugs
Tricep kickback
Wide bicep curls
Calf raises with toes pointed in or out (I alternate each week)
Russian twists
Kettlebell swings
Cool Down
Again, I stretch in a hot shower. Another important note, however…
I use, as I mentioned, palmer cooling to get my body temperature down after a workout. I do not take a cold shower after a workout because I do NOT want to reduce the natural and constructive inflammation that results from lifting weights.
All inflammation is not created equal and I don’t want to cool my muscles, per se, I just want to get my core body temperature down to initiate the recovery process. Again, go checkout the Huberman Lab podcast to hear about this from someone that actually understands this stuff. I’m just the “young grasshopper” to Andrew Huberman’s “kung fu” mastery.
There is obviously more to my workout program than just lifting twice per week. I wanted to start by talking about how I’m getting (or rather staying) as strong as possible leading up to what I believe will be a tough and long Spartan Race.
Check back to hear some of the other ways I’m preparing. Oh, and wish me luck. If you haven’t already picked up on it, I have no idea how this race is going to go.
What do you think? How could I improve my lifting program without needing loads of new equipment or a drive to a gym or park? Send me your thoughts at michael@theothermichaeljordan.com. I hope to hear from you.
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