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Mountaineering Training | Fit To Climb: Week 4

Posted by: | February 25, 2013
Categories: *Mountaineering Fitness & Training

By the end of this week you’ll be a quarter of the way through Fit To Climb! This week’s should be familiar, except we will add a Fitness Test on Day 6.

Fit to Climb: Week 4 Schedule

DAY	WORKOUT	TOTAL TIME	DIFFICULTY
1	Rainier Dozen / Easy Hiking ( 30 min)	42 min.	Medium
2	Rainier Dozen / Stair Interval Training (40 min)	52 min.	Hard
3	Rainier Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
4	Strength Circuit Training x 2	38 min.	Hard
5	Rainier Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
6	Rainier Dozen / Cross Training (1 hr)	72 min.	Hard
7	Hike (3 hrs)	182 min.	Medium
	Total	6 hrs 46 mins

FITNESS TEST

After a good ten-minute warm-up followed by the Rainier Dozen, first do the timed run. Go at a speed that feels like an intense effort. Record your time. Then, rest for 5 minutes by gently walking or just pacing slowly back and forth.

For the strength test portion, find an area that has a solid, level, and soft surface. Grass is perfect but you can also do this indoors if you prefer. During this test, you will perform four exercises for 2 minutes each, with 3 minutes of rest between each exercise.

For the first three exercises, the goal is to count the number of perfect repetitions you can complete in 2 minutes. For a reminder on good form for these exercises, refer to the Rainier Dozen post (Week 3). If you do this with a partner, you can rest while counting their repetitions—along with providing encouragement! For the fourth exercise, the Shuttle Run, simply time yourself. Write down your scores for each test.

Perform the strength test as follows:

1. Push-ups—2 minutes, followed by 3 minutes of rest
2. Steam Engines on Back—2 minutes, followed by 3 minutes of rest
3. 3/4 Squats—2 minutes, followed by 3 minutes of rest
4. 20-yard Shuttle Run—Set up your shuttle run course with some cones or water bottles. If you aren’t sure of measurement use 25 normal paces as a guide. Run back and forth between your markers for 2 minutes, counting each loop as one.

- John Colver

John Colver is a longtime climber, former mountain guide, and certified personal trainer with the American Council of Exercise. Colver introduced outdoor fitness classes to athletic clubs throughout the greater Puget Sound region before creating his adventX brand. Currently, adventX leads training programs in Seattle and Colver presents clinics on outdoor fitness at companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, the American Lung Association, and REI. Colver lives in Seattle, and is working on his second book, Fit to Climb - a 16 week Mount Rainier Fitness Program.

Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts with John and other readers on the RMI Blog!

You can read the past Weekly Mountaineering Training Series on the RMI Blog.

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