Heard stories of sliding on your front through frosty water or submerging yourself in a tank of ice and wonder if you can really hack Tough Mudder? With Tough Mudder fever spreading across the nation, one Fitness Superstore employee – Charlie in our Customer Service Team – recently took up the challenge and tells us all about it… [caption id="attachment_326" align="alignleft" width="150" class=" "]Fitness Superstore Charlie Fitness Superstore's Charlie[/caption] On a crisp Saturday morning just a few weeks ago I, flanked by a group of friends, embarked upon the somewhat notorious Tough Mudder Experience. Some of you may have heard of it or taken part yourselves - and if you haven’t, I would strongly recommend it. So here’s my account of my experience, which I hope will motivate you to do something truly awesome, start training and slam on your orange head band!   What exactly is Tough Mudder? Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile military-style obstacle course designed to test all-around strength, stamina, teamwork and mental grit. Arguably one of the toughest physical events on the planet, you have to say the Tough Mudder pledge to show your dedication before you even start the course. There are about 20-25 obstacles, which test your fears and commitment to helping others complete the course. It’s not all about you – it’s just as much about teamwork and true camaraderie. What inspired me to get down and dirty? Inspiration came from a group of my friends who did it last year and painted a purely awesome picture of the obstacles and experiences they had. I was sold when one of them said: “It’s a mix between Ninja Warrior and half a marathon.” Right up my street! Another reason for doing this was the chance to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity, where all proceeds go. Having friends and family in the Armed Forces, it’s very close to my heart. The BIG Day [caption id="attachment_330" align="alignnone" width="600"]Tough Mudder Us at the end of Arctic Enema (I'm in blue)[/caption] On the day, you’re faced with half a marathon along with a whole load of energy zapping obstacles. And I LITERALLY mean zapping, as some of them will electrocute you! Earlier, I mentioned my friend said it was a bit like Ninja Warrior and he was right in the sense that you have one big obstacle every mile, a few smaller ones and a lot of gruelling running in between. The BIG obstacles:
  • Arctic Enema: You jump into a massive container filled with ice and icy water and have to swim under water to get around bollards. The name doesn’t do it justice for just how cold it is!
  • Everest: This is a giant half pipe you have to sprint up and then jump and grab the edge to get up. It’s funny watching people fail this one. Trust me, it’s hilarious.
  • Stepping Stones: This has floating platforms you have to time and balance on in order to get across without falling in the river. This was my favourite as I smashed it!
  • The Electric Eel: The most famous, this is a slalom of dangling wire which electrocutes you. Or, if you’re like me and let all the overly eager go running through first, you can just weave in and out of the wires. Sneaky is the best way to go on this one!
They’re just a few of my favourite large obstacles, but smaller ones included log carrying, climbing up walls, monkey bars over water, swimming across lakes, mud mounds, mud tunnels and many more. All I can say is that if you’re clean and not covered in mud at the end of it, you’re not doing it right! [caption id="attachment_329" align="alignnone" width="640"]Tough Mudder Backwards Water and Barbed Wire Crawl[/caption] If there is one major thing I can say about the event it’s the great sense of camaraderie. By this, I mean that people truly do stand by the pledge they made at the start and will help anyone on the day. You don’t have to be in the same team or group for people to lend a hand, which gave a fantastic, positive atmosphere. As I found out, Tough Mudder isn’t a race but a personal quest and goal to try your hardest and do your best. Otherwise, you’ll be letting yourself down after all the hard work you put into training. [caption id="attachment_331" align="alignnone" width="600"]Tough Mudder Here's me (left) with my other Tough Mudders[/caption] How I prepared I’ve always liked going to the gym but I have to admit that I had been slacking for a while in that “cannot be bothered phase”, but preparing for this was that extra motivation I needed to get off that sofa! As the majority of the course is running, it’s important to do cardio to get your fitness up as it’s all about stamina. You need to be able to keep going at a consistent pace and maintain that level for a long period of time. I started to do more jogging about 6 weeks beforehand. As I increased my laps around the park and upped the intensity and incline on the treadmill, the fitter I got. Strength is another important factor as you’ll need this for certain obstacles, such as getting yourself and your team mates over walls, monkey bars and the infamous Everest. I continued with my basic strength training exercises at the gym including bench press (incline), dips, barbell rows, bicep curls and tricep pressdown. For my lower body, I increased my squats with warm up and back off set and used a range of leg machines such as leg press, leg curl and leg extension. Don’t forget to work your legs as lower body is just as important as upper body strength. While training, I also incorporated circuit training whenever I could to get that extra bit of cardio, so if I was doing barbell rows I would try to squeeze out some dumbbell shrugs after my set or do some barbell lunges after finishing a set of squats. My top tips if you’re thinking of taking the plunge (pun intended!)
  • It’s crucial you have the right clothing. You need sports clothing that will dry quickly when wet and proper running or sports shoes with anti-blister socks. Gloves are handy as you will be crawling in the mud with sharp stones around. Another essential is goggles. You’ll get so much stuff in your eyes, you would not believe. I didn’t take them this year and suffered for it!
  • Go training with your group at least a couple of times before the event so you can see what fitness level everyone is at. Plus, it will motivate the group as a whole as no one wants to let the team down!
  • Take some glucose shots/tablets or sports supplements such as energy bars if you feel the need for an extra boost.
  • Warm up and do stretches as you don’t want to pull anything on the day.
  • Don’t carry bottles of water as they have water and energy bar stations every couple of miles.
What did I get out of it? Apart from a well-earned pint of beer and all-important orange head band, you get a fantastic sense of achievement and great memories, which are priceless as you wouldn’t always have the opportunity to do something like this. I highly recommend doing it to anyone. After putting all that work in and getting your fitness level up, it seems like a slap around the chops to just let all your hard work go to waste. This has been the founding basis to continue my fitness regime. I have started following the OT4 program which you can find on www.muscleandstrength.com. If I can’t get to the gym I try to do the Spartacus workout which is a low weight, high intensity workout which anyone can easily do at home providing you have a pair of dumbbells and a training mat. Over to you… If you like getting dirty and overcoming physical obstacles then there is nothing better to test yourself than this. It’s a great fitness motivator whether you’re young or old, an exercise freak or just getting started. So now you have read this, I say jump up, get off your hams and sign up for next year, giving you an exciting goal to work towards! Visit Tough Mudder for more details.