[quote="jpsmyth"]Mark Twight's book Extreme Alpinism provides a good workout regimen to prepare for climbing. Of course, I don't climb anything like he did but I followed it pretty closely last year and I never felt better or stronger in my climbing. [quote]

I agree that Mark Twight may be the best overall book for climbing reltated fitness, as well as all things alpine, but unless you have a backgroung in weight lifting (I didn't) you may want to take some lessons from a personal trainier so you don't hurt yourself. I followed Twight's advice but was frequently injuring myself in the weight room. Some sessions with a personal trainer (Courtenay at Bodyresults.com) fixed this, I simply did not know how to do the exercises or lift properly.

I have a bit of experience climbing in Europe; I have done 12 European Country highpoints so far. I just got back from Europe a couple weeks ago after spending 8 weeks there, which I do every summer. I am familiar with the obstacles that I will have to deal with...I practically memorized every European highpoints' difficulty.
Living in Arizona makes it tough to train for glaciers, high altitude like I will see on Elbrus, and snow. I do not have a ton of experience on snow, but I am competent. As for altitude, I have done some state highpoints like Elbert with zero acclimatization (flew into Denver at 9 pm, to Leadville by 12 am, on the trail by 5 am) and just a little headache. I am learning technical skills from Wayne Wallace (you Seattleites may know him), and he taught me how to rock climb.
My plan is to take this year and train more on snow, heading to Humphreys in winter, and gaining more strength and endurance by using a training plan so I am extremely well-prepared for the climbs at hand. I will acclimatize, but it will be quicker if I am in the best shape.
I would love to just climb for training, but it is WAY too big a risk to go into this unprepared. I'm hoping to finish this off as quick as possible and then head out to Kyrgyzstan and some more exotic places.
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.

Dan (excitable boy) makes a good point about training in the lifts. Deadlifts are awesome and along with squats the best exercises you can do, but bad form and an injury can ruin your year.

Check out http://www.crossfit.com/cf-affiliates/ and find a crossfit gym near you. (Crossfit Scottsdale looks good) and you can get some training there on technique for lifting heavy (ala Mtnathlete.com)
Talk to the coaches, let them know your goals, get a feel for their style and find one that's a fit.

Also, read this. http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/eve ... e-20120504
Here's a quote. If this article doesn't make you a believer in how to get fit for climbing, you are simply not paying attention.
"But Shaul gave me a great gift that day, cluing me in to a little secret: True sport-specific training, for literally everybody except elite athletes, isn't sport-specific at all. It's about getting strong, durable, and relentless in simple, old-school ways that a man can train, test, and measure. Nobody does crunches training this way, nobody watches television from the stationary bike, and 60-year-old women dead-lift 200 pounds and more."

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

Training the best and most important part of mountain climbing, without proper training climbing is very dangerous, as my uncle got a fracture while mountain climbing, though he was a trained.

So climbing is not a easy task but we can make it easy by having proper trainer and instructor with us. Also before going to actual climbing, one should keep all the necessary thing that may be needed.

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!