7 Essential Exercises for Obstacle Course Racing
That You Can Do At Home
Fad workouts and super foods are saturating the world, to the point of complete overwhelm. How do you know what works? And will what works for a personal trainer or professional athlete really work for you?
Maybe. But maybe not.
Before you invest in another weight loss program, take some advice from a regular guy: eat less calories than you burn, and exercise for at least 3 hours a week. This simple plan has allowed me to lose 15 pounds, keep it off for more than a year, and build muscle while I’m at it.
I’ll talk about strategies for controlling calories without compromising nutrition another time (and link it here when I do). For now, let’s focus on exercise.
Will what works for a personal trainer or professional athlete really work for you? Maybe. But maybe not.
Face it: going to the gym is inconvenient, often intimidating, and occasionally confusing (I don’t even know what half of those machines are for). If you’ve had a gym membership for a while and don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere, stop wasting your money.
The 7 Best At-Home Exercises
You can get in better shape from the convenience of your own home with simple body weight exercises and 30 minutes of determined effort a day.
A quick disclaimer: If you’re preparing for a race of any length you’re going to want to run a lot beforehand. That’s not on this list because it involves leaving the house for most people and I want to stay focused. I’ll talk about getting the most out of your runs in another article and link it here when I do.
Planks
Planks are a classic but sometimes overlooked exercise. They’re also another go-to for anyone with back pain (or who struggles with crunches). The plank is also the foundation for many of the exercises below.
Lay on the ground on your stomach with your toes tucked in and your hands next to your shoulders. Lift yourself up, like you’re doing a single push up, and hold. Everyone has a different baseline, so make 30 seconds your goal when starting out. As you improve, aim for two minutes — it’s an open debate whether going longer than that does much for you.
Primary Muscles: Abs, Back
Secondary Muscles: Shoulders, Quads
Extra Effort: Planks are an incredibly versatile workout, with dozens of variations. Aside from the exercises below, you can add in leg lifts, toe taps, shoulder touches, bird dogs — the list goes on!
Push Ups
Push ups are another classic body weight exercise that anyone can do (and everyone should). To perform a proper push up, start in the plank position. Lower yourself until your elbows form 90 degree right angles, then go back up.
If that’s too hard when you start out, don’t sweat it. Go down as far as is comfortable, but make sure you push yourself to go further each week. You’ll get there!
Primary Muscles: Shoulders, Triceps, Chest, Upper Back
Secondary Muscles: Biceps, Wrists
Extra Effort: Want to step it up a notch? Launch yourself up with each push up and clap before you come back down to get some extra burn in your upper abs. Clapping Push Ups are great for building whole body fitness and explosive strength — perfect for obstacle course races.
Mountain Climbers
Mountain Climbers are a great workout and often overlooked. You’ll start in a plank position (there’s a pattern here).
Then drive your knees toward your chest one at a time like you’re running up a mountain.
Go as slow or fast as you like, but make sure you don’t hunch and keep your head up away from your shoulders.
Planks are an incredibly versatile workout, with dozens of variations.
These are a go-to for me. I have chronic back pain and am at risk for muscle spasms. This makes sit-ups, crunches, and similar exercises very painful. Fortunately, Mountain Climbers are a fantastic core exercise that also hit other major muscle groups and don’t hurt my back at all.
Plus, going fast gives you some intense cardio.
Primary Muscles: Shoulders, Abs
Secondary Muscles: Back, Quads, Hamstrings
Extra Effort: To step it up a notch, try adding ankle weights or just picking up your speed. You can also do one-handed Mountain Climbers while pumping your free arm in a running motion.
Burpees
You might remember Burpees from your high school gym class, when you probably hated them. Whatever your feelings, they’re a phenomenal whole body exercise.
Start standing up, then drop to a deep squat, balancing yourself with your hands on the ground outside your feet. Holding yourself up with your hands, jump your feet backward to land in a plank position. Then jump them back up and jump upward as high as you can, throwing your arms up.
Repeat until exhausted.
If you can’t jump as you come up, don’t panic. Just go up on your toes and keep pushing. You’re building explosive power with this one!
Primary Muscles: Shoulders, Chest, Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings
Secondary Muscles: Triceps, Wrists, Abs, Back, Calves
Extra Effort: For the more hardcore, make sure you do a push-up each time you land in a plank. These full range burpees will give your chest and shoulders an event better workout.
Squats
Squats are a great lower body workout, and absolutely fundamental for building whole body strength. You can also do them any time, anywhere.
Start upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed as straight forward as is comfortable. Push back with your hips like you’re sitting in a chair, aiming to reach 90 degrees before you come back up. Don’t worry if you can’t get there yet, you will.
Also, it’s very important to keep your back straight as you go down. I find tightening my stomach muscles to be extremely helpful for maintaining posture.
Finally, make sure you drive your knees out as you go down so that they stay above your ankles. Don’t let them buckle in as that can put unhealthy strain on your ACL and MCL.
If squats are tough for you, try using a wall to support some of your weight. Just holding a wall sit for as long as you can before slumping to the ground in glorious exhaustion is a great start!
Primary Muscles: Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings, Lower Back
Secondary Muscles: Hip Abductors, Calves
Extra Effort: For extra credit, jump as you come up and land as lightly as you can, going down into another deep squat and jumping again. For double secret extra credit when jumping, try bringing your knees up to your chest or kicking your heels up toward your butt.
Lunges
It’s important to mix your workouts up, rather than doing the same thing every day. That’s why I include both lunges and squats in my list. They hit the same muscle groups, but the slight variation is enough to break the monotony.
Stand with your feet together and hands on your hips. Take a big step forward, bending your knees to 90 degrees (kneeling on one knee). Push back up to standing off of your lead foot, staying upright and then doing the same movement with the other leg. Continue to alternate.
Primary Muscles: Glutes, Quads
Secondary Muscles: Hamstrings, Calves
Extra Effort: Not hard enough for you? Try jumping lunges: Launch yourself into the air as you come up, switching legs in mid air and coming down into another lunge.
Tricep Dips
You might see someone doing this on a workout bench at the gym, but all you really need is your favorite chair or a couch. You can even do them right on the floor.
To perform a solid Tricep Dip, sit on the floor with bent knees. Place your hands behind you shoulder width apart on the floor. If you’re using a chair or couch, you’ll want to start sitting on the edge of the chair. Place your hands to either side, and then slide your body off the edge so that you’re supported by your arms and hands.
Now the dips: just like you’d think, lower yourself down by bending your elbows, taking only as much weight as your feet as you must. Then push yourself back up and do it again. Your triceps get some work from other exercises, but this one is all on them.
Primary Muscles: Triceps
Secondary Muscles: Shoulders, Wrists
Extra Effort: Lift one leg each you go down, and make sure you hit 90 degrees every time.
Bonus: Pull Ups
I know I said seven, but I couldn’t leave pull ups off the list.
They don’t quite fit since you will need either a pull up bar or a backyard swing set (that’s how I started out), but they’re a stellar workout. They’re also really important for obstacle course racing as they build up key muscles for completing those intimidating grip obstacles.
Hanging from the bar (or swing set) with arms extended, pull yourself up until your arms hit at least 90 degrees. Lower and repeat if you can, but there’s no shame in needing to build up.
I started with sets of one and built up from there. A year later, I usually do multiple sets of 4–5 but can do single sets of up to 10. You’ll get there!
Special Note for Obstacle Course Racers: Make sure you vary your hand positions — do these overhand, underhand, and cross-grip. You never know what the course will throw at you, so be prepared.
Primary Muscles: Back
Secondary Muscles: Shoulders, Triceps, Biceps
Extra Effort: Mastered the pull up? Try switching hand positions without letting your feet touch the ground — it’s great for obstacle course racers.
For the pull up superstars, try launching yourself up, clapping over the bar, and catching it again on the way down. I’m not there yet, but that explosive upper body strength will make you a superstar on the obstacle course too.
These are my favorite 7 (okay, 8) at home exercises. I aim to hit every major muscle group and build strength, endurance, and explosive power without taking risks or putting undue strain on the body. Getting fit doesn’t have to be complicated.
Eat less calories than you burn, and exercise for at least 3 hours a week.
But the list of ways that people do get fit is immense. These are my recommendations, but let’s hear from the peanut gallery: What are your favorite at home exercises? What else do you do to prep for running an obstacle course race?
