From bar crawls to bear crawls: the public humiliation of training for Hong Kong’s Spartan Race
Week three of one trainer’s struggle to turn some out-of-shape journalists into athletes capable of completing an obstacle course
“Have you ever done a bear crawl?” How do you respond to that aside from a curt “no”? What the devil is a bear crawl?
I’m pretty sure you know what a bear is and bar crawl and even a bear’s claw. But this is not a delicious pastry or even a tour of niche nightspots – the truth is it is crawling like a bear, although we forgot to establish which kind of bear on account of struggling to breathe.
This is Spartan Race training and there is no time for confections. There is only time for bursts of exertion and short periods of recovery spent pondering physical imperfections as personal trainer and boot camp coach Andrew Power puts us through our paces as the early morning sun beats down on us at Happy Valley.
It feels like everything is beating down on us, although the beat down is much less severe for my noticeably fitter work(out) mate. This week’s session focused on crawl techniques, with Power keen to explain that we needed to develop comfort and skill with several as they would be put to the test when the Spartan Race comes to Hong Kong on April 14.
We’ve only done the bear crawl and all I can think is it’s no wonder bears hibernate.
