‬Editor's Note: This is a sponsored post in conjunction with our friends at Spartan Race, who have challenged one BroBible staffer, new guy Buckeye, to run the next Spartan Race June 4 in Tuxedo, New York. First he's got to train...

So yesterday's six-mile 300-bodyweight exercise fun-run went as well as expected, ending with my crying in the fetal position on the stretch mats while I tried to get over the fact that by the 5th and 6th miles the geriatric old men and women were shuffling faster than I was. I pride myself on being an athlete, but never have I had to complete something that required that much endurance.

Today was better. Shawty, female Spartan-blogger, marathon runner, and bigger badass than I, emailed me the day's workout and asked if I liked plyometrics. Is a frog's ass watertight? On the menu was a mile warm-up and four 800m sprints super-setted with 20 reps of jump variations (squat jumps, box jumps, tuck jumps, and lateral jumps over a box.) Luckily, this was a bit more rugby friendly with the stops and gos and shorter distances, so I jumped right in.

I chose to forgo the mile warm-up because I hate running with a passion and was able to complete the mental gymnastics required to justify a couple-mile rowing machine warm-up (which more closely mimics the push and pull rugby movements).

The first half mile was great, really setting me up for a quality box jump session. Instead of going for 20 reps, I did five ascending sets of three until I could go for my max, as I've slowed down a bit on explosiveness training and I have a big tournament coming up (below is a clip of my max height attempt and completion, ignore the failtastic measuring tape usage).

The second half mile was noticeably slower paced, with the third and fourth being even worse. Fortunately, the jumps were all easy and of a small quantity, with the only hiccups coming from the gym-moms and gym-dads asking me what the hell I was doing and training for. I would've told them the Spartan Race, but I'm pretty sure Leonidas would've been absolutely f*cking ashamed of me and my wheezing at that point.

Overall, the workout was great, though I dearly miss my weights. Starting this has reminded me of something that I don't think people take into enough consideration when heading to the gym: train with and according to a set purpose. If you go in with no goals, and no clear understanding of what you want out of your training, it will all be for naught. I'm following these Workouts of the Day, which focus heavily on cardio, in order to participate in a 3-mile endurance run. Were I to be training normally, I'd be focusing on compound and explosive lifts with weights so that I could be a better rugby player. Whether you want to look good for the girl next door, be the next Dwight Howard, or just have a healthy body, make sure that you adjust your exercise routines to best fit the person you want to see come out on the other side.

To sign up for the next Spartan Race in your area, go to www.spartanrace.com.