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SPARTAN UP!
A Take-No-Prisoners Guide to Overcoming Obstacles and
Achieving Peak Performance in Life
by Joe DeSena with Je OConnell
This guide contains some previously published material from Youll Know At The Finish Line by Joe De Sena
and Andy Weinberg and Ul.mate Obstacle Race Training: Crush The Worlds Toughest Courses by Bre
Stewart. Hyperlinks in this book may contain a-liate adver.sing.
Spartan Race and Youll Know at the Finish Line are registered trademarks of Spartan Race, Inc.
FXT and FXT: Func.onal Cross Training are registered trademarks of 7weeksto9tness.com.
Copyright 2013 Spartan Race, Copyright 2013 Bre Stewart, 7weeksto9tness.com. All Rights Reserved. The
authors and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or en.ty with respect to any loss
or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the informa.on covered in the eBook or paperback
book. You may not modify, alter, publish, par.cipate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create deriva.ve works
from, distribute, perform, display, post copies of or in any way exploit, any of the content of our downloadable digital
eBook, in whole or in part. This book has been wrien and published strictly for informa.onal purposes, and in no
way should be used as a subs.tute for consulta.on with health care professionals. You should not consider
educa.onal material herein to be the prac.ce of medicine or to replace consulta.on with a physician or other
medical prac..oner. The author and publisher are providing you with informa.on in this work so that you can have
the knowledge and can choose, at your own risk, to act on that knowledge. The author and publisher also urge all
readers to be aware of their health status and to consult health care professionals before beginning any health
program.
Joe De Sena
Bre Stewart
Table of Contents
Foreword..................................................................................................................... 5
Spartan UP!..................................................................................................................6
Part 1: Overview.........................................................................................................27
What is a Spartan Race?....................................................................................................................................... 28
Why Spartan Race?................................................................................................................................................ 28
The Spartan Mission:............................................................................................................................................. 29
The Spartan Code................................................................................................................................................... 30
Spartan Race Philosophy....................................................................................................................................... 30
A Brief History of Spartan Race.......................................................................................................................... 32
Q&A With the Founding Few.............................................................................................................................. 33
Foreword
This free guide was conceived and developed through interviews with the Spartan Race
founders as well as content culled from Youll Know At The Finish Line by Andy Weinberg
and Joe De Sena. While Joe, Andy, and several other Spartan Founding Few were crucial
to the content that went into this project, they did not contribute to the wri.ng of this
free training guide for your 9rst Spartan Race.
Survive Your First Spartan Race:
Bre Stewart, the author of the worlds 9rst book on the sport of Obstacle Racing,
Ul.mate Obstacle Race Training, developed this simple guide to help you get your ass
o the couch and prepare for your 9rst Spartan Race.
Spartan UP! (Exclusive preview):
An entrepreneur from 8 years old, Joe De Sena has had a passion for life that moves the
ball forward against all odds. Born in Queens NY to a yoga teaching, medita.on
prac.cing mother and an Italian father that was an uber-entrepreneur the author
learned simple techniques for forging ahead no maer the odds. Find out how a young
kid breaks out, builds mul.ple businesses, changes lives, and eventually partners with
military SpecOps.
Everyone wants to be FPer, happier, healthier, and more successful in business and in
life. Spartan Up! gets you there. Click right here and pre-order your copy now!
Finding the will to succeed: The 9rst half of a race you run with your legs;
the second half you run with your mind. Turn your pain into an outboard motor
to drive you forward.
Tossing your cookies: The Cookie Test can teach you how to overcome
the need for immediate gra.9ca.on and help you prosper in the long term.
GeMng Spartan 9t: Survival of the Fiest means training outside the gym
for strength, endurance and Nexibility for your en.re bodyand dont forget
those burpees!
Moving mountains: Whether metaphorical mountains or the ones on
which Spartans race, what you think of as your limita.ons can actually be a mere
star.ng point for transforma.on.
Spartan UP!
Heres an exclusive excerpt from
SPARTAN UP! A Take-No-Prisoners Guide to Overcoming
Obstacles and Achieving Peak Performance in Life
by Joe DeSena with Je OConnell
The day the U.S. Olympic wrestling team touched down at the airport aPer a 9ve-hour
Night, I made sure that they were confronted with the unexpected. They were not told
why they were coming to see me, and they didnt know what they would be
experiencing upon arrival. Their coach had arranged the trip, but some of the best
wrestlers in the world were in the dark about the venture and what kind of training they
would encounter.
I wanted to give them a proper introduc.on to the Spartan lifestyle. I made
certain that when they arrived, no one was there to greet them. Their des.na.on, an
organic farm in the mountains of Vermont, was a 10-mile uphill hike away.
Dumbfounded, these wrestlers stood holding suitcases, dressed for a business mee.ng
rather than a mountain hike. Without a vehicle, they had to walk the en.re distance
carrying their gear. I had made sure they had no alterna.ve. So o they trudged to train
for the weekend under my tutelage.
I know nothing about wrestling, but my team and I are experts at turning
someones world upside down. To the team members, this seemed like madness. Yet,
there was a method at work. I needed to see how these men would react when their
mele was tested in such crazy fashion. The answer would determine if they
were indeed Olympic quality athletes. APer all, there is only one gold medal.
I had met the wrestling teams coach, Noel Thompson, months earlier at an
obstacle race I organized. The course required a stretch of kayaking, and at one point,
you had to drag the kayak 20 yards through waist-deep mud. All the other teams made
it through, but Noel got stuck. Not in the mud, mind you; his mind vapor-locked,
preven.ng him from wading in with his kayak like the other racers had. I ins.nc.vely
grabbed him and his kayak and pulled them both through the mud. On the other side, I
was able to push them downriver.
Later, aPer the race, the wrestling coach approached me. Can I talk to you?
Sure, I said. Whats up?
He said, How did you learn to do that?
What do you mean? I asked. You just get in the mud and go. I hadnt thought
twice. Thats how I always tackle life. Because Ive been through so much already, I push
through when others would stop, even this coach who trained world-class athletes. How
could he freeze in the mud? In my mind, you just commit to something and then get it
done, no maer what. He had let self-doubt creep inthe number-one mistake people
make.
You wont get stuck in mud during a wrestling match, at least not during Olympic
wrestling, but you might get stuck in a crazy hold or some other predicament. Wrestling
is among the most Nuid of sports. A match has a beginning and ending, but how it will
unfold during those 9ve minutes is anybodys guess. Theres no telling how much energy
youll need to expend, no telling what youll encounter. Wrestling isnt linear like a
marathon. Your opponent may be wholly unpredictable, con.nuously trying to place
you in unexpected holds from which you cant escape.
So Noel sent his wrestlers to me because he knew that I could teach them how
to prepare for the unexpected. I could show these elite athletes that if they endured
enough o the mat, they could crush any challenge on the mat. I wasnt preparing them
to win, because they wouldnt know what that required un.l their match got underway.
I was preparing them for the unknown.
THE SPARTAN CHALLENGE
My name is Joe DeSena. Im the founder of Spartan Race, a global lifestyle company
whose life-changing outdoor adventures have taken the endurance world by storm. You
may not know what the Spartan Race is, but a million hardcore fana.cs de9ne their
world around the rules that we have created for them, and many more par.cipate. Im
these peoples biggest supporter and their worst nightmareboth at the same .me.
My partners and I have staged races in front of tens of thousands of people in far
away places like Slovakia and cool stadiums, including Ci. Field and Fenway Park, in the
shadow of the Green Monster. Three hundred thousand people a day follow daily
workouts that we post on spartanrace.com and blast out across our social media
plaSorms. We put a free e-book on our site, and to date its been downloaded more
than half a million .mes. APer mixed mar.al arts, obstacle racing is the worlds fastestgrowing sport. Only people dont watch these races; they par.cipate in them.
Obstacle races present unique piSalls designed to exploit your weaknesses and
leave you face down in the mud. The stump jump ambushes your balance, monkey bars
target your grip, and hill climbs set traps for your stamina. This requires total
athle.cism, absolute discipline and mental toughness. Youll encounter things you cant
control or understand or perhaps even imagine, so you need to be at your best. Like the
original Spartans, I built my philosophy on a blend of hardcore modern science and
obscure philosophical teachings, all given my own unique spin. To me it all boils down to
one thing: to reach full poten.al, you need to UNLEARN every important thing modern
society has taught you.
Spartan Race developed out of a series of events my friends and I called Death
Races, long-distance events that made marathons look like childs play. The race waiver
read, You might die, and on more than one occasion, we nearly did. Death races
gauged our strengths, our weaknesses and our commitment to 9nish what we started.
I didnt know it but these extreme adventures had historical precedent in the
Spartan warriors of ancient Greece. They might train for 30 years before entering bale.
They developed a concept that would take science another 2,500-plus years to prove
that success is a byproduct of delayed gra.9ca.on. This was con9rmed scien.9cally in
1972 when Walter Mischel, then a Stanford researcher, gave child subjects their
preferred treata marshmallow, cookie, or pretzelas well as a choice: They could eat
the treat right away or wait 15 minutes, at which point they could receive two. The
researchers found that those kids who were willing to postpone gra.9ca.on became
more successful adults than those kids who couldnt wait.
Unfortunately, instant gra.9ca.on guides so much of modern-day life. The
individual lacking self-control wants things from others now, but they themselves
couldnt be bothered to put in the work and get shit done. So they shortchange
themselves and our society .me and .me again with disastrous long-term results. Our
self-control pales next to the Spartans. Im convinced they would have looked at us with
disgust and disbelief.
Having thankfully developed a Spartan will myself, as a way of transcending a
prey crappy childhood, I wondered how I could pass along this transcendent feeling to
colleagues, my friends, my kids and others. I didnt want to lecture them; I wanted to
inspire them. The idea I hit upon was to organize races for them, ini.ally as a way to
evaluate prospec.ve employees for my business. I was working a high-powered job on
Wall Street back then. On the surface, everyone who came to see me seemed Type A,
but when things got tough, I needed to know: Who would survive? Who would drop
out? These races would weed out the excep.onal from the merely good, the average or
the poor. The 9rst o-cial Spartan Race took place in 2005. A phenomenon was born.
Spartan races are less intense than Death Races but no less transforma.onal. We
aract bodybuilder and 9tness types, CrossFiers, trail runners, weekend warriors, exmilitary, cops, 9re9ghters, men, women, professionals, students, young, old, individuals
and companies in search of team-building events. They enter races that come in four
distances, ranging from the 3-mile Sprint, with 15 military-style obstacles, to the 26mile Ultra Beast, with 50-plus obstacles. Some.mes the obstacles I set up for racers
have meanings only I understand. Some.mes I set them up just to fuck with people. But
the obstacles teach resourcefulness and develop true mental grit. Its hard for anyone to
complete a Spartan Race, given their di-culty, but seeing someone cross the 9nish line
9ve hours aPer everyone else gets me every .me.
Contrast this with a 10K or marathon. Im not knocking themthose are great
accomplishments, Ive run them myself, and theres a lot of crossover between those
races and our events. But no maer the distance, the runners are all focused on moving
in linear fashion toward a 9nish line. Id say the same of triathlons, despite the added
elements. Those races punish you, but they dont help you solve problems, dont change
the way you think. You dont parent di erently or rethink your work process because
you ran a 10K or completed an Ironman last weekend.
Spartan Races are proving every day, as crazy as it sounds, that the principles
that underpin obstacle racing can cure much of what ails America the most. Anybody
can be a Spartan, you just need to commit to the way of life the founder of Sparta did.
When people succeed where they thought they could not, posi.ve aMtudes are
cul.vated and strengthened. As Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher king portrayed in The
Gladiator, noted: "Fire feeds on obstacles...and inversely dies without them."
Although this isn't an exercise book, my hope is that readers will want to put
their newfound con9dence and capabili.es to the ul.mate test. You wont win every
race you enter or crush every obstacle but each experience of success or failure can be a
profound learning experience. You become faster, stronger, more resilient. Why do a
compe..ve race? Because you might be just dogging it through life. How will you know
if you are reaching your full poten.al? How will you know how you compare to others
similar to you?
THE SPARTAN BOOK
Spartan Up!, spells trouble for your comfort zone, just like it did for those Olympic
wrestlers. It may, ini.ally, feel more like a combat zone as your eyes scan the pages. For
so long youve had a very clear sense of what you could and couldnt do in life. Maybe
the could dos were very limited, or maybe they were more expansive, but there have
been boundaries you wouldnt cross, obstacles you wouldnt confront. By the .me you
9nish my book, youll be mo.vated to tackle challenges with passion and eagerness, just
like a Spartan racer keeps going toward the next hurdle, exhausted but constantly
refueled by his or her newfound capabili.es.
Spartan Up! is based on a series of concepts, but three of them trump
everything: Ques.on your Assump.ons, Less is More, Discipline is Everything. In the
races, we o er you no map. What you think is the 9nish line may just be the beginning.
So you need to develop what those of us in the Spartan world call obstacle immunity, a
skill you will learn to master in this book.
With obstacle immunity, nothing fazes you. Develop it and Olympics-level
wrestling won't seem so daun.ng. If youre in Special Opswhose members also come
to train with usthose missions will seem more manageable. Business deals will be less
stressful. Screaming kids will put a smile on your face. This goes a long way toward
explaining why elite groups now come to Vermont to train with us, and why many
people map their year around these races.
Youll know these arent the musings of some detached self-help guru as I relate
my own adventures, extreme enough to make me a legend in adventure racing circles.
At one point I completed the 135-mile Badwater Ultra-marathon, raced the 140.6 miles
of Lake Placid Ironman, and 9nished a 100-mile trail run in Vermontall within a week. I
was out of my mind and, at .mes, out of my body. Whether I was running toward or
from something, I willingly put myself through hell, forcing myself into situa.ons where
water, shelter and food became my only concerns. At those moments, everything else
that I thought was important in life, all the things I had stressed over, vanished. I
became at home with danger and depriva.on.
But I will relate my tales in service to a higher causehelping others. My
determina.on to push my body to the edge has seen a parallel e ort to understand
what drives folks like me. Ive read voraciously and interviewed experts around the
country on what it takes to rede9ne ones boundaries and life. This book will blend
modern science with old school philosophy.
Spartan Up! Will comprise 10 chapters, designed to teach you to systema.cally
apply the Spartan way to every aspect of your life: food/diet, working
out, health, business or work, educa.on, rela.onships, paren.ng. Chapters will be
structured around the following:
1. A visceral descrip.on of an obstacle from Spartan races that symbolizes the
greater life challenges. Whether its mud or ice water or greased walls, the
ra.onale behind crea.ng each obstacle will shed light on the lessons to be
learned from it. By the .me the reader reaches the end of Spartan Up! theyll
feel like theyve run an en.re race and have that same sense of
accomplishment and empowerment.
2. Guidance and advice on applying the lessons of the obstacle to their own life.
The limits of brute strength and force; when to seek help and when to go it
alone; how to overcome your weakest linkthese are dilemmas that all of us
face in everyday life. By the .me you 9nish this book, youll have a much
more 9nely honed sense of how to navigate everyday life, much as you
navigated one of our gauntlets.
3. Examples from my own history in adventure racing and business that
illustrate the points being made in the chapter. My own unique voice and life
experience will shine through at every turn, and while some may ini.ally see
me as a life coach from hell, theyll come to realize that I have a heart of gold
in the
Spartan racing
and used it to inNuence kids in his school. I see obstacle racing as an opportunity to
really transform 9tness for kids so they can live
We can achieve the same bene9ts as other na.ons by geMng our kids outside and
ac.ve as well. Once they get started, theyll make it their own.
Then there was Johanne di Cori, who decided to run a Spartan Race aPer
watching her daughter compete in two of them. I absolutely wanted to give it my best
shot and prove to myself that, despite my age, I could complete the racecourse and all
its challenges, she says. I thought, APer all, age is just a number! If a person feels
they are capable, that they have the strength, the endurance, and the will, why not just
go for it?
Jason J., now a 9xture in the Spartan community, came to Spartan racing aPer
being handed my passport in a freak mix-up. (We had both lost
our passports on
Nights.) APer a di erent kind of expedi.on to return my passport to me, Jason set out
on a new journey. He recalls: On February 1, 2011, I strapped on snowshoes for the
9rst .me. On March 6, I snowshoed 100 miles and was escorted, delirious and taered,
to the 9nish line by Joe himself. There was a no-limits aMtude to everything that Joe
and the Spartans did, and this was made manifest in the daily intensity we put into
building a sport where there was no preconceived limit.
By the .me Tony Reyes, a comedian, turned 23, he weighed 400 pounds. There
were .mes when I could barely breathe anymore, he says. I thought I would die at any
moment. In despera.on he applied to be a contestant on The Biggest Loser, but those
odds are loery slim. Anyone can do a Spartan race, though, so Tony set his sights there.
He lost 100 pounds simply by training for his 9rst race, which he completed. Now he
knows how powerful a breakthrough can make you.
Steve Meyers was an avid runner before a car accident nearly took his life and
leP him with broken bones, a punctured lung, lacerated spleen, brain bleeds and a foot
so mangled doctors thought theyd need to amputate. During his rehab, he watched his
wife 9nish her 9rst Spartan race, and his guiding image became joining his wife in
crossing the 9nish line of his very 9rst Spartan race.
Then theres Michael, who has been paralyzed from the waist down since age 16
from a collision with a drunk driver. Michael had already racked up a series of
achievements as an adventure and endurance athlete, but he s.ll avoided certain
challenges in life because of his injury. If you 9nd the prospect of naviga.ng mud
swamps, hill climbs and walls to be daun.ng, imagine tackling them from the con9nes a
wheelchair. Yet Michael became the 9rst paralyzed individual to ever 9nish a Spartan
race.
Talk about encountering unexpected obstacles in the middle of your life. Andi
Hardy never expected the economy to crash, never saw her employer going under. She
didnt expect to lose her social support system and then have to burn through her
savings and 401K. She couldnt even 9nd purpose in motherhood, as her only child was
college bound. Yet she mustered enough mo.va.on to enter a Spartan race, and, at 42
shes completed several. Im feeling 9er, strong and healthier than ever, she says.
Each of these individuals and thousands more achieved something great because
they didnt take the ul.mate shortcut: instant gra.9ca.on. The Spartan races
demonstrate what people can accomplish aPer making self-discipline a daily habit,
rather than an isolated act or a New Years Resolu.on. Par.cipants dont need to 9nish
in 9rst place or beat a par.cular .me in order to triumph. Simply 9nishing is a great
accomplishment. Having run a Spartan race, youll go back to your job or family and
solve problems di erently because youll see the path ahead di erently. This new way
of living is the di erence between struggling and then dying unful9lled, and leading an
epic life.
THE SPARTAN BUSINESS
Spartan Race is a global lifestyle brand built on obstacle races. We will produce 61 of
them in seven countries this year, hos.ng more than 500,000 athletes and
spectators worldwide. We orchestrate these heart-pounding events in the na.ons
largest sports stadiums, ski resorts and elsewhere. APer mixed mar.al arts, obstacle
racing is the worlds fastest-growing sport, one that generated $250 million in revenue
in 2012.
The events are just the culmina.on of vast enterprise. Three hundred thousand
people a day follow daily workouts that we post on spartanrace.com and blast out
across our social media plaSorms. With more than 2.7 million Facebook followers,
61,000 twier followers, over 1.4 million unique visitors to our website, and 650,000
names on our email list, Spartan Race is a viable experien.al and mul.-media plaSorm
through which partners can adver.se, create and share content, and build brand
awareness. Reebok has made a mul.-year investment as our .tle sponsor and o-cial
apparel of the Reebok Spartan Race.
Spartan Race also creates 50,000 to 75,000 digital images and videos
at every race. This content is shared directly with our athletes and Spartan community
online, ensuring millions of viral impressions through social media. Our racers are our
best adver.sers. We dont have customers; we have disciples, many of whom proudly
taoo their bodies with the Spartan logo. These people help de9ne their life through
our races.
We have been featured on 60 Minutes Sports and in the Wall Street Journal.
We've been in numerous 9tness and spor.ng magazines and on Sports Center. We were
named Outside Magazines Best Obstacle Race in 2012.
The average Spartan racer is a college-educated 32-year-old with a household
income of $75,000 a year. Were 70 percent male, 30 percent female. Eighty-four
percent of people have heard of us through word of mouth.
Theres something incredibly organic thats making our new sport thriveI cant
even fully explain the response myselfbut by the same token, my current sta of
MBAs (with required endurance backgrounds) know how to turn something like this into
big business. We are not content to rely solely on word of mouth, even if its spreading
exponen.ally. Were also doing mul. six-9gure ad buys monthly through every medium,
totaling millions in annual adver.sing spend.
Coming this fall, were launching not one but two reality television shows:
Spartan Race on NBC and Unbreakable on Syfy. Ill be on camera ripping millions on the
couch as Spartan becomes a household name like CrossFit.
This chapter opens with the anecdote that kicked o this proposal: the U.S.
Olympic wrestling team coming to Vermont to train with me and my associates, based
on my earlier encounter with their coach, Noel Thompson, in the mud swamp.
Mud is one of the most primal Spartan Race obstacles, and it will be a theme of
this opening chapter. We subject people to mud puddles and swamps on purpose.
When youre already fa.gued and struggling, the addi.on of mud can make for a toxic
mix, exacerba.ng the desire to surrender. So every course has at least one mud trap
somewhere along the way. It wouldnt be a Spartan Race without one.
Life is much the same way. I came up hard in Queens, New York, dealing with all
sorts of struggle and strife I wasnt always a Spartan. Such an upbringing can harden
your resolve or kill it young. Either you got shit done or you got out of the way. I was
lucky in that my mother was ahead of her .me and drilled important lessons into my
head. Chief among them was that life was not worth living unless you were going to live
it fully.
This opening chapter takes my own story up from when I cleaned pools to
geMng a job on Wall Street and then eventually re.ring to an organic farm in Vermont.
Some re.rement. Ill explain how my perseverance hardened during races that others
would call insane. Ill elaborate on the circumstances that drove me to place my body in
inhuman condi.ons in the 9rst place. Once I began doing obstacle and adventure races,
I wasnt turning back.
Chapter 2: Confron.ng The Greatest ObstacleYour Will
Why do I and others like me run these incredibly demanding races, voluntarily taking on
courses that could destroy us, and, at a minimum, will make us feel helpless at .mes?
Didnt we invent cars, air condi.oning and elevators precisely so we wouldnt have to
endure such fates? Now we seek it out voluntarily?
Your brain has been programmed to think this way. A running proverb states,
You run the 9rst half with your legs, the second half with your mind. Generally
speaking, you can make it eight days aPer you think, I cant take another step. This
book is really about the second half of the race, when your mind can quit on you or will
you forward. I had plenty of .me to 9gure this out while trekking 350 miles across
Alaska on snowshoes in 30-degrees-below weather without a tent as part of the Iditarod
race, one of the many epic adventures Ill describe in Spartan Up!
The most primi.ve cave drawings show feats of great skill and stamina. I would
go so far as to say that the roots of obstacle racing wind all the way through the history
of Western Civiliza.on. The Greeks used obstacle races to train soldiers for combat in
the eighth century B.C., for example. This chapter will encapsulate that history, tracing it
from ancient Greece to the 9rst versions of the modern-day triathlon, the steeplechase,
the emergence of adventure races in the 1960s, and the present-day Ironman.
Ill explain why weve built our business around this speci9c type of racing, and
why its the best test of our human poten.al. My health-and-9tness vision grew even as
my lifestyle became simpler. When I started reading about the Spartans, it struck a
chord. This chapter will outline their approach, as well as how it both reNected and
shaped my own.
Chapter 3: Climbing the Greased Wall
So youve slogged through the mud and youve liPed yourself out. Great. Ready for a pat
on the back? Wait, theres a 12-foot wall in front of you. And you have to climb it. Only
its been greased, so that just when you reach the top, youll fall backward 11 feet and
land on your ass. So that you have to try it again, and again, and again, each failure
reinforcing the one before un.l you 9nally make it over the top. Sound a lile like your
career climb or rela.onship history?
At some point during a Spartan race, youll encounter a wall that must be
climbed. This makes it di erent from any marathon or even triathlon. You have to shiP
gears from the endurance part of the event and rely on upper body strength to pull
yourself up and over. To make things more di-cult, we typically grease the wall, so that
you may have to make mul.ple aempts. Much as in the rest of life youll need
perseverance and s.ck-to-it-iveness or youll never make it over.
APer seling in Vermont with my family, I became a family man working the land
using organic gardening methods. I yearned for simplicity, and I had .me to focus on
what lay ahead. This chapter will explain the development of the Spartan Race concept,
and all the prepara.ons leading up to our 9rst one. We dove in, 9guring wed 9gure it
out as we wentkind of like the very race we were designing. Ill o er a unique behind
the scenes look at what went right and what went wrong in prepara.on. Along the way,
youll meet many of the characters that form the backbone of the Spartan movement
today.
Chapter 4: Passing Through Barbed Wire
This obstacle requires you to crawl on your hands and knees or roll along between the
metal spikes. This obstacle isnt about strength but about e-ciency.
The 9rst Spartan Race will be described in great detail. We all learned something
about ourselves during and aPer this 9rst race. When extreme events become your
new normal, you develop something greater than endurance, and you learn about
more than mere survival. You develop an uncanny ability to make clear judgments even
during unclear circumstances. Im talking about moments when Which way should I
go? becomes a life-and-death ques.on. Surely you can think clearly and make ra.onal
decisions, especially when it comes to decisions that are made at the grocery store
checkout or in how one organizes his day or what one priori.zes at work.
From that ini.al race in Vermont, the growth came fast. This chapter will o er a
behind-the-scenes, rung-by-rung look at the speedy growth of Spartan races through
the eyes of my and many par.cipants. Its a case study worthy of Harvard Business
School, as we used a grassroots approach augmented by na.onal media hits where
needed. Our grip could have loosened at any moment, but we held on and kept going.
Our best marke.ng was word-of-mouth based. Not to use religious terms, but our
converts spread the word for us.
This is what happens when work becomes your passion. People always tell me to
relax, but people get to relax because of the people that are geMng shit done. Being
produc.ve is necessary to be vital and relevant. I started Spartan Race as a way to help
9nd amazing peopleI believe such greatness lies within all of us, albeit hidden, too
oPen, behind perfume, escalators, and parfait.
In the Spartan world, we dont Stop and smell the roses, because thats
was.ng our precious .me. If I was lucky enough to be healthy, think clearly and capable
of being produc.ve, it just never felt right to sit s.ll unless I had worked myself to a
point of exhaus.on. Only then could I jus.fy it. I was 9nally beginning to reap the
rewards of these e orts.
SECTION II: UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT
Chapter 5: GeMng a Grip on Your Physical Fitness
When you're swinging along a long set of monkey bars, you not only need strong arms
and back muscles, but overall muscular endurance as well. It may feel like youre back
on the playground in elementary school, but for many racers this is one of the toughest
obstacles to overcome.
Thats the thing about Spartan racing: Your beach muscles and six-pack may not
have prepared you as well as you think for this sort of hours-long 9tness blitz. Your
muscles may fade and your lungs may feel on the verge of collapse, but the obstacles
and the mud keep looming before you. You can pass on onebut thatll cost you 30
burpees, further sapping your muscles energy supply. Spartan races require that you
train for skill, speed, strength and agility. Your weakest link will be mercilessly exposed
at some point.
Our physical training is rooted in a military-style discipline. The Greek
philosopher Aristotle knew that mastering self-discipline was the key to success. If
freedom is what you are aPer, it comes not from discipline, but through discipline. The
Spartan plan for living a full life uses principles that have existed since man's .me began
on this planet. With our accelera.ng desire for everything faster, easier, cheaperwe
have lost sight of these ancient tenets. Once we embrace them, our mind, body and
spirit become one. At that point, anything is possible.
The 9tness world, like so many aspects of our culture, is liered with too many
machines, gadgets and apparatus. You can sell that array of stu , which you cant do
with burpees or running around the block a few .mes. Our philosophy is that all you
need to be 9t is intes.nal for.tude and a will, and that equipment shouldnt be the
di erence maker.
Most training nowadays is too speci9c and specialized. Weve all seen the cyclist
with skinny arms who looks like a quad monster from the waist down. Weve seen the
bodybuilder with perfectly propor.oned musculature who couldnt run around the
block to save his life. Neither would fare well in a Spartan race.
This chapter will o er an overview of how to train like a Spartan, as well as a
rundown on my perfect day of health and 9tness.
Chapter 6: Fuel the Fire, Fuel Your Body
At some point during an obstacle race, your bodys cells desire for fuel is going to be
the biggest obstacle of all. Even our shortest race can create a huge caloric de9cit in a
short period of .me. Try to run these races on a peanut buer and jelly sandwich, and
youll hit the wall before you even get to the wall. Yeah, its that hard.
You need enough fuel. Whats more, your internal systems need to be
func.oning well enough to use it properly. I used to run a pool cleaning business, and to
me a swimming pool is the closest thing to a human body. Its got a pump, its got a
9lter, its got water, and its got a liner. If I took a swimming pool and I dumped co ee in
it every day, it wouldnt take long to contaminate the pool. And that pool might hold
20,000 gallons. The human body is a lot less. You have to eat healthy and less, drink
healthy and less, get your sleep, exercise, be commied, have a great aMtude.
Spartan nutri.on is all about being disciplined and planning ahead. How much
fun are you really having when you are underprepared? Underfunded? Out of shape?
It all .es into the idea of taking a few extra steps each day to be produc.ve and prepare
for tomorrow. APer siMng around all day, swilling co ee and beer, do you really feel
that great?
How many hours a day does someone waste? Most people dont prepare at
night for the next day. Most people dont set their alarms for 5 oclock in the morning to
get a head start on the next day. Most people dont make lists of things that need to get
done to be more e-cient. Most people waste much of their days simply by not being
organized and planning ahead. They take their cookies now all day long by not focusing
on being produc.ve.
Chapter 7: Withstanding Shocks To Your System
Hill climbs are an integral part of any Spartan obstacle course. Even seasoned athletes
will hit them hard, then be walking, and then be stopped, out of gas.
We all get stuck on hills in life. When I applied to college, my grades werent
good enough and I didnt get into Cornell. I was stunned, but failures like that are
important. They humble us. They teach us valuable lessons. Without that failure, I
wouldnt have worked my ass for the next two years doing whatever I had to for Cornell
to accept me. Failure can be your greatest asset if you use it to move forward and keep
progressing.
Imagine quiMng a raceit might feel great when you slow down and step o the
course, crawl into bed and 9nally relax. But that failure will s.ng for years to come.
Learn to enjoy life by doing, and then youll be able to not only seize every day, but also
be happy and produc.ve while doing so.
Failure can be your greatest asset if you use it to move forward and keep
progressing. Failures like that are important, since they can humble us, and also teach us
valuable lessons. Lets say you prepared insanely well, but you could never have
an.cipated what would come your way. How do you make it through? AMtude in life is
everythingits the founda.on of all movements. With the right aMtude, mountains
can be moved, or at least climbed. Can aMtude be taught? I believe it can. The way to
create great aMtudes is to push through adversity. Once you have seen the dark side,
everything looks brighter.
Its not easy. But aPer 45 years on the planet, I am absolutely convinced that
some discomfort and su ering is needed daily to improve our daily lives and make
the world a beer place. Its discipline of a sort I learned at a young age. I gauge my life
as a success, but every day its s.ll important to exercise self-control. Ive managed to
do this in many aspects of life: business, farming, diet, personal rela.onships, paren.ng,
and of course, in the crea.on of the Spartan Races.
Total mind-body-spirit 9tness is the Spartan ideal. Historys elite warriors have
known that to win on the real bale9eld, you must 9rst win on the bale9eld of your
mind. This requires mastering your emo.ons and leMng your intellect decide whats
important in unbiased fashion. It becomes essen.al that you learn how to priori.ze.
How can you achieve greatness if you are constantly sidetracked by trivial pursuits? You
must develop a mind strong enough to resist distrac.ons and tempta.ons. Greatness
doesnt come from obsessing over the trivial events of the day and checking your
Facebook account 20 .mes an hour.
The rewards are substan.al. If it werent for this Spartan event, I might have
always thought the big guys were stronger than me, wrote Spartan compe.tor Vanessa
Runs in a blog post. Above all, I learned to not be in.midated. To be con9dent in my
9tness. And that in the end, maybe the life awards dont go to the biggest guys. Maybe
its beer to be .ny. To slip easily under every obstacle.
Chapter 10: PuMng It Together, Becoming a Modern-Day Spartan
The last obstacle you must surmount is the array of preconceived no.ons jammed into
your psyche. All too oPen we spend our waking hours trying to 9nd and stay
comfortable in our own lives. We look for short cuts, gadgets, and processes to make
things easier, seeking what we consider personal ful9llment. We believe that there are
things we can do and things that we cant, and we become condi.oned to that
dis.nc.on. It creates our everyday reality and it makes us feel secure, because we think
we know what to expect of the world and what to expect of ourselves.
The ninth Eco Challenge in Fiji was when I realized once and for all that the body
can do so much more than we ever thought possible. As insanely hard as that race was, I
didnt miss the comforts of back home even during periods of mind-bending exhaus.on
and depriva.on. I wanted food, water and shelter. Thats all I cared about. Period. This
more primi.ve mental state was refreshing, libera.ng and empowering. With the
ar.9ce of civiliza.on stripped away, I truly came alive.
I was also struck by how the Fijian people we encountered during the race were
happy, healthy, strong, self-su-cient, and generous, living rich lives without any of the
things we are told we need every day: cars, plas.c, toysnone of it. Understanding this
changed my life. This chapter will conclude with guidance on how to fully integrate the
less is more philosophy into your life.
THE SPARTAN AUTHORS
Joseph DeSena
Im the driving force behind and the living embodiment of the Spartan Race, the sports
and 9tness juggernaut described in this proposal. I built a number of successful
businesses, star.ng in 9reworks at 13, moving onto pool cleaning, and eventually
landing on Wall Street. I also became a legend in endurance and adventure racing circles
based on accomplishments Ive already outlined. Spartan Race merges those two
obsessions of my life. To learn more about me, my races and the amazing people who
have been transformed by them, check out spartanrace.com and spartanrace.tv.
Je OConnell
I am editor-in-chief at Bodybuilding.com, the Internets largest 9tness site. I was
formerly editor-in-chief at Muscle & Fitness and execu.ve writer at Mens Health. My
feature wri.ng has been cited in both the Best American Sports Wri.ng and Best
American Science and Nature Wri.ng anthologies. I have coauthored four books,
including LL Cool Js Pla.num Workout, which became a New York Times bestseller, and
Formula 50, with 50 Cent. Hyperion Books published my 9rst solo work, Sugar Na.on, in
July 2011.
Are you ready to Spartan UP? Click right here and pre-order your copy now!
Part 1: Overview
This book" may just be the simplest step-by-step guide to
completely overhaul your life.
Thats a prey bold statement, and were s.cking to it as over the next eighty or so
pages you will be presented with straighSorward informa.on, history, and behind-thescenes intel from the global leader in Obstacle Racing since 2005 Spartan Race. Then,
well introduce some of the obstacles youll have to face and provide .ps on how to
train your body to tackle each of them, followed by an easy-to-follow 6-week 9tness
regimen to take you from the couch to a Spartan Race Sprint 9nish line. If that werent
enough, we also provide a gear guide so you know what to wear (or not to) on race day
and seal the en.re deal with a 15% registra.on discount.
Well answer:
Yup, thats right not only is this eBook free, it provides you all the resources to train
for and conquer your 9rst Spartan Sprint you can sign up right here and save 15% o
your registra.on with code MUDRUNGUIDE15!
A Spartan Race obstacle course race is designed to test your resilience, strength,
stamina, quick decision-making skills, and ability to laugh in the face of adversity. Our
unique obstacle course trail races will demand every ounce of your strength, ingenuity,
and animal ins.nct to 9nish, and this book will help you get there.
Spartan Race is a thrilling alterna.ve to mundane, sedentary life in the form of a sport
that anyone - yes, anyone - can do. Well outline the Spartan training philosophy,
inspired by the courage and discipline of the Ancient Spartans and dedicated to
func.onal exercise, which requires neither equipment nor gym membership - just a
body, a will, and the great outdoors.
Are you Unbreakable? If youre ready to become strong enough, fast enough, and smart
enough to tackle a Spartan Sprint course, then read on! AROO!
Remember when you were a kidwhen you would not only walk toward a puddle, but
stomp right in the middle of it, making as big a splash as you could? Kids who arent yet
brainwashed by electronic media go outside to play, explore, and get dirty. They squat
down to dig in the sand with impeccable Nexibility and balance. They climb and swing
and tumble for the sheer joy of their own movement. When was the last .me you went
through the mud instead of around it, were overcome with exhilara.on at your own
power, or felt giddy just by being alive?
We are building a global sport and community around the Spartan model of
obstacle racing because we want to give millions of people the opportunity
to push themselves to be their best; to race with others who share this
passion; and to embrace the Spartan Code for training and compe..on in
their lives. Just like people say, Im a runner, or, Im a triathlete,
hundreds of thousands of people are now saying, Im a Spartan Racer.
Selica Sevigny (Member of the Founding Few)
Spartan Races are .med compe..ons that are orchestrated over standardized distances
and feature natural and man-made obstacles speci9cally designed to test mind-body
9tness. Every race at every distance will have you climbing, liPing, crawling, rolling,
carrying, running, swimming, balancing, throwing, and jumping. All Spartan Race courses
are deliberately designed to leave you exhausted and exhilarated; the comple.on of any
of our courses is an accomplishment that deserves to be recognized, and each 9nisher
has truly earned their Spartan Race medal. Our moo is Youll Know at the Finish Line
is not just an empty marke.ng phrase, but a sen.ment that is shared by all of our
athletes who have been bonded through the collec.ve challenge of comple.ng one of
the worlds best obstacle courses.
couch, throw you in the mud & trails, and feed you one tough endurance event day that
will be the adrenalin rush of your life.
The Spartan Sprint courses are a fantas.c star.ng place for athletes looking to get into
the world of Obstacle Course Racing (OCR). The 3-4 mile distance presents challenges
that anyone can overcome with su-cient strength, skill, and determina.on. You are
guaranteed to cross the 9nish line with a lile bit of mud, a lot of sweat, and a keen
sense of self. You most likely will also experience a renewed awareness of what you can
accomplish.
For those who prefer longer compe..ons, Spartan Race has your distanceanywhere
from eight miles to a full marathon. At every distance, obstacle races o er the perfect
opportunity to iden.fy your strengths and weaknesses, build your resilience, and
remind you of that euphoric mind-body synergy that made you never want to quit
playing when you were a kid.
At every distance and in every category, the majority of those who trudge through and
cross the 9nish line describe their experience as the toughest thing they have ever done,
yet they cant wait to come back for more. Thank you, may I have another. And for
many compe.tors, Spartan Races are life-changing.
Take the life-changing nature of Spartan Race to the next level with Spartan UP!
Spartan-sanc.oned obstacle racing is rapidly becoming the most demanding, accessible,
and addic.ve individual and team sport in the world. Its for everyone. Its for you.
Come on out and 9nd your inner Spartan.
You Have one Life to Live, Why Not Strive For Greatness? Andy
Spartan Race is on a mission to get you ac.ve, healthy, excited about change, and return
to our ancient roots where running through woods, geMng dirty, and facing adversity
was part of everyday life.
We are hell-bent on geMng you into OCR for one simple reason: the human animal is
meant to run, jump, climb, hike, get dirty, and live in the wild. All people share these
innate skills, and every human animal is capable of experiencing the thrill of unleashing
long-dormant ins.ncts.
Our events challenge the familiar, day-to-day percep.on of normal living and are
speci9cally designed to get you out of your comfort zone. At Spartan Race, this is what
we do this every day and it shapes everything we do as individuals and as a company.
Eons ago, we humans lived wild. We threw spears, climbed trees, and hiked through
woods and 9elds and mountains. But somewhere along the way, we traded our wildness
for weariness. Instead of throwing spears, we shot riNes. Instead of hun.ng, we
shopped. Instead of running and playing games, we sat and watched tubes. This denial
of the inner animal leP us unful9lled, overweight, and bored with our inac.ve,
comfortable lives - un.l now!
Our diverse team of extreme athletes called the Founding Few brings an immense
amount of experience from many di erent types of endurance racing events, and
wanted to take the challenging sport of adventure racing and make it more accessible to
athletes of all 9tness levels. Do not be fooled by the word accessible, our goal was to
take some of the logis.cal nightmares out of adventure racing like mountain bikes,
mountain climbing equipment, canoes, etc. and allow everyone to compete but we
had no desire to make it easy as our events present a challenge for everyone who toes
the start line.
Whatever your exis.ng 9tness level, Spartan Race will test your strength, stamina,
mental acuity, and sense of humor.
Whether 9rst-.me racers or Olympic champions, all Spartan Race compe.tors are
expected to meet an elite standard for sportsmanship. Race rules are posted on our
website and at each event. All rules are strictly enforced.
Beyond race day rules, we promote the Spartan Code to encourage and inspire Spartan
Race par.cipants and organizers alike to live up to the highest standards on race day
and every day.
modern Western culture is distracted by a barrage of 9tness gurus and devices that aim
to meet every imaginable (or imaginary!) need.
Even endurance racers in the last 30 years focused on re9ning movement to greater and
greater degrees of e-ciency. Because of this trend, athletes are oPen ripped but cant
actually func.on in the real world. For example, picture a cyclist who has skinny arms
and dinosaur legs. That person is condi.oned to perform exceedingly well at a speci9c
linear event (cycling), but less well-condi.oned for func.onal excellence in lots of events
(life).
When did we forget exhilara.on and personal explora.on? When did we accept that we
had to rely on equipment, gear, and technology to achieve and maintain either peak
condi.on or lifelong 9tness?
Spartan Race believes you should be able to run, crawl, and climb like your ancestors.
Spartan Race believes you dont need anything to overcome an obstacle other than
intes.nal for.tude and a will to excel.
Jumping, crawling, and climbing are all things were naturally born to
do....Were wired to do them, but we dont anymore; we just type.
Joe
Spartan Race wants you to achieve more. Thats why we put a brutal and unforgeable
course in front of you. Our mission is to WOW our racers, push their minds and bodies
to the limit, and make them healthy through superior, extreme, and challenging
obstacle races. That is why Spartan-brand obstacle race events are designed to break
people down.
The goal is to push you to overcome your short-term desire for comfort in an e ort to
prac.ce reaching for something greater than your current self. Anyone can run up a hill.
What about going up the same hill crawling under 300 feet of barbed wire? Obstacles
and mental challenges force our athletes to be agile and capable in movements that are
lateral as well as linear, as well as resilient to plenty of surprises.
Spartan Race obstacles are equalizers. You cant win a Spartan Race on speed or
strength or even endurance alone. You will need guts, for.tude, and a desire to 9nish,
pushing yourself through the obstruc.ons before you. It will hurt, we promise. It will
also be the most fun youve had in a long .me. You will discover a sense of exhilara.on
and personal achievement that has eluded you in every other sport or endeavor, and
youll see yourself in an en.rely new light.
Thats why the Spartan Race moo is simply:
Andy Weinberg: Our larger goal is to rip one million people o the couch and into a
healthy lifestyle. We aim to change peoples lives by cul.va.ng an atmosphere of
wellness and accomplishment at our events and in our online communi.es and by
asking racers to lay their guts on the line and push their limits.
The race series pushes all athletesfrom professionals to beginnersto discover new
levels of resourcefulness and for.tude and to rekindle their appe.te for personal
beerment.
We really mean it when we say Spartan Race is for everyone. Kids 4 to 13 can do our
kids race; 14 and up can race our adult circuit in the United States. Special access
services are available for physician-cleared compe.tors with physical disabili.es. We
even provide a fes.val area designed for spectators to enjoy the ac.on. Friends,
rela.ves, future Spartansanyone can experience it.
If youre s.ll wondering, yes: Spartan Race is for you.
Andy & Joe are extreme endurance athletes, both of whom are accomplished in
adventure races, triathlons and some of the most outlandishly grueling pursuits on
earth.
They dreamed of crea.ng an event that could combine the mental and physical
challenges without all the specialized equipment (kayaks, mountain bikes, climbing gear,
tents, etc.) and provide a life-changing, memorable event. In 2004, they held their 9rst
Death Race; an incredibly extreme and enigma.c race that was completely diabolical
and unstructured compe.tors didnt know when Death Race started or ended. The
physical and mental tasks bordered on barbaric, and barely 20% of entrants from yearto-year can complete the DR as it is known and earn their 9nishers skull.
The few individuals who can keep their mind clear and focused while
con.nuing to progress forward fare considerably bePer than the average
individual. The elite of this group are the ones who complete the event and
inspire others including everyone here at Death Race. We created the
race to Fnd these superheroes, and its a life-altering event for everyone
involved when they realize their full poten.al. If I Fnd one superhero per
race, then I consider it a rousing success. - Joe
Inspired by the overwhelming response to the Death Race, Joe and Andy once again set
out to create another race that used some of the same elements, but could be
standardized and developed into an accessible sport to meet their new goal: geMng one
million people o the couch and par.cipa.ng in athle.c events.
The Founding Few designed the new event to be an organized, regulated, and .med
obstacle race that would draw both 9rst-.me athletes as well as serious compe.tors. So
they created Spartan Race, a footrace through natural and man-made obstacles
designed to test the compe.tors physical and mental 9tness. It was compressed into a
short coursethe 9rst race was 5 km (3 miles) longthat incorporated dry land, water
features, mud, and even 9re. No special equipment was required, only a determina.on
to cross the 9nish line.
The 9rst Spartan Race event was held in 2009 in Burlington, Vermont. By the end of
2013, Spartan Races aracted more than a one million entrants worldwide, including
elite, professional, amateur, and 9rst-.me athletes, and the sport of obstacle racing
developed a devoted and growing community. With na.onal network TV coverage of
the Spartan Race World Championships, an ever-expanding cash prize purse, over 3
million fans on Facebook, sold out races all over the globe, and a corporate partnership
with one of the largest athle.c apparel and equipment brands worldwide in Reebok, the
Spartan Race brand is not only the global leader in OCRs, but also a household name.
Headquartered in Pis9eld, Vermont, we created Spartan Race obstacle course events
to bring the Spartan ideal and the thrill of adventure racing to millions of people you
included.
The Spartan Race Founding Few are a group of diverse individuals who were
instrumental in the concept development, shaping, and honing the dream of crea.ng an
exci.ng, challenging, race to inspire the passions of athletes from all walks of life to
compete in a new form of sport -- and change their lives. From a Quintuple Ironman
9nisher to mul.ple summits of Mt. Everest, this team of amazing athletes, coaches, race
directors, course designers, and innova.ve thinkers was led (and funded) by Joe De
Sena, a fearless ultra athlete who leP his hec.c Wall Street job for the pure insanity of
crea.ng and running Peak Races Death Race and Spartan Race.
Q: So, who are the Founding Few?
A: Mike Morris, Selica Sevigny, Richard Lee, Brian Duncanson, Noel Hanna, Shaun Bain,
Andy Weinberg, and Joe De Sena.
Some of the endurance races we (the Founding Few) par.cipate in ourselves are way
too extreme for most people, and weve developed Spartan Race to be accessible for
everyone. Because of the nonexistent barriers to entry, with each race the sport of OCR
and Spartan Race becomes even more popular.
Badwater 135 mile road race through Death Valley (Noel, Joe)
Running the Iditarod (the famous dog sled race across Alaska)
on foot (Joe)
A: People are bored with their lives. They are seeking adventure, fun, and more healthconscious ac.vity. Obstacle racing is fun, unpredictable, a6ordableand its good for
you.
Obstacle course racing (OCR) allows people to feel conFdent, overcome challenges, and
realize they are capable of doing anything they set their mind to. Its inspiring to see and
meet so many di6erent people and yet feel connected to one another almost instantly
during and afer the race. Its a return to our ancient roots. Trail running is in our DNA as
hunters and gatherers. Humans were meant to be outdoors, not in houses and on
couches. Our events trigger something very deep that has been dormant. Its an exci.ng
day, and its a day where anything can happen! - Selica Sevigny
A: Because Joe doesnt give up. And obstacle racing aPracts compe.tors who dont,
either. Mike
Q: Where did the idea for the Spartan brand come from?
A: Before he even brought the rest of us in, Joe was already commiPed to the race
concept and the lifestyle it would inspire. We brainstormed brand names during the Frst
planning mee.ng, and I had just Fnished a 300 Workout challenge with some friends
apparently this was the workout used to train the actors for the movie 300. We
werent sure at Frst, as Spartan seemed like it could be a gimmick, but as we talked
through the mission of the company and realized that we wanted to encourage people
to get o6 their couches while providing a challenge to everyone who entered, we
realized that Spartan gave us a strong, resonant theme and lifestyle founda.on that
we could leverage in our outreach. (And the domain name was available!) - Brian
Q: What are your personal highlights from your adventure and compe..on experience
so far?
There is no greater experience than being crushed physically and mentally for hours,
days or weeks, only to arrive back in our cushy lives and really being able to then
appreciate all that we have. Joe
opening when they met our Frst gladiator. The feedback was priceless. Spectators, who
were all over the course, quickly migrated to the spot in the woods where all of the
screams were coming from to watch people get lit up. We decided right there that the
gladiators would always be located right at the Fnish line so that everyone could watch.
Brian
Q: What are your personal short-term and long-term aspira.ons for obstacle racing as a
sport?
Near-term, we just need to sa.sfy the worlds hunger for it and get races in all of the
countries demanding it. Longer-term, this is an Olympic sport and a lifestyle that will
change the world. - Joe
My long-term goal is to get the message out to the youth of America and to their public
school administrators: your health and Ftness are important. We have full control of our
health and Ftness and its .me that we take responsibility for that. I also really enjoy
geVng out with the par.cipants and having fun with them. I also want to raise a happy
and healthy family. - Andy
Q: What are your personal aspira.ons as an athlete and compe.torwhat do you aim
to achieve that you havent accomplished yet?
I just need to stay Ft for as long as Jack La Lane did, thats all I need. - Joe
I need to swim the English channel and bike to Siberia. - Andy
Q: What one thing should readers take away from this book?
You can change your life in an instant - Joe
You get one body to live in, make the most of it. - Andy
this book! The Super Spartan would be challenging but s.ll accessible to reasonably 9t
9rst-.me compe.tors and to athletes accomplished in other sports. The Beast and Ultra
Beast distances were set to break even the most hardened athlete and are absolutely
not meant for 9rst-.mers.
What to Expect
The Course
Spartan Races incorporate natural and man-made obstacles designed to test the
physical and mental capacity of every compe.tor. Spartan obstacle race elements would
be standardized so that courses could be rated and compe.tors .mes compared across
events; at the same .me, each Spartan Race event has been carefully designed to be
unique, surprising and challenging compe.tors and keep them from becoming bored or
complacent from predictability.
Timed Races with Mandatory Obstacle Comple6on or Penal6es
Spartan-sanc.oned races are .med and o-ciated, and all Spartan Race obstacles are
mandatory. Racers who avoid or fail to complete an obstacle are assigned a penalty
generally 30 burpeeswhich they must complete in order to advance. Failure to
complete an obstacle and the associated penalty results in immediate disquali9ca.on.
This ensures our race results are fair and unbiased. Entrants either complete the course
or they dont. No excuses, no waivers, no asterisks.
These races are a true compe..on against your personal goals or other compe.tors,
and it is simply not the type of un.med challenge event where you pick and choose
what obstacles you want to conquer. While teamwork and respec.ng your fellow
Spartan are an unwrien part of the Spartan Code, make no mistake that you are being
.med from the second you scream AROO! And launch from the star.ng corral un.l you
pass the gladiators at the 9nish line.
Sta7 and Volunteers
When you sign up for a Spartan Race, our promise to you is safe, high quality obstacles
along with helpful sta and volunteers. From the moment you arrive at one of our
events, our family of employees, race-day volunteers, and fellow Spartan Race athletes
are accessible for any ques.ons or concerns you may have, so do not hesitate to ask.
There is no such thing as a stupid ques.on when it comes to your piece of mind and
safety on race day.
Spartan-sanc.oned races are responsibly sta ed with appropriate medical services.
There are no water sta.ons or other support services along the course, and we expect
our compe.tors to push themselves well beyond their accustomed limits. Minor injuries
such as scrapes, bruises, strains, pulls, and singes are common, and Spartan Race HQ
created a Best Injury Award that the recipients cherish as much as their 9nish line
medals.
So Spartan Races dont cater to comfort, but thats not the same as being cavalier to real
emergencies. Spartan Race o-cials and racers alike are required to be alert and
responsive to any injury or event that requires medical aen.on.
Slippery wall
8-foot wall
Spear throw
Rope climb
Traverse wall
Weight carry
Tractor pull
There is a (30) Burpee Penalty for any and all failed or skipped obstacles. There is one
path for all racers from the start to 9nish lines; over, under, across, or through each and
every obstacle.
A lile later in this guide, we will provide exercises, .ps, and techniques for mastering
each of the mandatory obstacles above but dont forget, those are only 8 of the
minimum 15 you will see on race day, and they change from race to race. The 9tness
regiment star.ng on page xx was developed by a 9tness trainer and interna.onal author
to built full-body func.onal strength that will help you conquer every aspect of every
course.
At Spartan Races, we operate with a di erent set of rules than most races. You dont
get to opt out of obstacles, oh no. Dont want to climb that 8 foot wall? 30 burpees.
Failed the monkey bars you say? 30 burpees. Want to bypass the low crawl, drop and
give me 30 (burpees, of course). Didnt quite make it across the traverse wall? Yeah,
thatll be 30 burpees.
Heres a quick checklist of a complete set of burpees as a penalty at a Spartan Race:
1. Chest to deck. When you drop to the ground, you must execute a full push up
with your chest touching the ground.
2. Press out of the push-up jumping your legs underneath your body so that you
are in a squaed posi.on.
3. Stand up, extending the hips, and jump o the ground with hands overhead.
4. Repeat 29 more .mes, catch your breath and keep going on the Spartan course
Mastering the Burpee: 5-Step Guide to Proper Form
1. Stand tall with your back erect, feet shoulder-width apart, and toes rotated
slightly outward.
2. ShiP your hips backward and sit back for the squat, keeping your head up and
bending your knees. Lean your weight forward and place your hands on the
Noor, inside, outside, or in front of your feetwhichever is more comfortable
and gives you a nice, stable base.
3. Kick your feet straight back so that youre now in a push-up star.ng posi.on,
forming a straight line from your head to your feet. Keep your core .ght to
maintain an erect spine.
4. Inhale as you lower your torso toward the Noor for a push-up. Stop when your
chest touches the Noor.
5. Exhaling, straighten your arms and propel your en.re upper body o the Noor
while simultaneously bending your knees and bringing them toward your chest
in order to plant your feet underneath you. You should end up back in the
boom posi.on of a squat. Swing your arms straight overhead, exhale, and push
o from your feet to jump straight up in the air. Land with your knees slightly
bent to absorb the impact.
Thats 1 rep, repeat
Dont forget this exercise, youll see plenty of burpees in the training program. You see,
even though you may feel like youre performing them as a penalty during a race, they
are by all means the perfect full-body (mul.-joint, mul.-muscle) func.onal exercise to
train for OCRs. Yeah, youre welcome.
FAQ:
lile to no training. Of course, wed prefer if you took the baseline test and followed
that up with comple.ng the 9tness regimen in this book but thats up to you!
Q: How do I prepare for the challenges & obstacles?
A: The 9rst .p we always provide for conquering obstacles is to expect the unexpected
and possess the mental resolve to adapt quickly. In this book, we provide 8 of the
mandatory 15 required obstacles for a Spartan Race Sprint, so the other 7 are reliant on
your wits and strength to complete. Our .ps & techniques for mandatory Sprint
obstacles begin on page xx.
Q: What should I wear?
A: Provided you follow all decency rules, you can wear as lile or as much as you feel
you need. We highly recommend you keep it simple, and train in your race gear several
.mes before race day. Check out Gear Guide on page xx.
Q: Is there a race thats best for a Frst-.mer?
A: Glad you asked The Spartan Race Sprint is designed for beginners to be able to
complete with minimal training and prepara.on. Youre in luck, thats what this book is
devoted to preparing you for!
Q: Whats the di6erence between a mud run and an OCR like Spartan Race?
A: The non-technical delinea.on is prey simple: A mud run is a glori9ed trail run with
muddy sec.ons to run through, and an OCR is a combina.on of man-made and natural
obstacles speci9cally designed to test total body strength, mental for.tude, and
problem-solving skills.
A tradi.onal mud run is akin to a steeple chase event, running from start-to-9nish over
rough, challenging terrain. Confusion about a races classi9ca.on stems from mud runs
that incorporate obstacles are they s.ll a mud run or have they become an OCR?
Theres surely some gray area, but if you go by the descrip.ons above that event would
fall more in-line with an OCR.
Obstacle quality and course design is another considera.on altogether, as there is no
shortage of new events all over the world that claim to be on the same level of
excellence that Spartan Race has worked for nearly a decade to achieve. OPen, these
events fall far short and even present safety hazards. We encourage you to check out
reviews of any event Spartan Race included before you sign up for any of em.
There is only one Spartan Race brand in the sport of OCR. Period. We demand
excellence of ourselves in providing a life-changing experience for you, and we work
excep.onally hard to accept nothing less.
Q: Can I compete with a team?
A: Absolutely! Not only can you create a team, you can also join one that is already
created. The more members you have on your team, the more of a rebate youll get on
your registra.on fees. Bear in mind that although you can surely work together to
conquer obstacles, each team member is required to complete every obstacle or ful9ll
the 30 burpee penalty for failing. Each individual team member must cross the 9nish
line with their own .ming chip.
Q: If I cant complete an obstacle, what then?
A: Let me spell it out: B U R P E E S. 30 of em. Check out page xx for a complete
overview of how and when to perform burpees.
Q: Whats a wave start?
A: These are also referred to as heats and it means a staggered start for a speci9c
number of people to be released onto the course at one .me. At Spartan Race we
design courses for a speci9c amount of tra-c Now in an e ort to limit wait .me and
queues at obstacles. A wave or heat start allow us to control the Now of athletes onto
the course at the start line and provide as posi.ve an experience for our racers as
possible. Since you are wearing a .ming chip, dont worry about the exact .me of day
your wave starts, that lile chip will .me you accurately from start to 9nish.
Q: What are the di6erent Spartan Race distances?
A: Spartan Race o ers 4 di erent course lengths, each with their own required number
of obstacles:
Spartan Sprint 3+ mile long course over challenging natural terrain with
a minimum of 15 obstacles
Joe: Spartans leave no one behind. It is great to push yourself alone, but it is even
greater to compete along with friends and acquaintances to help bring your game and
your rela.onshipto a new level.
When you race as a team there is a new psychological factor to consider. There will be
moments when your team members are stronger or weaker than you. These dynamics
will test your ability to remain ra.onal and suppor.ve, and to keep your focus on the
bene9t of the team.
Total dedica.on to your team is every bit as important in life as it is on the course.
Spartan teamwork is incredibly apparent to me when I am on a course. At the 2012 Utah
Beast, I decided to do the course carrying two 40-pound sandbags. No fewer than 200
people stopped to talk to me during the event, and to ask me if I needed help carrying
one or both of the sandbags. Now, on that par.cular day I was in the mood to su er, so
I declined; but that expression of camaraderie among par.cipants in an all-out
compe..on like Spartan Race is phenomenal.
We encourage registering with your own team or joining another exis.ng team online at
spartanrace.com by providing rebates on your registra.on based on your team size. Not
only are teams a great source of support during training and on race day, they are also a
posi.ve bene9t for your bank account!
The best .me to plant an oak tree is a hundred years ago. The second-best
.me is today. Ancient Chinese Proverb
If youre already in great shape, but have not achieved total 9tness, now you know what
to do. If youre not already in great shape, whats stopping you? Its your body and your
life. Get 9t so you can enjoy it!
This FXT baseline test measures your ability to perform four mul.-muscle, mul.-joint
exercises and run 200 yards (less than mile) in 20 minutes or less. This high-intensity
interval training is commonly referred to as HIIT, and has the poten.al to hit every
athlete prey hard because each individuals intensity is rela.ve to their own 9tness
level. Just like every other decision youll make in life its absolutely up to you.
What? You want me to do all these exercises back to back? I cant do as many push-ups
afer my upper body is .red from pull-ups! Squats and running in the same rou.ne? You
must be nuts!
Yes, thats the whole idea were training you to tackle a Spartan Race Sprint that
features at least 15 obstacles over a 3-4 mile distance, and this test is a perfect method
to assess the strength, coordina.on, endurance, speed, and mental toughness you will
need to complete your Spartan glory. Honing your body for bale by learning and using
proper technique...it all starts now.
During the 6-week program youll be performing di erent intervals at varying
intensi.es, and repea.ng this very test each week in order to track your progress. If
youre unsure about tackling these exercises by yourself, why not invite a friend to take
on this challenge with you? Having a training partner is a great way to keep you safe,
mo.vated and accountable for your workouts. If you have a training partner for the
ini.al test, have them keep an eye on your form to make sure youre performing the
movement properly. If youre having problems with your form, now is the easiest .me
to 9x it. As an added bonus, you can both use your 9rst-.mer discount code and
complete your 9rst Spartan Race side-by-side.
Always take the test at your own pace; rest, recover, rehydrate and refocus as needed.
Taking the FXT Test
Before beginning the test (and any workout), its impera.ve that you prepare yourself
for the exercises by warming up and geMng your blood pumping. A good warm-up
should be 510 minutes and raise your body temperature to a light sweat. Walk, jog,
jumping jacks, easy punching a heavy bag, jump rope, bike whatever Noats your boat.
Remember, youre warming up, not going all-out. Keep your rela.ve exer.on to about
40% of your max(see Exer.on Level for more details).
Heres what youll need for the test:
Stopwatch or .mer
Pull-up bar: The bar itself should be safe and sturdy and able to hold
more than double your body weight. Note: Playground bars work perfectly; get
crea.ve if you need to.
Water: Hydrate before, aPer and even during if you need it.
10 Pull-Ups
Run 50 yards as fast as you can
20 Bodyweight Squats
Run 50 yards as fast as you can
20 Push-Ups
Run 50 yards as fast as you can
20 In & Outs
Run 50 yards as fast as you can
Stop your .mer, note the .me and add any addi.onal .me from missed reps. Compare
your .me to the chart below.
So, what do these results really mean? When performing the programs, an elite
9nisher should be able to perform 50-100% addi.onal distance, repe..ons, weight, or
intensity than the program calls for. Elite athletes con.nually push their limits, and this
program is no excep.on. An Advanced athlete should be able to complete the
exercises and drills as listed in the program, progressively adding distance, repe..ons,
weight, or intensity as the guidelines require. A Beginner should take the program at
their own pace, and perform the exercises within their comfort level while they build up
the required strength and stamina to complete the Spartan Race FXT Test at the
Advanced level.
Training: Build your own or 9nd something similar on a playground. Were not telling
you to break the rules and climb up a slide or anything crazy like that.
8-foot wall
An 8-foot high wooden wall with or without a cross-member halfway up for foot
placement.
Never Fear the Wall, the moment you do, youll lose the momentum thats vital to get
you up and over the top. Run up to the wall, jump upward to grab the top ledge and
immediately use your upward momentum to press up to extend your arms un.l your
waist is even with the top of the wall. Place your belly on top of the wall and reach
across your body to spin your torso 180 degrees while liPing your foot up to the top of
the wall. With both hands on the wall, spin your body the last 90 degrees, lowering your
feet over the wall and extend your arms with both hands s.ll holding the top of the wall
to lower yourself slowly to the ground.
Training: Build your own or 9nd a sturdy subs.tute. A strong 6-8 foot gate or fence will
su-ce, provided it is safe!
Spear throw
A 6-foot long wooden sta6 with a pointed metal spear at the end.
Pick the spear up roughly in the middle with your dominant hand; raise your hand above
shoulder level as if you were preparing to throw a football. Balance the spear on your
hand so the .p doesnt point downward. Use your other hand to steady the spear as
you move your throwing hand back about 6 inches on the sta . Rotate your torso
toward the side holding the spear, point your non-throwing hand at the target. Take 2-3
steps towards the target, uncoil your torso and launch the spear at an imaginary spot
about 2 feet above the target. Celebrate your victory, or join everyone else around you
doing burpees.
Rope climb
A 12-16 2.5 rope with or without knots, strung over a mud pit with a cowbell at the
top.
The biggest misconcep.on about climbing a rope is that you need pull yourself up with
your arms and use your feet for rest; the exact opposite is true. Your hands will keep
your posi.on while your hips and legs do the climbing. Knots can surely help, but s.ll
require the below technique to get to the top. Heres how:
Reach up and grab the rope as high as you can with both hands, you may need to pull up
a lile to get your feet up high enough to grasp the rope with one of the foot posi.ons
well illustrate below. Star.ng posi.on is with your arms fully extended and both hands
grasping the rope like a baseball bat, your feet gripping the rope. Release your feet from
the rope and bend at the hips and knees to raise your feet as far up the rope as possible,
lock your feet in place. Stand up. Youll con.nue to inchworm in this manner all the way
to the top of the rope, reach out and ring the bell. On the way down, keep your feet in
the locked posi.on, and carefully release pressure while using a hand under hand
method of lowering yourself back to the mud pit. Do not jump, and do not slide your
hands down the rope. Bad, bad things can and will happen if you do either. Control your
descent; pinch the rope with your feet to stop if you need to.
Foot Placement Pinch Method: This is the best method for climbing a rope with knots;
youll pinch your feet together above the knot and stand on it while you reach up and
reposi.on your hands.
When climbing a rope without knots, this method is greatly dependent on the strength
of your leg adductor muscles and the grip on the instep of your footwear to keep your
feet locked in place on the rope. This is the most ine-cient way to climb a knotless
rope, resul.ng in wasted energy and worn-out arms, core and legs as your feet
invariably slip down the rope.
How To Do It: With your arms extended overhead and hands holding the rope .ghtly,
squeeze both of your feet together loosely with the rope between the instep of both
feet, and bend at your waist to raise your legs as close to your hands as possible.
Squeeze your feet together .ghtly (preferably on top of a knot) to hold your place on
the rope while you extend your torso, stand up and reach your hands up as high as
possible on the rope. Repeat un.l you get to the top.
Foot Placement Calf Wrap Method: This is commonly known as the Marine Brake &
Squat and is much more e-cient than the pinch method because the rope is held
securely by wrapping it around your calf and then looping it under one and over the
other foot. Famous for rope burns, this method is best accomplished while wearing long
pants or high socks.
How To Do It: With your arms extended overhead and hands gripping the rope, allow
the rope to hang between your legs. Rotate your right leg clockwise (counter-clockwise
with your leP leg if you prefer) around the rope so that it wraps around your lower leg
and then to the outside of your right foot. Take your leP foot and loop it under the rope
so that it is under your right foot and on top of your leP. Pressing your leP foot on top of
your right foot to trap the rope between them with act as a brake to lock the rope in
place. Release the tension between your feet and allow it to slide around your leg as you
squat and raise your feet upward toward your hands. Clamp your leP foot on top of
your right to secure your foot posi.on while you stand up and reach as high as you can
to get a new grip on the rope.
Foot Placement Tac6cal Speed Climb: Undoubtedly the fastest way to climb a rope
while using your feet (arm-only is the fastest altogether) and has the added bene9t of
not resul.ng in as many rope burns and can be performed rather comfortably in shorts.
Perfected and used by military Special Opera.ons personnel, this method is the best
choice for most obstacle racers like us!
How To Do It: With your arms extended overhead and hands holding the rope, allow the
rope to fall to the outside of your right leg (swap the direc.ons for opposite legs if you
prefer). Loop your leP foot under the rope so that it is under your right foot and on top
of your leP. Press your leP foot on top of your right foot and trap the rope between to
lock the rope in place. Release the tension between your feet and allow it to slide
around your leg as you squat and raise your feet upward toward your hands. Clamp your
leP foot on top of your right to secure your foot posi.on while you stand up and reach
as high as you can to get a new grip on the rope.
Training: Many gyms are star.ng to add climbing ropes, especially ones that focus on
CrossFit & func.onal training. Climbing ropes with various mounts can be bought at
many spor.ng goods stores and are easily mounted on raPers in garages.
Traverse wall
Balance and grip strength are two big factors in conquering an obstacle that can be a bit
more di-cult than you might expect. Plan every hand and foot posi.on based on the
length of your reach and ability as a climber to help keep you on the wall .ll the end
without falling o .
The grip of your hands will keep you on the wall as well as progressing forward while
your legs are providing balance and stability to keep your forearms from doing all the
work.
Rest as needed and even shake out one hand at a .me if your legs are stable and your
forearms are cramping up.
If youre new to this type of obstacle, keep 3 points of contact and move your forward
hand or foot 9rst to ini.ate forward progress.
Advanced athletes with strong grip strength may 9nd it faster to hop both feet at the
same .me to a new posi.on and then move their hands one at a .me.
Move as rapidly as you can along the wall, but dont get too carried away; each wall is
slightly di erent in board size, angle and placement, and those long reaches will test
your planning and execu.on fools rush in (and fall).
Training: Build your own, or use a sturdy fence or wall that will allow you to grip the top
and get some trac.on with your toes. Chain link fences work well, provided they are
strong enough to hold your weight and wear some gloves.
Barbed wire crawl
Mud. Terrain. Barbed Wire. Distances and condi.ons vary greatly from race to race.
Depending on the slope, terrain, length, impediments, amount of mud, or number of
other compe.tors around you, the choice is up to you whether youll army crawl, bear
crawl, alligator crawl or just plain crawl. In the mud, they all look the same! In Nat
sec.ons, you may even log roll sideways, but always keep your head, bu, back and
limbs under the wire. Period.
Training: Find a sports 9eld and bear crawl 50 yards, army crawl 25 yards, and alligator
crawl 25 yards. Take a break and repeat. If possible, 9nd some muddy or harsh terrain to
prepare for your race.
Weight carry
Number of weights, size, shape, type, and carry distance vary from race to race (and
there are commonly a few di6erent weighted carries in each race).
The object is to pick up something heavy, and carry it over terrain or obstacles to a
chosen des.na.on. It may be a Spartan Pancake (which is far less enjoyable than the
breakfast), a 5 gallon pail of rocks, a log, or some other object. Carry it on your shoulder,
back, in your hands or hugged to your chest just get it from point A to point B.
Training: See Take Sandy for a Hike. Pick up something 20 to 40 pounds and go for a
walk. Repeat.
Tractor pull
Type, size, and number of weight to be pulled and distance varies from race to race.
The name says it all, pretend youre the semi pulling a big ol heavy trailer. Common
tractor pull implements are a chain or rope a-xed to a .re or two or a slab of concrete.
Not only are the objects on the opposite end of the rope heavy, they dont like to roll
over the terrain. Varying your speed can some.mes help, but for the most part youll be
leaning forward and really engaging your quads and glutes to drive forward.
Training: Find something heavy and .e a rope around it. Repeat. Actually, you can push
a car around a parking lot just make sure you have someone inside to stop it!
easy pace is good for warm-up, cool-down, recovery the day or two aPer a hard-run
race, or running long distances. Easy runs or jogs are roughly 4065% of your maximal
e ort.
Moderate: Your breathing should be faster than normal due to your elevated heart rate
and exer.on. While you cant carry on a full conversa.on, you can speak in occasional
sentences. Moderate, or tempo, runs help to build strength and endurance. Moderate
runs are about 6585% of your maximal e ort.
Hard: This is all-out sprin.ng. Youll be breathing extremely hard and unable to speak
more than a word or so at a .me. Hard intervals are done for a short period of .me to
build speed and train fast-twitch muscle 9bers to respond even when fa.gued. Hard
runs represent over 85% of your maximal e ort.
repea.ng the process. When you reach the halfway point (the 10-yard mark), turn 180
degrees so that your right hip is poin.ng in the direc.on that youre traveling and
con.nue side shueing an addi.onal 10 yards.
WALKING LUNGE
Stand tall, facing the direc.on youll be traveling, with your feet shoulder-width apart
and your arms hanging at your sides. Take a large step forward with your right foot,
bend both knees, and drop your hips straight down un.l both knees are bent 90
degrees. Your leP knee should almost be touching the ground and your leP toes are on
the ground behind you. Keep your core engaged and your back, neck and hips straight at
all .mes during this movement. Keeping your right foot in place on the ground, push up
with your right leg, straighten both knees, bring your leP leg parallel with your right, and
place your leP foot next to your right. Con.nue moving forward by repea.ng the above
process with your leP foot.
BACKWARD SPRINT
Facing away from the direc.on youll travel, run by pushing o alterna.ng forefeet and
raising your knees as high as possible. Pump your arms as needed to generate leg drive
and speed. This takes a lile geMng used to but its a great way to strengthen your
running muscles by working them in an opposite plane of mo.on and helps to develop
balance and agility.
SPRINT
The sprint is saved for last so youre working extremely hard to generate speed aPer
your legs and lungs are already fa.gued. Run forward at top speed by leaning forward
with your upper body to as much as a 45-degree angle and driving o the balls of your
feet as hard and as rapidly as you can. Pump your arms to increase leg drive and speed.
Basic: Perform one 20/20 drill, rest and rehydrate as needed.
Advanced: Repeat 3 .mes, rest 1:00 or less between sets.
Elite: Repeat 5 .mes with lile or no rest between sets.
Drill #2: Take Sandy for a Hike
1. Pick up a sandbag.
2. Walk. (Trails or hilly route preferred)
Basic: Walk as far as possible, carrying the weight in various di erent posi.ons as
needed. Shoot for 10:00, add 1 or more minutes each .me you perform this drill.
Advanced: Shoot for 20:00, add 2-3 minutes each .me.
Elite: Minimum 30:00, add 5 minutes each .me.
1. Sling the rope over your shoulder and drag the .re for 100 yards.
2. Pick the .re up, if possible press it directly over your head and walk or jog 100
yards.
3. Place the .re on the ground and push it 50 yards.
Basic: Rest and rehydrate as necessary.
Advanced: Repeat 3-5 .mes with minimal rest between sets.
Elite: Repeat 5-10 .mes with minimal rest between sets.
Superset #1: Burpee Jumping Jacks
Complete the required reps of both exercises with lile or no rest. Track your .me for
comple.on and evaluate your progress.
1. Perform one Burpee
2. In the standing posi.on, perform (10) Jumping Jacks
Basic: Repeat 3-5 .mes, rest and rehydrate as necessary.
Advanced: Repeat 9 .mes, 10 total burpees and 100 jumping jacks.
Elite: Repeat 19 .mes, 20 total burpees and 200 jumping jacks.
Superset #2: Up & Down, In & Out
Complete the required reps of both exercises with lile or no rest. Track your .me for
comple.on and evaluate your progress.
1.
2.
3.
4.
This 6-week training program is designed to be used by any athlete, any age, any sex,
and at any exis.ng 9tness level. How? By taking it at your own pace. Period. Theres
nobody looking over your shoulder or demanding immediate results except for you. If
this is your 9rst program in a while (or ever) then you absolutely need to take it very
easy, or youll be too sore to con.nue by day 2. Be smart, respect your exis.ng ability
for now, aPer 6 weeks they will be a thing of the past!
Prior to each workout, warm up for at least 5 minutes like you did before the test (A
good warm-up should raise your body temperature to a light sweat. Walk, jog, jumping
jacks, easy punching a heavy bag, jump rope, bike whatever).
Twice a week youll have a day o to rest, its up to you what ones work with your
schedule, but its best to split your workouts into 2 days on, one day o .
See instruc.ons and photos in the Appendix for proper exercise form.
Print out the following page so you can add your own note & progress.
Week/Day
Week 1
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Week 2
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Week 3
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Week 4
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Week 5
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Week 5
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Workout
Trail Running
Superset #2
Drill #2
OCR Training
Drill #1
Drill #3
Superset #1
Trail Running
OCR Training
FXT Test (p. 47)
Drill #4
Superset #3
Trail Running
OCR Training
FXT Test
Drill #5
Superset #2
OCR Training and Trail Running
Drill #2
FXT Test
Drill #3
Superset #3 and Trail Running
Drill #1
OCR Training Superset #2
FXT Test
Drill #4 and Superset #1
Superset #2 and Superset #5
Trail Running and OCR Training
Drill #2
FXT Test
Notes
Whats Next?
Congratula.ons on 9nishing the 6-week program! You may be asking, Whats next?
and we have a couple prey solid sugges.ons:
- Sign up for your 9rst Spartan Race. Youre ready, get on this now!
-
Check your results from the 9nal FXT Test on W6, D5 and see how you stack up
to your ini.al .me a month and a half ago. Are you elite yet? You can surely
con.nue to use this program for as long as youd like to strengthen your body
and hone your skills the best part of func.onal training is you can s.ck with it
for quite some .me and vary weights, reps, speed, and rest .me to break
through plateaus and progressively develop athle.c performance!
Joe: How should you eat? Eat well: Make conscious decisions about what and how you
eat, and remember that raw natural foods are much beer for you than foods that are
processed or cooked. This applies to everyone, commied carnivores included:
incorporate as much healthy raw food as possible into your diet.
Do you need supplements? Not if you eat a lot of raw foods. How many meals per day?
Meals should be eaten four hours apart, to avoid stacking new food on previouslyeaten, undigested foods in your stomach. Dont eat more than you need.
Whenever possible, eat at a leisurely pace, so you can actually enjoy the food that fuels
your body. Beer yet, eat with people you care about. Make ea.ng well a prac.ce you
share together.
BreP: If that sounds like the simplest, no-nonsense method you should follow for ea.ng
90% of the .me, its because it is. The other 10% of your life youll be training or
compe.ng at high intensity and will need to make some changes to provide the fuel you
need for extended exer.on.
Carbohydrates
No, carbs are not the enemy of athletes looking to boost their performance and stay 9t;
provided they are eaten at the proper .me and in the proper amounts. Prior to highintensity training, endurance runs las.ng more than 45 minutes, or on race day, you
should take in a combina.on of slow- and fast-burning carbs to boost the level of fuel
that is readily available to your muscles and bodily systems to keep you performing at
your best.
Slow-burning brown carbs: Sweet potatoes, oatmeal, brown grains/seeds (rice,
quinoa, farro, chia), whole grain breads or pasta.
Medium-burning green carbs: Veggies. Lots & lots of veggies.
Eat these 2 or more hours before the start of your physical ac.vity to prevent GI issues
during diges.on, they will provide a steady stream of glycogen into your bloodstream.
Fast-burning white carbs: Fruit, honey, white rice or breads, pasta, fruit juice, white
potatoes, most sports drinks, energy gels, gummy snacks, or jelly beans.
Protein
Pre-ac.vity, limit your protein and fat consump.on for 4 or so hours as it requires more
energy for your body to process than carbs, and youre aemp.ng to harness all the
energy you can get. That being said, a spoonful or two of peanut buer on a whole
wheat bagel with a banana and a drizzle of honey is a favorite of many an athlete as a
pre-race meal about 2 hours before toeing the start line. A close runner-up is steel cut
oats with slices of banana, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of chia seeds.
Post-Ac6vity Refueling
Depending on how hard and how long you pushed your body during training or racing,
youll need to refuel in order to recover and get stronger. Inges.ng 5-10 grams of
protein along with 30-40 grams of carbohydrates is considered ideal (the magical 4:1
ra.o) and can easily be found in an 8oz of chocolate milk and many recovery drinks on
the market.
Socks: No maer how much e ort and cash you put into geMng your shirt, shorts and
shoes all set, all thats for moot if you dont follow this simple advice: Do not wear
coon socks if there is even a drop of water on the course. The extra moisture held by
coon coupled with running or walking will most likely leave you with blisters. Wet
coon also loses its shape easily, so your socks will rub in places youd never expect as
well as slip out of place on your ankle and let rocks, dirt and debris in. Pick up a pair of
man-made 9ber socks that 9t snugly above your ankle; they will drain faster coupled
with good shoes and keep the junk out of the inside of your socks.
Gaiters: Endurance trail runners swear by em, and they can be extremely helpful to
keep dirt, socks and debris out of your shoes when running over rough terrain, but they
are a personal decision as they can be expensive, a bit of a pain to get 9ed properly
and go against the KISS principle; more gear to worry about.
Shirts: Yeah, its very cool to get matching silk screened T-shirts for your en.re team, it
builds camaraderie and you all look so damn cute in the pre-race photos. The only
problem is that most of the .me the cheapest and most readily-available customized
shirts are coon... and weve already covered why those suck in the mud. A .ght-9Mng,
man-made fabric top is one of the top op.ons; the other is to go shirtless (dudes) or
sports-bra/jogging top (ladies).
Shorts/Pants: Cargo shorts or pants with pockets are a rela.vely bad idea; anything that
can 9ll with mud, will 9ll with mud. Running one mile with an extra few pounds of mud
in your pockets really sucks, and its even worse trying to do it for three or more.
Basketball shorts, even if they are man-made materials are usually a bad idea as they
can be heavy, long and most have pockets. Medium-length running shorts are a good
choice as they dry quickly, are light and most likely wont be down around your ankles
when youre scoo.ng under barbed wire. If the weathers a bit cooler, warm-up nylon
pants are a great idea a their slick surface will give you a lile advantage when youre on
your belly wri.ng in the mud and they will keep your knees from turning into
hamburger from contact with the dirt.
Gloves: Usually the hoest debated ques.ons online on blogs and in social media
groups is whether you should wear gloves or not. The answer is really simple; wear
them for obstacles that are nasty on your hands; pulling or climbing ropes, carrying
rough objects like cinder blocks of logs or anything that requires a good grip and just
take them o and shove em in a pocket or down the back of your pants when you dont
need them. Make sure the gloves 9t your hands very well and have plenty of grip; avoid
leather or anything that can get slick or hold water. Fingerless workout gloves are
commonly found on the course - literally on the ground liered all over some courses because they get wet, slick and actually make it harder to grip smooth surfaces like
monkey bars. Gardening gloves that look like someone dipped a basic pair of fabric
gloves into molten rubber work really well and are rela.vely cheap and work prey well.
The boom line, its up to you. Hundreds of thousands of racers complete Spartan Races
with or without gloves; you choose.
Knee & Elbow Sleeves: Protec.ng your knees, elbows and hands is actually a very good
idea; a Spartan Sprint has a dozen obstacles speci9cally designed to have you crawling
under, over and through challenges on those tender areas and its a good idea to
protect them if youd like to 9nish the race with all your skin. There are quite a few
di erent brands out there, If youre into looking tough by not wearing any protec.ve
equipment, then go right ahead (and enjoy your scabs for the next week or so), but if
youre looking to be smart and fast then a lile protec.on goes a long way.
Costumes: An en.re book could be wrien just on the dos and donts of costumes and
the perilous outcomes of really bad comical aMre decisions. Yes, costumes are funny
and proclaim your independent spirit and theres a one-in-9ve thousand or so chance
that you wont end up a chafed, blistered mess by trying to complete a Spartan Race
dressed like Dorothy with Toto in a basket stapled onto your back.
Whatever you wear to the race is what you will be dealing with the en.re event;
running, crawling, climbing, bending and even some.mes swimming. If you Naunt the
KISS rules, then youve got to deal with it. Anything that can fall apart will fall apart.
Anything that can chafe will chafe. Anything that looks cool at the beginning of the race
will look like a mess at the end of the race.
Stu7: Aen.on racers, if you 9nd an iPhone in a pink case out on the course there is a
one hundred dollar reward for the person who turns it in to an o-cial on the course.
Please do not put it in your pocket and run through the water obstacles. Thank you. Announcer at Spartan Race AZ 2012.
If you dont want to lose it, then do not bring it on the course. Your cellphone and wallet
belong in the car aPer registra.on is done. Your earrings, necklaces and anything thats
worth more than 9ve dollars thats clipped, strapped, draped or hung around your body
will fall o and be gone forever; its as simple as that. There are some awesome and
honest race volunteers out there that may give your smartphone back, but why should
they have to carry your stu around?
All the best prepara.on can be for naught if your gear fails you; nothing prepares you
beer for compe..on than knowing the strengths and limita.ons of your equipment
and knowing what to do if and when something falls apart. Youll need to test your gear
and body under near race condi.ons to se if they will hold up. As an added bonus, when
you are con9dent about your gear then theres one less thing to worry about!
Earlier, In the Gear Guide, we covered shoes, clothes, gloves and miscellaneous stu
that you may wear on race day, and choosing your race-day nutri.on is also very
important as well.
A week before your race, pick out exactly what you plan on wearing; if you have
anything new that you want to buy then get it now dont wait un.l the night before
the race to go shopping and absolutely dont break in new gear during a race or be
prepared for a visit from the blister fairy.
7 days before the race; perform the following rou6ne:
1. Wake up at the same .me you would be geMng up for your race; include the
commute.
2. Eat the exact same meal you would on race morning; it should be hearty enough
to give you the energy you need while not being too heavy on your stomach. You
may need to do some research and tes.ng to 9nd your perfect balance during
your training. I learned my pre-race meal from my 7 Weeks to a Triathlon coauthor and professional triathlete, Lewis Elliot: Steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon,
whole banana and a couple cups of black co ee.
3. Get all your gear on. From shoes to clothes and even include earplugs and elbow
sleeves; the goal is to test your race gear under race condi.ons. If you dont put
it on, you wont know!
4. Go for a 1-mile jog/run, approximately at what you plan your race pace to be.
5. Get wet. 100% soaked. Go jump in a lake, a pool, drag out the garden hose and
make sure every last bit of your clothing and body is soaked. The colder the
water, the beer. If you have the cojones then take an ice bath, it will only help
you prepare for the frigid horrors you may see on race day!
6. Army crawl on your elbows and knees for 20 yards, turn around and bear crawl
back to your star.ng posi.on. Pick an area that matches course terrain; you
should be good and dirty.
7. Go for a 2-mile run, this .me picking out stu to climb on top of, scurry under,
crawl through or jump over. If you followed the 9tness programs you should
already know the moves and have located the stu you need near your
neighborhood. If not, pick stu that you will not break and/or hurt yourself in
the process. Conquer your chosen obstacles. And run back home.
Did anything fall o ? Cha9ng? Blisters? Did your gloves get to slippery to grab or pull
yourself over things? Now is the .me to 9gure it out and make the necessary changes
and adjustments. Test again if necessary, making sure your clothes have .me to be
cleaned & dry o before the race.
Race Morning
Im not trying to sound like your mom, but even just a lile prepara.on goes a long way.
The night before make sure you have the direc.ons to get to the race, how long it will
take, the price of parking, how early you need to show up to get checked in and sign
your waiver before your heat starts and all the other lile things like loca.ng the start
line, port-o-johns, and bag drop.
Pack a change of clothes including shoes or Nip-Nops for the drive home, a towel and
something small to munch on like a granola bar if you have a long drive in and need a
lile more nutri.on pre-race. Baby wipes are great to get some extra grime o and
coon swabs and saline solu.on help out cleaning ears and eyes of muck. Unless youre
a big fan of port-o-johns, wake up a lile earlier and take care of your bathroom visit
before you leave the house if you can. Apply sport sunscreen before you get dressed,
that way you cover any of the areas that may get exposed when youre out on the
course.
At the event, leave anything that you do not want to get muddy, broken or lost in your
car from the get go. If you leave your smartphone in your pocket during a race it will
most likely end up prey dumb, the same as youll feel.
Apply another round of sunscreen when you get out of the car, especially if it has been
more than an hour and a half since you leP home. Dont leave valuables in your race
drop bag; you dont need the headache if anything gets lost or broken. The only things I
recommend in that bag are a change of clothes, a towel and a back-up car key on a key
ring, clipped to the belt loop of the shorts in the bag.
Take care of your registra.on and waiver signing 9rst; then walk around the expo area
or spectate. Check out the course as much as you can; some may confuse scou.ng with
chea.ng, but I say if its visible then watch some other compe.tors tackle it for some
great .ps! Re-check your gear and aMre, make sure you are hydrated and jog around a
bit about 10-15 minutes before your an.cipated start to warm up and head over the
corral when the announcer greets your wave.
Posi.on yourself in the star.ng corral based on your goals; if youre looking to dominate
the course and climb the winners podium then march right up front and claim your
spot. First-.mers should make way for more experienced or faster-looking runners so
they dont get trampled once the gun goes o . Be responsible and realis.c in your
athle.c ability; while you have as much right to the course as any other paying
compe.tor you dont want to be the one causing a tra-c jam holding up other racers at
an obstacle, do you?
Take a deep breath and remember all the training youve done to prepare; the race will
be challenging, but youre ready to crush it! When the starters gun goes o , keep your
excitement in check and take a moderate pace; you dont want to burn yourself out
immediately! Over, under, around and through each obstacle try and keep the same
rela.ve level of exer.on so you dont drain all your energy by sprin.ng the intervals inbetween obstacles. Aack the course; but do it wisely and within your ability so you can
stay strong all the way to the 9nish!
Spartan Race really is for everyone. Since youve read this far, you know that, because
its a .med event, it appeals to people who like compe..onwhether it be compe..on
with themselves or against the 9eld. They want to see what they can do and to race
other people. You also know that other people enter because theyve set goals to lose
weight or to accomplish something theyve never done before. Anyone can get o the
couch and have a great race experience. Whichever category applies to you, Spartansanc.oned obstacle races are for you.
People oPen show up to do a Spartan Race when its their 9rst race of any kindever.
They start o nervous because they have no idea what theyve goen themselves into,
but they always walk away with a smile. Then you also see stud athletes show up all
swagger and bravado, only to walk away with their tails between their legs. Spartan
Races really get under peoples skin.
Once youre ready to step-up and signup, we created a discount code just for you that
you can use at spartanrace.com to sign up for any event worldwide in 2014.
So, what are you wai.ng for? Sign Up for Your First Spartan Race Now!
The Exercises
Pull-Up
1. Grip the horizontal bar with your palms facing away from you and your arms fully
extended. Your hands should be slightly wider (up to 2 inches) than your shoulders. Your
feet should not touch the Noor during this exercise. Let all of your weight sele in
posi.on but dont relax your shoulders this may cause them to overstretch.
2. Squeeze your shoulder blades together (scapular retrac.on) to start the ini.al phase
of the pull-up. During this ini.al movement, pretend that youre squeezing a pencil
between your shoulder bladesdont let the pencil drop during any phase of the pullup.
3. Look up at the bar, exhale and pull your chin up toward the bar by driving your
elbows toward your hips. Its very important to keep your shoulders back and chest up
during the en.re movement. Pull yourself up in a controlled manner un.l the bar is just
above the top of your chest.
4. Inhale and lower yourself back to star.ng posi.on.
That's one rep.
Push-Up
1. Place your hands on the ground approximately shoulder-width apart, making sure
your 9ngers point straight ahead and your arms are straight but your elbows not locked.
2. Step your feet back un.l your body forms a straight line from head to feet.Your feet
should be about 6 inches apart with the weight in the balls of your feet. Engage your
core to keep your spine from sagging; dont sink into your shoulders.
3. Inhale as you lower your torso to the ground and focus on keeping your elbows as
close to your sides as possible, stopping when your elbows are at a 90o angle or your
chest is 12 inches from the Noor.
4. Using your shoulders, chest and triceps, exhale and push your torso back up to
star.ng posi.on.
Thats one rep.
Walking Lunge
1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms hanging at your sides.
2. Take a large step forward with your right foot, bend both knees and drop your hips
straight down un.l both knees are bent 90 degrees. Your leP knee should almost be
touching the ground and your leP toes are on the ground behind you. Keep your core
engaged and your back, neck and hips straight at all .mes during this movement.
3. Pushing up with your right leg, straighten both knees and return to star.ng posi.on,
swing your leP leg to the front and repeat with your leP leg.
Squat
1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed slightly outward,
about 11 and 1 oclock. Raise your arms un.l theyre parallel to the Noor.
2. Bend at the hips and knees and sit back just a lile bit as if you were about to sit
directly down into a chair. Keep your head up, eyes forward and arms out in front of you
for balance. As you descend, contract your glutes while your body leans forward slightly
so that your shoulders are almost in line with your knees. Your knees should not extend
past your toes and your weight should remain between the heel and the middle of your
feetdo not roll up on the balls of your feet. Stop when your knees are at 90 and your
thighs are parallel to the Noor. If you feel your weight is on your toes or heels then
adjust your posture and balance un.l your weight is in the middle of your feet.
3. Push straight up from your heels back to star.ng posi.on. Dont lock your knees at
the top of the exercise.
This is one rep.
Air Squat
1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed slightly outward,
about 11 and 1 oclock. Raise your arms un.l theyre parallel to the Noor.
2. Bend at the hips and knees and sit back just a lile bit as if you were about to sit
directly down into a chair. Keep your head up, eyes forward and arms out in front of you
for balance. As you descend, contract your glutes while your body leans forward slightly
so that your shoulders are almost in line with your knees. Your knees should not extend
past your toes and your weight should remain between the heel and the middle of your
feetdo not roll up on the balls of your feet during this por.on of the exercise. Stop
when your knees are at 90 degrees and your thighs are parallel to the Noor.
3. Swing your arms down so both hands are behind your body. Rapidly bring your arms
forward in an arc and up over your head as you transfer your weight to your forefeet
and explosively jump straight up in the air.
4. Land soPly on your feet, by bending your knees to absorb the impact.
Thats one rep.
In & Out
1. Lie Nat on your back with your legs extended straight along the Noor and your arms
along your sides,
palms down.
2. LiP your feet about 3 inches o the Noor, bend your knees and
bring your feet toward your bu while simultaneously liPing your arms o the Noor and
ac.va.ng your abs to roll your upper body upward.
3. Con.nue raising your head and shoulders o the Noor and bringing your hands past
the
outside of your knees while bringing your knees and chest together. At the top of the
move, pause for 13 seconds.
Slowly return to star.ng posi.on. Be careful to roll your spine in a natural movement
and let your shoulders and head lightly touch the Noor.
That's one rep.
Plank
1. Place your hands on the ground approximately shoulder-width apart, making sure
your 9ngers point straight ahead and your arms are straight but your elbows not locked.
2. Step your feet back un.l your body forms a straight line from head to feet. your feet
should be about 6 inches apart with the weight in the balls of your feet.
3. Engage your core and squeeze your glutes to keep your spine from sagging; dont sink
into your shoulders.
Side Plank
1. Lie on your side and stack your feet, hips and shoulders atop each other. Prop
yourself up on your elbow, keeping it directly under your shoulder; your forearm should
be completely on the ground, perpendicular to your body.
2. Engaging your core to keep your spine erect, liP your hips o the Noor un.l you form
a straight line from head to feet. let your top arm rest along your side. Hold the posi.on
for a predetermined amount of .me or for as long as possible.
3. Slowly return to star.ng posi.on.
Repeat on other side.
Hip Raise
1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet Nat on the Noor, as close to your bu
as possible. Extend your hands toward your hips and place your arms and palms Nat on
the Noor at your sides.
2. Engage your abdominal muscles to keep your core .ght, and exhale while you press
your feet into the Noor and raise your hips and lower back up, forming a straight line
from your sternum to your knees. Do not push your hips too high or arch your back.
Hold this posi.on for 35 seconds, and then inhale and slowly return to star.ng
posi.on.
Thats 1 rep.
Windshield Wipers
1. Lying Nat on your back with your arms extended along your sides, palms down, bend
your knees 90 and raise your legs so that your lower legs are parallel to the Noor. For
more stability, take your arms out to the sides to form a T.
2. Exhale, and slowly rotate your hips and legs to drop your knees to one side. Hold that
posi.on for 13 seconds. Inhale and raise your legs back to star.ng posi.on.
Thats 1 rep; repeat on the other side.
Mason Twist
1. Sit on the Noor with your knees comfortably bent, feet on the Noor, arms bent 90
degrees and hands op.onally holding a medicine ball or weight in front of your chest.
2. LiP your feet about 4 to 6 inches o the Noor and balance your bodyweight on your
posterior. Keep your core .ght to protect your back.
3. While maintaining the same hip posi.on, twist your en.re torso at the waist and
touch the ball to the Noor on the leP side of your body.
4. Rotate back to center, keeping your feet o the Noor and maintaining your balance
using the suppor.ng core muscles. Then rotate to your right and touch the ball to the
Noor.
5. Return to center.
This is one rep.
Leg Lif
1. Lie Nat on your back with your legs extended along the Noor and your arms along your
sides, palms down. Contract your lower abdominal muscles and liP your feet 6-12 inches
o the Noor. Hold for 3 seconds.
2. While keeping your leP foot in place, liP your right foot 6-12 inches higher. Hold for 3
seconds.
3. Simultaneously lower your right leg back to 6-12 inches o the Noor while raising your
leP foot 6-12 inches higher. Hold for 3 seconds.
This counts as 2 reps.
Burpees (see page 39)
If you could only do one exercise for the rest of your life, it would have to be burpees.
Mul.-joint, mul.-muscle compound movements, burpees are the all-in-one bodyweight
exercises.
Learn em.
Live em.
Love em.