Our training goal is to get physically and mentally prepared to fully engage in the sport of mountaineering. Your climbing goal will be to perform strong and steady throughout your adventure.
We offer numerous adventures worldwide from Rainier to Everest. While different objectives require varying levels of commitment, sound fitness gained through a well-guided program is the single best way to ensure a safe and successful adventure regardless of the destination you have chosen.
Fitness for mountaineering requires a high overall level of physical conditioning. Both cardiovascular and motor fitness are needed to climb at varying levels of intensity and to navigate challenging terrain, often while carrying a loaded pack and at high altitudes.
THE FITNESS AND ACCLIMATIZATION CONNECTION
The greater your level of fitness, the more efficiently you can acclimate (i.e., adjust) to altitude. Simply stated, fit climbers spend less energy on certain tasks (i.e., a day of hard climbing), leaving their bodies ready for the task of acclimatization.
Creating A Mountaineering Training Program
Training for mountaineering focuses on building an endurance athlete by developing cardiovascular fitness (fitness of the heart) and motor fitness (particularly endurance, strength, and balance), using specific goals and following a defined timeline.
THE ENDURANCE ATHLETE
A solid mountain athlete is an endurance athlete. More than any other specific fitness skill, endurance is the fitness area of greatest importance to a mountaineer. An endurance athlete is able to perform at a variety of intensity levels all day long and not a specialist in "long and slow" or "short and explosive" activities. Endurance athletes have both excellent cardiovascular and motor fitness.
CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS
Cardiovascular Fitness is measured through your aerobic capacity: your body's ability to take in and use oxygen. At sea level, the restrictive factor in delivering oxygen to the muscles is the heart's ability to pump blood, not the capability of the lungs to take in oxygen. It is at altitude, where oxygen is effectively less available, that the lung’s capabilities come into question. Cardiovascular training should be directed at conditioning your heart and lungs.
MOTOR FITNESS
Motor Fitness refers to endurance (the ability to withstand prolonged exertion), strength (the ability to exert force), power (the ability to exert force rapidly), balance (the ability to maintain stability), agility (the ability to perform actions quickly and smoothly), and flexibility (the ability to bend without breaking). These are all important factors in your ability to climb smoothly and efficiently on mountainous terrain.
TRAINING GOALS
Training goals are critically important given the time constraints placed on a mountaineer by weather, route conditions, objective hazards, and the effects of altitude. Proper physical conditioning allows you to perform better by climbing longer, stronger and faster, be more comfortable on steeper and awkward terrain, carry heavier loads, recover more quickly at rest, and enjoy the entire adventure more completely.
Set your goals at the beginning of your training program. Consider the length, difficulty, and particular challenges of your climb. Evaluate your current fitness baseline, strengths, and weaknesses and take into account how long you have until the beginning of your climb. Then, break down the needed training in order to bring your fitness to the level needed for the climb.
Fitness needed on the climb
- How many days does the climb require?
- What type of terrain and climbing will you encounter?
- To what altitudes will you climb?
- How heavy a pack will you carry?
Current Fitness
- What are your current cardiovascular strengths and weaknesses?
- What are your current motor fitness strengths and weaknesses?
Time Frame
- How long do you have to improve your fitness before the start of the climb?
TIMELINE FOR TRAINING
Once you have examined the physical requirements of the climb, your current fitness levels, and your training goals, plug your training program into a timeline.
| 1st Phase | 2nd Phase | 3rd Phase |
|---|---|---|
Focus on general physical conditioning. Incorporate both cardiovascular and motor fitness training from the start and build your "fitness base." |
Tailor your cardiovascular and motor fitness training to become increasingly mountaineering specific. |
Focus your training wholly on the climb. Train on terrain similar in steepness and difficulty to the mountain and with a pack weight mimicking what you will be carrying. |
Training timelines will vary significantly between climbers, depending on the climb for which they are preparing, the amount of time before the climb, and their initial level of fitness. Very generally, 3 - 9 months are needed to implement an effective program. The more your training can simulate real climbing, especially as the climb approaches, the more you will benefit.
If available, we recommended working with a fitness trainer to lay out the specifics of your training program. Make sure the trainer understands all aspects of training for the climb, from the needed endurance and balance, to the focus on uphill and downhill training.
The Mountaineering Training Program
Begin your training program well in advance of your climb, and increase the intensity and duration of your exercising as you gain fitness. Your first weeks in this new fitness program will most likely be focused on getting into a routine.
Begin both the cardiovascular and motor fitness training from the outset, but start carefully to avoid overuse or over-enthusiasm injuries. Use a variety of exercises, activities, locations, etc. to keep physically challenged and mentally engaged. Aerobic, balance, stretching, and abdominal exercises can be done every day. Aim for interval and strength training once every 3 days or so. Over time incorporate endurance training into all activities.
CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS
Cardiovascular training uses both aerobic exercises and interval training and is the foundation for your ability to climb for long periods of time.
Aerobic Training
Use aerobic training to develop your cardiovascular fitness. A variety of aerobic exercises work well for training, including climbing and descending hills, stairs or stadium bleachers, skiing, running and cycling.
Don’t forget to develop your aerobic ability for the descent. Prepare for a big storm moving in at the end of the day and develop the ability to get down quickly.
Interval Training
Use interval training to advance your cardiovascular fitness. Interval training is an important component in improving your cardiovascular base and preparing to climb comfortably at a variety of paces. The technique of interval training calls for including surges in activity while maintaining an elevated heart rate.
This is a very strenuous manner of training. We have had success with interval training when we have a minimum of three months of training time.
Recommended Interval Exercises
MOTOR FITNESS
Motor fitness training develops the endurance, strength, power, balance, agility and flexibility to climb efficiently on steep and challenging terrain. Use endurance training, strength and power training, balance and agility exercises, and stretching to develop motor fitness.
Endurance Training
Endurance is a motor skill like strength and balance and can be developed with training. Endurance training permeates through all parts of a mountaineer’s training program. The goal of endurance training is to build a durable body by continually increasing the effort, duration, and intensity of training. More than any other specific fitness skill (strength, power, agility, etc.), endurance is the fitness area of greatest importance to the mountaineer.
Recommended Endurance Exercises
Strength and Power Training
It is important that in addition to a sound lower body, you develop a sound upper body as well. A sound torso (both back and stomach) is especially important for mountaineering where heavy pack weights add a new dimension to physical activity. These training principles are essentially the same for our upper and lower bodies. Strength and power training can involve body weight exercises as well as routines using weights.
Recommended Strength and Power Exercises
Balance and Agility Training
Balance and agility exercises reward you with increased body awareness and can aid in your ability to negotiate tricky terrain under a heavy pack. Balance and agility are motor skills like strength and endurance, and can be improved over time.
Recommended Balance and Agility Exercises
Stretching Exercises
Include quality stretching into your program. Focus on slow, static stretching. Avoid bouncing, ballistic stretching. Stretching facilitates the reaching, twisting, and bending which often accompany climbing, and offers relief for a tight and tired body following a difficult day of mountaineering.
Additional Resources
Fit by NatureFit by Nature, by John Colver of AdventX, lays out a flagship 12-week outdoor training program—a regimen that requires nothing more than outdoor space and a little inspiration. |
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AdventXAdventX is a leading outdoor fitness-training program based in Seattle, WA. |
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