Mountain Walking Basic Fitness
By Tryfan Williams
on January 2, 2013 No ratings yet.
Posted in Outdoor ArticlesSpecial Guest Posts
Mountain Walking Basic Fitness
Continuing our guest articles series we introduce our resident fitness and nutrition expert @CarneddWilliams, Enjoy . . .
Mountain climbing, walking, hiking, rambling……call it what you may, but thousands of us dust off our mouldy, muddy boots and dig deep in our cupboards to find our walking gear every weekend, and head up the hills for a “relaxing” walk. But what initially in all good intention, began as a calm scenic walk, suddenly and ironically (excuse the pun) goes downhill. We are half an hour into our walk, and we suddenly find ourselves on all fours gasping for air, and start thinking “why, oh why am I not in front of the coal fire with a lovely ‘cuppa?”. But in the true spirit of all ramblers you quietly soldier on until the job is done, only to wake up the following morning struggling to walk down the stairs.
This routine and weekly struggle can continue, and you can “soldier” on every week, not getting the most from your walk, not enjoying your walk, and ultimately giving up on your walks. Or you can simply improve your fitness to get you ready for those weekly walks! It is as easy as three 30 minutes sessions per week to get you fit and ready for those mountains.
We should look at this retrospectively, if you play in any other recreational sport; Football, rugby, hockey, fun runs, triathlons etc. we would train multiple times a week. So why do most (and I use ‘most’ lightly) of weekend walkers think it is acceptable to sit on their backsides throughout the week and then expect to suddenly become a mountain goat on the weekends?
The principles of training and becoming fitter are extremely easy:
Training = Adaptation = Improvement
So where, what and when can we become fitter? There are several ways to become fitter, below I will give one gym training routine outline which a healthy non- active/ beginner should be able to follow.
*Please not that you should book yourself for an induction for the facility which you intend on using, and please seek medical advice prior to participating this or any similar programme if you have any outlining medical conditions
Warm up options:
Warm up (Alpha) | 2 MIN RUN (at comfortable pace) | |
10 BODY WEIGHT SQUATS | ||
10 PRESS UPS | X 2 ROUNDS | |
10 SIT UPS | ||
250 METER ROW |
Warm up (Bravo) | 250 METER ROW | |
10 PRESS UPS | ||
10 BURPEES | X 1 ROUNDS | |
250 METER ROW | ||
10 SIT UPS | ||
10 STAR JUMPS |
Warm up (Charlie) | 200 METER RUN | |
10 PULL UPS (JUMPING IF NEEDED) | ||
10 STAR JUMPS | X 2 ROUNDS | |
10 LUNGES | ||
200 METER RUN |
Monday (or Day 1)
Monday * warm up Alpha | |||
Exercise | Reps | Sets | Rest |
Leg Press Machine | 15 | 4 | 30 s |
Bodyweight Walking Lunges | 15 | 3 | 30 s |
Box Jumps 20″ | 10 | 3 | 30 s |
5 minute 6% incline fast walk treadmill |
Wednesday (or Day 2)
Wednesday * warm up Bravo | |||
Exercise | Reps | Sets | Rest |
Flat bench press | 5 | 5 | 45 s |
Back cable row | 15 | 3 | 30 s |
Lateral pull down | 15 | 3 | 30 s |
Kettle bell swing | 15 | 3 | 25 s |
10 minutes stepper machine |
Friday (or Day 3)
Friday * warm up Charlie | ||||
Exercise | Reps | Sets | Rest | |
500 meter row for time | 500m | 2 | 90 s | |
Tricep rope pull down | 15 | 3 | 30 s | SUPER SET |
Bicep Curls | 15 | 3 | 30 s | SUPER SET |
Smith machine shoulder press | 15 | 3 | 30s | SUPER SET |
Front shoulder raise | 15 | 3 | 30 s | SUPER SET |
Treadmill sprints | 30s (ON) | 10 | 30 s (OFF) |
*Please note that you should use appropriate weights for each exercise and progress as you feel suitable, also feel free to alternate routines and warm ups
Carnedd Williams
@CarneddWilliams
Tryfan Williams
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Thank u Resident expert!
Couldn’t agree more.
The most important bit of kit for any hill walker is their fitness.
Discuss – http://www.mudandroutes.com/forum/topics/getting-fit-for-the-new-year