What is your training plan for going into the mountains? Better yet, do you believe in training for the various mountain sports you are in to? I recently had a conversation about training and if it’s worth it with a fellow climber. My answer is yes.

Training is and will always be beneficial in my eyes. Not only for your mental health but your physical health as well. Being in the gym, whether a regular gym or climbing gym, will always be an intimidating and anxiety inducing situation. The biggest thing is just being consistent and not beating yourself up if you miss a day. Life happens and it’s all good. Things happen and you might miss a day here and there. I’ve found being accountable for your actions will help you to stay on track. Excuses will only help your ego.

My strength training has changed since I began my journey in the gym as a youth. As a youth, there was a lot of ego involved and trying to put up more and more weight because that was what I associated with being strong. Now, my weight training is in tune with my climbing. I’m working out specific muscles that will benefit me as a climber and mountaineer. Being able to bench press 225 lbs. or squat 315 lbs. has no meaning for me anymore. I’d personally want to look like Bruce Lee over looking like the Rock. Is it an amazing feeling to do those things? Sure, but the growth mindset is how is this going to benefit my climbing? How will this equivalate to being a stronger climber? What is the point of this workout? Is it for endurance or for my ego to grow?

My training as of lately has been 3-5 days in the gym a week. Each day is a different muscle group to workout. I have a rotating schedule where I will do one day chest, one day back, one day legs, one day shoulders, and one day arms. This helps me to really dial in workouts that will target these muscles. Most of my workouts are high intensity where I’ll do a set and take 30 second-a minute break and do another set for 3-4 sets per workout. I’ll do lighter weight and more reps because as an ice climber, I need to be able to have that endurance to climb, move and pull my weight continuously over hours of climbing. 1-2 days climbing and I’ll be the first to admit that my cardio training hasn’t been the best but it’s something I’m working on. My excuse is the hiking to and from each climb will be my aerobic exercise but I need more than that. Once the ice is fully formed down in the lower elevations, my regimen will change to more days climbing and less days in an actual gym. A healthy mix you could say!

If you are training for bigger mountains such as Mount Baker, Rainier, Denali, etc. you will want to primarily focus on endurance cardio training so Stairmaster with a weighted backpack, hiking outside with weights in your pack, trail running, all workouts that get your heart rate up and will help you as you climb said mountains. Your workouts will change as your objective changes. If you’re training for rock or ice, walking up a hill with a weighted pack won’t really help you as much as weighted hangs on your tools with the weighted pack.

Feel free to email or DM us on Instagram if you’d like to hear more or chat more about training. Again this blog post is what I believe works for me and my body, your workouts might be different. I believe in a growth mindset and love hearing about new workouts and what some other climbers might be doing!

Enjoy your football Sunday!

-John