TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

The “Mud Run” Battle Preparation Manual: The 5 Things You Must Have To DOMINATE Your Next Challenge Race!

This manual was created for all of the serious athletes, crazy lifters, nutty racers, and weekend warriors out there that are looking to take their fitness results and performances to the next level. I created this manual to help clear up all the BS that surrounds the different ways people train for challenge races. I’ll talk more about the craze the challenge races now have, but before I do that I figured I had better properly introduce myself in case you don’t know me ;) My name is Travis Stoetzel and I’m a professional strength and conditioning specialist and I own and operate my own hardcore strength gym in Omaha NE called, The Forged Athlete where I cater specifically to serious athletes and lifters ranging from your young high school kids training to make the varsity squat all the way up to your professional level MMA fighters and Olympic Wrestlers. I also have a wide variety of ex-athletes and non-athletes that dwell within my gym walls that include police officers, military personnel, firefighters, and your hardcore weekend warrior types that are just plain nutty about training hard and living a healthy and fit lifestyle. I live for my gym and clients as training is my LIFE and my #1 passion! I think about it almost all hours of the day. I love challenges and pushing my body to the limit and I know what it takes to prepare the body for battle. You must approach training is like it’s an all out war zone. For this to happen, you must be prepared both mentally and physically. Beyond the local realm of my strength and conditioning gym, I also have a personal blog catered for the same type of people at TravisStoetzel.com as well as a membership site called TrainAggressive. These both serve as other means for me to help get my message out there to help reach and impact more people that need my help. But, this is only the tip of the ice berg about me and what I do, and the important thing is this: it isn’t about me… It’s about YOU and how you’re going to be 110% prepared for your next challenge race!

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

So, before we go any further, let me ask you this… Why is it YOU train? Other then choosing to partake in a challenge race / mud run, what is it that guides you… Pushes you… CHALLENEGS YOU? What ever it may be, just make sure there’s a big enough “WHY” behind what you do. When there’s a big enough “why”, your successes will dramatically increase. You commitment and dedication levels will be much greater and tougher to break. Just do as I say and make sure you find out what your WHY is…

The Challenge Race Craze! I like to call these things “Your 5-10K Races on Steroids!” These races have been starting to pop up everywhere you look and the good news is, their not going anywhere anytime soon! I personally think that these races are a great thing and that they serve a great purpose. These new races give great reasons to people everywhere to set new goals, become more active with their lifestyle. What I especially like about these new types of “mud runs / challenge races” is the fact that it’s not just some ol’ goal you create and say you’ll accomplish… For example, say you want to lose 20-30 lbs. That’s great, but what is truly going to push you to lose that 20-30 lbs? What happens if you don’t lose those 20-30 lbs?

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

Now take that same goal and add it in with a challenge race. Now instead of just losing 20-30 lbs, your goal is also to finish a challenge race. If you fail to meet your goal now, you’re not only going to fail at losing the weight, but now you’re going to get crushed in your challenge race as well! The cool fact is that these new challenge races have helped create different forms of motivation and accountability… It’s taken motivation and accountability to a whole new level. Look at it this way… When you commit to doing a race, now you have a f*cking race to run so you had better get your ass ready! If you don’t, you will be sure to suffer for it… That’s great compared to the old “oh if I don’t lose this weight I won’t be able to go to the beach BS…” Which is worse? Going onto a beach fat and out of shape or trying to run a race out of shape? The beach will be a little more forgiving…

How you need to be training for these races. Your training needs to be focused around PERFORMANCE (AKA – training like an athlete), not simple weight loss. When you train for performance, the benefits are limitless, especially when you train for performance vs. just simple weight loss. Besides healthy weight loss and improving your overall quality of life as a human being you’ll also get: • increased conditioning – more energy, healthy, and overall well

being • increased strength – used in everyday life from lifting up kids to

lifting up a car in an extreme situation (who knows right??) • increased mobility – lose the pain in your back, knees, elbows, and

hips when you train right!

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

• increase flexibility - when done right, you’ll reduce chances of injury – become bullet proof – the normal training people do today (machines, running on treadmils, ect actually bring you closer to these problems!)

• improve overall body composition – LOOK LIKE AN OLYMPION – even though you may not be able to compete in the Olympics, training like an athlete will help you lean out, shred fat, and actually make you LOOK a ton healthier and not only feel it .

Now, obviously when I say “train for performance” or to “train like an athlete”, I’m not talking about doing a simple run through the park. If you’re serious about this race and you want to really push yourself to the end and actually be a competitor, you’ll want to have the following qualities:

• power • strength • athleticism (mobility, agility) • speed • endurance (obviously)

The types of training I’ll address later will cover these areas.

Now, let’s get into the good stuff (AKA the meat of this report) which are the 5 things YOU Must Have In Order To DOMINATE Your Next Challenge Race!

1) Mental Preparation – You MUST Believe!

I’m a firm believer that in order to get the best results from your training, you must treat every session like all-out WAR… Every session you train, you must be ready and willing to take it to the next level! Why go half ass? If there’s anything worth doing, it’s worth doing right!

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

As I mentioned earlier about your ‘WHY”, I would highly suggest you write down your overall goals. And if you haven’t done so yet, The first thing you should do is t sign up for a race. Signing on the dotted line and paying a little bit of cash will put a bit more accountability onto your shoulders then just “thinking” about it will. This will officially lock you in. ;) I’m sure that if you’re reading this manual right now that your already signed up for a race and that you’re SERIOUS about it. In that case, just make sure you get yourself properly prepared… If you’re NOT signed up yet, when is the next race scheduled? Make sure to get your ass signed up ASAP! Now, some other things to note within your goals are the following:

• What are you going to do to make sure you’re prepared? • What are your major barriers • What do you need to improve on?

Write down your major goals and have it somewhere you can see them everyday. Tell everyone about these goals. In fact, get your friends, family, and co-workers all involved! Start a freaking all out challenge with everyone you know! Start a REVOLUTION! Doing all of this will only push you closer to your overall goal and accelerate your progress.

2) The Proper Fuel I can’t stress how important eating is in regards to your overall health and performance. When it comes to getting solid results 90% of it is based off of nutrition. There’s no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it!

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

There should be NO EXCUSES here! The truth is YOU have total control over what you eat! If you’re goal is to lose weight, you don’t need the race, you need to eat right! The best thing to start thinking about in regards to improving your performance is to start fueling your body for war rather then eating for comfort or just for the purpose of eating. Everything you eat should serve as a purpose… Now you don’t have to give up all the foods you know are bad, leave those for your cheat meals. To cut to the chase here and not beat around any bushes, my best recommendation for how you should be eating for the best possible performance and body transformation would be to Eat Paleo.

Your main focus doesn’t have to be 100% on Paleo, but it should closely resemble this type of eating style. A basic outline of your diet should look like this:

• Lean protein at every meal (we were born to eat meat so sorry to all the Vegans, and Veggie Heads out there) lots of green veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, and starchy carbs when we need them.

• Water, water, and more water, tea, coffee, and the occasional

GLASS of wine is ok.

• If you’re a drinker, no more then 2-3 beers per week should be more then enough. Any more then that will have a negative effect on your body and results.

Bottom Line – Eat To Survive – Fuel your body right and your body will return the favor.

The next 3 tips I have below will now all revolve around how to properly PREPARE for WAR!

3) Warm Up Like An Athlete!

One of the biggest mistakes people make is with their warm up. The old “5 min jog” on the treadmill or around the block isn’t going cut it. This does nothing more then slightly raise your heart rate and get you good at jogging. It doesn’t prepare you for the rigors of serious training. What you want to start think about doing is preparing your body through a more specialized dynamic warm up. Start thinking more along the lines of preparing the body for actual, athletic based movements, not just running. The focus on your dynamic warm up should be to obviously increase your heart rate, help wake the body up, and to prepare the body to be able to move without getting injured. A solid dynamic warm up will basically have you moving while stretching at the same time. I would strongly advise you DON’T STRETCH before training and the reason for this is that you increase your chances for injury. When you stretch before training, typically you’re cold and not ready to move, so the possibilities of straining or pulling a muscle are a lot more prevalent. What you want to do is to make sure to leave 10-15 mins before your workout for warm up to ensure you give yourself enough time to properly prepare for battle.

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

Here’s a sample video of a very effective arm up that you can do to help increase your results: >>> LINK TO WARM UP VIDEO One other important component of your warm up is foam rolling. This can be added in before you train as well and afterwards if you find yourself to be stiff and sore. >>> LINK TO FOAM ROLLIN

4) Strength, Power, and Core Training Before we get into the training section of this free report, let me just say this… If you’re not strong, you’re WEAK… It doesn’t matter what sport you play or if all you do is run, you must have a base level of strength in order to have any sort of high level of performance output. Now, before you go having different assumptions of strength training, I want you to think athlete NOT bodybuilder. Just as I mentioned above, we are going to be training for performance, NOT strictly for looks. We’ll be focusing in on functional movements, not machine based bodybuilding training. Before we get into how to train properly, you must understand that everything starts with bodyweight. All of your basic movements like push ups, squats, lunges, pull ups, rows, burpees, ect, should become a staple of your normal routines and you should build yourself up to the level of being able to eat these movements for breakfast, no problem.

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

In fact, if you want a good bodyweight challenge and you want to see where you’re currently at with your own bodyweight strength and conditioning… Check out my Bodyweight Gauntlet and put yourself to the test… >>> Take The Bodyweight Gauntlet Challenge HERE. So, just to be clear, make sure you always start with building up your bodyweight strength first via bodyweight training then you can start hitting the weights… Now, the issue most people have when they start to train with weight s is that they try to go too big, too early. They mess themselves up with heavy loads. This happens from not being prepared as well as doing things WRONG. Also, I’ve got to throw the fact in there that too many people train on machines. These machines also cause injury overtime. If you’re in a machine, you’re NOT training like an athlete therefore that type of training will NOT help your performance. Now, let me take you through sample training session so you can get a good feel for what a solid performance based workout should look like. First thing you want to start off with (after a proper warm up) is a fast and explosive movement. Some sort of jump or plyo would be optimal. You could also do any of the explosive type Olyimpic lifts with barbells, sandbags, dumbbells, or kettlebells. The main thing you want to focus on is lifting FAST and being EXPLOSIVE. After you do a power based movement, it’s time to focus in on a strength based movement. There’s a multiple range of reps and sets you can use, but you want to focus on building strength. Lower rep ranges of 6 and below would work best here. Good movements to help do this would be variations of your deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, and weighted pull ups and push ups.

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

These aren’t ALL of the movement you could use, but are some of the main ones you should be focusing on. After you hit your strength movement for the session, it’s then time to get in some assistance movements. These are movements that help assist your main lifts so things like bodyweight training movements and light to moderately loaded movements. For most of my athletes and clients, we always finish off the session with some sort of high intense finishers using either bodyweight or lightly weighted movements mixed in with some core training. These are designed to be a stamp on the end of the workout and nothing more. They can be 30 secs to 10 mins long, but you want to make sure you’re not over doing it here. If you want a good look at some of the finishers we do, check out

Now, one of the biggest areas people fail at is with core training. When I say core training, I’m talking about training your core the RIGHT way with athletically based functional movements, NOT crunches and sit ups. Some good examples of acceptable core movements would be things like: all of your plank variations, knee tucks, animal crawls, hanging leg raises, and other movements that require you to activate your core. Here’s a few videos for examples: >>> REAL Core Training >>> REAL Core Training

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

Now that you know how to train you core the proper way, below are two sample battle prep workout

templates. Sample Workout Days Here’s a Video Preview of an intense ”Spartan Race” Training Session: >>> Spartan Race Training (The RIGHT Way) As you’ll notice, there are lots of athletic based POWER and STRENGTH movements blended in with bodyweight strength and conditioning. There’s NO machines, NO long distance running… This is the way to properly train for a challenge race! Here are a few more sample training days that you can use to model… Day A 10-15 Min Dynamic Warm Up Foam Rolling 1A) Broad Jumps 3 x 5 2A) Barbell Deadlifts 5 x 5 3A) Push Ups 3 x 25 3B) DB Lunges 3 x 12/leg 4A) Kettlebell Swings 3 x 15 4B) Hanging Leg Raises 3 x 15 4C) Battling Rope 3 x 30 secs ***finish off with 3 sets of core work Cool Down with some stretching and foam rolling

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

Day B 10-15 Min Dynamic War Up Foam Rolling 1A) Barbell Power Cleans 3 x 5 2A) Barbell Military Press 5 x 5 3A) Pull Ups 3 x 10 3B) DB Front Squats 3 x 10 4A) Barbell Romanian Deadlifts 3 x 10 4B) Burpee 3 x 10 4C) Plank Hold 3 x max time ***finish off with 3 sets of core Deadlift Focused Day 1A) Broad Jumps 5 x 5 2A) Deadlifts 5 x 5 3A) DB Romanian Deadlift 3 x 15 3B) Hanging Leg Raises 3 x 15 4A) Prowler Sprints OR Sled Drag/Push 3 x 30 yards down and back ***finish off with 3 sets of core

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

Upper Body Strength Focused Day 1A) Plyo Push Ups OR Med Ball Slams 4 x 5-10 (explosive movement) 2A) DB OR Barbell Push Press 3 x 8 2B) Jungle Gym Recline Rows 3 x submax reps (as many as you can do with good form) 3A) Pull Ups 3 x submax reps 3B) Push Ups OR Dips 3 x submax ***finish off with 3 sets of core Squat Focused Day 1A) Tall Box Jumps 5 x 5 (for height) 2A) Front Squat 4 x 8 3A) Walking DB Front Carry Lunge 3 x 10 / L 3B) Jungle Gym Knee Tucks OR Plank Knee Tucks 3 x 15 / side 4A) Kettlebell Swings 3 x 15 5A) Prowler Sprints OR Sled Drag/Push 3 x 30 yards down and back ***finish off with 3 sets of core

5) Battle Prep Conditioning When it comes to conditioning, this is where most people fail. Most people put way too much focus in on this one aspect. People need to focus on strength and power first THEN work on conditioning… It always comes back to having a solid base level of strength, which will always help aid in your overall conditioning. It will not work the other way around. You can be STRONG and out of shape… OR be in shape and very weak..

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

You’ll be worse off being WEAK… You can always get your wind up faster then gain strength. The stronger you are, the faster you can get yourself into better shape cardiovascular wise. Now, when it comes to training for a challenge race, stop putting all the emphasis in on long distance runs and start to think INTENSITY and DURATION. We’re not prepping for a marathon here, think mid distance power and speed. Your new best friend for both fat loss and building up your overall conditioning will be High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT will easily give you more bang for your buck, it saves you time, yields faster results, and is a whole lot more fun then just running for long periods of time. In a nut shell, HIIT is all about short bursts of near maximal effort work periods mixed in with short bouts of rest. So instead of running slow for an hour to 90 mins, you can instead sprint and walk for 15-20 mins. My favorite type of HIIT and the best way to see your results go up is with lots of hill sprints. If you don’t have a hill to run up, short 30-40 yard sprints will work great as well. Your last resort would be treadmill sprints (if no access to outside). Now, the HIIT styles I just spoke about are more for your short power based conditioning. To build up your longer-range conditioning, your best ways of doing so that I have researched and seen through my own clients and athletes results are through 400 and 800 meter repeats.

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

These repeats will build up some serious levels of conditioning. Basically what you would do is run a 400m or 800m sprint as fast as you can, then rest for 2-3 mins in between sets and repeat. Other good forms of conditioning would be “fartlikes” or “speed play” running sessions where basically you would do short sprints mixed in with your running. For example if you were to go on a run, at every top of the min you would sprint as fast as possible for 5-10 secs. After the sprint you would simply go right back to your normal speed. You could repeat this for time or go for total distance.

Putting it all together! Now it’s time to mix all of the sections I talked about above together. Here’s a sample 3 day routine with extra cardio added in to round out a full program you can use for up to 12 weeks progressively to PREPARE for BATTLE! 10 Min Dynamic Warm Up Foam Roll (optional but Highly recommended) Day 1 – Day A Day 2- Short Sprints – 30-40 yard sprints x 10 Day 3 – Off – Extra Foam Roll / Stretch Day 4 – Day B Day 5 – Off – Total REST Day 6 – Mid distance Sprints – 800m / 400m Day 7 – Off – Extra Foam Roll / Stretch OR Light 1-2 Mile Run OR

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

Day 1 – Deadlift Focused Strength Session – Short Sprints later in day Day 2- Off Day 3 –Heavy Press Focused Strength Session - 800 / 400m runs later in day Day 4 – Off Day 5 – Squat Focused Strength Session –Short Sprints / Hills later in day Day 6 – OFF – HIIT cardio Optional OR Light 1-2 Mile Run Day 7 – OFF –HIIT cardio Optional OR Light 1-2 Mile Run Now, if you want a already done-for-you manual that goes way more in depth with proven workouts and set programming, you’ll want to check out, The Mud Run 21, which has 21 done-for-you mud run focused workouts + mud run cardio routines. This is the complete guide to getting yourself 110% prepared for battle and ready for your next challenge race!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ON THE MUD RUN 21

TravisStoetzel.com Mud Run! Battle Preparation Manual.

Final Thoughts When it comes to preparing yourself for your next challenge race, whether it be your first time of 10th, use what I talked about above to help improve your performance. It all starts with the mind. Have your head set on SUCCESS! Believe you can achieve and you will. Make sure that you train right by aggressively attacking your strength instead of bypassing that for just conditioning. Don’t make the mistake a lot of endurance athletes make which is skipping your strength training. Next, make sure you have the right mix of mobility, stretching, and recovery work. Don’t skip this important aspect of your training. Finally, make sure you ensure your overall success by EATING RIGHT. I can’t stress how important it is to make sure and fuel your body for performance as I stated above. Do this and you’ll be more then ready by race day! Bottom Line – Treat every day as a day to get yourself better with whatever it is you have planned for that day. Don’t use EXCUSES! Just make things happen no matter what! Live Aggressive and Get Strong! Travis PS - Here are some extra Resources that will help you out: >>> On Recovery Techniques – Blog Post >>> How to Make Your Own Foam Roller >>> Mobility / Cool Down Circuit