Mountain Climbing Training Tips

Here are some mountain climbing tips to help you scale the mountain. Mountain climbing is an activity that requires a wide range of physical capabilities, depending of the type of terrain, weather and biotype of the climber. It does not make sense to try and modify the basic characteristics of a climber, it´s better to adapt the approach and climbing styles to the real physical conditions. For instance, rock climbing requires a quite balanced body, whereas ice climbing requires prominently lower body strenght, and alpine climbing is mostly aerobic. But all of those styles can be combined to adapt to a particular climber´s body.

Training for mountain climbing generally requires:

1. An aerobic stage. Running for more than 45 minutes at between 65 an 80 per cent of the maximum sustainable heart rate at least three days a week.
2. A strength stage. Muscularity in key areas like shoulders, forearms, upper legs and knees, ankles and spinals is vital.
3. An outdoor stage. Nothing of what you do at the gym can replace the actual outdoors when it comes to hiking and climbing.
4. A specific stage. If you choose to rock climb, then exercising your hands and arms is vital, in addition to general conditioning. For ice climbing, additional leg work is needed. For alpine climbers, a combination of both upper and lower body training with the addition of aerobic training is needed.
5. A technical stage. Training your mountain maneuvering skills is also a big part of mountain climbing training. Know your equipment, know how to navigate, use a chart, even though a GPS can do it faster, and know how to stay oriented, gather water and calculate your own speed. Taking courses at mountain clubs is a good way to stay in touch with the mountain during the off season.
6. A dietary stage. With the increase of activity and the seasonal temperature change, the energy input has to be adapted. A balanced diet and a food plan ahead of expeditions and log climbs is vital.

Use a recurrent course that you get to know well and takes about one hour, so you can have your dose of outdoors regularly. Having such a track helps when trying new footwear and equipment in general, in a controlled environment. Also, training in the same track allows you to measure the results of your training.