Tips for the Tough Bloke Challenge

For those of you who have set your sights on the Tough Bloke / Chick Challenge in March, I thought this video would help to get you pumped, and these tips would help prepare you…

 

Tips for Tough Bloke Challenge:

* Don’t be wracked with nerves!  The event is welcoming and doable for all fitness levels.  You can take it at your own pace, and there is some great comraderie out on the course.  There was plenty of friendly advice when I needed it, or an appreciated hand to give a little ‘boost’ over the wall.

* Train for it!  Despite it being suitable for all levels, you’ll do a better job of it, and feel more capable, confident and comfortable during the event if you’ve physically prepared yourself.

* Do regular resistance training for upper and lower body as well as your core.  Get out to a playground and do the monkey bars, climb over anything tall, and practice supporting your own body weight in a hanging position.  You’ll be grateful for the practice when out on the course.

* Get involved in boot camp classes – you’ll get the perfect variety of cardiovascular training, body weight resistance exercises, core work, balance challenges… and more!

* Don’t stare at the pictures of the obstacles on the Tough Bloke website.  Just don’t.  Take my word for it, they’re much less scary in person.

* Rope in as many friends as you can.  It’s even more fun with comrades.

* Raise money for charity as part of your challenge.  We managed to be the largest fundraiser for Barnardos in the 2011 Melbourne event.  Having sponsors made me work harder in training as well as during the event.  Our sense of achievement and satisfaction upon finishing was heightened by the thought of the money we’d raised for those who need it.

* If you’re in Melbourne, leave yourself plenty of time to get to the Wonga Park location.  It can be a little tricky to find and many of us missed a turn off.

* Don’t wear your best workout gear!  I know you want to look hot as well as tough, but save the gorgeous threads for your classes.  Wear old gear, wear LONG pants, and wear long socks if possible.  Yep, very uncool, but the final obstacle Hell’s Gate will leave you with nastier rope burn if you have bare legs.  The seasoned participants all wore long football socks pulled up to their knees over long running tights.  I was pleased to have on my full length SKINS.

* If you’re very nervous when arriving, don’t stand and watch partipants tackle Hell’s Gate.  The longer I watched it, the more doubtful and anxious I became.  When I finally reached Hell’s Gate, although the most challenging obstacle, it wasn’t as bad as it had looked earlier.

* Wear gloves.  I wore fingerless leather weight training gloves and others wore mountain biking gloves.  Keep them clean by not wearing them in the initial mud pit ( I threw mine over the pit to the other side so I could collect them), and you’ll find them fabulous help on the monkey bars soon after.  Those with muddy gloves or bare hands had troubles slipping off the bars.

* Don’t be afraid of getting dirty.  There will not be a clean inch on you when you’re enjoying the complimentary beer at the finish line.

* Have fun.  I can guarantee plenty of laughs!

 

Read my experience of the 2011 Tough Bloke Challenge 

 

We’d love to hear your tips below.  Or simply give us a shout to let us know that you’ve entered…

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Posted in: Fitness, Goal Setting by healthy on 2nd February 2012

3 Comments

  • Park Warden says:
    March 1, 2012 at 4:27 am

    please remember to car pool and take your rubbish home with you. :)

    Reply
  • Tyson F. Gautreaux says:
    March 7, 2012 at 4:55 pm

    Hello there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting sick and tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

    Reply

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