Are you considering taking up mountain climbing? Well, then you will agree that whether you’re taking this up as a one-shot adventure or as a profession or hobby, it is important that you train your body accordingly. Since you’re putting your body out into the open, you need to be prepared to deal with the difficult situations that you are going to face at the summit of the mountains. The least thing that you’d want to do is simply take your gears and your backpack and head out. Your body needs to be prepared in order for you to be able to climb up and down the mountains. So before you head out towards the mountains, make sure your body is trained enough that it can handle all the difficulties, after all, there are no exits present on the mountain sides!
Things that you need to do before heading out for the mountains:
Build your body strength:
So the first thing that you’d want to do is build up your body strength. True, you won’t be asked to lift weights when mountain climbing, however, you will have to pull up your entire body weight along with the weight of that heavy backpack that you’ll be carrying with yourself. You will have to climb vertically upwards, while also carry weight on your back, hence it is important for you to build your body strength. And so the best training that you can do in order to get fit is bodyweight training. This includes a couple of exercises such as pushups, pull-ups, do dips, squats, and some lunges. Once you think that your body has grown comfortable with these exercises, start adding some weight, either wear a weighted vest or simply wear your backpack filled with all the gears. You need to indulge in weight training in order to provide your body with the strength it needs. And for this strength training it is best if you do the following exercises; do deadlifts, do front squats, bench press, power cleans and some military presses as well. Also do wear all of your mountaineering clothes, boots, gears and the backpack on while training.
Build your body stamina and adapt to the altitude change!
The next thing that is important for you to do is to increase your stamina. You won’t be able to climb an entire mountain in an hour or so, you need to build your stamina so that you can keep on going. Mountaineers need to be able to keep moving for hours and hours while keeping alert. And so in order to improve your stamina, you need to indulge in aerobic and anaerobic endurance training. So for aerobic endurance, you should run, do distant cycling, along with any aerobic workouts. Meanwhile, for anaerobic endurance, your workout regime should include high-intensity interval training or Fartlek. Also, prepare your lower body parts by hiking steep terrains or by climbing the stairs with weight on your back.
You need to understand, that when mountain climbing the higher you get the more work your body has to do. And the only way of improving your body work at high altitudes is actually by training at high altitudes only. Your body will require some time to adapt to the temperature and the altitude change, so hill climbing won’t be of much help here. However, if you are climbing a comparatively smaller distance you can then increase your body’s efficiency by increasing your stamina only! You can opt for a hypoxic tent however this is usually for the professionals only.
Now the only thing that can train you far more efficiently for summiting mountains is by actually climbing a mountain! So build your body strength and stamina and head out!
