Tim Bean fitness assessment and 6 month workout program – click on the client workout to view the full six month program to see how Tim Bean became Tough Mudder ready
Client Workout
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Tough Mudder is an intense all round workout. There is an aerobic component that will use and deplete almost all of the energy systems by the end of the race. All three, the creatine phosphate, anaerobic glycolysis and aerobic glycolysis will all be used in this grueling running/obstacle event. A large aerobic style exercise occurs as the contests have to sprint, run or walk anywhere from 5 miles to 12 miles depending on the course. This in itself can be quiet challenging as the terrain is muddy, watery and filled with steep slopes to rolling hills. There are 20-25 obstacles that are additionally difficult and will use up stored phosphocreatine and ATP. Each Tough Mudder has different obstacles with slight variations, so you never know what to expect. Although the obstacles are never the same, full body strength will be needed to complete the course. Upper arm strength will play a key role in the majority of the event especially ones that have the participant climbing, crawling, swinging or propelling themselves forward and upward. Core strength will be needed for all aspects of the course and in the obstacles. Lower body strength is also essential as the running will fatigue the leg muscles they will still need to help to get through the obstacles. The primary issues with Tough Mudder is the mental component, the course is extremely challenging, but the participants needs to be willing to push themselves through the frigid mud and water, up the huge hills, through the trenches, over all the walls and up all the netting. Physical fitness is an obvious necessity to complete a Tough Mudder event but the ability to mentally push yourself to keep going is what will drive you to the finish line. Endurance, strength and flexibility are all components that will be used to the fullest. It is best to enter this type of event with a bunch of friends, who will be there to help and assist each other along the way.
Course Information
Total Distance: 10-12 miles
5+ Water and First Aid Stations
Type of events – Obstacles
Taken from the Tough Mudder website: Being a Mudder℠ is all about taking on the obstacles in your life and the enourmous sense of accomplishment that you feel when you overcome them.
10 Examples Outline By Tough Mudder
1) Arctic Enema – First you must bravely jump into Big Mudder’s floating iceberg abyss. Once submerged, find the mental and physical strength to swim through the ice, under a wooden plank and pull yourself out on the other end before you become hypothermic.
2) Ball Shrinker -Mudders℠ must cross a body of water with just one rope overhead to hold, and another below to walk on. The rope is slippery, and tends to get water-logged causing it to sag deeper and deeper into the water as the day goes on.
3) Berlin Walls – This obstacle relies on teamwork. Scale three 12′ wooden walls with the help of your teammates, strategically placed for when you are at your weakest during the event. While some Mudders℠ have worked up the strength to ascend the walls alone, most need a boost from a fellow Mudder
4) Boa Constrictor- Crawl through a series of pipes that force you on a downhill into some freezing mud, then a slippery uphill to the other side. Your legs will be useless in the narrow confines of the Boa, so use your arms to pull yourself through this obstacle.
5) Cliffhanger – Cliff Hanger is an obstacle all about teamwork and camaraderie: a 40+ foot cliff of slippery mud angled at 45-degrees. The Cliff always begins with good intenions: a muddy sprint up onto the slope and transitions into a crawl with handholds and footholds in short supply.
6) Devils Beard- A cargo net fastened to the ground that Mudders℠ must pass underneath. Try as you might, you will get caught up in this annoyingly low cargo net. Teamwork is essential to get through this obstacle, otherwise you’ll be forced down to the ground by the weight of the cargo net.
7) Electric Eel- Slide on your belly through frigid water or, even worse, a layer of ice and beware of the shocks overhead. Should you try to crawl on your knees, you’ll be smacked with live wires and your body will compulsively contort. Be sure to protect your head, otherwise you might experience what Big Mudder calls a brain reboot.
8) Dirty Ballerina – Leap with the grace of a black swan muddily over our 4-foot-wide mud pits. 4 feet may not sound challenging at first, but the tracks of leaping Mudders℠ will erode the mud pits into wide, jagged-edged muddy gaps. Should your inner ballerina stumble, as she often can, you’ll find yourself submerged in a mud pit and calling your teammates for an assist.
9) Everest – A quarter-pipe that you’ll have to sprint up and enlist the help of other Mudders℠ to hurl you over this beastly summit. Everest is coated in mud and grease, a combination which will likely send you right back from where you came.
10) Funky Monkey – Sure monkey bars were easy when you were 5 years old, but you’ll need to hold on extra tight to these. Some have been greased with our finest mixture of mud and butter and if you slip you’ll fall into an icy pond below. Bars are spaced 1.5 feet apart and you will be on an incline upward for the first half of the Monkey and then descending downward for the second portion. Seasoned Mudders℠ keep their arms bent at a 90-degree angle and bicycle-kick their legs to gain momentum.
* there are many, many more types of obstacles. All of them are out of the box intensities that will require strength both physically and mentally
