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How to improve using a gym

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Chris Bishop
05/11/2002 at 12:15
I've booked on a Plas Y Brennin winter skills course next Feb. (2003)
What can I do in the gym (clean answers only) to make it easier?
I haven't done a Munro, but regularly walk lower levels. I'm planning a couple of sorties to Snowdonia, but any exercises or routines would be a help.
Chris Bishop
All the gear but no idea.
Hedgehope Aztec
05/11/2002 at 12:27
Best thing is to get out and walk!

Stick the treadmill thingy on it's maximum incline and walk/run on it, but it's so boring.
Si
05/11/2002 at 12:32
Or use a stepper thingy, builds up the leg muscles.

Still a bit dull though!!

Si(C)
Jon Doran
05/11/2002 at 12:38
Chris, if you do a search for 'fitness' in the features section, you should find an old, archived article about gym training.

For winter mountaineering you're mainly looking at basic, steady, endurance work and the best preparation is simply regular hill walking. In the gym treadmills are okay, especially set on an incline, but steppers are also an effective substitute with less jarring. It is boring though and personally I'd rather get outside and run hills.

I'd also look at doing some leg specific exercises simply to build up the muscles supporting the knee - leg extensions are the obvious one - and possibly some stuff aimed at building localised muscular endurance in your calves.


OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Andy Wallace
05/11/2002 at 12:58
Don't forget your upper body. Strong arms are always useful for hanging on for dear life or for hauling yourself out of places you wished you hadn't got into.
joan collins
05/11/2002 at 14:35
If you're walking rather than climbing, the main differences from doing the smae in summer are that you'll be carrying more weight and possibly slogging through (rather than over) snow. If you're reasonably fit already, this shouldn't present any problems at all, but you might enjoy it more if you raise your aerobic fitness.

The best way to do this is by running. Walking doesn't raise your heart rate enough to do anything more than accustom you to the exercise. It's best to run out of doors if you can, because you then get the benefit of different gradients (not to mention fresh air!), but if you can't, then a treadmill is OK. I run outside in central London in all weathers and at all times and it's not nearly as gruesome as it sounds once you get going.

Steppers are also OK, but don't use all the muscles as running does. Weight training in the form of squats might also help in terms of getting you uphill with a full pack.
GW
08/11/2002 at 10:26
You should also look at doing a lot of core stability work. If you're carrying a pack it'll make a massive difference to how you feel at the end of the day. If you can, do some swiss ball work (looks gimmicky, but actually works) with more basic abs and lower back strengthening exercises. Steppers etc. are ok but as Joan says, they don't really raise your heart rate. I work in a gym and we tell all out members that the stepper is only really used for toning.
Jon Doran
08/11/2002 at 11:02
Erm, I'd disagree with you on steppers. Try slapping a HRM on and then doing a session using it properly- most people don't - and you'll soon see whether it has any cardiovascular effect. The idea that they don't raise your heart rate is simply not true, especially if you don't cheat by taking all your weight on your arms and making tiny pigeon steps. Mark Twight once trained for an Alaskan expedition entirely on a Stairmaster and it worked for him.

Same goes for those eliptical trainer things. If you take your hands off the frame, your heart rate goes up approximately ten bpm. Go figure. They both have the advantage over treadmills of reducing impact on your joints.

To be honest I'd always run outdoors in preference to doing CV work in the gym, but it's a good environment for structured heart rate training because it's so simple to hold your rate of work at a steady level.

I'm sure as a fitness professional, you know a lot more than me, have a sports science degree etc, but I'm inclined to think that the fact that my heart rate increases during a stepper session is a reasonable sign that it has been raised.

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

joan collins
08/11/2002 at 11:30
The gym I go to advocates use of steppers as part of CV training, so I guess it depends which gym you go to, and perhaps also what type of equipment they have. Mine can be adjusted so that it feels like you're walking briskly up steep stairs - and believe me that raises your heart rate pretty quickly.
GW
08/11/2002 at 11:39
I don't have a sport science degree. Your heart rate will go up whenever you exercise. I wasn't meaning that your heart rate would literally remain the same, I phrased it poorly. It's a question of what intensity you exercise at. I agree, most people don't use steppers or eliptical trainers properly, and so most people will raise their heart rate much more when running solely because of that. But even if using the machines properly, I would say that, you're much more likley to improve your CV performance by spending 20 minutes on a treadmill than you are by spending 20 minutes on a stepper. Runners World said that the latest study showed that eliptical trainers burnt the same number of calories as on a treadmill. If true then fine, but in the end, the movement is not identical and running on a treadmill is going to be a much more transferable activity. Having said that, walking in the hills will involve a much more diverse range of movements and range of motion than road running, so cross training with a stepper will be useful, but it's the treadmill which will do the most to increase your CV abilities.

Clearly getting outdoors is better for CV work than doing it in a gym, and I actually find it easier to keep my HR at a steady level outside as you can adjust your speed and so on much more easily in response to any change in your heart rate.
GW
08/11/2002 at 11:45
Sorry to go on, but have just seen joans posting. Gyms recommend different forms of CV activity partly for the cross training benefits, but just as importantly to keep people interested. Most people would rather spend 20 minutes on 2 machines than 40 minutes on a treadmill. Many people who go to gyms would have trouble running at good pace for 40 mins (and running on a treadmill for 40 mins is not very interesting), but could do it for 20 mins and then spend 20 mins using a different range of motion and muscles on a stepper or bike etc.
Incidentally, the steppers that some gyms have that look like actual steps as opposed to the pedal type are much better and much easier to push yourself on.
Jon Doran
08/11/2002 at 13:50
So really there's nothing wrong with either steppers or elliptical trainers and used properly they're just as valid for cardio vascular work as treadmills, albeit using the leg muscles in a way that's mechanically slightly different to walking, but with reduced stress on the joints?

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

GW
08/11/2002 at 18:49
Well no there's nothing wrong with them. But if someone wished to increase their stamina by a significant amount they could do this much quicker and much more effectively through running as it will tend to raise their heart rate higher than using a stepper.
Most runners for instance would use a eliptical trainer if injured or maybe after a long run to rest their joints, but wouldn't use one to actually train on, but then they tend to train more specifically than necessary or useful for hill walkers.
Steppers and eliptical trainers have their place in a training program, particularly one aimed towards a relatively low intensity activity like hill walking. I tend to train for running and so they're not much use for me, as using them is not particularly going to improve your 10K or marathon time for instance. It's all to do with your aims.
Lloyd Bower
08/11/2002 at 22:12
I do various kinds of exercise in addition to mtn biking and hill walking.

All have different kind of benefits, squash tends to take my heart rate higher than most. I also do a small amount of running & gym work, particularly when working away. I find running the worse on my shins/knees despite trying different running shoes.

Gym work doesn't have to be boring, though > 20 mins on the same equipment certainly is. I usually use a variety of equip, rowing machine, eliptical trainer/stepper in addition to the treadmill.
Lloyd Bower
08/11/2002 at 22:14
Oh, one thing to ignore is the calories used on those gym machines. I'm sure its all nonsense
Orange Alex Ford
08/11/2002 at 23:09
Yeah...how do they KNOW?????


I used to 10k runs on treadmill (approx 45mins if you must know).

Great if you want to think things through.
Jon Doran
08/11/2002 at 23:10
Greg, I'm still not convinced by your argument about steppers not raising heart rate as effectively as running - or in fact that raising your heart rate quickly actually builds 'endurance', it's a lot more complex than that. But what the heck.

Interestingly there is actually a study of runners training using a stepper which showed that against a control group training normally, the runners using the stepper showed no loss of fitness. Also Kelly Holmes has used cross training with machines like steppers very effectively to maintain fitness through periods of injury, which I douby she'd do, if they were quite as low intensity as you imply, her being a world-class athlete and all.

OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

GW
09/11/2002 at 15:55
Did the runners on the steppers show any increase in performance against those actually runnning or did they just maintain their previous fitness levels? Maintenance of fitenss is actually pretty simple. Traditional wisdom would say that as long as intensity is maintained, training duration can be reduced by 2/3 for purposes of maintenance.
Kelly Holmes may have used steppers when injured, but did she use them when fit in any meaningful way (ie. as a replacement or equal to running rather than a minor adjunct) in an to attempt to improve her performance?
DAVE G
10/11/2002 at 10:01
You could try the Concept 2 rowing machine.It is a total body workoutwith no jarring. Living on the south coast there aren't many hills to run up so for my ML training I alternated between one of these and an ecliptical stepper.On the stepper don't use your hands for a harder workout.
About 45mins a day on each will help.
Lloyd Bower
10/11/2002 at 17:54
Dave, 45 mins on a rowing machine is some going. I've only ever done half that amount, tops.
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