Life is full of all sorts of hurdles and obstacles. There are the physical obstacles, barriers of rules, challenging circumstances, and mental hurdles. Life is, in no way, easy by any means. However, it is overcoming these obstacles and hurdles that help make you stronger and more resilient. While some people don’t understand the point of voluntarily attempting an obstacle course, there are many positive benefits and they operate as a giant simile for life — the rolling log balance beam is like tackling puberty while the rope climb is like grappling for academic successes and the barbed wire low-crawl is like your quest for financial freedom! Obstacle courses are great for helping tackle life’s challenges. Here, we will discuss a few ways that obstacle courses can help you overcome life’s hurdles.

Focused Determination

When you complete an obstacle course or train to complete a difficult obstacle course, you are focused on each of the obstacles that stand between you and the finish line. You can measure up the hurdles and develop a game plan about how to tackle them. If you don’t make it the first time, you can start over and attempt again, adjusting your technique until you find what works. These skills of logical reasoning, problem solving, adaptability, and resilience that you use to take on the obstacle course directly translate to life and your ability to face challenges. When you’ve developed the ability to assess and attempt again, you can easily tackle life’s challenges and roll with them.

Confidence Booster

Many times in life, we are our own worst critics. We put ourselves down and sell ourselves short because we do not recognize the awesomeness inside ourselves. We see people who are bigger, stronger, taller, funnier, smarter, richer, and more capable than we are and we compare ourselves, coming up short everytime. This leaves us with a feeling of inadequacy and insecurity. Really, all we need is the opportunity to prove to ourselves how great and capable we really are! Obstacle courses can be the perfect venue for this. Sure, the first time you attempt to run a course, you may stumble, there may be an obstacle you can’t figure out, maybe you complete it much slower than you hoped, and maybe you can’t even complete it on your first attempt, and that’s even better! Because trying until you succeed on a course you can predict will prove to you that you are capable of anything that you put your mind to., When a hurdle comes up in life, you can reflect on that thought, take a breath, and know confidently that you can and will get through it!

Active Health

It should come as no surprise that exercise offers many health benefits. You have heard all of the recommendations to get in the gym and watch what you eat and make your life a little better through physical exercise, but who wants to spend hours in the gym lifting up heavy things and putting them back down repeatedly? It’s true, that is enjoyable for some people, but for most people, we want to enjoy our workouts. The great thing about obstacle courses is that they are designed to be physically and mentally challenging. So, as you navigate your way through the course, you get a functional, active workout without counting reps or logging miles! Additionally, if you find yourself struggling to complete an obstacle because of a physical shortcoming — you can’t get up a tall wall because you lack the upper body strength — it could be a good reason to put in some reps at the gym to tackle that obstacle!

Quality of Life

Many people have found strength in the simple “because they told me I couldn’t.” Physical challenges such as losing a limb or being diagnosed with a connective tissue disorder such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome have been reasons for some hopeful athletes to begin their training. For these people, it is not completing the obstacle course that is the motivation for training, but attempting the obstacle course is the incentive for overcoming their physical handicap and gives purpose beyond simply surviving, despite their physician’s sentence. For many people faced with physical challenges, obstacle courses take on a whole different meaning and offer hope in the face of adversity. You don’t have to have a physical handicap to gain the same benefit and get a little more out of life when you knock down challenges.

If you love taking on challenges or dream of one day being an American Ninja Warrior walk-on, you will love our Ninja Warrior obstacle course at Rebounderz of Jacksonville. Our courses feature various ability courses adjusted to fit even the smallest of contenders. Constructed of foam and durable padding, you can tackle all of the challenges and get up to try again should you not make it on your first attempt. If you are interested in taking on one of our courses, check us out online or stop by and give it your best shot today!