Chronicles of the Forgotten Realm
Training
LARP-Fit training is all about creating a better warrior for the skirmishes and battles. A new breed of Achilles, Heracles, Atalanta — or bands of warriors like berserkers, amazons, mongols. Warriors who last on the battlefields.
Let's get this out of the way now: the looks of the body are largely irrelevant when it comes to performance. Don't assume that most warriors were ever ripped and huge. They may have been leaner and toned, but too much unnatural size isn't useful — in fact it slows many down.
You can manipulate the diet to achieve more aesthetically, but performance is what we're after. So the training is not geared towards huge muscles, ripped abs, or massive PR lifts. This is about longevity and endurance. Getting and keeping healthy. And becoming absolute beasts in the battles.
As far as I see it, there are four elements that drive performance — and these are the foundations my whole system is built upon:
All about weapons work and footwork. Swinging weapons and rapid foot movements — like duelling, but without the need for an opponent.
Developing skills for the world: lifting, crawling, jumping — everything to do with negotiating the environment. These sessions build the neural pathways that make your body's movement more fluid.
Developing the body's joints and making sure they aren't neglected. Most would call this a strength routine, but it's closer to the ethos of pilates — moving muscles through full range of motion, under control, with care.
Essential conditioning. There's lots of running throughout events. The focus here is longer, slower runs — battle drills and environmental skills already feature sprinting, so keep your run session steady and sustained.
This is the easy bit. My advice is to not cram too much into the week. Each session can be done within 20–30 minutes. Do each one once a week for balance across the board.
If you want to focus more on one area, add it as an extra session — but aim for at least one of each per week. Focus on making all your movements progressively harder over time: first, nail the movement quality, then look at increasing resistance.
The longer you maintain the program, the better you'll get. That is the secret.
When it comes to the quest programs, there'll be instructions and advice to guide you. Some may be geared towards specific goals outside the usual balance — that's fine, just make sure you hit at least one of each session a week. The programs will guide you.
I like to keep things simple. I've seen programs that are bodyweight-only or weights-only, but both miss a key element required by the LARP-Fit athlete — the competency to use both. This comes back to transferability and specificity: to get good at a skill, you need to do that skill, or get as close to it as possible.
These are the basics that any workout can be improvised with, anywhere in the world. There is no session that can't be boiled down to need anything other than these.
These expand the equipment list into the genuine fundamentals of LARP-Fit training. They do mean creating a small training area or having somewhere to store them — I keep mine in the car so I can train on the rugby club in summer and bring them indoors in winter.
Not essential to the foundations, but worthwhile if you have access.
Three things I think are a waste of money:
There's nothing magical about my programs. No fancy science, no gimmicks. People create new programs all the time to sell. People try to sell you "amazing" equipment because they need something new to package up. It really hurts watching people get sucked in.
This is my program — the one I've followed for well over a decade. The kit above is the kit I use. No BS. The only thing left to say is: give it time. It's not going to work overnight. Long-term consistency, and you'll become the next battlefield hero they'll sing songs about.