Training for the Himalayas - Part I

One of the most frequent questions I have been getting about my trip, other than, "What are you, freaking INSANE?" is "What are you doing to train?" While I cannot comment on my sanity, which may or may not be of consequence to anyone, I can offer some of help with training...and narcassism.

Most of the training I'm going to discuss is not specific to Himalayan expeditions; it is more of an overall theory of aligning the human body towards a more complete utlization focused on power, agility, coordination and endurance. Part I will focus on this concept, as well as laying out my weekly training schedule.

My workout is a combination of running, weights and various exercises that rely on counter-balancing (with and without weights). In general, there are very few "straight-up" exercises or power-lifting that I do that does not include some kind of counter-balance. These exercises are primarily aimed at tightening your core "abs, back and pelvis" to coordinate it with specific movements used in various activities.

Here is a typical training week:

Monday
Running - Sprints/Line-Drills (x7)
Core Strengthening

Tuesday
Running - Sprints/Line-Drills (x3)
Upperbody focused weights and core counterbalancing
Core Strengthening

Wednesday
Running - Sprints/Line-Drills (x7)
Lowerbody focused weights and core counterbalancing
Core Stengthening

Thursday
Running - Sprints/Line-Drills (x3)
Upperbody focused weights and core counterbalancing
Core Strengthening

Friday
Running - Sprints/Line-Drills (x7)
Core Strengthening

Sometimes I flop the schedule depending on how much work I think I need to do in a particular area. It really key to be in tune with your body; shunning a dogmatic and unbending about any particular approach. It keeps you from getting injured and also, as you begin to really hear what your body is telling you, you will learn to know exactly when to shift your focus on problem areas.

Developing Power vs. Pure Strength

Straight-up lifting weights to maximum burn is practically useless. You will get heath benefits from it, of course, and you'll look awesome at the beach, however, without focused coordination with other parts of your body, you'll build a lot of muscle that isn't able to turn into power. Also, injury risk is much greater.

For example, the line-drill, wind-sprints that I do on the basketball court go as follows: start from the baseline, sprint to the free-throw line, back to the baseline, to the three-point line, back to the baseline, then to half court, back to the baseline, then I do the same interval on the other side of the court. After years of doing these, I plateaued. Especially as I got older and wasn't doing as many sports that involved that type of sprinting on a regular basis, my performance actually started to decrease.

Then, I started doing one-legged squats on a foam cushion--no weights--just pushing and supporting my own body weight. The foam cushion causes you to balance with your ankles, as well as focusing your core muscles in your lower abs and back in order to keep your balance while you do it. I started off only being able to do two without falling. Now I can do 2 sets of 10 holding 15-lbs dumbells in each hand. As I got better with these squats, I was able to explode running line-drills. My legs were getting stronger, but more importantly, they were coordinated in one motion with my core and even my shoulders and arms. If I had been doing straight squats with the bar, I would technically have been able to power lift more weight, but I wouldn't have gotten any faster running line-drills.

Rock climbing taught me a LOT about this concept. If you watch a really good climber, they make climbing almost look like ballet (minus the pink tights). It is very graceful and deliberate. Most beginning and intermediate climbers who plateau, tend to focus mostly on arm and finger strength to pull through tough spots. However, an advanced climber positions their feet, uses hand-holds mostly for leverage and actually lifts with their abs, lower back and pelvis. Now, this is easier said than done, as it takes a lot of practice to get your muscle memory working so that your body coordinates together to perfect a particular movements. But again, this is a perfect demonstration of developing power versus pure strength.

Lastly, cross-training or other rigorous exercise is a great substitute. Sometimes you can train in the gym and also do the activity you want to do, but there are only so many hours in the day. Again, don't be dogmatic and rigid in your "schedule" that you forget why you are doing it. For instance, I rarely pass up a night to booze and attempt picking up chicks because I have to "get up early and develop coordinated power." I use the time wisely and coordinate my power in a bar setting.

But that is neither here nor there.

This wraps up Part I. My next post will talk about Exhaustion and the Mental Game. Lastly, I'll talk about Diet. If anyone is interested, I can post specific exercises that support this discussion. However, I am sure that 1 out of the 5 total people that read this blog have actually made it to this point with out clicking the "Back" arrow on their browser.

Posted by 10 fingers 6 strings at April 19, 2007 05:05 PM