Sparta-Things!

Yesterday was really interesting.

I did my slightly modified yoga in the morning - threw in some different poses for my cranky knee and such. Afterwards I was watching my favorite show (Spartacus) with my husband when he up and says "I wanna get to Lowes today to buy some workout equipment for the backyard"  You may wonder - who the hell goes to Lowes for workout equipment?

Spartans do.

My husband is going to build workout equipment in the backyard! Now, he DID mention to me a couple months ago that he would eventually be building a pullup bar and a rope climb (yay!) But this was a whole different plan.

At first he did not tell me exactly what he was building, but I knew it would be something Spartan like. So we're wandering around Lowes looking at things such as sledgehammers, aluminum piping, and sticks. We're over by the sticks when he tells me what he plans on building

• A spear toss - Spartan Race obstacle (I failed it miserably last year)
• Sandbag carry - Spartan Race obstacle
• Bucket carry - This was my idea, Lowes had plastic buckets lying around so I grabbed one. We'll fill it with rocks and carry it around. I believe longer distance Spartan Races have these - my sprint did not have one.
• Sledgehammer thing. Really we'll just be smashing it into things - sounds weird but this will be a GREAT workout
• Wooden man - This is an idea taken from my favorite show - Spartacus! It is the best TV show I have ever seen, I highly recommend it. It's about gladiators in ancient Rome who are taken from other lands and enslaved to fight in the arena. It's a very adult show with lots of gore and sex, but it has a very deep storyline and an intelligent plot. Anyway, the wooden man is a training tool the gladiators use. Picture a wooden cross that you swing a wooden training sword at to practice swordfighting. Again - seems really odd, but it will be an amazing workout.

This is going to be a great strength workout for both of us, and also provide a good way for my husband to do cardio since his foot problems prevent him from doing most conventional forms of cardio. The idea is to move in the way our bodies were meant to - something very much lacking in today's world. We're taking themes from the Spartan Race/the movie 300/Spartacus and turning them into exercise. 

The best thing about this is the guy at Lowes thought we were completely nuts when we explained all this to him. He said it was probably the strangest project he's ever heard of. Our neighbors will either think we're crazy, or super religious for having a giant wooden cross in our backyard.

Here's a glimpse of what our cart looked like once we were all done 

Not really sure when my husband is going to start building all this, but it should be alot of fun! I'm looking forward to it. It should help get me into good shape for my Spartan Races in March. I am trying to get him to do one with me. March is going to be too soon, but we're thinking of doing the Alabama one depending on what time of year they do it and how well my husband's feet heal.

Tomorrow is his birthday, and there's cake! I'll be celebrating with him and then it's right back to my routine