rankinesoccer wrote:And, as a cyclist I have like ZERO upper body strength, haha...I can do like 2 pullups. I have never lifted weights in my life.

A strong core will guard against fatigue and against inadvertant bad form (e.g. favoring a leg) that can result in a lower-body injury.

You don't need to lift weights like crazy and get huge. A basic set of core execrises a couple times a week along with endless hiking, biking and cardio should be sufficient. Don't discount its positive effects. I do boatloads of pushups, for example. Situps and lower-back exercises too, such as deadlifts. However, I do agree: be extremely careful with deadlifts. Work light at first and be extremely mindful of your form. But having a strong back is like gold.

And, I'll throw this out there and deal with whatever flak comes back: yoga. It is an incredible strength-builder for the little muscle groups and also helps a lot with flexibility. Many poses are fantastic for the core yet don't have the risk of weights shifting. And the breathing regimen helps too. I was a complete skeptic until my wife got me to go once and after that, I was convinced.

Great Training routines in these books as well:




Got a bike! Road or Mtn don't matter. Get on it, find some hills and start spinning up em. Do some distance intervals as well that include some steep climbs. Maintain an HR of Zone 3+ and push it to max, keep there for 1-2 minutes and rtn to 3+. Get a routine down and I guarantee this will definitely build a solid aerobic baseline for what you are heading up to do.

Endurance - You could set up a plan similar to your cycling regiment, but using a combination of actual hiking, uphill treadmill walking (15% or greater), or stairclimbing. These have a much better transfer to mountaineering than cycling. Some upper body endurance would be beneficial too.

You might need to reduce total volume from cycling training since you will be doing other work - a nice balanced method is 3 sessions a week - 1 long endurance ( 1-2+ hours), one steady race - pace moderate duration (~30 minutes), and one day of several intervals, say 3 x 6 minute high intensity.

Techincal - You are working on that

Strength - Moderate strength is needed. Two full body workouts a week (vague - one light, one heavier) will be more than enough. I'd mix the light day in with a cardio session to give you the extra day off. Overall, focus on compound movements, making sure to work the entire body equally (core included).

You do not need to do any one exercise, for instance squats / deadlifts are nice but technically demanding and time consuming, and you will gain sufficient strength with a good leg press and good core work. Make sure to properly work your lower back. After a month or so, start mixing in some explosive plyometrics (specifically some jumping and pullups).

If you want to incorporate your cycling into your mountaineering training, I suggest long hard hill climbs out of the saddle.

Ok, thanks everyone. I'm going to build up my strength with more gym climbing and soloing a few pitches after school. I'll work on cardio with cycling, I have been racing for a few years now so I know what to do there. Then I'll start a training plan to work through May. Thanks.

rankinesoccer wrote:Ok, thanks everyone. I'm going to build up my strength with more gym climbing and soloing a few pitches after school. I'll work on cardio with cycling, I have been racing for a few years now so I know what to do there. Then I'll start a training plan to work through May. Thanks.

FWIW, you won't build much strength with gym climbing and soloing, and what you do gain will be pretty specific to gym climbing and soloing. It wont' help you much slogging up Mont Blanc. Did you read the Men's Journal article? I only wish I had read something like it when I was 17.
On second thought do whatever the F&*K you want. When I was 19 I climbed Gannett Peak and a bunch of others with hardly any training, run 3 miles and do 20 pushups and you'll be good to go.

bird wrote:On second thought do whatever the F&*K you want. When I was 19 I climbed Gannett Peak and a bunch of others with hardly any training, run 3 miles and do 20 pushups and you'll be good to go.

Ah, so now you agree . I've always insisted that anyone who can run 5k can climb Rainier, especially if they follow the RMI mule train.

bird wrote:

rankinesoccer wrote:Ok, thanks everyone. I'm going to build up my strength with more gym climbing and soloing a few pitches after school. I'll work on cardio with cycling, I have been racing for a few years now so I know what to do there. Then I'll start a training plan to work through May. Thanks.

FWIW, you won't build much strength with gym climbing and soloing, and what you do gain will be pretty specific to gym climbing and soloing. It wont' help you much slogging up Mont Blanc. Did you read the Men's Journal article? I only wish I had read something like it when I was 17.
On second thought do whatever the F&*K you want. When I was 19 I climbed Gannett Peak and a bunch of others with hardly any training, run 3 miles and do 20 pushups and you'll be good to go.

I read the article, and I just read it again more closely. I see what you are saying and I'll work it into my training plan. I do rock climb a bit, and I will over there, so rock climbing is not completely "out there" as training for me. But, getting those peaks done is first priority. Thanks for your help.

0) Qigong
1) feng shui
2) dim sung
3) summa cum laude
4) hoi polloi
5) walk the rice paper without tearing it.

kheegster wrote:

bird wrote:On second thought do whatever the F&*K you want. When I was 19 I climbed Gannett Peak and a bunch of others with hardly any training, run 3 miles and do 20 pushups and you'll be good to go.

Ah, so now you agree . I've always insisted that anyone who can run 5k can climb Rainier, especially if they follow the RMI mule train.

If you are a teenager

Not sure if you are still looking, but Mountaineering: Training and Preparation is extremely comprehensive. Carlton Cooke, Dave Bunting and John Ohara. They even have example work out sessions for different phases of training for everest teams they have worked with. The extreme alpinism is a cool book, but its very anecdotal, this is a Here is your step by step guide, including tips for assessing your V02 max and things like that. I got mine from my uni library but yea, if you're still looking, really check it out.
Also, make sure you do the crossfit exercises with a trainer, if the stuff in extreme alpinism can mess you up for unfit people crossfit is death, though i admit, it always felt like a really good workout, just do it properly!

What type of climbing? Pumpy rock routes? Glacier or ice? Scrambles? Hillwalks?

Assuming you can't get out and do similar activities frequently (as is often the case), then yes, you've got to workout by simulating those activities. Many of us don't have time to get out and workout (or even climb/hike) all the time, so we've got to make the most of the short windows we get.

When I was training for Rainier or Mont Blanc my workouts consisted of a lot of running (if you can't go for a long time, then go as fast as possible), and running intervals. Then running hills and occassionally using the stairmaster in the gym. Also did squats, kettlebells and calf raises.
If I only had 45 minutes to workout (common), then I'd do a short warmup, then 4-6x 400-800m repeats on a track. Then some lunges or kettlebells. Sometimes that'd be all I could fit in, a few times a week, and it worked well.

For ice I tend to incorporate a lot of pullups, calf raises, and hangboard.

For rock-routes, the hangboard, pullups, and pushups get used more.

For general fitness and maintenance, do whatever you like. Run, bike, swim, hike, climb, lift, tennis, basketball, ski. Mix it up.

As I've gotten older (not that I'm very old, relatively), I realize that if you don't do something for a while it is much harder to pick it back up.
I went out and shot some hoops a few weeks ago (first time in probably 2 years), and damn if my knees didn't ache for about 3 days afterwards!

Is a strong core that important? Just to be a bit contrarian but I have never come of a hill and thought, gee I wish my core had been stronger. I usually wish i had spent more time training my quads or shoulders.

I am not sure, but if you are talking about doing the European Highpoints, you might also be considering how much body fat you will have at the end of it. With all of the drive time, loss of sleep and being in a rush, you may not be able to get enough food to maintain your body fat percentage. For Elbrus I don't think it would hurt to have fat reserves because the altitude will make you not want to eat and you'll lose some weight. Same thing for the other Caucasus highpoints. Then going into the rest of Europe you won't have too much trouble, but reserves wouldn't hurt there either. Ideal, I do not know...I would think it varies by individual.