Mud Mile is an iconic Tough Mudder obstacle. It’s by far our muddiest obstacle with giant mounds of wet, slippery mud standing in the way of you and your team. It requires communication, teamwork, endurance and strength to overcome it. How can we prepare for this muddy monster you may ask? Check out these home workout exercises that will show you how to strength train your core and lower body and that will make you the mud master of the mile.
SQUAT IT DOWN
Mud Mile is all about teamwork and helping each other over the mounds. To do this, we need to make sure we have a strong base. Strengthening our lower back and hamstrings is a great way to get us ready to help lift our fellow Mudders up and into the hands of a waiting teammate and to do this we suggest kettlebell squats. What’s that I hear you say? I don’t have a kettlebell at home? Create your own weight but using a bag and filling it with books or other heavy items, and increase or decrease the weight as you need.
- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, with your weight back in your heels
- Slowly lower by dropping your hips below your knees
- Keep your back nice and straight and extend back up
Make sure you’re nailing your squat form to get the best from this exercise.
THE RUSSIAN TWIST
It’s time to go international with the Russian Twists. This is a great core strengthening exercise that will boost your ab game. Having a strong core will make scrambling up and over the mounds that much easier.
- Sit on your mat in a comfortable position, once here, lift your feet off the ground, keeping your knees slightly bent
- Lean back slightly with your torso so you are forming a V shape with your whole body.
- Activate your core and twist your whole torso from side to side without moving your legs. Have your hands clasped together in front of you to help you twist
- Repeat this in sets of 10-15 repetitions. Don’t forget to breathe through the movement
The Russian Twist is a perfect exercise to add to any core workout
DECLINE PUSH UP
This push up is not for the fainthearted so if you are still working on your upper body strength start with a regular push up before you attempt this one. Our Tough Mudder UK Official Trainer Born has done a great video showing the perfect push up technique.
The decline push up will help us to have the strength to give our teammates the final push over the giant Mud Mile mounds. This is a perfect exercise for the garden (or even inside the house), all you need is a step or bench.
- Choose the height of your decline think can be as low as 5-10cm or a high as 40-60cm. It’s always a good idea to start low and work up to an increased height
- Start on your hands knees, hands shoulder width apart.
- Move your feet up onto your bench/step. Your body should now be extended in a raised rush up position. Make sure your body is aligned
- Lower your chest by bending at the elbows, keep your head looking straight ahead
- Once lowered, push back up until your elbows have straightening but not locked
- Through this exercise make sure your core remains activated and you don’t sag in the middle.
Now that you know how to train for mud mile, have these exercises given you the Tough Mudder feels? Head to our training guides for more of these great tips and tricks – from workouts to nutrition you’ll find it on the Tough Mudder Blog. Also if you haven’t already, head to out Events page and book one of our tickets today.