UFC lightweight Jamie Varner is preparing for Reebok’s Spartan Race this Saturday in Las Vegas. The Spartan Race is an extreme obstacle course race involving mud, water, barbed water and fire.
The courses are specific to the location of the races and challenge the competitive spirit of the competitors. The races are held all over the United States and in select international countries. For Varner, its a good way to supplement his day job.
“I enjoy staying physically active between fights,” Varner said, “Pushing myself in events like the Spartan Race keeps my workouts in the gym fresh and exciting. Specifically for this upcoming race my strength and condition coach has put together a couple new workouts.”
Even though it is likely that Varner will focus on his next fight after Saturday, he doesn’t rule out racing in a future Spartan Race. Despite this being a training exercise for Varner, he hopes to land in the top portion of his division. Varner has gotten into crossfit which has helped him with cardio.
“Overall I think this will make me stronger and also help on fight night,” Varner added, “I know that Spartan Race has some amazing athletes and people who are used to these obstacles. I want to push myself to the limits and finish the race in an impressive time.”
Payout Perspective:
The Spartan Race is gaining in popularity if you look at its social media following. It has over 2.6 million followers on Facebook and over 58,000 followers on twitter. Varner’s cross-training likely helps with his overall training and the race can grab some crossover fans. Certainly there are many young, adventurous Spartan Racers that are fans of the UFC.
There are many ways fighters cross-train to keep in fighting shape. The Diaz Brothers compete in triathlons, Benson Henderson competes in BJJ tournaments and Varner is a Spartan Racer.
Damn, that Spartan Race looks intense!! I may have to see if they have one in my are area. Good luck to Varner!!! Who will he fight next?
Looks like Ben’s cross training is quite a bit more intelligent than Jamie’s!! A Spartan race really has nothing to do with fighting other than they both require conditioning. Jamie should focus more effort on jiu jitsu. If he would have been cross training jiu Jitsu like Ben there is a very good chance he wouldn’t have gotten submitted by Joe Lauzon.
Good luck to him out there. I cannot wait to see how he stands up against the Elites as a lot of them will be other there is weekend! If anyone wants to try a Spartan race for themselves you can sign up at http://share.spartanrace.com/x/tlbl2 to save 15%
AROO!!
Good in Vegas, Varner!
As part of the Spartan Race Street Team, welcome to Spartan. Anyone else interested in participating in a race follow the link below for races in your area and 15% off your registration.
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