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More Training Info > Sport-Specific Training Myths Debunked
Sport-Specific Training Myths Debunked
By C. W. Schurman, CSCS
Myth 1: To get better at my sport, I need to just do more of my sport.
Fact 1: It’s certainly true that you need to include plenty of time for your sport itself (a concept known as specificity), whether that’s hiking with a pack for backpacking, sport climbing at local crags for alpine mountaineering, or running for the marathon. However, there are numerous benefits to cross-training to allow the muscles that get overworked in your specific sport to stay in balance and avoid injury. Sport participation is highly seasonally dependent, so at times when you are not able to do your sport there are plenty of sport-supporting activities that will keep you in good condition. At times if you are injured or swamped with work, you may need in-town workouts that help you keep up your strength, anaerobic and aerobic conditioning, and flexibility so that you can enjoy whatever time you have to participate in your sport when you get the chance. Finally, you may find that you are weak in certain areas, physically, that your sport does not address, so supplementing it with yoga, strength training, cardiovascular conditioning, or skill development and practice can actually help you to see more progress than always just adding more time in your sport.
Myth 2: If I’m going to climb with a 40# pack I should always train with that weight.
Fact 2: Even if you are comfortable carrying 40# right at this moment, there are times when you should carry more (i.e. shorter in-town workouts such as hills or stairs intervals), and times when you carry less (i.e. longer full-day hikes where you are with a bunch of young speed demons who like to cover 15-20 miles). Early season, or anytime that you have not been carrying a pack for more than a month, it is certainly appropriate and expected that you back down the training weight and remember to increase pack weight no faster than about 10% per week. We also recommend training to a point where you’re comfortable carrying 5-10% more weight than your target or goal weight, so that when the unexpected occurs and you have to add a wet rope, take a teammate’s gear, or add mileage to the trip, you’re prepared to handle the extra.
Myth 3: I’m a long-distance runner; I can get ready for a climb of Mt. Rainier in 3-4 weeks.
Fact 3: To safely and effectively get the body conditioned for a high-altitude climb like the 14,000-foot peaks, you need to allow at least 3-4 months (we highly recommend six, see Train To climb Mt Rainier DVD for a comprehensive 6-month program) to gradually ramp up both your strength training and your pack carrying workouts. A month only works if you are already comfortable carrying 40 or more pounds for a hike of 6-8 miles in under 4 hours on varied terrain—in other words, you’re already Rainier ready and can insert two Back-to-Backs a month and 2 weeks before your climb. While distance runners have a great baseline of cardiovascular endurance, as soon as you add a significant amount of pack weight and steep, unbalanced terrain, it becomes a completely different sport, and more distance runners than I’m sure would care to admit have been humbly turned away from mountains because they’re simply not in mountain-ready condition.
Myth 4: Mountaineering is a good way to lose weight.
Fact 4: The truth is, the longer hours of training that you put into getting ready for a climb will in all likelihood help you with weight loss. However, climbing itself is such a strenuous sport that skimping on food when climbing is quite dangerous. In order to keep your energy levels up, you need to get in the habit of snacking regularly – every 45-60 minutes – when climbing anything that takes longer than about 90 minutes. Mountaineering and fresh air also tend to increase our appetites – you probably have already found out that there’s nothing better than a good Mexican meal or burger and fries after a hard climb. Furthermore, since most people sweat quite a bit during summer outings, the natural tendency on the climb itself is to grab high-sodium snacks to replenish the electrolytes lost through sweat. Those salty snacks and indulgences generally result in weight gain – at least temporarily – so don’t be surprised if the scale actually shows you’ve put on a few pounds after your weekend outings. It should come right back off once you resume your normal eating strategy.
Myth 5: I’ve never had an issue with altitude sickness so I probably never will.
Fact 5: Lucky you! Altitude sickness hits people with no advanced warning. Just because you have not had any problems on one climb to one height does not mean that you are immune to problems in the future. The flip is also true; just because you have suffered from altitude sickness before does not guarantee that you will have it again. Whenever you are going to be above about 7,500’ elevation, be sure you are staying well hydrated, well fueled, and allow yourself adequate acclimatization time to increase the likelihood that you will not have any problems.
Myth 6: To get a strong mid-section for climbing I need to have a well-rounded floor core routine.
Fact 6: Part of this is right: you DO need a well-rounded core training regimen for whatever alpine sport interests you; however, hundreds of crunches lying on a ball or on the floor will not give you functional core strength, despite recent media claims to the contrary. If you include multi-muscle group exercises such as deadlifts, squats, pull-ups, pushups, overhead or walking lunges, triceps dips, planks and the like, you will do far more for functional core strength development than any amount of floor core exercises.
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