Run, Lift, Repeat

[Eboncat]

Hi all!  AquaNat and I started this group because we realized at the end of our last challenges that we both are signing up for obstacle runs this year and want to encourage each other and everyone else who might be doing the same.  Also, this is a new thing for me (and for her I think), so if anyone who has experience with this kind of race wants to help us tweak our training, it would be much appreciated! 

 

 

[AquaNat]

Wahey, finally got a place to keep an eye on each other!

 

Would love to hear from anyone else, we're super friendly!

[Lil E]

I'm looking for accountability buddies, but they're looking pretty scarce on the google doc for rangers right now.

I've done several obstacle runs (Tough Mudder twice, Warrior Dash, Spartan, a local 6 mile mud run), but my two planned for the year are done.  So do have experience there!  

To be perfectly honest, I'm a TERRIBLE runner (I live for the obstacles).  Been walking and doing stationary bike for more low intensity cardio.

 

Mind if I join?

[AquaNat]

You're aces in my books, we can improve our runs together! Did they have the horrible electroshock things on your mudder run?

[Eboncat]

Welcome, Lil E!

I'm with you - I'm working on the running, but it's the obstacles I really like.  I've just started Insanity for cardio and some strength, but I'm wondering if I should be doing some kind of pull-ups too (I can't do unassisted, have to use a chair). What do you think?

[Lil E]

Oh yes, lots of electroshock in the TM.  Big one at the end and one other obstacle in the middle.  

Which obstacle races are you ladies signed up for?

 

Eboncat, as for pullups, I can only do about 3 unassisted, then I use a chair.  I have been working on putting as little weight as possible on them and always doing full negatives at the least.  My gym has an assisted pull-up machine that I've been using too and going as light as possible on the assist.

But really, depends on the obstacle race you're doing.  TM you definitely need a bit more upper body strength, Warrior Dash and the like, less so, but it will never hurt you.  The climbs up things like cargo nets, hay bales, etc, you can really use your legs to help.

[Eboncat]

ok, I'm a pullup newbie: full negatives?  do you mean minimal assist up and no chair/assist coming down?

 

I'm signing up for a local race called Tough Rhino.  I think it's like a 5k Warrior Dash.  This is only the 2nd year they're doing it and I don't personally know anyone who did it last year.  It's at the beginning of June.

[AquaNat]

Okay, so this sounds like we need a pull-up challenge as I can do about 2-3 myself. I suggests we give ourselves ten days to add an extra pull up to our sets, whether thats from 0 to 1 full pull ups, or from 3 to 4.

 

On another tack. I'm still staggering around after Tuesday's leg session. Looks like I've finally got a regime that's testing enough!

[Eboncat]

Okay, so this sounds like we need a pull-up challenge as I can do about 2-3 myself. I suggests we give ourselves ten days to add an extra pull up to our sets, whether thats from 0 to 1 full pull ups, or from 3 to 4.

 

On another tack. I'm still staggering around after Tuesday's leg session. Looks like I've finally got a regime that's testing enough!

ten days it is!  I'll need some luck, but I am determined.  We are in way different time zones - shall we just say by the end of day Saturday the 27th?  Local time for  everyone who wants to join in?  Final report Saturday night/Sunday?

[AquaNat]

Sounds good, bring it on! From 3 to 4 pull ups! 

[Lil E]

Love it!  I'm in!  Will report in Saturday night  Honestly, I have no idea if I'm in mountain standard or Pacific time zone right now (AZ doesn't do daylight savings).

 

Negatives are all about control on the way down.  Use as much assistance up as you need (but yes, minimal is best), hang onto the top and bend your knees so your feet are completely off the chair, and control your body to lower yourself slowly!  Slow on the way down is the word.  Don't just drop.

 

When I get a few minutes this afternoon I'll look up Tough Rhino and see if I can find videos to what compare.

[Lil E]

Just tried them and I actually did 4!  Well fourth one was kinda air kicking up with my knees to help me get all the way up, so sort of 4... I'll aim for 5 them.

 

Looked up pics on facebook - Tough Rhino does look to be a lot like the Warrior Dash.  Or the Dirty 6 (another locally-run one).  With their wall and pipe obstacles, they'll probably be tons of people helping.  If you don't have someone running it with you, there's always others around that can turn around and offer a hand up.  But upper body strength does really help - pullups and pushups ladies!!

[Eboncat]

Just tried them and I actually did 4!  Well fourth one was kinda air kicking up with my knees to help me get all the way up, so sort of 4... I'll aim for 5 them.

 

Looked up pics on facebook - Tough Rhino does look to be a lot like the Warrior Dash.  Or the Dirty 6 (another locally-run one).  With their wall and pipe obstacles, they'll probably be tons of people helping.  If you don't have someone running it with you, there's always others around that can turn around and offer a hand up.  But upper body strength does really help - pullups and pushups ladies!!

Sounds like 4 to me!  Awesome!

 

I will have at least one teammate, so we'll have the mutual assist going.  That was what I liked about the Dirty Dash I did last year - everyone in the race was all about helping and encouraging each other - whether they knew each other or not.  Loved it.  I would like to be the one doing the helping too.

[AquaNat]

Its the Spartan sprint that I'm signed up for. My old gym buddy is possibly doing it as well, although I've told him to sign up for a different heat, so we'll be able to support each other, but he won't have to slow his pace down for me.... I'm nice like that...

 

My pull up bar is in the door to my living room (the joys of living alone), so I'm doing a set every time I go through the door, hopefully it'll keep me in check!

[Eboncat]

Hubby is supporting me in this pushup challenge - at least enough to let me hang the pushup bar in the bedroom closet door.  He'll just have to duck for a week!

 

I noticed the website for my race recommends gloves for climbing the ropes, does anyone know what kind/brand would be good to  get?

[Lil E]

The spartan sprint has the evil climbing the gym rope way way up and having to ring the bell at the top (old school gym style).  HATED IT.  It has knots so you can use your feet, but the rope was really wet and slippery (at the bottom is a trench of thigh-high muddy water).  Gloves would have probably helped.

 

I got leather baseball batting gloves from a sports store for less than $20.  I've seen lots of people wear football gloves too.  Some people wear standard fingerless weight gloves.  Lots of people don't bother with gloves at all though.  If you do go for it, you'll want leather.  I wanted full fingers so went for the baseball gloves.  I find I'm fearless about throwing myself down on the ground and crawling among the rocky ground/mud if I have gloves on.  Without them I'm more tentative.  I have small, fine boned hands with no calluses   The cargo ropes did chew up my hands a bit (very first run I did with no gloves, and forgot them for the Spartan Sprint).  But then lots of people have no problems.  Just personal preference.  Do you wear gloves when you workout?

[AquaNat]

Okay, gloves, thatnks for the tip. I don't usually wear gloves, and hopefully those lifting calluses will help!

[Eboncat]

I do wear gloves when lifting and attempting pullups.  And I have to take my rings off.  Fine-boned, yep me too.  I got calluses when I lifted without gloves, they're gone now.  So I appreciate the info about gloves for the races.  I haven't had to do a rope climb since Jr. High.  That should be interesting!

[Eboncat]

Some advice I saw on another's thread on getting better at pullups (I asked before re-posting).

The question was how hanging from the bar would help someone trying to get to the point where they could do a pullup.

 

Kishi, on 20 Apr 2013 - 11:40, said:

It helps in a couple of different ways. It helps on a mental level of getting used to your arms and the whole sensation of gravity pulling you down. Hanging from the bar reminds you that your arms are not going to just rip from the sockets because you touched the thing, which is an important mental edge.

 

Physically, it's good isometric work. When you hang, you need to practice it as if you were going to pull up. You pinch your shoulder blades together and grip the bar as hard as you can. Strong grip helps pull ups/chin ups, and getting into the habit of keeping the scapulae pinched is going to help protect your shoulders. As long as you're practicing anyway, see if you can tense the rest of your body too: abs and glutes in particular are good ones to practice with.

 

Basically, hanging work is about developing your awareness of your body - where you're holding tension, and where you're too loose.

 

 

LostOne1775, on 20 Apr 2013 - 12:01, said:

Kishi is right, don't knock the power of Isometrics. Not only can you do them anywhere but they strengthen the muscles along with giving more stamina (I wanted to say "tone", but then I read Steve's article ). Grip (forearm) strength is one of the most neglected muscle groups in weight lifting, along with the ankles, and neck. How can you Deadlift over 200 lb. if you don't have enough strength to hold your grip? Same with working on a pullup, how can you do a pullup if your Grippin muscles can't hold up your bodyweight?

 

In one of my books called Corps Strength, the author stresses on having a Badass grip. He recommended the exercise Kishi just posted for pullup work, along with a climber's donut. I bought one and work with it everyday when I'm bored (and with no t.v. that's a lot!). I bought it at Amazon, if your going to purchase one I recommend the red (50 lb. resistance) as there is no reason to get the weaker ones. Awesome thing about this doohickey, you can put your fingers inside the hole and Viola! A finger workout! What's the point in working out your fingers? Well rock climbers can hold their entire bodyweight with one finger, who wouldn't want strength like the in their hands?

 

Link for Donut (I know it's not called a donut, but it looks like one!): http://www.amazon.co...=Climbing donut

 

After reading this I realized that my grip is one of my problems, my hand starts to loosen up and fatigues really fast.

 

I'm not getting too far on my 1st pullup.  I've been jumping up from the floor about 2/3 of the way up or so, pulling up the rest of the way (with the momentum from the jump) and slowly lowering myself down.  I can do that once.  After that I have to jump all the way up then lower down.  After about the 3rd time, my hands give out.  But I'm not giving up!

[AquaNat]

I'm not making amazing progress either, but I don't need to wait as long between sets, so I'm considering that a sign that my muscles aren't as fatigued as they were.

[PaladinAlex]

Hello, I'm brand new to this site, I was hoping you might not mind me joining your thread. I just discovered I'm a little too late to join the 6-week challenge, but that's alright, I'll get the next one. I do need accountability though, as pretty much all my friends and family are inactive.

 

Also I might offer a bit of advice on pull-ups. You might like to try different grips, I find some easier, and others harder. Not everyone finds the same ones easier though as far as I've seen. main differences are just how far your hands are apart, and if you have your palms facing towards or away from yourself. For example, I can do about 20 with my grip shoulder-width apart with my palms facing me, because it lets my biceps do alot of the work. On the other hand, flipping my grip so my palms are away, and moveing grips closer (as a guide, put your hands out in front of your with thumbs out at a 90 degree angle towards each other, just close enough for the tip of your thumbs to touch. Thats about the width im talking) I can only do about 8-10 at a time because its almost all on my back. There are also these pretty bad-a** ones that I do occationally... but I wouldn't recommend them until you can do 8-10 normal ones. I can only do like 3-5. If you would like to hear about them I'll be more than happy to share though

Also if you don't have a big fancy assisted pull-up machine... you might try putting a stool or chair under your bar so you can use it to help push yourself up (as little as possible) after you're spent on the unassisted ones. Play with how near it is to you, directly under you offers the most help, and moving it farther away from you makes it harder.

Hope that helps

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Hi, all!!  I joined up since I want to do a zombie run this coming year.  Cline had given me some great tips on getting ready ... I'll have to see if I can find her post somewhere and link it up.

 

I don't think I can do a pull up right now - great challenge.  I'm pretty sure we have an assisted pull up machine at the gym.  Any thing is better than 0, right??

[Eboncat]

Hello, I'm brand new to this site, I was hoping you might not mind me joining your thread. I just discovered I'm a little too late to join the 6-week challenge, but that's alright, I'll get the next one. I do need accountability though, as pretty much all my friends and family are inactive.

 

Also I might offer a bit of advice on pull-ups. You might like to try different grips, I find some easier, and others harder. Not everyone finds the same ones easier though as far as I've seen. main differences are just how far your hands are apart, and if you have your palms facing towards or away from yourself. For example, I can do about 20 with my grip shoulder-width apart with my palms facing me, because it lets my biceps do alot of the work. On the other hand, flipping my grip so my palms are away, and moveing grips closer (as a guide, put your hands out in front of your with thumbs out at a 90 degree angle towards each other, just close enough for the tip of your thumbs to touch. Thats about the width im talking) I can only do about 8-10 at a time because its almost all on my back. There are also these pretty bad-a** ones that I do occationally... but I wouldn't recommend them until you can do 8-10 normal ones. I can only do like 3-5. If you would like to hear about them I'll be more than happy to share though

Also if you don't have a big fancy assisted pull-up machine... you might try putting a stool or chair under your bar so you can use it to help push yourself up (as little as possible) after you're spent on the unassisted ones. Play with how near it is to you, directly under you offers the most help, and moving it farther away from you makes it harder.

Hope that helps

Of course you can join - welcome!  And I'll take all the advice I can get, so thanks!

I also find the ones with my hands facing me easier.  I've been practicing the other way though, trying to get my back stronger.  And I sometimes use a chair - good idea to pump out more using the chair after I've fatigued myself trying unassisted.

Hi, all!!  I joined up since I want to do a zombie run this coming year.  Cline had given me some great tips on getting ready ... I'll have to see if I can find her post somewhere and link it up.

 

I don't think I can do a pull up right now - great challenge.  I'm pretty sure we have an assisted pull up machine at the gym.  Any thing is better than 0, right??

Yep.  Any progress at all is better than sitting on the couch!  A zombie run.  Too fun.  I looked at doing one last year, but the timing didn't work out.  Welcome!

 

I must have accomplished something yesterday - my back is sore.  The good kind, not the kind where I think I hurt something.

[PaladinAlex]

Ok, I'm such a newb to message boards, I'm not sure how to quote other posts properly lol. But yea, unassisted until you can't do any more then assissted is definately the way to go in my opinion. It's how I can do upwards of 20 now, I could only do like 2 when I started .

 

I was also very curious about these races you were all talking about... I've never even looked into them. They look awesome though... I think I might like to do the spartan races . Any suggestions to how one might train for something like that? I'm not really sure where to start haha. I'm going to be adding interval training(which I'm actually starting this morning) to regular resistance training... I'm just wondering if there is something more specific to these kind of races that would be a good idea?

[AquaNat]

I'm so glad our thread is filling up with people! Woot for more Spartan racers too! Intervals are a great idea to get your body used to switching between run/obstacle mode. I'm also adding in resistance to my cardio workouts so I can power through each obstacle, and adding some plyometric moves to my warm up and work out.

 

I find the same difference in pull up grips. I can do 3 pull -ups palms to me, and only 2 palms out.