8 COVER STORY Strength Training Is calisthenics the best type of strength training for OCR athletes? Here’s how bodyweight calisthenics exercises will help you get stronger and faster for your next obstacle course race. As an OCR fan, you know it’s about so much more than running. The best OCR courses need you to be strong, fit, and down for pretty much anything. But you don’t want to weigh yourself down with tons of extra muscle from hours in the gym. Good news – there’s a form of strength training that will build full-body strength so you can tackle those OCR obstacles like a runner/gymnast hybrid. It’s time to learn how the ancient art of calisthenics can seriously level up your OCR game. What is calisthenics? Calisthenics is a simple sport that goes back a long way (in fact, it’s probably the oldest form of strength training on record). Calisthenics uses bodyweight movements to build full-body, functional strength. Calisthenics exercises use your own bodyweight plus gravity to build strength through the 7 fundamental planes of movement – pull, push, squat, lunge, hinge, rotation, and gait. Sounds perfect for OCR! Can you use calisthenics for OCR? Calisthenics is a no-brainer for OCR athletes who want to even out imbalances, build strength, and get faster. The natural, functional exercises will teach your body to shift its own weight by pulling, pushing, crawling, and balancing. And unlike other forms of strength training, calisthenics can be done in short bursts without a dedicated gym trip. How does calisthenics training help OCR? The main aim of calisthenics is to build strength, but that’s not the end of the story. The functional, full-body nature of calisthenics workouts also helps your grip strength, plyometric power, muscular endurance, balance, and co-ordination. So next time you’re faced with a rope climb, crawl, broad jump, or up and over, calisthenics will have prepared you well. 5 benefits of calisthenics for OCR athletes 1 It builds functional strength Calisthenics uses your entire body in every movement, helping to build that functional, realworld strength that will be a big benefit on the OCR course (and in the rest of life, too). 2 It trains your nervous system Over time, calisthenics training triggers neurogenesis, the creation of new neural pathways. This helps your body get really good at moving in complex ways with strength and power. 3 It builds muscular endurance Calisthenics works on repetitions, rather than big “one rep max” movements, so it builds the kind of muscular endurance that will keep going to the final obstacle of the OCR course. 4 It works using your bodyweight As an OCR runner, you don’t need to know how much you can bench-press. But you do need to trust your body to pull itself up and over things. Calisthenics uses your own weight vs gravity as resistance to build strength. 5 It trains your grip and balance OCR is about more than strength and fitness. You also need co-ordination, proprioception, balance, and decent grip strength. Calisthenics exercises train them all!
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