AROO! We built a wall to help train for Spartan Race at a YMCA.

A Spartan training wall is an excellent project that can be customized to however you need to train for your next obstacle course race (OCR). We built this wall for a local YMCA and it has a spear throwing area, climbing, and agility sections. Check it out.

If you are going to train for Spartan Race, you kinda need a place to throw a spear.

Spartan Race draws 1 million people annually to compete in the grueling and exhilarating tests of strength, mental endurance, and get-after-it attitude. In every race, there are obstacles involving climbing up ropes, scaling across walls, carrying buckets of rocks, dragging tires, and throwing a spear. With burpees as the penalty for not successfully completing the obstacle, there’s a real incentive for nailing each obstacle.

Mark started competing in Spartan Race as part of our work to raise awareness for Rebuilding Together, and has gotten hooked. He has competed in several since, including Spartan Race’s World Championship in Vermont, which was broadcast on NBC Sports.

As the obstacle course race popularity increases, we’ve seen training groups pop up around where we live. To help get future Spartans ready for the race, Mark and Theresa designed and built a Spartan training apparatus at a local YMCA.

And they are honored to be part the Philadelphia Area YMCA for letting us build this Spartan Race training apparatus for your Tribal Challenge.

If you want to build a similar structure

Here’s a quick list of how-to to read alongside watching the video:

1) We made I-beam posts from two 2x8x8 and one 2x4x8. Angle braces made from 2x8x8.

2) Then we fastened the bottom wall board to one vertical and tip it into the other vertical, then fasten.

3) Mark grabbed logs from the adjacent woods, which are locust and cherry. Mark thinks titanium is easier to drill into, but he made it happen. We used a 1/4-inch ‘bellhangers bit’ to pre-drill for Spax log screws.

4) Theresa wanted to paint the wood blocks in bold colors to make the traverse wall easy for future Spartans to traverse.

5) Theresa was inspired by the Spartan logo and a hat that Mark got for their 6-year-old Jack. She decided to recreate the image on one face of the wall.

6) We used the red Shur-Line paint can lids when we open paint cans, since they prevent spills and kept the paint and primer from drying out in the can.

7)  We love our Spartan man. And because he’ll be stored over the winter with everything from lawn mowers to pool chemicals, we gave him a coat of Spar urethane to protect him using Shur-Line’s telescoping extension pole and deck pads.

What products did Mark & Theresa use to build the Spartan Race wall?

We choose the products that we know work well for the task at hand. Even though it might sound a bit name-droppy, but Mark and Theresa are dedicated to always using their favorites when they build.

And it’s not because they are partners with these companies, it’s because they are picky about quality products, and they’d use them anyway. (For example, that’s why you never see ads on MyFixitUpLife.com for products they don’t use. Just the company names they love. Mark and Theresa won’t let us sell ad space for that very reason.)

So this project is made from Southern Yellow Pine (and a few logs from the adjacent woods). The wood is secured with their favorite Spax fasteners and coated it Sherwin-Williams paint and stain with their go-to paint tools from Shur-Line.

• 11 Things DIY home improvement and Spartan Race have in common
• Video—How to make a Spartan Race spear
• Video—How to make an obstacle race training rig
• Let’s talk about Spartan Race with the founder Joe De Sena. Aroo!
• Pallet power. No Gym Obstacle Course Race Training Tips