When I decided that I needed to get fit again, at first I struggled to find a goal once I had decided that MMA was no longer to be for me. With MMA it was simple- You needed to be fit and strong enough to survive the rounds, strike and wrestle with others of similar weights. With those "rules" removed and the fitness prerequisites stated on all of the obstacle run courses being pretty low, I needed to decide on what my goals were to be.
There was a big part of me that wanted to aim for vanity- training in specific ways to change the shape of my body to an idealogical view on what I thought it should look like. This was especially in my mind as I have previously struggled with a fast metabolism to put on muscle. Burning fat hadn't been a problem with minimal effort, but building muscle, especially on my chest, I had always struggled with.
However, the thought of trying to "bulk" and potentially losing all-round fitness didn't appeal. In the end, I decided I wanted to become "practically fit".
What do I mean by that? Well, I've never been a fan of gyms, so I wanted to work as much as possible with my own bodyweight and goals based around that. So I decided I wanted to be able to do as many exercise types as possible carrying my own bodyweight whilst maintaining a decent running speed. I decided as well that a decent running speed should be being able to do 12 miles with an average pace of under 8 minutes a mile. Some would be easier than others- dead-lifting 75kg for example shouldn't be too tough, dipping and pull-ups might be a bit more tricky.
Wherever possible I would do practical exercises as seen in strongman type events rather than gym training. So sled pulls, tyre flipping, sandbag training, sledgehammer training and anything else that will help to build toughness, strength and cardio together. I also decided to try to go back to basics with running and cycling as well swapping roads for trails, rivers and mud wherever possible. Not only is it more fun that way, but the natural instability of running off road always makes me feel like I've worked harder and as the majority of the obstacle and mud runs will be off-road, this seemed ideal.
Challenge accepted!
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