Box Jump Tabata

OCR/Obstacle Racing involves chucking the body over/under/around obstacles plus running in between. I’ve been trying out some workouts that attempt to mimic some of these movements in preparation
for the Dirty Dozen Obstacle Race in Usk on July 11th.

Dirty Dozen Races is renowned for its walls, big walls! The Box Jump Tabata routine includes explosive exercises with a focus on the box jump to help you build up your explosive strength and agility (which will help when trying to jump up and reach the top of the wall).
Once youve got over a wall you will need to get back into a running position as soon as possible in order to get to the next obstacle quickly. To mimic this in our workout, after each box jump you will immediately launch into a high knees sprint.

What is Tabata Training?

If you are wondering what Tabata training is, its basically HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) with 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds rest repeated 8 times for a total of 4 minutes.
An important point to remember is that you should be putting in 100% effort during your 20 seconds of work otherwise Tabata will not have the desired effect.

Our box jump tabata is an extended version of the traditional tabata.

The Workout

There are 3 groups of exercises, 3 exercises in each group. Perform each exercise one after the other in a single group for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds then repeat.
Repeat for a total of 5 30 second sets. Then move onto the next group.

An important point to remember is that you should be putting in 100% effort during your 20 seconds of work otherwise Tabata will not have the desired effect.

Once you have completed 15 sets (all exercise groups completed), repeat the whole routine again.

This is a very simple workout, the only exercises that changes between groups is the first exercise (either a burpee, pressup or a v up). However don’t be fooled, if you are putting in 100% effort on your 20 second intervals then this 15 minute workout will easily outperform an hour of long steady cardio. You will continue to burn calories throughout the day and will melt fat quickly!

If you perform this routine on a regular basis you will certainly reap the benefits on race day! Fire up your metabolism with tabata and melt away fat during and for hours after your session!

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Once you have completed 15 sets (all exercise groups completed), repeat the whole routine again.

Fire up your metabolism with tabata and melt away fat during and for hours after your session!

Duration

Repeated twice this workout should take a total of 15 minutes.

Advanced

You can increase intensity on this workout by repeating the routine for a third or fourth time. I would also consider extending the 20 second work interval to 30 seconds – yes it wont be typical
tabata but it’s a great way to increase your endurance!

Tips for OCR

Remember that we are trying to improve efficiency when overcoming obstacles. Focus on your landing after each box jump, land softly by landing on the balls for your feet and immediately bending the knees.
This will enable you to get up and running as quickly as possible

GymBoss

If you plan to do HIIT regularly, I cannot highly enough recommend the gym boss timer its awesome for interval training!

Written By: Gareth

I'm a full qualified PT with a number of OCR's on my CV including the legendary winter Tough Guy. Also a former Light Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion and Black Belt! You'll usually find me over Roath Rec beasting training the guys to help them overcome their obstacles :D

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