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robbiehirsch
Feb 1, 2005, 5:55 AM
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Hey everybody!
I just found out today that my trip to the Waddington Range in Canada is a go for this June. Woohoo! This means I've got about 4.5 months to get in really awesome shape. My current plan is to do 30 minutes of cardio every morning followed up by different weight training. I also am planning on hiking several times a week with a few gallons of water in my pack so I can dump it on the return. Any other ideas on how to train for both endurance and high power?
Thanks,
Robbie
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kobaz
Feb 1, 2005, 6:09 AM
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You got a good idea for training with humping water around. The best advice I can give about training cardio, is go run a few miles a day :P
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ron_burgandy
Feb 1, 2005, 6:11 AM
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Try doing smaller peaks whenever you can (I dont know where you live and the avaliability of climbs) but nothing gets you in better shape for a trip than the real thing. Other than that lots of cardio, endurance and plenty of weight and strength training. Good luck!
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kobaz
Feb 1, 2005, 6:15 AM
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Good things for weight training:
Shoulder Shrugs (for training those pack weight bearing muscles)
Lunges (For when your high stepping onto big rocks)
Squats (Helps with getting up off the ground with a pack on)
If you can, find a treadmill with an adjustable incline and load up a pack with 30-40 pounds and just walk. Our treadmill goes up to 15% grade, and boy it is a workout with 50 pounds on when you bump up the speed.
Oh, and why dump the water on the way back? I have trained using water with the idea that if i'm too tired I can dump it. I would rather keep the weight on for more training, hehe.
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kobaz
Feb 1, 2005, 6:22 AM
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Oh, and I'm not responsible if you burn the motor out on your treadmill.
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sandbag
Feb 1, 2005, 6:30 AM
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Get a big pack. Load it up withlots of stuff, preferably expedition supplies. make it heavy. HIke alot, in all conditions. Set up mental scenarios of time/distances to start dialing in your own abilities to cover ground and know your optimum pace. learn to know when you need to stop to rest, and when you dont, when you need to take care of hot spots/take on food water etc. Its not rocket science, its more complicated, but its certainly more fun....
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robbiehirsch
Feb 1, 2005, 7:13 AM
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Good idea on the treadmill! I never thougth of that haha. I was thinking of dumping that water so I don't kill my knees... I think it'll just depend on the day and how I'm feeling whether or not I acutally do dump it though.
My main concern is I live in San Diego, CA... We've got some cool hikes and climbs by us, but the highest area within an hour of my house is like 4,500 or 5,000 feet. So for regular training (I'll definately be bagging a ton of peaks and doing shorter trips in prep) I'm trying to figure out what's the best way to prepare for the altitude. My guess is that I'm going to be above 8,000 ft for the better part of the trip. If I have an expedition size pack on (7,000 cu in) filled with crap, I'm worried that I'm going to be in for a walloping. But I guess there's not a whole I lot I can do other than a ton of cardio to prepare for that, right?
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sandbag
Feb 1, 2005, 7:22 AM
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oh yeah. go hike with the heavy pack in snow shoes, crampons, and skis too. im a big simulate before the real deal so i know what to expect. i hate surprises in the wrong context. mix it up a little, great example is how i tested myself and my 0F down sleeping bag. slept on the porch in
-10F in the bivy to see how well it worked...true story....its better than finding out after youve gotten frost bite 20 miles formthe nearest help....go for it, have fun
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salbrecher
Feb 1, 2005, 7:46 AM
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Go coastal treeplanting in British Columbia. You get about 8hrs of cardio a day, you also get to hump 50lbs+ of trees all day so you get in leg power and endurance training. you get mentally strong having to bash through bush for 8hrs a day and bushwacking becomes second nature. Arms and back also get tough and strong. You get used to the rain as it rains up to 5 meters (16ft) per year on northern vancouver island. storm days are no problem anymore! In fact, you might even find yourself climbing on days when others will not! I have found this is the best training, bar none. Season starts early Feb and ends in sept (but you can quit whenever you want) so you can plant as long as you want and leave for your trip fit and ready to climb hard!
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cgailey
Feb 1, 2005, 9:25 AM
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Getting out in las montanas enough to adequately train would be awesome, but life often does not allow for our grand plans. My best regimen was climbing stairs with a water loaded pack. Sure, getting out in the elevation is good training, but if you are limited by time, save that for when the climb is near.
My best advice is to do what you will be able to do consistently; where you can judge your progress...that is, doing the same thing a lot. I know it sounds boring, but you will want to be able to see improvement in your fitness for that extra measure of confidence while you are suffering on the big hill!
Good luck and have a great climb! 8^)
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clymber
Feb 1, 2005, 12:56 PM
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depending on how high the peak is that you will be doing....start off getting a straw....shove some cotton into it and then go for a hike and only brath thru the straw...that will get you used to the O2 depletins that yu will have to deal with
just my advice and im no mountaineer expert
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craggincragin
Feb 1, 2005, 2:24 PM
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We mountaineers of Scottish descent train on the couch with whiskey and cigarettes, but that's another story :lol:
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wjca
Feb 1, 2005, 2:35 PM
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Everyone says put on a pack and hike up the closest mountain, which is a good plan, but is probably not something you can do everyday. You said you plan on doing cardio each morning; the more uphill running you can do, the better. I have never been to San Diego so I have not idea how flat or hilly it is. The treadmill sounds like a good idea if you can't get outside, but running on actual ground is going to do more for you from a physiological standpoint because you actually have to move yourself forward rather than have the treadmill move underneath you. Have fun.
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chitowngirl
Feb 1, 2005, 2:40 PM
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Cgailey is right - stairs with a loaded up back is great training. I load mine up with books - dictionaries and encyclopedias. Then I go up and down the stairs in my building. It's really convenient if you live in a high rise. If you don't - do it on the stair master in the gym. The down side to that is that you can't go down, and it's good to train going down to, cuz you use different muscles. But even if you gotta resort to a stair master, it's a great workout with a pack. Hopefully you've got an ipod or something to make it a little less boring.
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kimgraves
Feb 1, 2005, 2:47 PM
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There are several online training plans for mountaineering including this Training to Climb Denali pdf from Alpine Ascents. There are also DVD training tapes such as this one, which I have not personally seen.
Best, Kim
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adamtd
Feb 1, 2005, 3:37 PM
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Last Spring I went to Nepal to climb Ama Dablam. I was fat and out of shape as compared to my usual fitness level. I had three months and knew I had to kick my butt to get in shape. I started out with high intensity interval training to boost my aerobic fitness level. I woudl run for ten minutes, sprint for 2 minutes. Do this for a an hour. As you progress run for thorter intervals, and sprint more frequently. I don't recommend sprinting any more than 2 min every 5 minutes. But hey, it's yoru workout. From there I trained endurance and cardio by getting on a stair mill (far better than a stairmaster) for an hour at a time with a pack weighing 50-70 lbs. Yes it sucks, but I was in teh best shape of my life when I left for Nepal. It took huge chunks of time out of my day and I had to sacrifice going to teh pub with my friends, but I enjoyed my trip much more and was able to climb far better. Then I came home and got fat again. Good luck mate!
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hanginaround
Feb 1, 2005, 4:44 PM
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I'd push for 200 minutes a week of fairly high-level cardio workouts. That will give you the maximum cardio benefit. Running and the stair stepper are my preference. Your last workout should be 5 days before your departure. Then rest, sleep, and stretch.
T
Since you’re a southern Californian. I’d look for hikes with great gains in elevation. The obvious routes are:
• San G. Via Vivian creek
• Iron Mountain (in the San Gabriel’s not the SD one)
• Mt. Wilson
• San J. via the Cactus to Clouds route (Skyline trail)
• Or Baldy (San Antonio) via Bear Flat
These mountains are all snow-covered right now so take advantage of the opportunity to practice your mountaineering skills as well as get a great workout.
Here’s a link to a another discussion on the subject you’ll find helpful http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001886
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dm
Feb 1, 2005, 5:05 PM
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my experience is that running does not do a thing for your training for mountains. I've seen marathon runners having trouble on their hike in and out of Grand Canyon.
Living in San Diego, you have access to lots of hilly terrain nearby. Hiking up those mountains a lot is really the best thing to do. Cycling is also good but make sure there are lots of hills, not just even ground. I guess stairmasters should work well but they are so damn borning.
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gds
Feb 1, 2005, 5:10 PM
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San Diego, so no weather problems. Forget stairmasters and treadmills you can be outside every day.
As others have said hiking and cycling will get you cardio-fit. In my experience this will be with much lower chances of injury than running.
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elwood86
Feb 1, 2005, 5:17 PM
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Another way to get used to the altitude is to hike with a wet dust mask. I put more than the weight that I will be carrying in my pack so when the trip arrives my pack feels light. I train on steps, skipping every other one. I also train outside by hiking steep trails or steps, with lots of cold weather gear to make me sweat, and stopping every hour or so for about fifteen minutes so I get used to regulating body temp. I overtrained with running and ended up with a knee that hurts after 7 or so miles. You need to listen to your body and focus on specifics. I hope this helps.
John
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jammer
Feb 1, 2005, 5:19 PM
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Man, I'm totally exhausted just reading about this! Hats of to those of you who have and will endeavor such tasks!
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robbiehirsch
Feb 1, 2005, 7:38 PM
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Sick! Thanks for the input everybody. That training guide for Denali is killer. I'll let you all know how the trip goes!
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sidepull
Feb 1, 2005, 9:02 PM
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what's the "Mckinley Edge" referred to in the training guide?
that's a pretty cool schedule, I don't want to hijack the post, but how would you alter it for sport climbing?
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peas
Feb 1, 2005, 10:11 PM
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As with most people, I find that my free time is at a minimum, so to kill two birds with one stone, I bike to work. It generally doesn't kill any of your free time (if you live somewhat near where you work) and you get a great workout to boot. I also switched to a fixed gear bike and found that it's a great workout since you're forced to push it up hills and don't get a break going down.
This summer I also found that peak bagging was great training for... peak bagging. Start early while there's still snow on the ground and you can peak bag on skiis rather than on foot.
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