Training for mountain sports and mountaineering

For hiking, mountaineering or alpinism, being physically and mentally prepared is not only a great help to be able to go further, but can also be a factor of safety and survival; here are some recommendations for mountain training

The training suggestions here are not suitable for everyone. Depending on your physical and medical condition, you may need to seek the advice of a doctor or professional trainer for a training plan tailored to your health, body type and needs.

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Also remember that with any training programme you use:

• Start gradually
• Do not continue at high intensity if you have any prolonged pain. Stop and get checked out if you feel you may have an injury.
• Make sure you drink plenty of fluids (water or isotonic mix) before, during and after your sessions.

Planning: When to start training, and an overview of the training calendar.

One of the most important questions when devising a training plan is when to start - is it too early (it's never too early!), is it too late? Ideally, we would train all year round and plan a peak of intensity in this training a little before our target activity. However, factors such as work, family and a simple lack of motivation can make training and maintaining a high level of fitness throughout the year almost impossible for most of us.

If you develop a calendar with a concrete training plan, it will not only be easier for you to stay disciplined and achieve your goals, but it will also help you to define a plan that suits your expectations and current physical condition.

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A period of four to five months of training programme allows for a gradual and structured approach to training, but is not so long that most people will plateau in their progress and/or bottom out in their strength, endurance and interest in the programme.

General six-month training plan for a big mountain goal

• 1st and 2nd monthBack to the gym, start laying the foundation for weight training; add cardio with trail-running and mountain biking.
• Third month: You should see some progress on strength and endurance, progress on cardio should be coming.
• Fourth monthYou now feel good and your strength and endurance are solid. You can do very intense cardiovascular work and hiking and/or climbing activities.
• Fifth monthYou continue to see physical results and outputs from your training, while increasing the intensity to reach your peak in the short term.
• Sesto monthThis should be the time to peak and start tapering your weight training while maintaining a high level of cardiovascular activity until you pack your bags and head for your goal.
• TargetReap the benefits of all your hard training and achieve your goal!

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Example of a weekly programme.

We will design our weekly programme according to the month in which we are in the general plan, and the occupations we have on the different days of the week. Be realistic and adapt your training programme to your life, your family, your occupations, your work.

(we refer to exercises of Group 1 y Group 2The Commission has also been involved in a number of external activities, which are further developed below).

• Monday - Gymnasium: Group 1
• Tuesday - Gymnasium: Group 2
• Wednesday - day of rest
• Thursday - Gymnasium: Group 1
• Friday - Gymnasium: Group 2
• Saturday - Outer?
• Sunday - Exterior/resistance

It is recommended to dedicate a few minutes (or up to an hour) of the day to one type of training, leaving a day's margin for rest or to perform exercises of a different type. stretching or low intensityThis has been scientifically proven to stimulate muscle recovery and help improve flexibility.

Outdoor activities: Activities for when you can go outside to train.

We will try to simulate the physical challenges that our body will encounter when carrying out the activity in the mountains.

Here's a list of activities you can do outdoors to save you from the gym workout doldrums:

• Hiking (also urban): Uphill, with a rucksack on, for a few hours at a time. Walking is something we already do naturally, but as this is the main physical action during mountaineering or hiking, this type of exercise is also a good way to train to expand our capabilities. You can look for a local trail or park, and design longer and longer routes, aiming for a steadier and steadier pace, and try it without a backpack at first, and then carrying heavier and heavier loads, remembering that this will be an important factor. Gradually you can also increase the level of challenge by looking for steep routes or across a variety of terrain. (YOU MAY BE INTERESTED: Training for hiking: exercises)
• Snowshoeing or snowshoeingIf you live close to the snow, go snowshoeing. Again uphill, preferably with a moderate-sized backpack.
• StairsRunning or walking. In many cities or urban environments it will be the closest thing we will have to a mountain climb. If you can find long stretches it will be ideal training terrain. Put on your backpack and go up and down several times. You can gradually increase the repetitions, increase the weight of your backpack and decrease the time of the repetition.
• Trail runningIf you can run on trails and, more importantly, add significant ramps, you will achieve significant muscular and cardiovascular development.
• Mountain bike: MTB is an excellent cardiovascular, aerobic and muscular workout.
• ClimbSome form of climbing or mountaineering in preparation for a major climb is absolutely necessary. The benefits are not only physical but also mental. (YOU MAY BE INTERESTED: Why you should include strength training in your climbing training routine)
• Skiing: Ski touring or ski mountaineering are great ways to get some uphill mileage and have fun while doing it. The uphill movement with sealskins is very ergonomic and works most of the same muscles as hiking uphill. (YOU MAY BE INTERESTED: Training for ski touring)

The following activities are good for overall fitness and health but are not recommended as stand-alone training activities:

• SwimmingThe main benefits of swimming are aerobic and cardiovascular fitness.
• Running on the roadIt also has good aerobic and cardiovascular fitness benefits, but road running, unless mixed with other exercise, produces a very specific physical workout.

Balancing any type of activity with other forms of muscle training is key to achieving muscular fitness. Training to be able to carry more or less heavy backpacks, depending on the objective at hand, is key.

Indoor: Gym workouts for the work week and when you can't go out.

If you are determined to become a good mountaineer, it will also be useful to look for any pretext to strengthen your physical condition, e.g. by substituting the car for the bike where possible, using the stairs instead of the lift, and other such activities.

It is also very useful to carry out exercises to increase the forceparticularly in those parts of the body that you consider to have the greatest weaknesses; as well as the resilience A local gym or home training unit will be of great help in this regard. Here is a list of exercises for the gym.

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Group 1:

• Weight bench or Bench Press (horizontal position)
• Press inclined (weight bench inclined position)
• Decline Press (declined bench press)
• FlysChest exercises, you can use a machine like this Nautilus
• Parallel bottoms (dips), we can intensify it with weight assistance.
• Triceps extensions: seated overhead extension using dumbbells
• Triceps with pulley: standing, we extend triceps by pushing from face level to waist level.
• Crunches: Using an abdominal machine or bench press, can be incline.
• Leg lifts: Lift your legs either bent or straight up to waist level.
• Repetitions, standing with weight assistance (dumbbells) we stand on our "toes".

Group 2:

• Pull-UpsWe work with our own weight (weight assistance is fine) and lift on a fixed bar.
• Pull-Ups seated lying down: we also lift our own weight by pushing it up on the wide fixed bar.
• Pull-Ups sitting with one arm.
• Dumbbells: The most basic weightlifting ever invented.
• Basic deadlift, also with barbell.
• Standing with dumbbells, typical shrug.
• Shoulder raises: Standing with dumbbells, raising arms to shoulder height.
• In machine, seated and pulling towards the chest (machine rows)
• Sit upsHigh-intensity abdominal exercise
• Squats (using free weights or a machine).

Others:

• Quadriceps and hamstring exercises
• Jumps: Start with regular jumps and add weight as strength increases.
• Gripping machine (Grip Machine): Can be useful for ice and rock climbing, strengthening the grip and forearms.

Cardio:

• Ladder machine (Steppers)
• Treadmill on incline

All gym sessions should begin with a cardiovascular warm-up of some kind to get the blood flowing, the muscles relaxed, and the body generally ready to ramp up the intensity. Then move on to the weight training session, and on alternate days do Group 1 and Group 2 exercises. After weight training, do a longer cardio session to get the blood flowing through the body. Stretching after a workout is always a good idea. Stretching the muscle groups you have just worked and, in addition, the antagonist muscle groups can help prevent soreness in the days that follow.

Weights and repetitionsClimbing and mountaineering require much more endurance than strength. We are not going to talk about the amount of weight to use, nor the strategy on sets and reps, but we will say that, as a general rule, you should use less weight and do more sets and reps than you would include in a typical weight training programme. Our goal here is to improve overall fitness, endurance and performance over extended periods of time, rather than actual strength, explosive power or muscle mass building.

By type of training

However, considering that there are different exercises and types of training, here are some particular recommendations for mountain sports enthusiasts.

Cardiovascular

This type of exercise is intended to strengthen the capacity of your heart, thus increasing your endurance and recovery capacity; at least a couple of days a week is suggested.

This type of activity includes aerobic activities such as walking, jogging, spinning, cycling or swimming; and to get the best results, try to bring your body to a good degree of fatigue, but without feeling exhausted; in this sense, a gadget to monitor your cardiac activity will be useful to keep a better control.

You may also find it helpful to gradually add some weight, for example, by squeezing the resistance of the pedals on the bike, or jogging with a pair of small weights in your hands.

Resistance

Two other days of the week can be devoted to resistance exercises, also aiming to go by increasing the intensity - and slightly increasing the time gradually.

In this sense, exercises such as squats and planks can be part of your routine, although we also recommend here some other exercises specially designed for various outdoor activities.

To increase strength

• Climber type

In a prone position as when doing a plank, but keeping the arms straight, we lift one leg keeping the knee without touching the surface, and after doing slight flexions, we change in a single movement to lift the other knee and support ourselves with the foot we had lifted, and so on for several sequences interspersed every 30 seconds.

This type of exercise will strengthen legs, arms, as well as the back and spine, and we can place some weight on the feet to increase the level of challenge.

• Forearm planks

This type of exercise is similar to normal planks, although you should try to hold the position for longer to exercise strength in the gluteus and abdomen; and as the name says, instead of the palms of your hands, you should rest on the floor with your elbows and forearms.

With these kinds of activities we will strengthen shoulders, legs, arms and spine, although to add strength and increase strength and balance, we can also use an exercise ball.

To improve the balance

• Jumping squats

Positioning ourselves as if we were going to perform a squat, we do a slight jump, stretching our legs and raising our arms during the time we are in the air; the important thing is to try to maintain the position with the chest upright and looking for a soft landing cushioned by the feet.

• Squats with high jumps

This type of exercise is similar to the previous one, although instead of jumping and landing in the same position, we can jump to the floor from a gym bench; in this sense, a yoga blanket on the floor will help us to make the landing softer. After each jump we must repeat and try to maintain sequences of at least 30 seconds, keeping our chest upright and holding our hands.

Mental training

Although physical exercise is only part of the training, the mental preparation also becomes a very helpful factor for outdoor development.

In this sense it can be very useful to document yourself on various things that you will find useful to know to become a good hiker; apps that can be very useful to avoid getting lost and explore new routes, on how to decipher the weather, or how to use the mountain tools, among many other knowledge that can be useful to go out in the mountains.

You can also find out more about the topic at documentaries or books hiking and exploring, it never hurts to know basic survival tips and tricks, which can get you out of a lot of trouble.

By staying consistent in your training, you will see that in a short time you will be able to increase your capabilities and thus also broaden your horizons to go further and further and higher.

A quick note on diet

There are countless resources to refer to when it comes to putting together a nutrition and eating plan that is right for your goal. You don't need to change much in terms of diet when entering a serious training period, except to use a recovery/electrolyte drink and increase protein intake after exercise. If the intensity is very high, we will also increase the consumption of higher energy foods. Above all, always eat a balanced diet.

Just before you head for the mountains and in preparation for burning tons of calories with minimal intake, you can eat fatty, high-energy foods to build up your reserves. Although tempting, don't do it too far in advance, lest you compromise your training and/or burn it off before it's time for your trip.

Training for high altitude mountaineering and trekking at altitude

What does it take to prepare adequately for high altitude performance in the great mountain ranges of the world, whether it is a climb in the Andes or a high altitude trek in the Himalayas?

The reality is that proper preparation and physical performance in the days and months leading up to the activity is absolutely necessary if you expect to do it well, safely and have fun in the mountains.

Reaching the summit on a high altitude route is one of the most rewarding things there is, once you get to the top, the view, the atmosphere and the sense of accomplishment create memories that will last a lifetime. And this is only achieved through hard work and effort, choosing the right equipment, and months of training. This is how you should prepare for a trek at altitude.

¿How to identify and treat altitude sickness? How can we prepare ourselves? Altitude sickness, also known as mountain sickness, is the way the body reacts to altitude. It is not necessary to be at the highest of peaks to suffer from this illness: in some cases, you can get the symptoms just by being at about 2,000 metres above sea level. (YOU MAY BE INTERESTED: How to prepare for altitude sickness)