Reddit reviews Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete
We found 29 Reddit comments about Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Training For The New Alpinism
r/climbing is mostly rock climbing oriented, you might be better off on r/mountaineering or r/alpinism.
Training for the New Alpinism and its authors' website.
In general, as others have said: get mileage in, ideally uphill carrying a pack. And get used to moving and camping on snow.
Edit to add: a good & popular tip for uphill mileage carrying a pack is to carry rocks or water that you can dump at the top to save your knees on the way down. Might be especially relevant if you're just starting out and overweight.
My advice is that most of us are climbing to live, not living to climb.
Steve Bechtel and Charlie Manganiello of ClimbStrong both advocate cutting down on cardio to truly hit your climbing peak, both of them ski and run, and have put plenty of thought into progressing while being a multi-sport athlete.
It also depends on your current goals. Trying to cut weight? eating right and engaging in some mild cardio can help. Trying to climb long trad routes and be a mountaineer? Buddy there's a whole massive debate about how to become the most insane cardio machine possible.
You should do the thing you feel is most rewarding. I tend to cycle in and out of climbing-heavy and running-heavy periods of my life because they both make me happy. Am I the strongest at either that I could be? Definitely not.
Being with guides doesn't lower your risk of edema, but it does make it more likely that you will make it down alive and survive it (assuming they have medical training, rescue experience, etc). The only way to reduce the risk of edema is to take the time to properly acclimatize and reduce the time spent at altitude. Guides can help you set up this program, but it is up to you to monitor your condition and recognize the signs of AMS early to avoid more serious conditions developing.
If you really want to do this you should pick up Steve House's book "Training for the New Alpinism" to structure the proper training program, https://www.amazon.com/Training-New-Alpinism-Climber-Athlete/dp/193834023X. This book has the overview of what you would need to know to properly train for your objective including discussion of acclimatization schedules and strategies for succeeding at altitude.
I'm sure people with less experience/forethought than you have summited Aconcagua with a guide company, but you have to decide whether this a reasonable objective for you. You may want to call around to reputable guiding companies and describe your experience/fitness level and see what they say. Your post doesn't give much detail as to what your fitness level/experience in the outdoors is.
The bottom line is that you shouldn't underestimate the altitude, Aconcagua is well above the altitude at which HACE/HAPE, hypothermia, strokes, etc all become serious risks that are difficult to minimize and can strike very quickly with deadly consequences. You will be ~2000 m above lost city at the summit. Make sure your guiding company has the proper medical training, medical supplies, and rescue experience to get you down safely if you suffer one of these conditions.
Here is some resources you may find useful:
http://www.alanarnette.com/climbing/guidequestions.php
http://www.alanarnette.com/7summits/aconcaguafaq.php
http://www.alanarnette.com/climbing/guides.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4JqV2xdcaQ
Training for the New Alpinisim is the standard work. It has all the info you need and more.
If you want a good resource that provides more info than you will be able to digest, pick up a copy of Training for the New Alpinisim
Better fitness and movement patterns. Walking 20 miles a day for 6 months while putting all your weight on your passive body structures will fuck you up, yo. I suggest reading Becoming a Supple Leopard for general movement patterns, and then Training for the New Alpinism to understand how to get in shape (though from the sounds of it, you probably won't have time for the latter).
If you are looking for gear knowledge, I'd suggest first laying out your gear on GearGrams or LighterPack. Asking "what do you wish you had" doesn't give us much useful to go on, since it doesn't tell us what you are bringing already; and as MadMaxHeadroom said, what you don't bring is just as important as what you do. Using one of these websites to list your gear will give you a useful way to tabulate weight, and will make your gear list easier to share and easier to read.
Once you've done that, I'd suggest posting to one or a few of the long distance hiking subs. I can't find one specifically for the CT, but here are a few, in descending order of activity:
If the climb were tomorrow you could probably do it with a guide. You should definitely push yourself to be in shape but it sounds like you already have a reasonable fitness base.
Check out http://www.amazon.com/Training-New-Alpinism-Climber-Athlete/dp/193834023X if you really want to get into climbing shape.
There isn't really a way for you to get used to altitude without having taller mountains nearby but you might be able to go a few days early and hike around the area to acclimate.
$15,000 sounds quite expensive. Some equipment will be provided with the guided trip and you can find most other equipment on sale or gently used.
Depending on how long you plan to stick around before/after, I would think you could do it for ~$5,000. Airfare + some cheap lodging & food + personal gear + guide fee.
Probably less if you are willing to camp instead of get a hotel, shop at a grocery store and cook on a camp stove instead of going to restaurants, be picky in your purchases and buy what you need not what is newest or fanciest, join some forums and try to find someone else in the program to bum a ride with or a local to do a few acclimatization hikes.
Hopefully someone else can think of mountains closer to home for you to train.
This particular interview with Joe Rogan has been referenced below by /u/twintersx and I wanted to direct the question to you.
Obviously you said that low volume/high intensity training sessions have been beneficial to you, but in almost every other sport this isn't the case. Whether it be an endurance sport like cycling to short/high intensity bouts like wrestling or gymnastics (In both of these cases I agree that the "amount of time" as being short is relative, but albeit they are mostly anaerobic).
To summarize the interview (and perhaps butcher it) Firas Zahabi references training techniques used by the Russian Olympic Wrestling team where they do high volume low intensity workouts focused largely on technique. They then will increase intensity and decrease volume leading up to the competition. This seems to accomplish two things really well: it increases performance (apparently the Russian wrestling team is legendary), and decreases injury.
Another place that I've seen this type of training recommendation is within the book Training for the new alpinism where one of the authors describes his experience for improving his cycling performance through low volume/high intensity workouts. He ultimately realizes from personal experience that nothing can beat a firm solid "base" or "foundation" that includes a high amount of volume and low intensity, from which you can launch into more intense strength / power. Granted, in this book he is almost exclusively talking about endurance (both in the mountains and in cycling), but I can't help but feel an intuition that these folks are onto something...
From my own personal experience I largely have seen great gains in the short/high intensity sessions that you are describing. But despite all of my precautions / recovery / prehab I find myself getting injured and setting myself back from further gains.
I'd like to hear your thoughts!
I would check out Training for the New Alpinism. Slightly more focused on alpinism/mountaineering/climbing, but the training and science in the book is extremely relevant. Great book to learn what's actually important when training for endurance and strength specifically for climbing mountains.
The greatest help is increasing your aerobic fitness. The more oxygen your body can process per breath and more volume your heart is trained to pump per contraction the lower your respiratory and heart rate will be.
When I have been doing regular aerobic work I can ski tour or climb above 10k without slowing down at all. When I haven't been running I turn into a huffing and puffing mess (like I did climbing at 10k last week).
The frequency of your aerobic work is more important, low intensity is fine. If you have a choice between running 20 minutes a day 3 days a week or for 2 hours once a week, take the former.
If you really want to get into there is a wealth of information here:
https://www.amazon.com/Training-New-Alpinism-Climber-Athlete/dp/193834023X
Not exactly answering your question, but I'm going to highly recommend Training For the New Alpinism, which can help you formulate an effective workout plan for your trip.
Anecdotally, I've lifted and climbed on the same day because alternate days would never allow recovery. Usually I'd lift weak and (try to) climb hard. Mountaineering prioritizes functional fitness over "glamour."
For technical alpine rock you need to train both your climbing ability and your cardiovascular system. Getting to the trango towers and other high altitude rock destinations require stellar cardiovascular strength on top of being a strong rock climber. Pick up the book [Training for the New Alpinism](https://www.amazon.com/Training-New-Alpinism-Climber-Athlete/dp/193834023X), this is some of the most in depth information you can get on how to train specifically for alpine climbing. Also if you feel inclined check out the r/alpinism training club which is posted on this sub every monday, we talk about our routines, benchmarks, questions, and ideas for training. I find that the rock-specific training isn't talked about much in this book, so maybe look into some other books or apps (crimpd is a free training app with some interesting workouts) to improve your rock skills.
I rock climb 3x a week which will fill in quite a few holes left void when it comes to core, upper body strength and flexibility. Plus, I live in an area which has more moderate, low angle, slabby rock climbs than one can even image, so many runs involve scrambling for 1000's of feet. To supplement even further, I do many of the exercises for your core highlighted in Steve House's Training for the New Alpinism.
Maybe one tip is to realize and understand that you have to train yourself to use your core, so it's a good idea to remember to keep your core tight, while running so that becomes somewhat of an automatic thing, or it's just not going to help you out as much. This is a little easier maybe trail running, as one technique for technical downhills is to keep a tight core, rather than letting your upper body slouch.
> I don’t have access to weights but I have a very steep hill right next to me.
Just put some water bottles in a backpack, 20% of your bodyweight or so, and do some power hikes on the steep hill..
The most boring but a bit more efficient method is to find a box/step that's at 75% of your tibia height and do lots of reps with the loaded backpack on it..( the equivalent of 300m of ascent) put both feet on top.
Edit : last part taken from https://www.amazon.com/Training-New-Alpinism-Climber-Athlete/dp/193834023X
highly recommended
And get this book, http://www.amazon.ca/Training-New-Alpinism-Climber-Athlete/dp/193834023X and there is your entire FAQ
It sounds like you would benefit from Training for the New Alpinism. I haven't read it yet, but it seems to be very highly regarded, and of course the authors' credentials are beyond impeccable.
Also just in general check out Training for the New Alpinism. It has a really good personal workout journal companion too.
According to Training for the New Alpinism the majority of your training should actually be in Zone 1 or, more generally, at a level of effort where you can breathe exclusively through your nose. Lots of great information from the authors here: http://www.uphillathlete.com
I agree with this list of Top 10 Documentaries on Mountaineering. Not exactly on point for what you wanted. Not sure it really exists at this point.
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I really liked Meru. If you don't mind reading here are a few books that got me into it:
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Into Thin Air.
No Shortcuts to the Top.
The Climb.
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Training Books:
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Training for New Alpinism
Climbing: Training for Peak Performance.
If you're new, work on technique as opposed to fitness (yeah, fitness helps, but technique is more important initially).
Check this book out.
If you want to get into some next-level stuff, pick up Training for the New Alpinism by Steve House. It's alpinism-focused, but has good workouts. Or perhaps Conditioning for Climbers
That's enough time for an actual training cycle if you want to go overboard and get in great shape.
Check out Training for the New Alpinism for the most recent outline of modern approach and method.
You can probably find someone to go with but I'm not sure what it takes to be properly insured as a professional guide to protect against personal liability. You might have better luck going with a group through meetup or some other hiking club.
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS754US754&q=meetup+cactus+to+clouds
There have been many groups going in the past.
There are lots of training guides for hiking/mountaineering
https://www.amazon.com/Training-New-Alpinism-Climber-Athlete/dp/193834023X
http://www.fitclimb.com/page/12-week-mountaineering-fitness
You can also look at stuff for Whitney and start training:
http://www.fitclimb.com/page/mt-whitney-conditioning
The best training is probably to go hike with a similiar pack weight as much as you can. Start getting out and doing treks with 5000-8000ft elevation gain. Socal has lots of local peaks you can do.
I see you haven't gotten much traction here, so I'll just share with you a little of my knowledge and experience. I was not an AST, but I know several extremely fit people who didn't make it. I can't give you a plan, but I'll share what I've heard. I was honor graduate of my boot camp company, meaning I had the best overall average in everything, including fitness tests (I think, they never said exactly how it was calculated, but I did very well in everything). I also have trained for rock climbing and mountaineering, so I have some basic knowledge of serious training regimes.
First what I know: boot camp is easy. If you do a modicum of training before hand you'll be just fine. I assume if you have aspirations to go AST, you consider yourself to be pretty fit to begin with. The PT requirements are all available online or from your recruiter. Make sure you can do all those with ease (of you come in moderately fit, they'll get you up to the minimum, but you're not shooting for the minimum given your aspirations). To go above and beyond, you'll be doing flutter kicks (with heavy boots), squats (not weighted except maybe a pack and rifle), crunches, push ups, swimming, and stationary bike. The first 4 you will do every day, any time the CCs want to. You'll also do a lot applied isometric exercises: holding your helmsman or canteen straight armed out in front of you, sitting while aiming your rifle unsupported (no elbows on knees) for seriously long times, upwards of half an hour (although I don't know exactly how long, but it felt like an eternity). I admire your dedication if you train for that type of thing beforehand, it would be exceedingly tedious.
AST: From what I understand, you basically have a full time job in the pool for the first 8 weeks of AST school. I'm not sure there is a practical way to adequately train for that, unless you have the time (6-8 hours a day), a pool/ocean, and people willing to wrestle you in the pool all day. But obviously get in the pool or ocean or lake as much as you can and completely exhaust yourself. Start slow, but keep building up intensity and duration. Take up full body training, cardio endurance, strength, power. You generally want to start a serious training cycle with a long base training in endurance--so swimming for hours, running, cycling, rowing, whatever. Then add strength--hit the weight room or however your strength train, focus on muscles you need in the water. Finally add power--high intensity interval training, hills. Keep training endurance throughout, but you can taper off a bit.
Whether or not any of that makes sense to you, go to a bookstore and look through the sports training section. Find training manuals for anything that you think might apply. I doubt there is a CG AST training manual, but there might be a Navy SEAL one or similar. Swimming would help. I learned a lot from this book about how the human body responds to training and how to craft a training plan. It's written for mountaineers, but a lot of the principles could be applied to anything. In case you're wondering, mountaineering is extremely physically taxing in ways similar to something like AST school: pushing your body to near physical limit--heavy pack marching up steep slopes with less air than usual--for 8-10-12 hours, then you wake up and do it again, and again, and again. Not saying you need to buy this book, but take a look at the table of contents to see how it's structured, I would recommend any book that has a similar structure or addresses the same types of concepts.
There's a lot to take in--that's why people write entire books on the stuff. Again, boot is easy, but if you want to go AST, you need to start training like an AST now. If you're not willing to put in that kind of dedication, I would guess your chances for success at AST school are pretty slim. Good luck and sorry for the essay, but I hope it's useful.
Training for the New Alpinism is the definitive guide to fitness for mountaineering and hiking.
It's pretty much exactly what you're looking for. It has a few sample programs, but it's more about how to create the right program for your goals. ...and there's also a training log that goes along with it too.
I found the concept in this book...
https://www.amazon.com/Training-New-Alpinism-Climber-Athlete/dp/193834023X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532982144&sr=8-1&keywords=training+for+alpinism&dpID=51U9Fi6TgwL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch
I'm sure other fitness books advocate it as well. But in the book above he calls for a 8 wk transition period even if your active. A 16-20 base period. Then a period of time specific to whatever your goals is.
Drink alot of water, and be in very good aerobic shape. Read the book Training for the new Alpinism. https://www.amazon.com/Training-New-Alpinism-Climber-Athlete/dp/193834023X
Consider getting this book: Training for he New Alpinism House discusses training for mountaineering and climbing. He goes into detail about how different types of training affect your aerobic ability, etc. He also lays out how to structure your training plans. Some of it is geared towards climbing, but for the most part its been a great resource for training for hiking/backpacking. I highly recommend picking up a copy and a heart rate monitor.
Training for the New Alpinism by Steve House and Scott Johnston
As far as improving your headgame goes, leading easy but long runouts is super helpful, as well as falling onto (well-placed) gear. Alpine multipitch is an admirable goal, but it is a far cry from what most people think of as trad climbing. You should be confident on long runouts, with potential no-fall zones. There are a lot of skills that are important for alpine climbing that often are not learned in a typical trad climbing mentor relationship, such as self-rescue, alpine route finding, and depending on your goals, snow climbing skills. There are several ways to learn these skills such as books or hiring a guide. Ultimately, your safety is much more dependent on yourself when alpine climbing. I say this not to scare you away from alpine climbing, as it has been responsible for some of the most amazing memories I have, but it has also been responsible for some of the scariest.
Some books that you might find beneficial:
Climbing Self-Rescue - Just what it says in the title.
Vertical Mind - I found this book useful for improving my head space.
Training for the New Alpinism - Probably the best book to help a climber transition into the backcountry.
[Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills] (https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers/dp/1680510045/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=freedom+of+the+hills&qid=1562736585&s=gateway&sr=8-1) - This book is excellent, but probably isn't extremely helpful until you are climbing more serious alpine routes.
As far as advice, just get as much mileage on lead outdoors as you can, with 1-2 indoor bouldering sessions per week. If it doesn't impact your bouldering, you could add a couple strength sessions as well. If you want to get into alpine climbing, or even just multipitch climbing, practice your systems at the top of single pitch routes. Belay your partner from the top, practice building an anchor at the top off of the bolts, set up simple pulley systems. Just spending 15 minutes per session will help you get muscle memory down for when it really matters.
Edit: As you get into more alpine climbing, you should increase the strength training and cardio. Climbing efficiently after four hours walking with a pack full of gear and food is harder than it sounds. Increasing your physical strength will reduce the mental load a lot, allowing you to think more clearly and be more confident.