I received an FB post in a Fitness Group from a female from the UK who asked, "I'm aiming for 3 days a week to start with; but wondering how long I should workout for on those days? 1 hour good to start?" She also indicated that she is new to going to the gym. How would you answer her?
Personally, I will not answer the post. I will wait for the other answers to pile up and then perhaps chime in and tell her to ignore them all. Why? Because I hate, absolutely hate this aspect of training.
As I shared before, my estimate is that about 80% of the people I see on an OCR course are there for the first time. Of those, probably 80% are working out for the very first time. For whatever reason.
When I started doing extreme fitness, I used the P90X series. Every DVD starts with a big, bold warning: DO NOT ATTEMPT unless...and it goes on to tell you things like: know your personal health history, see a doctor if you have certain pre-existing conditions, don't even think about it if you have any of the following. You get the idea. But I wonder how many people will answer the girl from the UK like the folks from Beachbody?
When we say OCR is extreme, we're not kidding. As much as I love OCR, love seeing new people get into it, love seeing people overcome all sorts of mental, physical, and emotional obstacles, I hate, hate, hate, seeing them get hurt and never come back again. Taking that all important time out to assess your current abilities prior to engaging in extreme workouts is critical. Once you have done that, get a trainer. That's rule number 2 in P90X - form is everything. Extreme training does not mean reckless abandonment and risk taking. It means learn the form. Don't assume anything. Don't let ego get in the way and cause you injury. I'd hate to see anyone walk away, or worse, due to preventable situations.
Last year at the PA Spartan, my wife and I volunteered at the UOUO obstacle #1. We helped hundreds of newbies conquer the walls. Except one guy. He tried and tried to get over that second wall. He would not accept help. He would not team up with anybody. He would not listen to anything we had to say. And we even spent time asking him how we could help, what he needed, any special limitations. No answer. He just got angry, turned around, and quit. It broke my heart. But at least he walked away unharmed. I can only hope he learned some important lessons in the off-season.
Now what's your advice for a newbie? Sure, just throw them at the warped wall and see what happens? Sorry folks. You gotta be smart. You gotta care. This is such a cool, unique sport the way friendships and teams are formed around it. Don't just encourage, tell each other to take these two vital steps: Get yourselves checked out by a trusted sports physician or your family doc, and; get an OCR trained person to coach you and train you in the right techniques. It's worth your time and investment.
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