Power Through Your Next Obstacle Course Race with Muscular and Running Endurance

Endurance is the ability to cover long distances and do strenuous tasks without fail, despite feeling tired or worn out.
Comprehensive endurance training, especially for an obstacle course racing event, requires both muscular endurance exercises and running endurance exercises.
A balanced mixture of muscular and running endurance training will get your body ready for the intensity of OCR and help you trim down and tone your muscles at the same time.

• Obstacle Course Training Guide for All Levels

Being able to use stamina to make it through long, challenging distances is a sign of high endurance. A good endurance training program will give you a competitive edge in obstacle course racing, as well as more energy and efficiency in everyday life.

For OCR and other sports, it pays to have a balance of muscular endurance and running endurance. Muscular endurance is the capability of your muscles and its different groups to use force repeatedly and consistently over a certain period of time. Meanwhile, running endurance is the ability to quickly move from one obstacle to another. This includes covering more ground in a shorter amount of time, and also making fast but smooth transitions between obstacles.

Muscular endurance exercises

Planks

If you are familiar with push-ups, then you probably have an idea of how to do a plank. Similar to how you do a push-up, begin by lying flat on your stomach with your hips touching the ground. Use your forearms to hold up your upper body and keep your legs flat on the floor.

Keeping your body as straight as possible, plant your hands beside your chest and use your lower back and shoulder muscles to lift your hips up off of the ground. Hold yourself up for as long as you can, and then relax and lower yourself back down. Try to do intervals of 30-45 seconds each.

Planks aren't just for muscular endurance. These also enhance your flexibility, tone your abs, and improve your balance and posture, which eventually helps put you in a better mood. This is because planking stretches out the muscles that tend to become stiff and tense from sitting down for long periods of time, which often happens to people who spend a big portion of their work day at a desk.

Walking Lunges

To do walking lunges, stand straight and put your feet shoulder-width apart. Start with your right leg. Take one big step forward, then bend your knee and slowly lower your body until your back leg touches the floor. Maintaining your balance, put your weight on your front heel and push yourself back upright. Keep moving forward, this time doing the same thing but leading with your left leg instead. Remember to keep your upper body upright as you do your lunges — don't bend or drop your torso.

Walking lunges improve muscular endurance in your gluteal minimus and gluteal maximus, which are important to hip and knee health. These muscle groups also help you perform actions that require one arm or leg at a time, which are also called "unilateral movements".

Sit-ups

Although sit-ups don't require any special equipment, it is advised that you use still use yoga mat. This will help keep your make it more comfortable for you, particularly for your tailbone, which won't be rubbing against the ground.

Lie flat on your back, bend both legs, and place your feet flat on the ground. Then put your hands behind your neck. Let your elbows stick out to the side. Using your stomach muscles, bring your torso up so that it touches your thighs. Then steadily guide your body back down and repeat the process.

Sit-ups are a highly efficient muscular endurance exercise, with more muscles worked per repetition compared to other exercises. They're good for your abs, core muscles, hip flexors, leg muscles, and chest. In addition, they give you a wider range of motion and make you less prone to back strain and back injuries, giving your spine an extra layer of protection at the same time.

Cardiovascular endurance exercises

Running

Running is one of the most popular endurance exercises because it's free and anyone can do it. It's an accessible form of training for OCR neophytes. You can hit the gym and use a treadmill or just head outside to a nearby park or trail.

If you're a casual runner or have zero experience running, take it easy with a light jog or a short run. In order to build cardiovascular endurance, you need to make gradual progress. Do short distances first, then as your body grows accustomed to the exertion, work your way up to long runs that time more time and effort. Endurance doesn't develop overnight, so give yourself the chance to work on it for at least a few weeks.

Swimming

If you have access to a body of water, it's a good idea to take advantage of it for your obstacle course race training. Obstacle course races for beginners don't always include swimming or any kind of water-logged challenge, but you'll still be able to use the benefits you acquire from incorporating it into your training.

You can develop endurance from swimming anywhere, but your best option is a lap pool. Lap pools are safer for inexperienced swimmers than a lake or beach, and they make it much easier to keep track of how much swimming you've done and with the consistency of workout. Plan to do a couple of laps two or three times a week.

Beyond training your running endurance, swimming also helps you burn calories quickly and strengthen your lungs. It tones nearly all of your muscles and makes your stronger, but with less impact than lifting weights or running. On top of that, it's a fun and refreshing way to cool down on hot summer days.

Jumping jacks

For jumping jacks, all you need is a reliable pair of shoes. First, make sure you have enough space to move around without hitting someone or something within the vicinity. Then, simply jump your feet wide apart while spreading out your arms overhead. As you jump your feet back together, your arms should go with you and stop right at the sides of your body.

If you're doing jumping jacks for endurance, aim for 30 seconds to one minute of jumping jacks in between other cardio exercises like jogging or jumping rope. Repeat the circuit for up to 30 minutes, or less if you're just starting out and don't want to put too much stress on your body. Jumping jacks are a high-impact exercise, so if you have health issues that concern your joints, you may want to minimize this part in your workout.

Jumping jacks aren't just a cardiovascular endurance exercise that you can do without any special skills or equipment. It's also a great way to burn calories. You can burn 100 calories after just ten minutes with this exercise.

Jump rope

Using a jump rope requires a sense of coordination To begin this exercise, flip the jump rope in a circular motion around your whole body and jump over it when it reaches your feet. Once you get into a rhythm, you can even chant in time with your jumping. This will make it feel less tiring.

Fans of jumping rope love it because you can do it just about anywhere as long as you have enough space to avoid accidents. If you're a newbie and you trip over the rope a few times (or a lot of times), don't get discouraged. It takes some practice to get it right. It may help to turn the rope with your wrists rather than your whole arms. Try to jump just high enough to clear the rope and land softly, too, to lessen the impact.

Jumping rope is excellent cardio and anyone can do it with enough repetition. You can alternate 30 seconds to one minute of jumping rope with running or jumping jacks for a cardio circuit. If you're preparing for a beginners’ OCR and you’re just getting your bearings, opt for ten to 30 seconds of jumping rope with up to 30 seconds of marching in place.