This is far from complete, and is just some basic principles.  As I’ve mentioned, each of our 5-person team is coming with completely different strengths and weaknesses so this is just to get us all on the same baseline.  What I personally am doing is slightly different.  I’ll share that at the end.

General Principles

- work up each week (longer or more intense, etc.); each week should be harder than the previous [we had 8 weeks at the time I wrote this]

- use varied training methods

- keep an eye on recovery:  you don’t want to be so sore that you miss workouts but you don’t want to undertrain either

- deload (reduce training 4-5 days before the event)

- stretch daily; this is important for recovery; my advice is mostly active stretching, but static stretching is fine too as long as it is AFTER exercise; foam rolling is amazing

- eat smart (don’t try to diet during this, but don’t eat junk; eat lots of good, real food to help your body recover)

- sleep well for recovery

Types of Training We’ll Cover

- endurance running (long distance)

- core training (stability, strength, endurance)

- load training (carrying)

- strength training

My Recommendations For the First 2 Weeks

These are the things I think should be a minimum.

1)      TRI once a week.  [For you WFN readers, I don't have time to explain the game of TRI but think of it as Rugby with 3 teams.]  If we miss a week, you need to spend at least 30 minutes doing similar training (sprinting with change of direction, add in throwing).

2)      2 runs a week.  One shorter one longer.  Goal will be to get your longer runs up to 8 to 10 miles by early July.  Depending on your current capacity, this could be a big leap so let’s talk if you can’t already do at least 4 mile runs.  Try to do a lot of your running on trails.

For your shorter run, I suggest the type of training you see in the spartanraceblog.  Something like this:

If you’re like me, you can eat healthy much of the time, exercise a lot, and still find your fat-burning efforts at a plateau.

It seems easier to lose the first 30 pounds than the last bit of fat around your middle.

And if

Which type of exercise is better? Basic or Isolation?

That all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to build strength or size, or are you trying to refine the musculature that you already have?

Basic exercises, also referred to as compound movements, are the exercises that work several groups of muscle together with a single movement. The best example of a basic movement is the squat.

Each time you squat down and then press your body back up, you are working muscles in your quadriceps, hamstrings, buttocks, lower back, and other back muscles. Many muscles throughout the body are also actively involved in stabilization during this lift.

Isolation exercises are the movements that stress only one muscle group at a time. An example of an isolation exercise is cable chest flyes. With each repetition you do, the weight is moved almost completely by your chest muscles.

Building the Right Foundation

If you are trying to build a base of strength or muscle size, basic exercises are key to your success, and for most people out there, basic exercises should compose a majority of their workouts.

This is because basic movements will give you the best gains for the amount of effort you put in. It’s true that working more muscles with a single workout is clearly more time efficient than working each muscle separately, but there’s more to it than that.

[repost]

Most people do not realize how powerful water is in the healing process.

No, this is not an article about spa therapy, holistic medicine, or anything like that. This is about using simple methods to build muscle and strength as well as maintaining your overall health.

Your body might be 60% water overall, but your muscles are actually 70-75% water. Each time you work these muscles as you lift weights, small tears and rips form in the fibrous muscle tissues. Your muscles grow when these small tears are repaired. Guess what happens if your muscles aren’t able to heal:

Nothing.

Nothing happens at all. That means no growth, no toning, no strength increases… nothing.

Here’s a quick breakdown of why you need water to heal and how to harness its power to help your muscles after a workout.

Got Water?

Not getting enough water has serious side effects. Even a 1 percent change in your body’s water levels can seriously impair your exercise performance. Even worse, your ability to recover goes down the toilet… and the toilet it goes down is one of those water-saving dry flush things that doesn’t quite get the job done.

Some other reasons you need extra water when you lift weights: