Mud Madness Prep: Week 4 and 5 training schedule

Here are the next two weeks' worth of MM Prep workouts!

Don't have kettlebells? Grab anything heavy! Can't find a good hill in your neighborhood? Work extra hard during sprints. Need help making some of these movements work? Let me know and we'll make sure to put you on the right path.

The real trick to training for the Tough Mudder race is to train the different "energy systems" that you will need during the actual race. Be aware that the TM race involves a lot of max exertion with a lot of min to mod exertion in between events. This is how we've been training and how you should too.

If you've been training by jogging at a slow and steady pace then you're not training for the Tough Mudder race. I think the Boston Marathon is the weekend before the Frederick, MD TM. Good luck with that.

GET SOME!!

Week #4

		Venue specific move
Time	Giant A-frame
:00		Dyno Warm-Up
:10	Drill Circuit 1	Kettlebell sprint relay
		Ramp sprints
:15	Drill Circuit 2	Rope/ramp relay
		Stair erg
:25	Drill Circuit 3	"Haynesworth"
		Shrimping
	Berlin walls
:35	Drill Circuit 1	SEAL crawls
		Bear crawls
:40	Drill Circuit 2	Up/downs
		Kettlebells on parade
:50	Drill Circuit 3	Mountain climbers
		Over/unders

Week #5

		Venue specific move
Time	Everest
:00		Dyno Warm-Up
:10	Drill Circuit 1	Sprints
		Superman-hill sprints
:15	Drill Circuit 2	Sprint to lay out
		Resisted sprints
:25	Drill Circuit 3	Superman-hill kbell trot
		Shrimping
	Funky monkey
:35	Drill Circuit 1	Over/unders
		Leap frog
:40	Drill Circuit 2	Up/downs
		Prisoner squat
:50	Drill Circuit 3	Jungle gym work
		Farmers walk

An open letter from a recent student

Below is a copy of a letter that a recent student wrote in completion of her affiliation with our clinic. While I wouldn't normally post something like this, I do feel that other physical therapists, strength coaches and personal trainers who work the way we do would have an appreciation as well as be excited to see that fighting the good fight is worth it.

            For my first integrated clinical experience, I was at SPARK Physiotherapy in Alexandria, VA. My CI was Dr. Carlos Berio—a former graduate of Marymount University. SPARK is set up so that each physical therapist sees only one patient at a time for the entire hour. It was a different transition from the clinic that I worked at as an aide—each physical therapist would see 4-5 patients an hour and each PT had one aide assigned to them.

            Seeing one patient an hour really allowed for a lot of one on one time between the patient and the physical therapist. Dr. Berio set up his clinic with the thought of bringing back quality of care to the patients and not worrying about the quantity of patients. Another part of SPARK was the personal training side—not only will Dr. Berio see physical therapy patient’s but will also see some patient’s for personal training. I really like his saying of “making people bullet proof” post injury.

I also got to observe the administrative side of a clinic. SPARK was in the process of moving to a bigger location. I got to see the floor plans and hear the reasoning behind the layout. As a small business owner, Dr. Berio not only had to worry about the patient care but also the inner workings of the clinic.

            SPARK physiotherapy was a great location to see the performance side of physical therapy. As an athletic trainer, I have always enjoyed working with the athletic population. I have not seen a lot of the personal training side (as I’ve never used a personal trainer or done a lot of weight lifting) so it was great to have exposure to exercises I had never seen before. Some of the exercises included Russian dead lifts, Turkish get-ups, and clean and jerks. It was also great to have to be creative with the equipment in the room. There were not the usual weight machines in the gym but instead we would utilize theraband, kettlebells, and barbells.

            Dr. Berio did a great job allowing me to get hands on experience even when I was a little unsure of what I was doing. He was always right there showing me different ways to do things and offering other advice. When we had down time, we would discuss articles, anatomy, or practice evaluation techniques. Overall, it was a great experience for learning, observing a small business, and seeing a different mentality towards patient care.

Thank you to the student. This is why we all volunteer in the advancement of our disciplines.

Mud Madness Prep Course: Week 3 training schedule

This week is another intense but fun workout to prep you for the Tough Mudder race. Take a look below to continue your training with us.

We've streamlined the movement timing so it's easier to follow. See each workout as an hour and then perform each movement to your highest possible intensity for the time allotted.

At this venue we're making great use of a very steep but short hill located on the periphery of Angel Park in Alexandria, VA. The hill is grass, is about 50 feet long and has a grade at the bottom of 8% and steepens to a 30% grade near the top. It's making training out here fun and highly useful for the TM.

If you have questions about training just shoot them along.

		Venue specific move
Time	King of the Mountain
:00		Dyno Warm-Up
:10	Drill Circuit 1	Gasser-Hill sprints
		Sprints
:15	Drill Circuit 2	Sprint to lay out
		Muscle ups
:25	Drill Circuit 3	No-touch leap frog
	Jumping bale
:35	Drill Circuit 1	Broad jump to vert jump
		Gasser-Hill bear to sprint
:40	Drill Circuit 2	Up/downs
		Shrimping
:50	Drill Circuit 3	Mountain climbers
		Over/unders

Mud Madness Prep Course: Week 2 training schedule

Hey Fellow Mud Madness members and SPARK It Up Teammates. Here is this week's training itinerary. Week 1 was a blast and a great way to start to this training program.

Let's work hard to keep up our intensity and help our Mud Madness friends along in the journey.

In Week #2 we are training for "Arctic Enema" and "Log Jammin'".

Tell us how your training is going!

		Venue specific move
Time	Arctic enema
:10		Dyno Warm-Up
:15	Drill Circuit 1	Superman-hill sprints
		Superman-hill kbell trot
:25	Drill Circuit 2	Partner muscle ups
		Over/unders
:40	Drill Circuit 3	Bears and SEALs
	Log jammin'
:15	Drill Circuit 1	Over/unders
		Iron chair squats
:25	Drill Circuit 2	Muscle ups
		Pullups
:40	Drill Circuit 3	Kbell trot
		Walking lunges