Super Spartan Training Plan: Day 5 - Power & Body Plyometrics

As the demands for the Spartan Race Super increase, so will your body’s needs for plyometrics. Power training teaches your body to adequately transition from explosion to absorption through something called the “Stretch-Shortening Cycle”. This is one of the primary characteristics of muscles that allows your body switch between the various demands of racing. Also, improper stretch-shortening training is an aspect of muscle cramping. To put it into perspective, the more body plyometrics you train, the less likely you are to exhibit cramping.

Starting today, we will increase our lower body plyometrics to meet our newest demands.

This workout should be performed in a circuit. Perform one set of each exercise before beginning your second, third, and fourth set. For more of a challenge, try adding a weighted vest to this workout

Spartan Super Training Plan: Body Plyometrics

Warm-Up:

Dynamic Warm Up

Main Set:

Bear Crawl - 50 yards (8-9 RPE)

Jumping Pull Ups - 4x8 (8-9 RPE)

Bounders - 4x8 (8-9 RPE)

Start standing on a box or a platform. Jump off of the platform with both feet, landing on your toes and absorbing through the knees in a controlled manner. Once you have absorbed the weight, immediately jump back into the air for a vertical jump.

Plyometric Push Ups - 4x8 (8-9 RPE)

Plyometric Step Ups - 4x8 (8-9 RPE)

Goblet Carry - 4x100 yards (8-9 RPE)

Holding a pancake or a weight similar to your goblet squat, walk 100 yards. During the carry, pay attention that you do not sink your hips forward, putting pressure on your lower back. Imagine you are drawing your belt buckle up towards your navel throughout the entire walk.

Squat Jumps - 4x8 (8-9 RPE)

Burpees - 4x8 (8-9 RPE)

Cool Down:

Pull out your favorite Spartan RAM Roller. Spend anywhere from 30 seconds to three minutes on each muscle, depending on tightness.

Today, you will want to release your:

Lats (under your shoulder blades)
Pecs (below the front of your shoulder socket)
Calfs (lower leg)
Hamstrings (back of upper leg)

A more advanced Spartan may also require a hip flexor releases just above your front hip bone.

Continue to Spartan Super Training Plan Day 6. Or start the Spartan Super Training Plan from Day 1.

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Megan Beck

Megan Beck, M.S., ATC, CSCS, SGX - Megan is The OCR Trainer. She is a Certified Athletic Trainer and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with a Masters of Science in Injury Prevention and Performance Enhancement from California University of Pennsylvania. Megan is a 15x Spartan Trifecta Tribe member and when she’s not covered in mud on any given Spartan course, you can find her at the front of a rock concert or venturing around Boston with her German Shepherd, Titan.