If you enjoy competitions and engaging in extraordinary events, try to completing a mud run or an obstacle course. These kind of runs can be very challenging, yet fun-filling activities that one usually enjoys in teams and groups of friends, but can still be done alone. Some of the most popular obstacle courses are called mud runs, due to the heavy presence of mud during the course. Filled with many hurdles to overcome and lots of mud to splash into, get ready exceed all expectations you have of yourself and get muddy doing it!
Here are HFR’s top 10 mud run health benefits from running in obstacle courses:
- Strengthens the heart: Without a question, your heart will benefit from this rigorous exercise. The more blood your heart pumps, the stronger your heart will get in time and the better blood fluidity will gain. And if you have a strong heart, you will have less risks for diseases, especially heart diseases.
- Puts you in shape: Do you want to lose weight? Or just get fitter? Try an obstacle race! The constant running and intense force you apply to every obstacle will have you burning lots of calories, and eventually burn fat and lose weight. If you are bored with doing the some exercises and workouts, try an obstacle race! Never quit moving and exercising. Keep your body physically active at all times. Stay fit in a fun way!
- Fight stress: Obstacle runs will finally help you stabilize emotionally. They will ameliorate any hard situation you might be in by taking your mind off all of your problems. Maybe you can confront them right there at the time of the race. Experts say even say that having stress can help prosper a race, redirecting positively all your anger or stress towards your determination and tenacity of completing the race. And at the finish line, you will feel stress-free!
- Fortify bones: With about 10 minutes of being outdoor, the sun activate the vitamin D in your body, which is the one the makes your bones dense and strong. Besides, the high impact exercise stimulates an increase in bone mass so that the body in prepared to future impacts. Bone mass will increase faster in younger persons involved in high impact workouts, like adolescents, according to recently researchers at the University of Bristol.
- Build strength and endurance: Climbing a walls, crawling under barb wires, holding onto ropes – these types of races will absolutely test your strength abilities and will make you push your physical limits. This way, on your next race, you would be able to keep going faster and farther than the previous time. You’ll even want to go for longer races to keep challenging your body.
- Improve balance and coordination: Along the race, all the racers are trying to not fall down or trip maintaining their balance with every single obstacle. Always coordinating all your body parts, muscles and senses at the same time: looking up to see what obstacle is next or looking back to see how far you are from your friend; feeling the terrain with your feet and stabilize them if it’s rocky or muddy; moving your hands around to help you move faster and have them ready if you fall; jumping and trying to land strong with both feet – all of these movements correspond with your brain’s orders and making you improve you balance and coordination.
- Toughens the brain: Before you attend to one of this events, not only you have to be physically prepared, but mentally too. Your brain is set to one goal: Finish the race! Focusing in accomplish that goal, your level of concentration on that race would be at the top of everything that is on your mind.
- Make new friends – Obstacle courses tend to focus heavily on teamwork and cooperation, and while it’s not required to create a team, you will eventually find many mud runners who are willing to help each other out. These kind of races bring people together, from reaching out an arm on a half-pipe climb to climbing onto of each other to scale ridiculous height, you will make tons of friends doing this. While these courses are called “races,” the cooperation is high – even among strangers – add you build irreplaceable bonds.
- Motivate yourself – Whatever your goals are, completing an obstacle race can give you confidence in yourself with the fact that you overcome anything that gets into your mind. Being self-confident will get you inspired to become a better athlete! There actually are training programs for obstacle runs designed to get you physically prepared for hardcore obstacle races. However, crossing that finish line is like no other feeling. It’s the feeling of accomplishment what gives you the most satisfaction and motivation to become a healthier person.
- Have fun – There is nothing more exiting than participating in an adventure that is not on your everyday routine. Going out there, running through various obstacles and getting muddy can be outrageously fun. You may fail some obstacles and your muscles may be intensely sore the next day but you will be taking on these challenges with an intense smile and having a great time.
