A Spartan race may require you to conquer a steep mud climb, tractor pull, rope swing, slippery wall and many more open-air obstacles, but you don’t need to train on treacherous terrain to thoroughly prepare for it. In fact, most Spartans are banging out their training sessions in a much more controlled environment: The gym.

“The reality is that people are balancing their life, family, and have very limited time to train each day,” says Yancy Culp, a popular Spartan SGX group-training coach and owner of YancyCamp.com, which trains beginners for Obstacle Course Races (OCR) like Spartan. The magic, he says, comes when you take the gym environment and modify it to mimic the course. 

Here’s how to use your local gym—or if you want to go full-on Spartan, hit our Official Training Gym Partner 24 Hour Fitness for a 3-day free pass—to create the formidable conditions you’ll meet outside it: 

1. Build your base of endurance with the treadmill.

“With most of my clients, I have them on the treadmill for about 80% of their session,” Culp says. The secret to mimicking the hills and dips you’ll meet in the great wide open on race day is to hit those incline buttons, and often. Culp programs his workouts with plenty of inclines to prepare the ankles, knees, and hips for the demands of climbing a mountain. 

2. Use other cardio equipment to avoid injury while still increasing your cardio.

Mixing it up enables you to sustain your elevated heart rate while avoiding the injury you might invite through relying only on running, according to Culp. Working in other pieces of equipment such as the rower, assault bike, Jacobs Ladder, and the stair climber are great options. A sample workout might be: 30 minutes of running followed by two 15-minute stints on other machines.

3. Strengthen the muscles required to conquer the obstacles.

While you need to be able to run long distance to finish a Spartan, training the specific muscles that power you to grip, pull and climb (all things you’ll be doing a lot of on race day) is key. “I’m a huge believer in tire dragging,” says Culp. No tires sitting around at your gym? Exercises like the farmer’s carry, pull-ups, and deadhangs will make you stronger in comparable ways.

4. String everything together into a circuit that replicates a race. 

“I build workouts into mini obstacle courses,” says Culp. That could mean: Run on the treadmill for 3 minutes, jump off, perform a series of grip and pull strength exercises or grip and pull endurance exercises, then hop back on the treadmill again. That’s one round. Crank out several rounds, depending on the time you have. “You could build hundreds of workouts based off that general plan,” he adds.

Train for an Obstacle Course Race in the Gym: The 3-Day Workout Plan

Start every session with this Spartan Resistance/Versa Loop warm-up

DAY ONE

Treadmill Run x 3min at zone 3 aerobic training zone effort

Weighted lunges x 20 (10 each leg)

15% incline treadmill run x 3min at zone 3 aerobic training zone effort

Farmer’s carry x 1min

15% incline treadmill heavy carry x 3min at zone 3 aerobic training zone effort

Weighted lunges x 20 (10 each leg)

Pull-up x 1 to hand position change x 16 to pull-up x 1 to static hang until forced to drop - 

This completes 1 round. Depending on available time and/or fitness level, continue repeating for a total of 2-4 rounds.  *If needed, use a strength band for assistance to complete the pull-up/hand position change/static hang portion of each round. 

DAY TWO

15% incline treadmill run or walk x 4min at zone 3 aerobic effort

15% incline treadmill run or walk x 2min at zone 4 above lactate threshold effort

Burpee to pull-up x 8 – after finishing the 8th rep, static hang on the bar until forced to drop

This completes 1 round. Depending on available time and/or fitness level, continue repeating for a total of 3-5 rounds. *If needed, drape a rope or towel over the bar to allow for a jumping assisted pull-up

DAY THREE

Cycle x 3min at zone 3 aerobic effort

Treadmill run x 3min at zone 3 aerobic effort

Side to side squat jump w/kettlebell or sandbag row x 20 (10 each side)

Cycle x 3min at zone 3 aerobic effort

Treadmill run x 3min at zone 3 aerobic effort

Farmer’s walk for max walking distance until forced to drop weight (recommended weight – men 50lb in each hand and women 35lb in each hand)

This completes 1 round. Depending on available time and/or fitness level, continue repeating for a total of 2-3 rounds.