Virgin Active has announced a range of new offerings aimed at extreme fitness fans ahead of the upcoming Tough Mudder event season.

Shaking up its Tough Mudder partnership which began last year, Mudder Maker 2.0 is a new class from Virgin Active designed to push Mudders-in-training to their physical and mental max. The 45-minute circuit-style class will put participants through five challenging obstacles and five bodyweight conditioning exercises set to a rock soundtrack.

Meanwhile, Virgin Active is also offering all Mudders signed up to a live event the chance to join any of its 90 UK gyms with no joining fee on a non-contract basis for as little or as long as they like to help them train for the event.

“Following the success of last year’s Mudder Maker class, we wanted to offer something bigger and better, taking Mudder Maker to the next level,” said James Trevorrow, Virgin Active’s national product innovation manager.

“Mudder Maker 2.0 will offer an adrenaline-based workout, preparing people of all fitness levels for Tough Mudder, as well as those simply wanting to take on a new challenge.’’

Outdoor and endurance events have become increasingly popular in recent years, with extreme fitness identified as a major trend in the Fitness Foresight section of the 2015 Health Club Management Handbook (p.20)

Since then, gyms have announced a number of tie-ups with outdoor events. Last year, Pure Gym teamed up the 2015 Reebok Spartan Race series and the Great Run Series; while low cost gym chain Xercise4Less unveiled a tie-up with Total Warrior. Meanwhile, Nuffield Health was recently named as the official Health & Wellbeing Partner for mass-participation giant Human Race for the next two years.

To read a feature on how health club operators can benefit from the growing popularity of extreme fitness events – from the October edition of Health Club Management – click here.