Schap Camp 001

A workout to try and why I think this workout is appropriate for OCR training...

The Workout

Repeat the following 5-10 times:

• Run for 2 minutes at a pace that puts your heart rate in the MAF zone (180 - age; plus or minus 5 beats); focus on impeccable form
   
• Complete the following in 2 minutes:
  
  Do 10-15 burpees (chest to ground and feet leave the ground on the jump)
  Do 5-10 pull-ups or 5-10 chin-ups (alternate each set)
  Do 10-15 box jumps or 10-20 (per leg) plyo lunges on a low box (step with 3 risers)
  Recover for the rest of the 2 minutes (should have about 30 seconds left)

To track improvement, I'll note the distance at the end of the workout.

So why am I doing this workout?

I admit. I've gotten away from "beast" workouts, tabata (although I plan to include tabata once a week during the season) workouts, and other HIIT workouts, because OCR isn't calling for these types of workouts. A strong OCR athlete will be a strong runner first and foremost with a strong engine (heart and lungs). After that, the athlete will need to be agile and strong enough to manage the carries, the terrain, the "intervals" between obstacles, and the grip-intensive obstacles.

One HIIT workout per week is enough. I didn't have one in my routine currently, so this workout above will be it. It's taking the place of BODYPUMP or, most recently, the 300 burpees (10 EMOM) I would do on Thursday mornings.

So we now have the above workout. You get your running. You get your sport-specific movements (i.e. burpees). You get to work grip strength while your heart rate is elevated. You get to work your explosive power and then get right back to running.

We'll see how it goes, but after the first day, I think it will be more helpful than my previous Thursday morning workouts without negatively impacting my Friday morning lactate tolerance training run.