# How to train for Devils Circuit: grip, carries and 12 weeks

Hybrid Training · Oct 9, 2026

![How to train for Devils Circuit: grip, carries and 12 weeks](https://vuuqslqhjuzjllribugt.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/hybrid/how-to-train-for-devils-circuit.webp)

Monday 19 October to Devils Circuit Hyderabad on 10 January 2027 is exactly twelve weeks. That is enough to build the grip, pulling strength and aerobic base the course asks for, as long as the plan is specific. Here is the whole block, week by week.

It is a hybrid plan: strength, carries and hangs, plus engine work, in one week. It prepares you for the race and it builds the kind of body that stays capable for decades. We covered the course itself in our [guide to the obstacles and categories](https://fisique.fitness/blog/devils-circuit-hyderabad-guide-obstacles-categories), and the organiser lists the obstacles on its [obstacles page](https://devilscircuit.com/obstacles/).

## What the course asks of you

The race is 5 km with 15 obstacles. Most of them involve climbing, hanging, swinging, crawling or wading. Skyfall Ladder eliminates you if you slip into the water, Monkey Crawl is upper-body only, and Height of Hell is a 39 ft net climb. So the training priorities are:

- Grip endurance, especially when your hands are wet.
- Pulling strength: rope, net, bar.
- Trunk stiffness for the sliding and held positions.
- A steady aerobic base for the 5 km between obstacles.

Leg strength matters too, but it is rarely the limit. Hands usually are.

## The weekly structure

Every week uses four sessions. On our Transform plan, three of these are coached and one is done alone or with a training partner. Transform+ athletes add more.

1. **Pull and grip day:** pull-ups, rows, hangs, rope or towel work.
2. **Legs and carries day:** squat or deadlift pattern, lunges, loaded carries.
3. **Engine day:** easy aerobic running or rowing, plus short intervals.
4. **Obstacle skills day:** hanging transitions, crawling, wall and slope drills, a short run between rounds.

Add two easy days of walking or mobility. Leave one day completely off.

## The twelve weeks, phase by phase

### Weeks 1 to 4: build the base

Dates: 19 October to 15 November.

The goal is volume you can recover from. Keep every set clean.

- **Pull day:** 4 sets of strict pull-ups, as many clean reps as you can stop two short of failure; 3 sets of rows at 8 to 10 reps; dead hangs, 3 sets building toward 45 seconds.
- **Legs and carries:** squats or trap-bar deadlifts 4 sets of 5; walking lunges, 3 sets; farmer or kettlebell carries, 5 rounds of 40 metres.
- **Engine:** 30 to 40 minutes of easy running or rowing where you can hold a conversation; once a week, 6 rounds of 1 minute faster with 2 minutes easy.
- **Skills:** bar traversal drills, bear and commando crawls on grass, wall climbs.

If you cannot do a strict pull-up yet, use bands or an assisted machine, and add slow lowering (negatives). It is the fastest route to your first one.

### Weeks 5 to 8: add the specifics

Dates: 16 November to 13 December.

Now the work gets closer to the race. If you are running the Yoddha Race on 5 December, week 7 (30 November to 6 December) is your race week. Taper the volume that week and treat week 8 as recovery: easy movement, no new tests.

- **Pull day:** weighted or tempo pull-ups, 5 sets of 3 to 5; rope or towel hangs; add a muscle-up progression if the Summit is on your list (high pull-ups, then transition work).
- **Grip:** hang for time, then do 10 rows, then hang again. Training your grip in a tired state is the point.
- **Legs and carries:** heavier carries, with a 200 m unbroken goal; sled pushes if you have a sled, which we do at Fisique.
- **Engine:** 2 sessions a week. One steady, one with intervals; add a run straight after a hang block.
- **Skills:** back-stack style wall holds, slope or incline sprints, crawl rounds in wet clothes if you can.

If you are racing the Yoddha, our [Yoddha Race Training Programme](https://fisique.fitness/yoddha-race-training) and the post on [how to train for the Yoddha Race](https://fisique.fitness/blog/how-to-train-for-the-yoddha-race) cover that block. Do not try to peak twice. Treat Devils Circuit as a second goal on top of the base you built for the first.

### Weeks 9 to 11: sharpen

Dates: 14 December to 3 January.

Volume stays moderate, intensity goes up, and every session looks a little like the race.

- **Race-style circuits:** a 1 km run, then a hang block, a crawl, another 1 km. Repeat three or four times with rest. Count rounds, not minutes.
- **Pull day:** lower reps, better quality. Practise the Skyfall Ladder movement on any hanging ladder or rings.
- **Cold exposure:** short cold showers, practised calmly, to prepare for Brain Freeze. It is a mental skill as much as anything.
- **One long aerobic day:** 60 minutes easy, which builds the base and keeps you comfortable for the 5 km.

Week 11 falls over the new-year period, so plan around travel. A hotel workout of pull-ups, push-ups, lunges and a run still counts. Do not let the week turn into zero.

### Week 12: race week

Dates: 4 to 10 January.

Cut volume by about half, keep two short sessions with a few fast efforts, and rest the grip in the final two days so your hands are fresh. Eat familiar food. Sleep as much as possible. The race starts at 07:00, so rehearse your wake-up and breakfast once that week.

The venue has not been published at the time of writing. Check the organiser's site for updates, and read the [categories page](https://devilscircuit.com/categories/) before you pick your wave. Competitive means a clock: 15 obstacles in 50 minutes for men, 13 in 70 for women, and 15 in 60 for Masters 40+. Non-Competitive has no clock.

## Three checkpoints to test yourself

Use these at the end of weeks 4, 8 and 11. They are for you and your coach, not for a leaderboard, and we will not pretend there is a universal standard.

- **Dead hang:** how long can you hold a bar with good shoulder position? Write the time down and beat it next time.
- **Strict pull-ups:** one set to two reps short of failure. Count the reps.
- **Run-hang-run:** 1 km easy, a hang to near-failure, then 1 km at the same effort. Notice how much the second run slows. That gap is what you are shrinking.

If a number stalls for two checkpoints, we change the plan rather than push harder. More work is rarely the answer, especially for tendons and skin on the hands.

Look after your hands, too. Trim calluses before they tear, moisturise at night, and do not hang to failure on days when you also plan a long carry session.

## Staying healthy while you do it

A race block is a good excuse to build habits that outlast it. Grip strength and cardiorespiratory fitness are both linked with lower mortality in large studies, which we cover in [VO2max and grip strength](https://fisique.fitness/blog/vo2max-grip-strength-longevity), and a hybrid week trains both. The same twelve weeks that make you race-ready also move you toward a long, capable life.

Look after your joints. Increase loads gradually, treat shoulder or elbow pain seriously, and get it checked if it does not settle. Hangs and pull-ups are hard on the tendons if you ramp too quickly.

## Train with us

Twelve weeks goes faster when someone else writes the sessions. At Fisique in Kokapet your coach runs this block one-on-one and adjusts it around the Yoddha Race if you are doing both. [WhatsApp us](https://wa.me/919515847444) for plans, or read about [personal training in Kokapet](https://fisique.fitness/personal-training-kokapet).

[All articles](https://fisique.fitness/blog/index.md) · Fisique Fitness - Personal Training Studio and Gym, Kokapet