It finally happened. I am now a paying gym member. A friend of ours started going to a gym here and lo and behold suddenly my husband wants to join it to. I haven't gone yet but we got a tour when we were looking into it. I was wondering what anyone thought would be the most beneficial thing to do there. Sorry I'm completely unfamiliar with gyms, I always got my exercise and training in the big old out of doors. The one thing that actually does interest me is the big stair thing. I'm sure this big machine has a fancier name then a stepper but I think that some time on that would be the most related to the overall purpose of going for me. I told my husband that he'ld have to be the one married to the crazy woman with her backpack on that machine but he told me that I wasn't going t use it with my pack... but I love my pack!!!

Asking people for training advice is akin to asking economists for advice: ask 10 different people and you will get 10 different opinions.

In general you want to create a workout program that enhances core, upper body, and leg strength without building a lot of bulk while maintaining and improving flexibility. A lot of body building type exercises seek to isolate and work specific muscles. Your goal should be the opposite, you want to select exercises that recruit the maximum number of muscle groups.

I have found that a program built around body weight exercises with a few exercises using light weights accomplishes these goals. Pull ups, push ups, ball crunches, planks, hanging leg raises, dips, dumbbell bench press done while balancing on a ball, wall sits, one leg bending squats are all good exercises. If your gym offers them try out Pilates and power yoga classes. These will help improve flexibility and core strength.

As far as aerobic conditioning I find the stair stepper machines useful for doing interval workouts. For longer aerobic workouts when I can’t get outside the treadmill on an incline is ok. One anecdote: I had friend who guided a couple of clients up Mt Rainier. They trained by doing hard stair stepper work outs. They did fine up the mountain but completely fell apart on the way down. They had done nothing to train their leg muscles for hiking downhill.

Here is a good resource. The owner is my personal trainer and has written the training chapter for the Freedom of the Hills climbing manual. http://www.bodyresults.com

Thanks ExcitibleBoy, that link seems to have useful information. I can believe what you said about those people not preparing for the way down, honestly I find that the most tiring part of any mountain. I find it easy (relatively speaking) to get what I need on a day to day basis from outdoor activities. With all those machines and weights in the gym I figured I would end up doing something that I didn't really need for my particular interests. I definitely don't plan to get big bulky muscles, haha, that would look weird on my frame for sure! Does going to the gym tend to lower your endurance do you think? I mean do your muscles get used to only having to work for a short period of time and therefore actually hinder you on a long day of exertion? Obviously you can' spend a 12-13 hour day there pretending to be in the mountains but I was just wondering overall if people found they actually got tired faster from getting so used to only a set amount of time to exert themselves. Don't get me wrong, I'm not thinking that the gym isn't beneficial I just though that could be a downside.

NW wrote:Does going to the gym tend to lower your endurance do you think?

Training in the gym will lower endurance only if you do it to the detriment of endurance training. You have to look at weight training as a supplement to a program that includes aerobic and muscle endurance training. I think weight training two or three days a week max is all you need to supplement an active outdoor lifestyle that may include hiking, climbing, BC skiing, trail running, cycling, etc.

Your stamina will increase by going to gym 3 (or so) times a week and climbing and hiking on weekends. I can guarantee that. I have spent 25 years in a gym, weights and aerobic workouts both, and it showed in the mountains. No doubt about it. After a while, most efforts get easier, your aerobic capacity will increase, your stamina will too as well as your ability to push hard. Serious gym effort translates directly into better and easier mountain experience IMO. It takes a bit of time (give it a year if you have not done this kind of stuff before), but you'll likely see some results in three months or so.

mtnathlete.com

i do their "big mountain training plan" 11 months out of the year 3 days a week vs 6 (its normally a 12 week program) and then i climb on the weekends.

Adam beat me to it. Mt. Athlete now charges for the workouts they post, but there are several they put on their site that you can check out and try. They're tough. You can probably also check out Gym Jones and Crossfit and get an idea of what their clients are doing. I'll let other opine on how well those workouts translate to outdoor stuff.

One thing to keep in mind is that you can get injured pretty quickly with the repetive nature of some of the different workouts (particularly with crossfit IMO), so ease yourself in.

Thanks for all the useful tips and links. Once I get over this stupid cold I'll be sure to try it out.

Some of the most important but under trained groups involve really low weights but are the stabilizer muscle groups. Some to think about are

The rotator cuff muscle groups. If you don't train these you may end up having surgery on them (I have several friends who had the 1 yrs recovery, and they were young climbers). Standard ones are internal and external rotator cuff, a modification of the dumbell bent-over row which will work the supraspinatus, and then a weighted chop or cable assisted chop to mention just a few (I do a total of five different exersizes for them)

The hip and knee. Suprisingly recent research in exersize phys has shown that a strong hip help stablize and decrease knee injuries among runners. Hip adductors and abductors are important. Also using the stability pad (sort of like a stability ball but cut in half) and just single leg balances for 30 sec to 1 minute on each leg is good for the knee, along with single leg presses with a moderate amount of weight.

Back stability exersizes, such as supermans.

The object of the gym is the obvious which is to develop or maintain strength to do the things you want to do, but also develop those muscle groups that will prevent injuries to allow you to continue doing what you want to do as long as you want to do it. Most people recognize the first but not the second.

I’ve always found the gym helpful for motivational purposes. When a particularly attractive female is running on the treadmill in front/next to me I tend to stay on the treadmill longer, as does the possibility of such an event happening if the treadmill is empty. Hope is a powerful thing.

Seriously though, I think you can get an excellent workout anywhere. It really depends are your goals. If you are looking to become a competitive bodybuilder there is no substitute for a good gym, but to increase overall heath and strengthen your core for better overall sports performance the only benefit of a gym IMO is that it helps to have a place to go, people to see and motivate you and hot chicks. Just being honest...

Haha at least you find motivation there from some means I suppose. I saw a super tall sort of scary personal trainer chick at our gym....that's sort of motivating I suppose....