3 Tips to Crush Your Next Mud Run

It’s a common problem for the aspiring (or even experienced) mud runner.

For whatever crazy reason, they sign up for a mud run. They’re pumped and excited and tell all their friends/co-workers/etc. But soon enough, reality sets in … and they realize they’re actually going to have to TRAIN for it!

They realize that they’ve never done anything exactly like this. That one of these events requires a unique blend of endurance, functional strength, and mental toughness to complete successfully. And that they need a great plan to get them ready for race day!

*FVT Mud Run Event Prep 2015 Starting Monday, April 20th – learn more HERE

These events are crazy – that’s for sure. But the good news is that preparing ahead of time, both mentally and physically, can help make sure you’re READY come race day.

 

3 Tips to Crush Your Next Mud Run

1. Practice Carrying Odd Objects

During your event you may have to carry different objects like heavy logs, or even people if there is a partner carry obstacle. A simple and helpful way to prepare for this is by doing an overhead walk. You can use a kettlebell or a dumbbell, just pick a heavy weight that you are able to press overhead. Start by pressing the weight overhead and locking your elbows out. Biceps should stay even with your ears as you practice walking around the room with your weight locked out over your head.

Another exercise you can try is the farmer’s walk. Again you can use kettlebells or dumbbells but the weight should be a little heavier for this one. You’ll be holding a weight in each hand and keeping your arms down by your side. Practice walking for distance with this one, walk around the room several times or around the house or building.

* Don’t forget to check out the FVT Mud Run Event Prep 2015 Starting Monday, April 20th! Learn more HERE

 

2. Do Lots Of Pull Ups

Upper body strength and upper body pulling strength in particular is very helpful in these mud run events. For example if you’re scaling walls, you’re going to need upper body strength and pull ups help with this, especially practicing tactical type pull ups. Tactical pull ups are where you use a thumbless grip with lots of ab activation and use strict form.

Pull ups also help strengthen your grip which you’ll need for obstacles such as monkey bars and rings. If you can’t do a pull up initially, there’s several ways you can work up to it. You can start by doing body rows, partner assisted pull ups, or using resistance bands to boost yourself up.

3. Train For The Elements

If you do all of your workouts inside the comforts of a gym, you won’t be prepared for adverse weather conditions come event day. So as mentioned before, train in the water, train outside in the heat and the cold, run in the rain, etc. Try to forecast what the conditions might be like based on the time of year and location where you’re doing your mud run and try to train in those conditions if possible.

Also, think about what the terrain might be like. If there will be hills, train for them. If you live in a flat area, set the treadmill on a steep incline at the gym.

If there will be rocky conditions, it’s important to train in that type of terrain versus only doing road running.

 

To sum up, prepping for your upcoming mud run should be taken very seriously … it’s a tough event that you need a unique combo of endurance, functional strength and mental toughness to complete successfully. I hope these tips are a great starting point to get you ready for your upcoming race!!

And don’t forget – the FVT Mud Run Event Prep 2015 is starting Monday, April 20th. Click the link below to learn more about it now:

=== >> FVT Mud Run Event Prep 2015

Thanks, and talk soon –

Forest Vance, MS, CPT, FNC, RKC II

Complete Mud Run Event Prep Program

Our upcoming mud run event prep program is all you need to get ready for your upcoming mud run – and this is your official invitation to join in the action!

=> Click here to grab your spot now

When you sign up for this special 8 week training program, here’s what you’ll get:

1) Once per week 45 minute training sessions, initially meeting at the FVT Land Park / Midtown – area studio, and potentially venturing out at different points during the program for runs/activities in surrounding outdoor areas.

2) Special workouts to help you prepare for the race – with things in mind like:

Total body strengthening
Building functional muscle
Increasing flexibility and mobility
Improving cardio endurance
Improving mental toughness
Getting you stronger, faster, and more athletic!

3) Workout activities will include, but not be limited to:

Running
Plyometrics
Kettlebell exercises
Body weight moves
“Stretching” – normal and “exotic” variations
Obstacle-specific exercises/workouts

Workouts will be held on Mondays at 6pm, beginning April 20th and going through June 8th. Here are the currently scheduled training times:

Monday, April 20th @ 6pm
Monday, April 27th @ 6pm
Monday, May 4th @ 6pm
Monday, May 11th @ 6pm
Monday, May 18th @ 6pm
Monday, May 25th @ 6pm
Monday, June 1st @ 6pm
Monday, June 8th @ 6pm

4) In addition to the once per week group workout, you’ll also get access to a special Facebook group where I’ll post workouts from each week, training tips, and much more.

You’ll be able to interact with folks that are participating in the program here outside of regularly scheduled training sessions. Even if you have to miss a training session here or there, you can rest assured you’ll still have workouts to complete on your own.

5) I’m also going to throw in a FREE digital copy of my “20 Tips to Crush Your Next Mud Run” report when you sign up today.

I wrote up this special report after recently completing a mud run myself. This is like “insider information”, and in it, you’ll find tips and tricks like:

Specific drills you need to practice before the event – these aren’t things you’d do every day in your workout program, but they’re key to your success!
Strategies to improve your mental and physical toughness for the event
How to structure your cardio workouts to best simulate and prepare for what you’ll be experiencing in the race
What specific fitness qualities are most important for mud run success
The non-fitness drills you need to practice (odds are you’ve never thought of these!)
And much more …

=> Click here to grab your spot now

Questions? Shoot me a message and let me know! Hope it works out – SUPER pumped for this thing!

Thanks, and talk soon –

– Forest Vance

Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

Support Forest @ Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

Boy oh boy. The Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event is happening on Saturday, May 3rd … and somehow I have agreed to participate again 🙂

Walk A Mile in Her Shoes is an international event in which men embrace the opportunity to raise awareness about the serious causes and effects of sexualized violence. I will be joining over 1000 other Sacramento, CA business leaders, elected officials, students and more to run, walk, and/or limp a full mile in high heels shoes.

All funds raised for the event go towards ensuring 24 hour services are available for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in the Sacramento, CA area.

It will be a great experience. I am sure that (unfortunately) lots of pictures will be taken … which (also unfortunately) we’ll share with you when all is said and done 🙂

My personal goal is to raise $500. Any amount that you would like to contribute is MUCH appreciated. Just click the link below to go to my personal DonorPage and give now:

=> Forest’s personal Walk a Mile in Her Shoes DonorPage

And – if you are in the Sacramento area, would love to have you join me at the fun filled event festival on May 3, 2015!

Thanks so much for your support. Have a great day, and talk soon –

Forest Vance
Owner and Head Trainer, Forest Vance Training, Inc.

KCRA A-List, Mud Run Training + FVT Nutrition Group

Hey hey! Happy Monday.

Just a few quick things for ya today:

1 – KCRA A-list

Voting has been open for a couple of weeks now for the KCRA A-list … we are a little late to the party, but still got to represent! Click HERE to go on the site and vote for FVT as best personal trainer in Sacramento. Thank you so much for your help! 🙂

2 – Mud Run Training Program

We are organizing a team for a big mud run event – can’t say the name publically, I got in trouble last time around for naming our training program after the event … if you don’t know and you want to know, just ask 😉 – so:

— Think about registering and doing it with us! It’s on the weekend of June 13th in the Lake Tahoe area
— We are also thinking about doing a special training program at FVT to help you get ready. This would be a thing where we would meet 1x per week at FVT and/or in outdoor surronding areas (like the park) to do mud run – specific training. I would also put together a training program that you would follow on your own to get you ready for the event – a running plan to help you prepare, we’d set up a private Facebook group so you could communicate with other who are in training, etc.

Let me know if you are interested in a special “Mud Run Training” program at FVT! If we get enough interested, we’ll make this thing happen 🙂

3 – FVT Nutrition Coaching Group

We have ONE spot left in our Nutition Coaching group … if you are interested, learn more and submit your application at the link below:

=> FVT Nutrition Coaching Group

That’s it for now! Have a great day, and talk soon –

– Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

Meet Ruben and Jenny!

Ruben and Jenny before and after

Ruben and Jenny were always very active and involved in sports in their younger days … but after college, and especially when they started working full time, fitness was put on the back burner.

They came to FVT looking for somewhere they could work out together. At the time, they were both tired at the end of their workdays and didn’t have much energy.

Ruben was also looking for a workout that he would enjoy, but that also wouldn’t be intimidating for Jenny.

Says Ruben:

“I didn’t just want to join a gym where I’d be over by the weights doing bench presses and she’d have to be my spotter or something.”

And says Jenny:

“I was apprehensive about (working out at FVT) at first, because I hadn’t done any sort of strength training before, I had only done cardio.

And I didn’t know if it would be worth it to work out here versus just trying to work out on my own.

I was worried about the time commitment also. I’m always really busy with teaching and I wasn’t sure how it was going to fit into my schedule.”

Ruben and Jenny have been working out at FVT for two and a half years now … check out what they have to say about the results that they have experienced:

Jenny:

“We’ve been coming for two and a half years now and after that first year I felt like I was in the best shape that I’ve ever been in. My cardio endurance is back up and I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. I never would have imagined I’d be doing push ups and things like that and now it comes easily to me. It’s amazing to see what a huge difference the boot camps have made not only with my strength but also with changes in my body.

I’ve lost around 15 pounds from when I first started but more importantly I’m more lean, I’ve gained more muscle, and changed my body composition. A lot of people think that I’ve lost a lot of weight but it’s mostly the change in my body composition that makes me look more fit. And I’m a lot stronger. When I started I was doing overhead presses with 8-10 pound dumbbells and now I’m using 26 pounds. I can also do 10 toe pushups in a row and when I started I couldn’t even do one full range push up from my knees! There’s been a huge difference in my upper body strength.”

Ruben:

“I was pretty large and in charge before I started coming here. I’ve lost about 20 pounds and I feel really good now. I’m definitely a lot stronger and I have a lot more endurance. I couldn’t do a pull up when I first started and now I can do 8-10.”

Overall we’ve definitely adopted a much healthier, active lifestyle since joining FVT. Not to mention a more positive outlook towards working out and nutrition. It’s just been a very positive experience and has definitely transferred into other areas of our lives.”

You guys rock! We are so proud to be a part of all you’ve accomplished. Keep up the great work!!

– Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

Challenge Wrap-up, MY Daily Diet + Your Nutrition Coaching Group Application

fruit

We just finished up our first ever FVT 30 Day Performance Nutrition Challenge – and it was a great success!

Some final stats:

— AVERAGE weight loss among participants was 7.25 pounds
— AVERAGE body fat loss was 1.68%
— About 30% of folks who made the final weigh-in lost 10 pounds or more
— Another 30% lost 5 pounds or more
— Reports from ALL participants of increased energy and performance – in workouts and daily life

This challenge in particular was designed to help participants build healthy HABITS for the long-term … so we hope that whether you participated this time around, or you just checked out the meal planning info and followed along at home, that you’ve benefited from all the related content we’ve shared over the last 45 days or so.

Couple other things to leave you with:

1 – If you are looking to re-introduce dairy and grains into your diet, I suggest you take a moderate approach – here is a sample meal plan to give you an idea:

https://www.forestvancetraining.com/2012/05/my-daily-diet.html

2 – If you like the idea of the accountability of checking in each week, the added focus on nutrition and the support of a Nutrition Challenge like this … I wanted to make sure you were aware of the Nutrition Coaching group we have in place at the studio.

It’s kind of like an “on-going” Nutrition Challenge, if you want to think of it that way …

We meet once per month – on the second Wednesday night at 6pm … I (or a guest speaker) talk on a topic … recent ones we’ve covered are:

— food prep
— how much protein do you REALLY need?
— mindful eating

You get the idea.

Then we also have “hot seats” at each meeting, where you have the (optional) chance to talk about what you’re struggling with, and we can go around and help you solve
the problem as a group.

And we also have a private Facebook group set up where you check in EVERY week – just like we are doing in the Nutrition Challenge.

The cost is 25 dollars per month, with a three month minimum commitment.

IF you are interested in this, let me know. We have three, maybe four spots open in this group that we are opening up this week … this message is going out to
everyone on our big local list (approx 2000 folks), so it likely will fill within the next few days … let me know asap if you want in!

That’s it! Keep training hard, and talk soon –

– Forest

PS – Got another FVT Success Story coming your way soon … keep an eye on your email inbox! 😉

FVT Rapid Fat Loss Meal Plan + Bring-a-Buddy Boot Camp Reminder

Mentioned on Monday that we are wrapping up our 30 Day Performance Nutrition Challenge at FVT.

I actually took the Challenge as myself this time around … started a couple of days before everyone else, and yesterday was offically my last day. Wooo!! Time for a burrito and a beer 🙂

Seriously though – I’m feeling FANTASTIC. Tons of energy, sleeping great, and really strong.

30 day perf nutr chall 5

I recommend HIGHLY that you do something like this – either next time we do one of these challenges, or NOW – just on your own, using the outline on the blog here:

=> https://www.forestvancetraining.com/2015/02/meal-planning-guide-lose-at-least-10-pounds-in-the-next-30-days-print-this-out.html

And the sample meal plan, here:

=> https://www.forestvancetraining.com/2015/02/fvt-rapid-fat-loss-meal-plan-sample-day.html

The other part of the “Performance Nutrition Challenge” was the workout portion. You had to exercise 27 out of the 30 days to complete the Challenge and earn a special T shirt.

This was great as well, and from the feedback we got, seemed to help folks get back in the habit of working out and/or just MOVING, every day.

Of course, with almost 30 people participating in the Challenge … and these folks losing fat, gaining lean muscle, and feeling great … the word is spreading about what we are doing about FVT! We have been getting lots of inquiries about bringing a friend to check out what we do.

That’s why we’ve decided to hold a Bring-A-Buddy boot camp on Saturday, March 21st @ 10am … and you can attend for JUST a buck!

It’s a great opportunity to bring a friend, family member, co-worker, etc. in to check out our program – in an easy, no-obligation way.

Also, if you’re just curious and would like to check out one of our boot camps … or if you’ve been “out of the game” for a little while, and want to get going with your workouts at FVT again … this is another perfect opportunity!

If you’d like to attend the $1 Bring-A-Buddy boot camp on March 21st, here’s what to do:

1 – Click here to go to the sign up page => http://nanacast.com/vp/10000375/
2 – Fill out the requested info and reserve your spot. Current clients AND “buddies” / new clients / etc PLEASE REGISTER INDIVIDUALLY, so we have a list of who will be
attending, etc

Space is limited (we only have room for 30 folks TOTAL) so if you’d like a spot, make sure to get signed up quick!

PLUS … Ww’re doing a referral contest … and you can win a FitBit Charge ($129 value) … just for bringing your friends / family / co-workers in for the workout!

For every person that comes in on your recommendation that day, you’ll get one point.

For every person that comes in on your recommendation that day and SIGNS UP (we’ll have a special offer available for new clients that day), you’ll get five points. Person with the most points wins a Fitbit Charge!

And, even if YOU can’t make it that day yourself, you’ll still get credit for any folks you send our way.

That about does it. Hope the nutrition tips in this message have helped … and also hope to see you at our Bring-a-Buddy Boot Camp this Saturday!!

Have a great day, and talk soon –

– Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training
ForestVanceTraining.com