PIT CREW BATTLE

This workout is for teams of 6, working as two sub-teams of 3: women’s sub-team and men’s sub-team. You will need two bars; men’s bar and women’s bar.

Rx: 100kg for women, 150kg for men.

The workout starts with an unloaded bar. On 3-2-1-GO both bars can be loaded to their workout weight. The load should be heavy, your team would be aiming to complete the deadlifts in alternating singles (male-female-male-female etc)

For time:
30 deadlifts
30 synchro burpees over bar (male-female pair, male-female bars)
Unload the bar, carry bar and plates 100m, reload the bar
30 deadlifts

The deadlift reps alternate between the athletes, men lift the 150kg bar and women lift the 100kg bar. After 30 deadlifts in total have been completed, the team completes 30 synchro burpees over bar in male-female pairs. Once the burpees have been completed, both bars are unloaded and all equipment is transported 100m where the bars are loaded again and the team completes another set of 30 deadlifts.

This is a workout where you can get creative and improvise the transportation part of the workout to suit the space you have available. If its raining, you can transport the bar and plates between two markers or corners inside your gym. You can carry them around a loop, or out and back. You can also adapt the distance to suit the space and time available. Find out how your team communicates during the barbell assembly task, it is harder than you think after those deadlifts and burpees!

 

OUR TOP TRAINING TIPS FOR TRIBAL CLASH

Teams always ask us what the best way is to prepare for a Tribal Clash competition. We don’t publish the workouts until the eve of the competition, it is the way of the Clash. Andrew Barker, our Games Director, programs for the ‘tactical athlete’: someone who is capable and ready for anything, someone who can perform even when the weather is against them, whether it is a short 3 minute sprint, or a 45-minute slogger

1. Step outside the gym and train outdoors. The whole of the competition takes place in the open air, either on the beach itself or in the water so the best way to prepare for this is to get outside with your teammates. Get used to adverse weather, and get used to being too cold or too hot. 

2. Competition programming is based on the assumption that athletes can run 5K in under 24 minutes so make this your target. Hate running? It’s a basic locomotive skill, and we test it every year. At a basic level, running does not require a high level of acquired skill, so getting better at it is a result of simply running more. If you are unwilling to put the work in, be prepared to be a bit uncomfortable during the competition weekend!

3. Get comfortable in the water. Tribal Clash takes place on a beach, by the sea, and every competition always includes water-based workouts so get in the sea or in the pool. We can’t confirm until the competition weekend whether all team members will have to swim or how far a swim might be so best to come prepared for any eventuality. We expect every athlete that signs up to compete in Tribal Clash to be able to swim, not necessarily at competitive level, but to be safe and comfortable in open water. 

4. Practise synchro movements. Working as a well oiled machine is key at Tribal Clash so test your communication and get used to staying perfectly in time with each other. Squats, lunges, burpees and wall balls are all great movements to test your synchronicity. Video yourself – you may think you are in sync but your judge may see something else. 

5. Push your teammates to their limits. Programme a really tough and long workout to find out where their breaking point is, learn what the warning signs are and make sure you know the best way to encourage them to keep going. Learn how your team communicates when one or more team mates are at breaking point. Practice communicating breaks and rests. 

6. Train with odd objects such as sandbags, atlas stones, truck tyres and whatever else you have to hand. There are no barbells at Tribal Clash so get used to handling awkward pieces of equipment. We deliberately use equipment that is awkward and uncomfortable, and that gives you scrapes and bruises. There are no padded and weight-calibrated worms at Tribal Clash.

7. Take inspiration from workouts that were included in previous competitions, these can be found in the ‘Archive’ section of our website or by looking on our Facebook page.

8. Check out our blog where you will find some suggested workouts which can be used as part of your training – these include an AMRAP of synchro pullups and wall balls, a combination of shoulder to overhead reps with a truck tyre and synchro burpees, and an old favourite – Tribal Karen. This is a classic test to see who will be the first to break – complete 150 synchro wall ball reps as a team of 6; can you decide a rep scheme and stick to it or will you have to adapt on the fly?!

We want to see your team training, so make sure you tag @tribalclash in your Instagram photos and videos!

 

3-2-1 SYNCHRO

This is a fun and fast workout where your team of 4 has to communicate well and adapt on the fly! You will need space on the pull up rack for three athletes, and three med balls. If you have a mixed team, be sure to work out your med balls for any combination of 3 athletes!

Your team of four will be completing sets of 10 wall ball shots and 10 pull ups, in rounds of: synchro 3 athletes, then synchro 2 athletes, then 1 athlete. You can tag in and out however you like. After the sets of 10 WB shots + 10 pull ups as a solo have been completed, your team goes back to 10 wall ball shots, 10 pull ups as a 3, then as a duo, then solo. How many rounds and reps can you complete in 10 minutes? How do you manage your rest and play according to your team’s strengths? Can you stick to your plan or does your team fall apart once fatigue sets in?

You can scale this workout up or down, by reducing/increasing reps to whatever is appropriate for your team. Team Tribal Clash completed this at our in-house competition and it was a raucous event with a good shoulder burn to follow!

In teams of 4:

AMRAP 10 minutes

10 wall ball shots (9kg/6kg) – synchro 3 athletes

10 pull ups – synchro 3 athletes

10 wall ball shots – synchro 2 athletes

10 pull ups – synchro 2 athletes

10 wall ball shots – solo athlete

10 wall ball shots – solo athlete

THE #OPTOUTSIDE BUDDY RUN

Grab a friend and head outside! Find some green space – a local park, a running track, or a a woodland trail, and don’t be afraid to get muddy.

The #optoutside buddy run

 

In pairs, for time:

Buy-in: 30 burpees over friend (split the reps however you want)

3K buddy carry. Any style, piggy-back or fireman’s carry, you decide! Swap as you need.

Buy-out: 30 burpees over friend

 

Let us know how you get on! Post a photo of your buddy run to win some Tribal swag!

THE WALL

The Wall

In teams of 3, for time:

1 wall walk
100 metre row
2 wall walks
200 metre row
3 wall walks
300 metre row …
etc
increasing by 1 wall walk & 100m each row until the last round of
10 wall walks
1000 metre row

This workout is for teams of 3 athletes. The work can be completed by any athlete in any order, and the sets can be split however the team decides. All you need is one rower and a wall. The workout starts with one athlete lying chest to floor with the soles of his/her feet to the wall. One athlete is seated on the rower with the handle racked. On 3-2-1 Go one athlete completes one wall walk. The rep starts and finishes with chest to floor. As soon as each set of wall walks is finished with chest to floor, the rower handle can be unracked and the next rowing set can start. At the end of each rowing set the handle is reracked before the next athlete can start completing a wall walk. Both wall walk sets and rowing sets can be split as the team chooses, but if the team changes athletes in the middle of the rowing set, the rower handle must be reracked. The wall walks must be completed in the same floor space, not side by side. At the top of the wall walk the athlete’s nose must touch the wall but knees must not. Knees touching the wall is a no rep.

This is a great workout that teaches communication and thinking on the fly. As the sets get bigger, the number of changes increases, so the team has to complete fast transitions. It may be impossible to come up with a plan that the team can stick with throughout the workout, so the team has to change strategy throughout the workout to make the best use of the athletes and their fatigue levels.

 

 

THE APACHE RELAY

Teams of 6, consisting of 3 men & 3 women.

Divide your team into two Sub Teams of 3 (SubTeam 1 and SubTeam 2 in our workout briefing below). The sub teams of 3 are fixed and you can’t swap athletes between the sub-teams during the workout. You need four bars, two set at 30kg and two set at 42.5kg. Men use 42.5kg bar and women use 30kg bar. You need a pull up rack with 2 pull up stations. You also need guts and a willingness to go into a dark and scary place.

 

AMRAP until death, for total reps

EMOM as a team complete

15 synchro thrusters (two athletes) and 15 synchro pull ups (two athletes).

 

The Sub Teams swap between thrusters and pull ups, alternating the movement each minute. On the first minute, two athletes from SubTeam 1 complete 15 synchro thrusters, while at the same time two athletes from SubTeam 2 complete 15 synchro pull ups. On the next minute, two athletes from SubTeam 1 now complete 15 synchro pull ups, while at the same time two athletes from SubTeam 2 complete 15 synchro thrusters. On the third minute, the SubTeams swap again, SubTeam 1 completing 15 synchro thrusters (2 athletes working) and SubTeam 2 completing the 15 synchro pull ups (2 athletes working).

You can swap athletes in and out within the same Sub Team within the minute, as long as the Sub Team complete the 15 synchro reps within the minute. The Sub Teams must swap movements each minute, alternating between thrusters and pull ups.

As a team, you have to think carefully about how you organise your two Sub Teams, in order to keep going as long as possible. For example, if you have an athlete who is weak at pull ups, you may want to include him/her into the Sub-Team with the athlete who is a pull up ninja, who will take most of the pull ups with the weaker athlete chipping in as much as they can.

Once either Sub Team fails to complete the 15 synchro reps within the minute, your workout is over. Your score is total reps completed by your entire team (each synchro rep by two athletes is one rep) . You score 30 reps each minute you remain in the game.

How long can you go on?