Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Proper fitness

Croft's book says that he feels that doing more than 45 minutes of hard conditioning doesnt do him any good. He did say that he tries to get out and do longer "training" hikes on the weekends. what do you guys think? What have you guys done in the past to train for Whitney? what is too much ot not enough???

Walking the dog every day for about an hour over a six month period seemed to work for me this year. God only knows why. Currently I walk him twice a week. I do a real hard cardio workout at the gym twice a week and do weights twice a week. I went from doing the 22 miles on the main trail a few years ago in 16 hours to 10.5 hours just last tuesday. I think the biggest factor is a few years of cummulative hiking and somewhere between 150-175 peaks during that time.

Rafael...

If I have a significant climb coming up I try to get in 7 hours of pretty hard hiking per week in the prior 2 to 3 months. This usually consists of 4 hours out on trails with climbs on the weekends and 3 hours of treadmill a 4 MPH and max incline during the week.

The body responds to what it encounters (up to a point). What I have found best is to vary the routine and vary the intensity of your workouts. If you are a runner you want to randomly do a longer (20%) run at a slower pace. Then mix in some short runs with sprints. Same in the gym, expose yourself to some hard workouts, then have some "easy" days. You don't want every workout to be a killer.

I have found cross training to be of value. If you want to be a good runner (or hiker, or ???), mix in some swimming or biking or cross-country skiing. The worlds best runner may be a poor candidate for climbing Whitney if all the focus is on running. Instead play some tennis or use the stairmaster. If your only exercise is to swim 3000 meters (a tough workout), then your muscles will only be adapted to that activity.

You want to do the same in the gym. Some hard workouts are needed to make improvements, but every workout doesn't have to be tough. Having some "easy" days will allow the body to respond faster. Again, vary your workouts. A common approach is to work the large muscles (chest) first, then the smaller ones (arms). But randomly fatiguing your arms first will expose the chest muscles to a different challenge. This makes your body "learn" to react to a multitude of stimulants. This is how the real world treats you.

Rest and diet are as important as exercising if you are serious about making improvements. Many starting a new fitness regime try and work too hard. The body has to have time to repair/regenerate. And the whole process is made possible by adding fuel (food) to the fire.

I try and not get too bogged down in how "far" I run or how heavy the weights are, as the body will tell you when you are reaching a limit. By varying the routine and intensity the body is challenged and you have the best opportunity for improvement. Each individual will have a personal twist to this approach, but it does seem to work.

Just as people waste thousands of dollars on fad diets and excerise gear, that ends up being a cloths rack. The old excersise more eat less always wins out

I use a simple training method, see how far it is to something you do and simply walk instead of driving, better yet have your hunny drop you off say 15 miles from home and hoof it.

I find weekly hiking, hillclimbing and scrambling more valuable than treadmill time. Heck, I don't think I could do 10 minutes of treadmill at 4 mph with max incline, but I can roundtrip Whitney in 12 hours or so. Weekly exposure to high altitude helps me a lot too. In addition to hikes, I work my legs at least once a week with weights (squats, lunges, step-ups, etc).

During the week I have some very important Treadmill appointments: Monday Night Football, Survivor and the occasional Dancing with the Stars. I know, I need priority counseling!

I find it to be a combination of the two. I do best when I'm running 3X week 35 to 40 minutes and spending a day of swift hiking moderate distances at the high end of my aerobic zone...all this coupled with know what to expect when I exceed the "SoCal Elevation Zone" makes life semi-easy when I attempt to summit this mountain.

How if they can to anything about depositing some dirt on the trail between Mirror Lake and the summit I'd be a very happy camper.

Nobody ever drowned in sweat...

Train heavy to prepare

Tread light on the day.

Go mountain biking, hit the leg press, jump rope, etc...

But most importantly.

Hit the hills with your pack.

I didnt read Crofts book but climbing/hiking for 8 hours a day can mean you dont have to "train" very hard.

The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war - Sun Tzu.

ditto, that is the consensus. For more that 5 years now I have been doing a training regimuom that consists of 30-50 min workouts., and is non-intrusive...

The frequency and type of training changes as you get older...you loose cardio and fitness faster with age...I know. My regime is to walk 5-6 miles 3-4 times per week at a 4 mph pace. I include stairs/inclines (the flatland's version of altitude). Pilates for core & strength training 2 times a week (I'll add a third leading up to a big hike). And, an 8+ mile hike once a month (above 10K), more leading up to a hike like Whitney. This has worked well for me, allowed me to enjoy myself, and not feel punished at the end of the trail.

I work full time, I'm a mom & and wife and it takes serious scheduling to get this all in. But, I feel better when I do. I keep it up year round.

there are many combinations of volume, frequency, intensity, activity, that can work to improve hiking "performance".

if you can work out intensely, 20 min on the treadmill (10-15% grade) twice a week , along with a hike, can be sufficient to put you in superb hiking shape

True enough -- after all, there was a guy in Southern California who was in great hiking shape who evidently trained by posting in CAPITAL LETTERS on outdoor message boards. The only problem was that he tended to get banned. Perhaps the world is not ready for advanced training methods.

Well, I do 1000 crunches a day, 100 pullups per day, and 500 pushups per day as well as my leg routine.

Uphills are good, but you need downhills, too.

Have fun.

one could only wonder what would happen to his performance if he ingested caffeine!




I totally agree in terms of being well-rounded. Personally, I mix in 2 whole-body workouts a week, along with 2 intense cardio bouts, then perhaps a hike. Ideally some yoga added in would make that very balanced.

However most of the upper body stuff won't necessarily improved hiking "performance". The body will adapt to whatever loads are applied, so if a person is regularly hiking with 30 lbs, the musculature needed with develop (although not guaranteeing proper posture if weak core)



I don't know if you 'need' downhills. Downhill gives eccentric contractions = more microscopic muscle damage = soreness...which can be good for muscle growth, if one is doing it a few times a week. Certainly more joint damage is done during downhill.

Actually, here is an idea I haven't yet implemented but I will when I have less time:

1) Go buy some cheap treadmill, but one that can up to up 10 - 15% grade.

2) Go get some cinder blocks or something else with enough height and support

3) Lift up the front end of the treadmill and place the supports underneath, with enough height so that now your treadmill will go between 20-35%.

4) Walk on treadmill. Profit

Easily done in the home, in front of the tv or whatever. I do not have any particular knowledge of the construction of treadmills, but generally a strong motor is needed to resist the high impact braking forces needed during running; however, these forces decrease significantly with higher incline because 1) gravity slowing you down and 2) you simply have to go slower. So a cheaper treadmill can handle it when you are just walking.

This will be more specific to hiking than most things outside of, well, hiking.

On last Saturday's hike our group did our core training on top of our last peak (Tehachapi Mtn), a cumulative gain of over 6000 feet for the day! Rafael and I held a plank for 120 seconds and Tom almost lasted that long. But the fact that we could hold it so long after 10 plus hours shows that hiking is mostly legs.


As a hiker with a damaged and arthritic knee, my opinion is that nothing builds those "downhill muscles" like a lot of downhill. I don't feel that downhill is damaging my joints now that I have enough supporting musculature. My first summit of Whitney two years ago was pure agony on the way down. Now I can go up and down without soreness, including the knees.

I gotta agree with Moondust. Concerned about my new hip, I have worked hard at making sure my downhill muscles can handle the hike. Months ago, my quads would be killing me after the downhill on San Jacinto, so much so, I hated going down stairs the next day. After my summit to Whitney on Sunday I feared the worst, but the downhill did not hurt, I just wanted it over with. The next day, my quads were fine with minimal pain. But that took many downhill trips on steep trails, which of course means a bunch of uphills also. I will be very interested to see what my orthopedic surgeon says when I see him.