Virgin Active has landed an exclusive three-year partnership with Tough Mudder that will see the health club chain offer tailored training sessions to new legions of outdoor competitors.

Marketed as the ‘toughest event on the planet,’ Tough Mudder has become hugely popular since launching in 2010, with teams of fitness enthusiasts enticed by the chance to push their bodies to the limit through icy, fiery and electrified obstacles in the name of charity. The new tie-up will see Virgin Active providing in-club training specifically designed to help competitors discover the inner strength, stamina and all-round determination required to complete the challenge.

Health clubs and particularly boutique gyms are increasingly looking to capitalise on the growing popularity of endurance events such as triathlons and Tough Mudders. For example, cycle-focused boutique Athlete Lab allows triathlon and cycling event trainers to bring their own bikes, which can be hooked up to the site’s specialist technology to provide coaching and analysis on race-specific circuits.

As the official health club partner of Tough Mudder, Virgin Active hopes the tie-up will lead to a handy stream of members. Tough Mudder participants – of which there have been more than 1.5 million to date – will receive newsletters, social media messages and other updates on the Tough Mudder-tailored activities that Virgin Active will be offering.

Utilising Virgin Active’s new functional experience ‘The Grid’ – a 30-minute class based on high-energy obstacle training – competitors across the UK be able to access a full body workout, as well as receive training advice through ‘Grid Active’. Virgin Active and Tough Mudder are also collaborating on a new class “set to redefine obstacle training,” due to be revealed later in 2015.

“Discovering new ways to train and keep exercise fresh are fundamental to maintaining an active lifestyle and keeping motivation high all year round,” said Virgin Active CEO Paul Woolf.

“There has been a huge rise in the popularity of obstacle course events like Tough Mudder because they allow people to constantly discover new ways to test themselves both physically and psychologically to the limit.”

The final part of the agreement will see The Liberator, a new Tough Mudder obstacle for 2015, taken on a tour of selected Virgin Active clubs across the UK, challenging members from each club to try and ascend its heights.