From couch potato to alpinist
by Darran Bornn
It is almost the time of year when we trade our skis, snowshoes, or ice screws for hiking boots and rock slippers in order to enjoy some of Colorado’s best months of outdoor recreation. While I can’t promise to morph you into the next Mark Twight, Lynn Hill, or Cindy Crawford, I can give you some advice for easing into peak bagging, hikes, and technical climbing to help reduce body soreness, racing heart, and throbbing forearms.
I hope you have had the chance to stay active over the winter months and maintain some cardiovascular and strength base for the spring. If not, don’t loose hope.
To begin your preparation I strongly suggest the most overlooked and beneficial part of any routine. Stretch. Concentrate on your quads, hamstrings, and calves, but don’t forget the upper body. Overall body fitness benefits any type of activity. When your body is cold, hold those stretches for 12–15 seconds. Go light. The point is to warm your body up for upcoming activity. When you are warm—let’s say after a hike or run—hold stretches for 25–30 seconds. In such a warm “plastic” state, muscles will be able to go farther without risk of injury. Stretching after your workout will yield the best flexibility gains. Most serious athletes stretch pre- and post-activity. I recommend that you do least one or the other. Loose, flexible, relaxed muscles will perform much better and help prevent injury. Stretch every day. Your key here is to get the body used to improved overall flexibility.
Strength yields results
Many people avoid weight rooms like an alpinist does rotten rock. I do agree that hiking on a clear day is more fun than leg exercises in a weight room, but weights are ideal for increasing your overall body strength and consequently your comfort and safety in the mountains.
I recommend doing regular resistance training as part of any fitness routine. If you belong to a gym, focus on accomplishing a workout that takes thirty to forty minutes and works all of your muscles. Free weights and/or machines are great.
Concentrate on three to four sets of 8–10 repetitions for four weeks, with slightly heavier than normal weight. Twice a week is great.
If you have not lifted a thing over the winter, I recommend preceding this with two to three weeks of lighter weight and higher reps to pre-condition your muscles to lifting.
After the four weeks of 8–10 reps, drop the weight slightly and increase your reps to 12–15. This process basically develops some strength and then adds some endurance.
Rent a personal trainer or take advantage of those free introductory sessions at your gym if you need help with exercises. For those who would rather be outside, fill that pack with some gear and go for a hike. There is nothing better than mimicking the activity you will be doing. Start lighter and gradually work up in load. Try walking up hills backward to blast your calf muscles. Make sure to look over your shoulder! Yard work, cleaning the garage, and hand washing the car work wonders on those shoulders and saggy back muscles. Increase your activity level and focus on activities that work the body overall. Even if you only plan to do moderate hikes this season, overall fitness is the key!
Cardio lactic acid hell
Our bodies produce energy in two ways. Aerobically, which means in the presence of oxygen, and anaerobically—without oxygen. For a simple example, you climb five hard moves on a boulder problem. This is almost purely anaerobic exercise. You hike four miles at a moderate pace. This is almost purely aerobic. The body always starts any exercise anaerobically and then produces energy usually with a mix of both. Percentages are determined by many factors not critical to this article.
The point is, it is good for you to train your cardiovascular system before you tackle your favorite hikes or climbs. I recommend three to four days a week of cardiovascular training. Aerobic exercise is of most benefit to your heart, so choose two to three days of hiking, biking, running, skiing, snowshoeing, walking, etc. for 25 to 45 minutes (depending on your fitness level) where you exercise at a pace you can comfortably talk to a partner.
The other one to two days do the same, but drop the time to 20 to 35 minutes and throw in some small to medium hills where you can feel your breathing and heart rate go up. These days will give you some anaerobic training. If you want to get specific, go by heart rate. Take 220 and subtract your age. This is your maximum heart rate. Now multiply by 0.60 or 0.65 for an aerobic work out and higher numbers for anaerobic workouts. This will give you a target heart rate you can check by taking your pulse. The burning you feel in your muscles when exercising is actually lactic acid, a byproduct of anaerobic exercise. Stretching will help alleviate the soreness and burn.
All hail the rock goddess!
For more technical climbers, I recommend starting or upping your bouldering sessions and gym climbing. Wake up the body and get it ready for those finger wrenching jams 1000 feet off the deck! The preceding recommendations also apply to climbers. I see far too many climbers who train only by climbing or doing pull-ups to failure. Improving overall body fitness will help much more, especially when slogging into Hallet Peak or the Diamond with a pack to do a route. If you are really too busy to do much, focus on your cardio training and make/purchase a simple wrist roller to blast the forearms. Some cheap dumbbells from K-Mart can give your muscles a twenty- minute quickie also.
Motivate Mr. Spudman
I think the biggest challenge we all face is finding the motivation to exercise and do some prep work before the season arrives. I can’t stress enough how powerful a feeling it is to have some fitness pre-developed for an activity. You will feel better, perform better, lower your chances for injury, and really enjoy yourself much more.
If you take nothing else from this article, at least promise yourself to increase your current activity level and to get out and enjoy our gorgeous surroundings. Any additional hikes, climbs, bouldering, or walking will make you that much more ready for the treasures of the spring/summer.
Motivation is key. Attend a slideshow, start walking after work with a friend, look at your pictures from last year, call your friends and tell them what heinous rock climbs you guys are going to do this season. Get excited about what lies ahead. If you do so, the more serious commitment to exercise will seem easier and more attractive.
I wish to you the lungs of a Sherpa, the strength of a Tibetan Yak, and the flexibility of a yogi. Enjoy your passions as a transformed CMCer, from couch potato to alpinist.
Note: Check with your personal physican before beginning any training program.
Darran Bornn is the CMC Marketing and Events Director. He was a certified professional fitness trainer for four years. He enjoys personal year round fitness that allows him to “flap and dangle” on rock, ice, and snow faces all over.
Vera Smith and Darran Bornn demonstrate the back stretch. Raise the right arm above the head. Lean to the left, supporting yourself with the opposite hand on the hip. Hold. Repeat on other side. Photo by Tom Beckwith.
