30-Day
Pre-Trek Training Program by
Brian Prax
It
stands to reason that your enjoyment of a climbing trip is significantly
influenced by how fit you are on that trip. You greatly enhance
your probability of success, increase your safety margin, decrease
your chances of becoming ill or injured, and are not totally wasted
at the end of the day if you are in better shape. Therefore, we
at VisionQuest Journeys strongly suggest that you optimize your
fitness level.
Brian
Prax is our Staff Personal Trainer, and is considered an expert
among mountain athlete trainers. Read more about Brian's
training methods and philosophies.
You
can contact Brian for more training tips, or have him design a
custom training program to fit your needs and goals, training@visionquestjourneys.com
Week
1 Gain Base Fitness Level
Choose your favorite cardiovascular enhancing
exercise (bike, run, swim, hike, xc ski, etc…) and gradually
increase the time you spend doing it 3-4 days per week. You don’t
have much time to get ready, so don’t skip more than 2 days
between workouts. Go from 30 min to 1 hour per day at a mellow
level of exertion.
Weeks 2-3 Increase
Sport Specific Fitness
Now you want to be exercising at least 4 days
per week, preferably 5 or 6, but not 7. Increase the time spent
per day to 2 or 3 hours at a time. Eliminate activities that are
not sport specific (running and swimming) and incorporate activities
that use your body in ways that closely or exactly resemble what
you are training for (hike uphill with a pack on if you can).
Increase the intensity of the workouts as your body gets stronger.
You could benefit from doing some lifting for your legs and torso,
but keep the weight low and the repetitions high.
Week 4 Maintain
Back off to 3-4 days per week and decrease
the intensity to moderate again, but keep up with the long sessions.
Your body is going to be putting in days longer than 2 hours pretty
soon.
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