Zack Henderson Fitness

 

Last month I ran 20+ miles worth of Spartan race over a weekend.  Impressive though it might sound, the notorious difficulty of the race is NOT why that weekend was so special to me.

To really understand, let’s back up a couple years.

Fresh off the RKC kettlebell certification weekend (a strength and endurance event all its own), I began my personal training career in Charlotte and started looking for my next challenge.  This was around the time these mud runs were really gaining popularity.

I met a former Marine at the gym who told me all about the, supposedly, hardest race of all – the Spartan Beast, which was taking place in South Carolina in a matter of weeks.  Neither he, nor anyone else I asked, was prepared to team up on such short notice.

Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot.

Yes – it was a tough 13 miles and I didn’t come out unscathed. Needless to say, but if you’ve never run more than 4 miles at a clip (like me at the time), I don’t recommend starting there.

What stuck with me more than anything was the energy and camaraderie of the racers.  I saw groups with their very own uniforms and rallying calls motivating each other the whole way.  This was something special.

The courses are set up to be hard.  It’s not exactly “fun” in the traditional sense.  Rather, it’s an opportunity to get out of your comfort-seeking mindset and become at peace with working through difficulty – because you have to.

This is a parallel concept to strength training – being comfortable with discomfort and enjoying the process of pushing limits.

I knew that Spartan races would be a perfect compliment to my method of training and I had a vision of leading my very own team, despite the fact I had zero clients.

That spring, Dr. Deem proved to be crazy (and strong) enough to run the hypothermia-inducing Spartan Sprint with me.  With cold, windy rain the entire day, many people dropped out.  Though it was short at 3-ish miles, it proved to be the most mentally taxing course I’ve done to date.

That fall, and with considerably more preparation, we returned to the same Beast course I’d done a year before, this time as “Team Beast Tamer.”  True to the name, we whipped it.

By the next spring, TBT had grown to include a cadre of trainers and trainees hooked on strength and hard work.  This included Dr. Tom Kitrick, with his sights set on the trifecta.

We ran the 2014 Sprint course as a real team.  It was inspiring to see everyone support each other and grind through the falling temperature and rain.   I can’t take credit for everybody’s hard work, but I had a great sense of pride in knowing I could support people’s accomplishments outside of the comfort of the gym.

 

 

The next race of the year was the notorious Virginia Super course.  This time, TBT was back to a two-man effort – just Tom and I.  The course itself was in Wintergreen Ski Resort and “steep” doesn’t begin to describe it.  At a medium length 8-ish miles, it was by far the most physically demanding race I’ve experienced.  Somewhere in the middle was a slope that took us an hour to hike.  The fog was so dense, you had to convince yourself that the top was only 20 feet away.  In keeping with tradition, rain poured down the last 1/2 hour of the race.

We had one last obstacle after the finish line – getting home.  The parking lots were miles away from the actual course, so school bus drivers were hired to cart people around.  Apparently many of the buses broke down and the rest quit because of the weather/driving conditions! We hitched a ride in a resort maintenance van and, thanks to a midnight traffic jam, didn’t end up in Charlotte till 2:30am. In some way, your patience is always tested.

At that point, I needed only one more race (the Beast) to finally earn the “Trifecta” – completing all 3 levels in one calendar year.  Again, I would be returning to the same course I did alone 2 years ago.

But that’s not all.  In a case of cruel scheduling, a Super course would take place the very next day.  I had done a powerlifting meet and a Spartan Race in the same weekend, but never two races back to back.

To my own surprise, I actually got a lot of clients committed to the second day – making it the biggest Team Beast Tamer ever!  I’ll let the pictures do the talking but everyone did a fantastic job and had a ton of fun – can’t wait till next year 😉

I really just want to acknowledge everyone for their trust, work, and time that ultimately made my vision a reality.

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

Want to know the 9-second secret for boosting your health and your mood?

Of course you do.

Well, take a deep breath cause here it is….

…. and there it went.

Get it?

Breathing is fundamental. Duh. But how often do you think about it?  Unless you regularly practice yoga or meditation, probably not often.  Consider that you breathe about 23,000 time per day and the act of breathing is moving your body all the time without you thinking about it.  Your breath literally shapes your body with millions and millions of reps.

So where’s the issue with breathing?

Simply put, the “stressed and squashed” lifestyle most of us live perpetuates a dysfunctional breathing pattern.  This shows up as shallow “chest” breathing which involves the muscles of the shoulders, neck, traps, and chest to create the breathing movement rather than the diaphragm.

Left to its own devices, your respiratory system does just fine.  Breath like a baby is the idea here.

If you are looking for breathing techniques for running, stretching, yoga, and even strength training, it doesn’t get much better than the Crocodile Breath.

All you need to do is lie face-down and think about pushing your belly down against the floor as you inhale.  This will encourage diaphragmatic breathing and is great for the low back after a long period of sitting.

 

I’ve been sticking to very short, simple workouts lately. I usually throw around a couple kettlebells before working on squats or deadlifts.  After 30-45 minutes, I’m done!

While that’s typically all my schedule will allow, I’ve been toying with the idea of going “all out” with a big workout once a month.

And for a little fun, I’m allowing my clients and readers to dictate the exercises.

Think of it like “train the trainer.”

We’ll call it the “Get Back at Zack” Workout.

So here’s how it’ll go down:

1) Each person can submit 1 exercise plus the set/rep/weight/timing protocol as needed

2) All submissions should be written in the comments section below by Saturday

3) I’ll arrange everything into a workout outline on Saturday night

4) I’ll start and film the workout on Sunday at 2pm.  Should have it up on YouTube in a couple days.

Anyone is more than welcome to come be a workout buddy or provide your own brand of encouragement.

Give me your worst 😉