Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge Workouts

Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 1 of 14
Challenge designed by:  Sam Abbitt

Go for a non-strenuous warm up run to get the juices flowing. (1, 2, or 3 miles – you pick distance and pace)

-THEN-

90 seconds of deadhang (as few rests as possible)
10 walking lunges
25 pushups
50 air squats
25 pushups
10 walking lunges
90 seconds of deadhangs (as few rests as possible)

-THEN-

HEAVY LOADED CARRIES

RX: Carry 60% of your body weight 1000 meters, resting as needed.

Scale weight and distance to your ability.

//Notes:

Loaded carries are one of my favorite and most underrated muscle building exercises. When you do long loaded carries, there is not a muscle in your body that can hide from the work. Besides being great for building strength in your core, hips, and back, they are especially good for improving your grip strength, which is an often overlooked capacity that aids in your ability to complete some of the toughest obstacles at any OCR.

I used two 88 pound kettlebells for this workout, using the farmer carry technique.

Not everyone will have access to two 88# kettlebells like I do, so use what you have access to. Get creative. Any heavy object can work for this, so long as you can safely carry it. Farmer carries are my favorite, but you can also carry your weight in rack position or on your shoulders. Examples of heavy objects are dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, bags of sand, concrete, or mulch, etc. RX weight is 60% of bodyweight, but this might not be practical for everyone. Scale to your fitness level, ability, equipment. Also, be smart and don’t hurt yourself.

Farmer Carries for Longevity by Dan John

Post results to Savage Syndicate Facebook group.

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 2 of 14
Challenge designed by:  Caleb Tucker and Sam Abbitt

Caleb Tucker is a personal trainer, OCR athlete, and a member of the Savage Race Course Build Crew.

Warmup:
5 minutes easy aerobic work of any kind (e.g. jogging, rowing, jump rope, rucking, etc)

Strength:
Standing Overhead Presses

Warmup sets: perform 3-5 warmup sets, building up weight used for work set
Work sets: 3×5 each arm (3 sets of 5 reps) Standing OH Press

Go for tough and heavy work sets, but stay within a range where you can hit all of the reps with good form on each set. Perform this movement one arm at a time. Perform three sets for each arm, alternating sides. Use dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells or a heavy object (e.g. a fully loaded backpack)

-THEN-

100 of each:

Lunges
Russian twist
Pushups
Air squats
Devil rollouts (sub for situps if you don’t have ab wheel)

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Take rest days when needed. Remember, you have 28 days to complete 14 challenges.

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 3 of 14
Challenge designed by:  Sam Abbitt

Mobility Warmup:
1. Couch Stretch: 2 Minutes Each Side
2. Pike Stretch: 2 Minutes
3. Child’s Pose: 1 Minute
4. Pigeon Pose: 2 Minutes Each Side

Running Warmup:
Jog half a mile. Nice and easy.

Strength:
Rear foot elevated split squats (aka Bulgarian Split Squats)
New to this movement? Watch this detailed form tutorial.

Hold a single weight/heavy object in the goblet position, or hold two weights/heavy objects with hands down by your sides.

Warmup with this movement at lower weights to get comfortable with the form and technique. Then…

Perform a tough-as-nails 3-5 reps x 4 sets per leg; resting 90-120 seconds between legs
Go as heavy as you need to to make it tough to finish the sets within the 3-5 rep range

-THEN-

Single Arm Front Rack Walking Lunge
Select a challenging weight using weights or a heavy backpack
8-10 steps per leg per arm x 2 sets; resting 60 seconds between arms

-THEN-

Ten minute cooldown walk. Check the mail. Take out the garbage. Move around.

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 4 of 14
Challenge designed by:  Sam Abbitt

Warmup:
5 minutes aerobic work of any kind (e.g. jogging, rowing, jump rope, rucking, etc)

Strength:
S1) Curl to Arnold Press, 10-12 x 5; rest 2 minutes between sets; best performed with dumbbells; target a weight that takes you to near-failure between 10-12 reps

If you don’t have access to dumbbells, substitute with box handstand pushups.

S2) Active Hang AMSAP (as many seconds as possible) x 3 sets; resting 60 seconds

S3) Bent knee hollow body hold
25-35 seconds x 3 sets; rest 30 seconds

Running:

1 or 2 mile run at moderate pace; push yourself, but save some energy for the sprints!

Sprinting:

Timed sprint intervals, all out effort
Sprint for 12 seconds every 2 minutes
5 rounds, or stop when you can no longer maintain consistent sprint speed and intensity.

Post results to Savage Syndicate Facebook group.

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 5 of 14

Fartlek master Ryan Woods, in the lead and jumping a wall, at Savage PRO Georgia

Fartlek workouts challenge your body to become faster over longer distances—plus it’s just a fun word to say. Fartlek training improves speed, endurance, mental strength, and confidence in your ability to pick up the pace when needed in a race!

In Savage Anywhere I, professional OCR athlete Ryan Woods introduced us to Fartlek training. Here is some more fartlek fun for you! We recommend regularly including fartleks into your race training if you want to race competitively.

“Speed Play Fartlek”

– 5-7 minute warmup jog
– Build for 3 minutes: moderate -> moderate-hard -> hard (each for 1 minute)
– 2 minutes jog
– 7 minutes moderate-hard
– 3 minutes jog
– 3 minutes hard
– 5 minutes jog
– Cool down or repeat

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This content is free, but if you’d like to support Savage Race, and receive a finisher shirt and medal upon completion, please consider registering for this event. Register Now

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 5.5 of 14 (Bonus challenge!)

This is an optional half challenge.

GORUCK Cadre JC Jordan at Savage Race Georgia

Ruck 5 miles.

RUCK•ING [VERB] // Walking with a weighted rucksack (aka backpack). It implies action, energy, and purpose. Rucking requires strength, endurance, and character — and builds it, too.

RX:
30# of weight in your ruck if you weigh 150 pounds or more.
20# of weight in your ruck if you weigh less than 150 pounds.

If you have a friend and a sandbag, bring both and take turns under the bag.

You can do this with just about any backpack, but this is my favorite training ruck (disclosure: affiliate link)

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 6 of 14

Mobility Warmup:
1. Couch Stretch: 2 Minutes Each Side
2. Pike Stretch: 2 Minutes
3. Child’s Pose: 1 Minute
4. Pigeon Pose: 2 Minutes Each Side

Warmup:
10 minutes aerobic work of any kind (e.g. jogging, rowing, jump rope, rucking, etc)

Strength:
Rear foot elevated split squats again, building on challenge #3 results.

Hold a single weight/heavy object in the goblet position, or hold two weights/heavy objects with hands down by your sides.

Warmup with this movement at lower weights to get comfortable with the form and technique. Then…

Perform a tough-as-nails 3-5 reps x 4 sets per leg; resting 90-120 seconds between legs
Go as heavy as you need to to make it tough to finish the sets within the 3-5 rep range.

Incremental weight increase from challenge #3.

– THEN –

Conditioning, courtesy of CompTrain:

“Full Circle”
For Time:
1,200 Meter Run
100 Double Unders*
800 Meter Run
100 Double Unders
1,200 Meter Run

If you can’t do double unders yet, or don’t have a jump rope, do tuck jumps instead.

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 6.5 of 14

This is an optional half challenge. Throwing these in to mix things up a bit. The half challenges will generally be lighter on strength work, but building up with some low and slow endurance conditioning.

Run or ruck:

5k distance – run or ruck (your choice) at moderate pace. Start timer from 0:00 and do twelve pushups every two minutes (e.g. do pushups on the 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 and so on)

If rucking, use 20# if body weight is <150 and 30# if body weight is >150. Do not remove ruck for pushups.

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 7 of 14

Mobility Warmup:
1. Couch Stretch: 2 Minutes Each Side
2. Pike Stretch: 2 Minutes
3. Child’s Pose: 1 Minute
4. Pigeon Pose: 2 Minutes Each Side

Warmup:
10 minutes aerobic work of any kind (e.g. jogging, rowing, jump rope, rucking, etc)

Strength:

Kettlebell or Dumbell Complex:
Selecting a challenging weight.
3 double db clean
1 double db push press
2 double db front squat
rest 30s
x15 sets

Heavy Carry:

5 rounds:
20m goblet carry, heavy
50 double unders or 50 tuck jumps or 150 single unders

Cooldown:

5-15 minutes of easy walking, rowing, or jogging

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 7.5 of 14

This is an optional half challenge.

Deck of cards 5k.

Run or ruck 5k with a deck of cards. Every two minutes, on the two minute mark, draw a card. The number on the cards is the number of reps. When you finish the 5k, the challenge ends. Bonus points for finishing the whole deck!

Spades – Air squats
Clubs – Walking lunges
Diamonds – Sit-ups
Hearts – Hand-release pushups

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 8 of 14

Warmup:
5 minutes aerobic work of your choice to get the juices flowing.

Then spend a few minutes practicing and working through the following movements with light weight before moving on to heavier weights in the strength segment of this challenge. (Power cleans, overhead press, front squat)

Strength:
Power Clean + Press
1 PC + 8 Press x 3 rounds; rest 60 seconds between rounds
Best performed with dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbell. Can also use loaded backpack. Record weight used

Power Clean + Front Squat
1 PC + 8 front squat x 3 rounds; rest 60 seconds between rounds
Best performed with dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbell. Can also use loaded backpack. Record weight used

Suitcase Carry
Maximum load for 100 feet per side. (200 feet total)
Then, 2 sets at 50 feet per side, with same load. (200 feet total)

Note: Keep working on these heavy carries. This work will boost your grip strength and translate into gains throughout the rest of your training.

Conditioning:

5 rounds, for time:
20 hand release push-ups
200m run
10 burpees

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 8.5 of 14
This is an optional half challenge.

Sprint drills

Warm up: 1 mile (~1600 meters) in and outs (100M run; 100M walk) each segment faster than the last; end with a 200M sprint

Drills
2 X 500 Meter: 70% on 400M; 80% last 100M/ rest 5’ between sets and 15’ at end
2 X 200 Meter: 75%; rest 30”
4 X 40 Meter: Quick; rest 20”

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 9 of 14

Warmup:
5-10 minutes of aerobic warmup of your choice.

Strength:
Warmup and practice all of the following movements before moving to the sets.

Perform this complex with your choice of dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbell. Perform with loaded backpack if you do not have access to gym weights. Choose a challenging weight, but the goal should be to get through each round without setting the bar down.

Complex
5 deadlifts
5 hang power cleans
10 front rack alt lunge (5 each legs)
5 push press
rest/walk 2min
x5 rounds

Weighted Step Ups / Stairs
Use a 24″ step up box if you have access to one, or use stairs.

Perform weighted, using heavy backpack, DB, or KB.

If using 24″ box: 75 step ups

If using stairs: 20 flights total (up and down ~16 stairs is one flight)

Cooldown

Ruck, walk, or jog for 10-20 minutes.

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 10 of 14

Four mile race pace run + fartlek

Warmup and stretches of your choice.

Run four miles at just below target race pace. Pick up your pace by 15-20 seconds per mile faster for 1:00 minute, every 6 minutes. If you are having a hard time returning to your “normal” pace, then you are running the fartlek surges too quickly.

This should be a challenging run. Scale distance and speed to match your ability.

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 11 of 14

Building on Challenge 3… Push for weight and rep gains over your results from Challenge #3

Mobility Warmup:
1. Couch Stretch: 2 Minutes Each Side
2. Pike Stretch: 2 Minutes
3. Child’s Pose: 1 Minute
4. Pigeon Pose: 2 Minutes Each Side

Aerobic Warmup:
5-10 minutes aerobic warmup of your choice

Strength:
Rear foot elevated split squats (aka Bulgarian Split Squats)
New to this movement? Watch this detailed form tutorial.

Hold a single weight/heavy object in the goblet position, or hold two weights/heavy objects with hands down by your sides.

Warmup with this movement at lower weights to get comfortable with the form and technique. Then…

Increase weight and/or reps from Challenge 3… Perform a tough-as-nails 3-5 reps x 4 sets per leg; resting 90-120 seconds between legs. Go as heavy as you need to to make it tough to finish the sets within the 3-5 rep range

-THEN-

Single Arm Front Rack Walking Lunge
Increasing weight from Challenge 3, select a challenging weight using weights or a heavy backpack
8-10 steps per leg per arm x 2 sets; resting 60 seconds between arms

-THEN-

Ten minute cooldown walk.

Post gains over Challenge #3 to Savage Syndicate

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REST DAY

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Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge
Challenge 11.5 of 14
This is an optional half challenge.

Four mile run at just below race pace. Perform the following movements every quarter mile break.

0.25 miles, 10 pushups
0.50 miles, 20 scissor kicks
0.75 miles, 40 air squats
1.00 miles, 50M sprint

Repeat for all four miles.

Scale distance to match your ability.

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Savage Anywhere
Challenge 12 of 14
Type: Run Training
Challenge designed by: Chrissy McFarland (Savage PRO top athlete)

This challenge was developed by SavagePRO Chrissy McFarland, and it was originally posted as Challenge 2 of 2020’s Savage Anywhere I challenge. This workout simulates the strength and endurance requirements of a real race. If you can crush this challenge, you are ready to crush your race!

The prescribed challenge is the one labeled “Race Challenge” below, but a “Blitz Challenge” is available for those looking for a scaling option.

Chrissy’s Race Challenge:

Savage Anywhere
Final Challenge 14 of 14
Savage Race Simulation Designed by Lee Stowell and Sam Abbitt

“The Ox”

Perform 3 rounds of the following circuit.

400 meter run,

Sawtooth: 15 head taps from dead hang (using single or double bars as demonstrated by Rachel in this video). If you can’t finish all reps, finish the set by performing a single dead hang until failure.

400 meter run,

Inversion Therapy: 2 minutes glute bridge (continuous reps, or just hold at top for duration)

400 meter run,

Colossus: Jump rope (or lateral hops) 200 jumps

400 meter run,

Pedal for the Medal: 50 air squats

400 meter run,

Lumberjack Lane: Heavy carry 100 meters (your choice of weight, but make it challenging)

400 meter run,

The Great Wall: Continuous jump squats, one minute

400 meter run,

Low Crawl: 15 meters forward bear crawl, 15 meters reverse bear crawl

400 meter run*

*The simulation should begin and end with a 400m run, but you only should run one 400m leg between rounds

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You did it! Legend! Congrats on completing Savage Anywhere: The Ox Challenge! Fill out the form below to collect your medal and t-shirt!