So I live in North Dakota and I'm training for Rainier in April. The old saying about "train to climb by climbing" doesn't work here as we don't have any climbing opportunities. So I've been humping up our state capitol building with a light backpack. I started out doing 36 flights and I'm now up to 54 flights in about 20 minutes. I do about 3x/week with other light weight training/cardio mixed in.

Are there any reasons why I shouldn't be relying so heavily on stair climbing in my training regimen? I haven't noticed any bad vibes from my body, even though I have had a minor knee sprain. As for amping it up, should I add more weight to my pack or just keep it light and do more flights?

Any other advice for training ideas not requiring close access to mountains? Thanks!!

At some point I exercised a lot on a stairclimber with a progressively heavier pack. Even though I did really improve my fitness I also messed up my knee and stopped doing it. I also belive that it is better to mix up things in the gym (biking, elliptical, uphill on treadmill etc.) and go for an occasional hike with a pack on the weekend, even though it might be flat around where you live. Instead of working with a pack on a stairclimber, I believe it is better to spend some time working on core and leg strength.

Thanks for the input, guys. I forgot to mention one of the reasons I like climbing stairs is that I can step up using the front of my foot which focuses more on my calves and I can step flat-footed to focus on my quads. I started out walking down the stairs too, but have since switched to only walking down 18 flights on my final set instead of the entire 54 flights.

I have been XC skiing a bit and hope to amp that up. I'm pretty poor and I would rather spend $ on gear rather than a gym membership, so I'm trying to do things outside. It is pretty challenging in ND during the winter.

aemtr,

How far from the Black Hills are you? If it's not too far a drive or bike ride across the state line that might be an option for better terrain to train?

WileyCoyote wrote:aemtr,

How far from the Black Hills are you? If it's not too far a drive or bike ride across the state line that might be an option for better terrain to train?

I'm about 5 hours from the Black Hills. Wish I were closer!

Maybe there's a hiking or climbing club/group out in ND that goes across the border to SD for those activities?

I do not know why all you guys are dogging stairs! He's not going down them and there seems to be plenty of flights to climb at one time; better than "stadium stairs" Better than most of those silly stair steppers at the gym. I say, keep at it, just train in a progressive way.

Sounds like a decent training method, part of a greater plan of course. I think you should dress in all of your gear and carry a radio with you, then constantly get on the radio, "staircase to base camp!" I'd get a laugh if I worked there.

I live in a two-story house, and just go up and down the stairs about 120 times, in bare feet. 30% of the time I do presses or curls with two 10 lb dumbells -- adds cardio and increases the weight. When not using the weights, I take the stairs 2 at a time and sort of run up.

I too would go for mixing it up. Though I like stairs and repeatedly roared up 17 floors in minutes to go anaerobic when I was in training for racket sports. But stairs are quite different to hills because the foot remains on a flat plain. The lower leg action is quite different and so then heading for the hills you could feel it in the calves or hams. I'm not expert on that, only that there would a difference. Ksolem would know that. He might jump in here.

Stairs also don't cause side load to the ankles. So anything you can add to achieve that would strengthen and protect (to prevent sprained ankles in the hills). In the house you could flex the ankles over while holding on the kitchen worktop (careful with that one, it's easy to overstrain, so do start with a few). When doing stairs, make sure your shoes are not too grippy, otherwise with all those many turns, the knee could feel it.

As long as you are not hurting anything, stairs with a pack are great. The DC/Emmons routes on Rainier are walking up a hill, so if stairs are as close as you can get, great. 20 minutes at a time is another story. An hour at a time is much better. Be sure to get some long days (6 hr+) before you go. I'd also add in some bodyweight exercises, push ups, sit ups, pullups as often as possible. What training method you use is not as important as safely getting in the best shape of your life.
You are going to be climbing for 12 hours a day for 2 or 3 or more days. In April, you can expect full on winter conditions. IMO, 20 minutes of stairs with a light pack along with some light cardio will not cut it. You need to be training friggin hard. Check out some of the guide services and see what they recommend for training, check out www.mtnathlete.com, even read this chick's comments...http://trainingformtrainier.blogspot.com/ As long as you don't get hurt, you can't "overtrain" for rainier (As in "darn I was in too good shape and it was too easy...never happens).

Wow, thanks everyone for the tips! As for the smelly stairwells, DMT, it's North Dakota. Even though it's publicly accessible, we don't have huge populations of people pissing in every corner of our cities. (Although the public library recently had a problem with a dude pissing in jars and hiding them throughout the stacks, but that's another story.) But yeah, the view doesn't come close to the view from the back row in the gym!

As for the training advice, I know I need to take things to another level. The feedback here will be a big shot in the arm for me. My biggest problem is not having a training partner to keep me going like I did in college. Now I live out of town with no close neighbors, two young daughters and lots of distractions. I know, it's all BS excuses, but it is difficult to get in the swing of a serious training regimen!

Any good advice for kicking yourself in the ass? Caffeine before a workout? Hardcore punk in the iPod? Meth? I enjoy running, but I find it almost impossible to push past the hurt into the euphoria . . .

Some biking would help too. Work up to some distance and mix it up with pace at 1/4 to mile intervals. Make sure you set the seat correctly: Leg should be nearly straight when the pedal is at the bottom 6-oclock, otherwise the knees can be affected.

I did Rainier last year with RMI and was surprised at how slow the pace was. I had been training at a much faster pace (although without a backpack) on the stair climber at the gym and felt I could walk at the RMI pace all day without a break. Not sure if you are going guided or not.

So, IMO, as long as you take it slow (rest-stepping) you shouldn't have a problem at all with your current training regimen.

Stairs are definitely a good training option when you live in an area that’s very flat.

When preparing for a Mt Rainier glacier climb or something similar probably the most important thing is to train regularly with a weighted backpack. This will be the most sport specific training you can do for your trip. You’ll want to build up over time to be able to carry the weight you will carry up to base camp (camp Muir in this case). I wouldn’t suggest doing all your pack training on stairs though. Multiple hours on hard surfaced stairs may irritate the knees of back.

You could do 1 hour on the stairs mid week with a pack and then take a multi hour pack hike on each weekend. Even wearing a pack on fairly flat land will help. It helps prepare your body (feet, back, hips) for the similar stresses you will feel on the mountain. Add in a couple full body strength sessions and a couple more aerobic sessions and you’ll have a fairly solid training plan.

You would probably benefit if you could take a trip to the Black Hills about 2-3 weeks before your trip and hike back to back days with a heavy pack.

You can get more ideas of how to put together a training plan on my Mountaineering Training Plan Development page as well as articles like back to back pack training and flat land mountaineering training.

Good luck.