Simple suggestions
for weight training success

By Darran Bornn

Colorado Mountain Club members are some of the best-prepared outdoor enthusiasts in the Rocky Mountains. Chances are, if a random ice climber happens to plummet through the frozen outer shell of the running waterfall he or she is climbing and encounters a CMC member afterwards, the member could have a roaring fire lit, space blanket wrapped around the naked climber, and smores and hot cocoa well under way before introductions are over.

No less important than the gear we carry in our packs, physical conditioning is a “must” for a successful trip into the mountains. As we quickly approach summer, I wanted to remind you to add resistance weight training to your personal list of ten essentials for success on your upcoming adventures.

Why resistance training

For many of us, going to the gym is about as exciting as watching a marmot digest a belly full of tundra grass, but don’t forget how important resistance (weight) training can be. For starters, more muscle strength and endurance equals higher levels of personal performance on future projects and trips.

Weight training also increases bone density and flexibility and promotes weight loss. Research studies have shown that combining weight training with cardiovascular training doubles fat loss when compared to doing only one or the other. If you have eaten one too many Cadbury® fruit and nut bars while watching the latest Sopranos episode, you need to get on it! Trips to the gym also provide an opportunity to network with other outdoor enthusiasts and maybe make new friends.

Total Body versus Sport Specific

“Sport specific” training programs get much hype these days in fitness articles. During my years as a professional fitness trainer, I wrote many a sport specific program. These are certainly very effective. However, I also am a strong believer in overall body fitness. In layman’s terms, I mean focusing on conditioning and strengthening the body as a whole as compared to focusing on specific muscle groups in a highly regimented workout for specific athletic results. I have always found it a bit easier to keep the weight training short and sweet and get into the outdoors for a run or hike afterwards. If you are more advanced in your pursuits and want a sport specific program, find and consult an experienced trainer at your gym.

Base Exercises versus Muscle Specific

To divide the weight training pie even more, exercises can be further broken down into “base” exercises and “muscle specific” ones. A simple example would be: I want to strengthen my quadriceps muscles on the top of my legs. I can do a base exercise (squats) that works my quadriceps, hip muscles, and hamstrings all together, or I can do a muscle specific exercise (seated leg extensions) that isolates the quadriceps and does not work other muscles as well.

Base exercises target the muscle itself and the other supporting muscles resulting in stronger overall core body strength. Muscle specific obviously target a single muscle or group. For purposes of CMC member fitness, I recommend performing as many base exercises as possible, since our activities—hiking, trekking, climbing, etc.—usually require good overall strength and use muscles groups together. Huge quads are great to show off, but if your glutes (butt) muscles are flaming out as you approach the last two hundred feet of your San Juan peak, they won’t do you much good. Shoot for overall body lifts. More on this later.

Upper body

Have you ever hiked with, or seen on the trail, the “ultra hiker” who has legs muscular enough to carry fifteen steel oxygen canisters from the 1924 Mallory Irvine Everest Expedition, connected to arms and a chest that look like a dehydrated waif model? Upper body muscles are very important! We carry packs, walking sticks, racks of cams and nuts, and other items that are essential to our success. These require shoulder, back, arm, and chest strength. How will you make it to the top of the scrambling on “the home stretch” of the famed Long’s Peak trail with biceps made of goo?

Lat pulldowns strengthen the latissimus dorsi muscles
on either side of the chest

I have selected some basic upper body exercises for you to consider with a picture of each and explanation. Following each is an additional list of other exercises you can add in for variety and spice. I recommend consulting your favorite fitness trainer at the gym for help on all of these. For simplicity’s sake I recommend you start off with light to medium weight at three sets of twelve repetitions for your first couple of weeks of workouts (2x per week) to get your body used to training with weights. If you already have been lifting or you have completed the two to three weeks of conditioning, go ahead and increase the resistance (weight) and add another set while lowering the repetitions. Example: four sets of eight to ten repetitions.

Chest

• Bench Press 3x12 (4x8)
• Dumbbell flys
• Incline dumbbells
• Dips
• Push-ups

Shoulder

• Seated Shoulder Press or Military Presses (Dumbbells may be substituted) 3x12 (4x8)
• Lateral Raises
• Front Raises

Back

• Lat Pull Down 3x12 (4x8)
• Dumbbell rows
• Seated rows

Biceps

• Barbell (or dumbbell) Bicep curls 3x12 (4x8)
• Preacher Bench curls
• Cable curls
• Concentration curls

Triceps

• Tricep Cable Push Downs
  

Lower Body

When a hypoxic Reinhold Messner stumbled to the top of Everest in 1980, making the first solo ascent of the peak, or when Arlene Blum’s team reached the summit of Annapurna, they all shared one thing in common: some seriously healthy pistons down below. Legs, butt, and stomach muscles are some of the most critical for success on outdoor trips. Our CMC roots as a social hiking club dictate that we carry expedition size packs with us on the day hike in order to be prepared for “the worst”—or at the very least, to have one heck of a feast and party for the noontime leader lunch break.

Calf Raises strenghten one of the most
critical muscles for hiking: the calves

Again, I really like exercises that work muscles in groups and in conjunction with each other. Runs and conditioning hikes will condition the legs, but really our focus in the gym is to build pure strength in these muscles. Stronger legs go farther and tire less from carrying loads. Conditioning will come from cardiovascular training.

Also, don’t skip the stomach! Abs are the most important muscles in the body for balance and core strength. They also are the ones that get ignored most frequently in workouts.

One last point: I personally believe that many people’s quads are strong but hamstrings are weak. Therefore you will see me suggest leg curls to hit the hams even though this really is a muscle specific exercise.

Legs Overall

• Lunges 3x12 (4x8) (note: do not go too deep on these, and if you have bad knees do leg extensions and leg curls instead) or
• Squats 3x12 (4x8)
• leg extensions
• Sled presses

Calfs

• Seated calf raises 3x12 (4x8)

Hamstrings

• Prone Leg curls 3x12 (4x8)
• Seated leg curls

Hips

• Adductor Machine 3x12 (4x8)
• Abductor Machine 3x12 (4x8)

Stomach

• Sit-ups 4 sets as many as possible
• Crunches 4 sets as many as possible

Flexibility

Stretching is paramount for a healthy body and injury prevention. Navy Seal instructors at BUDS Training stretch their charges before and after every day of torture. Why? Years of data show it drastically reduces injury and stress fractures, and it warms/cools the body for peak fitness. This will help during treks in the mountains. I recommend you stretch every day, all muscles in the body. Start at the head and work down. Before a workout go light, holding each stretch for fifteen seconds. After, push it a bit more and hold for thirty seconds each. At this time, muscles are warm, gorged with blood, and offer a plastic state to make overall gains in flexibility. A good routine is beyond the scope of this article. Get with a trainer, or even better take a yoga class. It will bring significant rewards.

Conclusion

Begin with light to medium weight at three sets of twelve repetitions for your first couple of weeks of workouts.

Progress to 4x8 with medium to heavy weight. Challenge yourself.

I recommend lifting a minimum of two times per week. If it is really killing you to be in the gym, do upper body one day and lower the next day. Otherwise consider doing them together. Initially this may take more time to learn the exercises, but once you have the hang of it, you should be able to move through in one hour or less.

Get with a trainer and go over each exercise in person so you get the correct form down. Most gyms will offer some free sessions with your membership or at least have staff on the floor to assist. These guys can’t wait to help and really will come in handy later on to reformulate your workout with new exercises to make it fresh again.

Stretch and get your cardio training in! Although I harped on the importance of legs, the number one “muscle” (aside from our brains) is the heart and lungs. Get out your pack, throw in some gear, and take yourself out the back door for a hike. We live in a beautiful place so I suggest using it for your cardio rather than the sweat soaked Stairmaster™ at the gym.

A note to CMC woman: Many of my past clients were women, ranging from executives to CU sorority members. The number one concern when we hit the weights was always “I am going to get huge like Linda Hamilton in Terminator II!” Not true! Your muscles will tone, not turn into body builder balloons.

My closing thoughts are that weight training is nowhere near the pleasure of hiking through a field of Colorado wildflowers, climbing the Robbins traverse on Eldorado’s Yellow Spur Climb, or meeting friends for breakfast before embarking on another CMC adventure. Nevertheless, weight training is a very important component of taking care of yourself and achieving higher levels of fitness. If you spend some time in the gym, I promise it will pay off on your future CMC adventures with easier success and better overall experiences. I wish you the best during the rest of your 2002 adventures and weight room sessions towards those goals.

Darran Bornn is a former professional fitness trainer, collegiate athlete, and CMC employee. Currently he can be found trying to run thru the foothills, riding loud motorbikes in the canyons, or towing gliders over the continental divide west of Boulder.

Before commencing any physical activity, see your personal physician for the go-ahead. The information in this article is merely the opinion of the author and not guidance. Consult professional athletic fitness trainers for guidance in your workouts. Working out can increase the heart rate, increase chances of a heart attack or stroke, cause death, or a really sore posterior for a few days. Use common sense and don’t overdo it. The Colorado Mountain Club and Darran Bornn in no way advocate following any of the opinions contained within.