Build strength at home – 5 equipment-free exercises

Above everything else, mastering the basics has to come first and given our current circumstances, equipment or a gym isn’t really a thing everyone has access to right now. So, now’s the perfect time to build the correct foundations to build your strength regime.

Mastering bodyweight movements is key and something we should all do before even thinking of moving onto weights. Not only this, but it’s also a great way to engage the muscles required for an OCR and help mimic the movements and positions you will be using throughout a race.

Add these 5 exercises to your daily routine to build overall strength ready for your next OCR:

1- Press ups: Press ups are a great bodyweight exercise for building upper body strength. The exercise works the chest, triceps and shoulders. They also help strengthen the lower back and core by engaging the abdominal muscles. All of which is required when doing an OCR as you will need to push and pull your body throughout certain obstacles.

2- Tricep dips: This exercise is great for building strength through the triceps and also hits the chest and shoulders.  When performed properly, you should get a large range of movement. You’ll develop stability through the shoulders, chest and triceps which mimics the motion of getting over walls like you would need to for an OCR.

3- Jump squat: This exercise build explosive power, something which will come in handy when having to tackle obstacles which require a jump or dogde left to right. They will also develop your ability to change direction fast and help develop type II (fast-twitch) fibres.

4- Walking lunges: Alongside hill sprints, this is another great exercise that will help you train for the hills which are a common feature in OCRs. The continuous motion and loading the quads helps stimulate the feeling of hill climbs.

5- Bear crawls: This is a great exercise as it is very likely you will be placed in a very similar position throughout an OCR where you are forced into a high-stress position which will require you to stay low and crawl through or over obstacles. The bear crawl helps strengthen and build endurance through the arms, shoulders, chest and legs but also forces you to hold your core. It’s a fantastic whole-body exercise that we certainly recommend implementing into your training programme.