[helenpelster]

Question for our Q&A today…

My girlfriends and I are “older” female athletes (50-60), and we are hesitant to launch into the jumping exercises for the gym-based ME workouts. With access to steep hills (we live in Tahoe) or a good stair climber, I’d like to do an alternative ME workout. I am a trail runner, but I do a lot of fast packing, so training with a weighted pack is also an option.

Here is a workout described in Chapter 8 of the Uphill Athlete book:

“Start this workout progression by running or hiking (which you choose depends on the steepness and your muscular endurance) up the hill for eight to ten minutes with that low-level leg burn. Repeat two times, taking a five-minute moving recovery between reps. If you need to walk back down between reps because you do not have a long enough hill, that’s fine. This can build to a full 40 minutes of steady uphill grinding.”

My question is this: what workout protocol and progression would you recommend? Possible formats:
indoor (stair stepper)
indoor (15% treadmill with backpack)
outdoor (steep hill – possibly with snowshoes)

Topic

[Amanda Woodtke]

Amanda Woodtke on February 22, 2023 at 6:57 am #75844

I’m 39 and am hesitant to do jump split squats due to hip imbalances! So I feel you on the not wanting to do jumping things, especially single leg. I love the static split squat lunge variations and I go really small range on the jump squats so as not to irritate the lack of range on my right hip. Would jumping up on to a small step or jumping off a small step with a soft controlled landing be an option for these as well I wonder?

[Chantelle Robitaille]

Chantelle Robitaille on February 23, 2023 at 2:01 pm #75893

@Amanda- if you have known hip issues and don’t feel like jumping is the right thing for you- by all means, stick to a low impact variation. The goal of training ALWAYS is to remain healthy and to find the challenge that is right for you. Jumping isn’t for everyone, single leg exercises may also not be for everyone yet either. Err on the side of conservative any time you are in doubt.

If you feel it’s safe you could try jumping down a small step (rather than jumping up) and land on two feet and see how that goes for you. Alexa also gave some alternate examples/substitutions on the Q+A call last Sunday as well that might be helpful.