Tough Mudder first timer

Prime

I just signed up with four buddies as we all say good bye to our 20s this year and enter our 30s. Various levels of fitness ranging from strong but not fit, fit but not strong and somewhere inbetween.
Anyone got any experiance or any targets we should reach before we get to the day (we have 5 months to go).

Also on the day tips (breakfast?) or just before/after advise welcome.

minirhyder

Work on your upper body strength. There will be many obstacles that require you to pull yourself up, hold yourself up, drag yourself up, etc. Your triceps need to be super strong. Now, if you don't have that, there will be hoards of people helping you up, but the one thing I wished I'd focused more on was upper body strength. I heard rock climbing really helps with this.

Don't worry about cardio too much, because it will actually help you to get exerted by running because it will keep you warm after water obstacles.

khain

If you want to do it quickly then focus on cardio and start in the first wave. If you're just looking to have fun then just be in decent shape. Upper body strength helps for obstacles, but it's not necessary.

I think people consider Tough Mudders much harder than they actually are. You go at your own pace with breaks and obstacles can either be completed with teamwork and minimal strength or there's a low strength option, falling into the water and swimming if you fall off the monkey bars for example.

Cantido

CrossFit fucked up my knee and endangered my career. All I have to show for it is Chronic Patellar Tendonitis, a patellar strap and two years of pain, still counting.

Dis'

Hah I've got one myself in 5 months as well and am just considering training options.

khain wrote: »

I think people consider Tough Mudders much harder than they actually are. You go at your own pace with breaks and obstacles can either be completed with teamwork and minimal strength or there's a low strength option, falling into the water and swimming if you fall off the monkey bars for example.

Yeah certainly ones in summer are only punishing if you have a time target you want to meet, just being in okay shape (work up to running the distance at a steady pace) and some upper body strength (being able to do multiple pull ups) will see you through.

Depending on the expected temperature of the time and place when you're going to do it I've been recommend going for a run and then jumping in some cold water so it's less of a shock when it happens on the mudder.

Prime

Ok sounds like I'm in a good place for it then. Will work on upping my pull up but on the whole I'm fit enough.

How many Km do you get between obsticals?

minirhyder

1-2 miles, typically. So 1.5-3 km
Though some obstacles (the easier ones) might be bunched up closer to one another.

mastman

the hardest part is the distance (if you're hoping to jog/run a lot of it), most people aren't used to running 10+ miles at once. In the morning we ate oats, bananas, eggs ~3 hours early. then a shot of bourbon right before Don't wear cotton, don't worry about your overall speed if you have slow members, it's really fun!

programjunkie

It's fun, and it's designed to be completed if you have strength of character. That said, if you want to complete the Funky Monkey (inclined and then declined monkey bars spaced a good distance apart) without taking a dip, you need some serious upper body strength.

I'm of the opinion dinner the night before / breakfast doesn't really matter. I've done basically every combination of food, and haven't really seen a substantial difference.

Water is provided, and IME, minor food bits are also provided. I will caveat you should drink a fair bit of water beforehand, as I ended up rather dehydrated at the end of it.

Wezoin

The worst Tough Mudder obstacle is the one where you have to go into the portapotty that two thousand people have used just before you and oh my god.

Yogo

If you are looking at upper body strength, don't forget to do chin-ups/pull-ups to train the triceps, biceps and lats.

Especially the lats muscles. You will be surprised how little those are used in every day routines and how "weak" you feel when you attempt to do a pull-up the first time (even with assisted weight reduction).

At least I did.

Heartlash

Endurance matters much more than anything, IMO, but you can always walk if you can't run the whole thing. I honestly recommend going on some long, relatively rugged hikes to prepare. I did mine at a ski resort in NH so there was a LOT of incline.

Also, I brought two cliff bars with me and put them in a zip up pocket, I ate one every 3-4 miles and it helped a lot. Be sure you hydrate a lot if it's a hot day, bananas are also a good idea.

The whole thing wasn't as difficult as people make it out to be, but it's not a walk in the park of course. The worst part was during the army crawls when there were lots of rocks everywhere, it tears up your arms/knees pretty good so just be ready for that.

Wezoin

Running is the crucial bit. Any obstacles that you 'fail' aren't that big of a deal anyway. The toughest part is the constant up and down of the ski mountain (mine too was on a ski mountain.)

I highly recommend doing it though, Tough Mudder goes down in history as the most fun day of my life.
In fact, part of the reason I joined the military afterwards is to try to get some of that physical challenge and comradeship back.

Prime

Thanks all, this has been helpful so far. Started pulling back the strength training and moving it in an endurance direction. I will definatly be one of the fitter of my group and as we plan to go at the slowest mans speed so im not that worried.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Don't forget to take an MP3 player and some headphones to drown out the 90% of participants that will all try to talk you into joining their 'box'...

Wezoin

chrishallett83 wrote: »

Don't forget to take an MP3 player and some headphones to drown out the 90% of participants that will all try to talk you into joining their 'box'...

I'd heavily disagree. There is a lot of water and mud involved in Tough Mudder. Do not take any electronics.

007ctrl_room

Prime wrote: »

I just signed up with four buddies as we all say good bye to our 20s this year and enter our 30s. Various levels of fitness ranging from strong but not fit, fit but not strong and somewhere inbetween.
Anyone got any experiance or any targets we should reach before we get to the day (we have 5 months to go).

Also on the day tips (breakfast?) or just before/after advise welcome.

having run an infinite amount of obstacle courses and mudder like runs in the Marine Corps, my best advice is to focus on your entire body. Core strength is key just to keep your endurance with all the obstacles, but you'll need lower and upper body strength just as much as well.