Gym Training*

I suspect that a lot of climbers I have talked to would not agree with my cardio routine - but it works for me and my goals. For climbing the usual advice you get is to "train for climbing by climbing". They say this for both hill climbing/mountaineering and for rock climbing. To a point I would agree. But you don't really need to do that until the later stages of training when things get more "sport specific".

I do the majority of my training in the gym (fitness gym as opposed to the "climbing gym" - a dirty word to some). I think if all you did for your climb training was "climbing" you'd be trashing your body and limiting yourself. There is a nervous system response to training though, even cardio training, and that becomes apparent when you hit the hills for the first time outside of the gym when your body has to suddenly adapt to subtle and unfamiliar movements on or off trail. "Gee, Im not in as good of shape as I thought I was.." is usually the thought that comes to mind. It's true, no matter how hard you work the cardio in the gym, its just not the same as getting out. But that doesn't mean all you should do is "hike in the hills" in order to train for your big "hike in the hills".

I don't have the gas money or the time to be going off into the mountains every other day to train and that means it's way more convenient for me to hit the gym - which after all, I have already paid for. The gym takes away the "bad weather" excuse, gets me around like motivated people, provides a high energy atmosphere and allows me to be in a bit more control of things by getting pretty specific about what I want to work on in any given session. What can I say, I like it. And although it's not the same as mountain climbing you can still push it hard in the gym and build a good cardio/aerobic base to add onto by doing the real deal.

One very important thing that is missing however in the gym setting is terrain variability. Ive often read or heard that trail runners are prone to sprain their ankles. I don't believe it. Ive rarely seen anyone injured on the trail (Im sure it happens on occasion). I have sprained my ankle several times though, and its always happened on smooth hard surfaces - including tread mills. I have seen people sprain their ankles or torque their knees more than once while jogging on smooth hard pavement or concrete. Repetitive movement is the real enemy IMO, not variable terrain. In fact, by varying the terrain you are working the stabilizing muscles ligaments and tendons that are essential to keeping you balanced and injury free. So when you do cardio in the gym you need to throw a lot of variability into the mix to make up for the fakey perfect environment. Work on a large variety of equipment. This goes for all aspects of gym training including strength training.

Resistance machines remove the variability factor as well, and I have read that more people are injured on weight machines than are injured using free weights. When do strains and sprains occur? It's when a sudden and unfamiliar movement is introduced, or an awkward odd angle stress is put on a muscle or a joint. Machines and tread mills tend to train the body that "nothing like that is going to happen to you" and then because machines and tread mills can't completely eliminate all variability - only reduce your body's ability to adapt to it - when it does occur, the chances of injury are greater. Again, it's really important to mix it up and introduce a lot of variability into your gym workouts.

For me the gym environment is a very positive one and I would even credit my membership with actually changing my life for the better. Its where I created my base level of fitness and where I turn when Im "not feeling it". But I understand that a gym has its limitations as well as its usefulness. The key to gym training for me is to try to get the most out of it and then "step outside" of the limitations (pun intended).

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