Inside Spencer Matthews’ coaching regime amid desert marathon feat

Spencer Matthews underwent a long and intense training regime in order to become a proud holder of a Guinness World Record after completing an epic 30 desert marathons in 30 consecutive days.

The former Made in Chelsea star, 36, was greeted by his loved ones at the finish line in Jordan on Tuesday after the incredible feat which saw him run the equivalent of the entire length of the UK on sand in searing heat.

Ahead of his amazing challenge, Spencer put his body through rigorous exercise and pushed himself to the limit in order to prepare himself for the huge feat.

As well as running an impressive 30 kilometers a day, the TV star also endured working out in a heat chamber with temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius so that he could acclimatize to the marathon conditions. 

The heat chamber, which he visited at the London South Bank University, stimulated the exact conditions of the desert challenge, with Spencer training in high temperatures with 20% humidity.

The father-of-three documented his time in the chamber on Instagram, with the star noting he had 10 sessions at an hour each.

An expert accessing him at the time, said of the method: ‘One of the benefits of heat acclimation is that you’ll have a lower starting core temperature, which means you’ve got a greater heat storage capacity before you start reaching those high core temperatures.’

However, it proved very difficult for Spencer, who said in an interview that he was left feeling ‘humiliated’ and ‘very faint’ after his first attempt.

He told T3.com in July ahead of the challenge: The first time I tried it was almost humiliating. I ran really slowly for 20 minutes, lost all sense of time, and became incredibly faint. Then I was hammering nuts and dates just to try and stay in the room, but I had to come out after 40 minutes as I was in quite serious pain. 

‘I went back in for the second hour and that was alright. I lose about 4.8 kilos every time I do it, but I’ve now got myself to a position where I can cruise pretty comfortably for two hours.’

The star added that he faced another challenge during training after tearing his IT band at the beginning of his journey.

He said: ‘That really threw a spanner in the works and I had to take six weeks off. Thankfully, I’ve come out fine and I’m not injured at all, but this is the kind of thing that can really scramble your mind. If you allow it to get in your head negatively then you’ve already lost the battle before you’ve even got there.’

Spencer is no strangers to difficult challenges however, having completed three ultramarathon’s; the Marathon de Sables (said to be the toughest race on earth), the Jungle Ultra, and the Ice Ultra ahead of his desert marathons. 

Further preparations for his record attempt saw him take trips to Jordan to get used to the terrain and temperature.

In June, he was invited to train with some of Kenya’s Olympic team at the Nyayo National Stadium, where he ran a personal best.

While in July, he took part in a warm-up marathon for Global’s Make Some Noise in which he met the incredible charity’s he would be supporting.

In addition to physically training his body, Spencer ate a carefully controlled diet and ensured he consumed enough food seeing as he was burning around 8,000 calories during training days.

The hunk ate a balanced diet consisting of vegetables, chicken, fruits, yogurts and rice, as well as supplement Heights. 

Spencer broke the world record for the most consecutive marathons run on sand with his final one being completed in 4 hours and 17 minutes. 

The presenter ran 30 desert marathons in 30 days and shared a post from Jordan on Tuesday as he celebrated the incredible milestone and his Guinness World Record.

He was joined on the finish line by his wife Vogue Williams and their three children; Theodore, five, Gigi, three, and Otto, two, who flew out to the Jordanian desert to see him finish.

He penned on Instagram: ‘I DID IT!!! I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT!! 30 DESERT MARATHONS IN 30 CONSECUTIVE DAYS… ALL ON SAND. ✅

‘I am now a Guinness World Records holding endurance athlete – the first and only person to successfully run this many back-to-back marathons in these extreme conditions. Just over 42.2km or 26.2 miles, every single day.

‘That’s 1,274.02km of some of the world’s toughest terrain with no comfort in which to recover.

‘I did this to raise awareness and funds for the incredible work that @globals_make_some_noise do to support small charities across the UK, making sure no one has to go through life’s toughest challenges alone. (For more detailed information regarding the causes and specific examples of how your donations can help please refer to my most recent pinned post).

‘So far we have raised a staggering £342,508 but as far as I’m concerned, we are just getting started… Please consider donating now if you haven’t already via the link in my bio.

‘100% of your donations go directly to Global’s Make Some Noise and absolutely nothing has gone or will go to me, my team or the logistics of the challenge.

‘Huge thanks to my incredible support team without whom this would have been impossible. Your professionalism and constant prevention of issues before they became serious allowed me to achieve this goal. A truly unforgettable journey. What a month! What a feeling!’