I’m currently using the 24 week mountaineering plan, having used the 16 week plan successfully last year. I had some questions regarding the strength training exercises.
1. Why is the heel touch exercise part of the mountaineering max strength regime, but not part of the initial general strength training. I actually find this quite hard to do with a lot of weight, and think that practicing a lot during the general strength sessions might have helped me make quicker progress in terms of doing it with added weight in the max strength sessions.
2. Among the general strength exercises, there are some where I have improved a lot over the last couple of seasons, but at two I still remain pathetic in my inability.
One is the bridge – I can only do this keeping my head on the ground – I can barely manage to lift my head off the ground for a few seconds before crashing back. If I keep my head on the ground I can raise one of my legs and keep it up. If I try to attain the ideal position by starting with my hands supporting my body off the ground, my shoulders start to hurt and I can’t even get close to the prescribed position.
The second one is the L-sit. The only way I can seem to get my legs off the ground even without boots, is if I lean back, but I don’t think that’s what I should be doing.
Any suggestions on how to get better at these two.
3. One exercise I have markedly improved at is the hanging straight leg raise. When I first started trying this 2 years ago, I could barely get my legs 30% of the way. Now I can get my legs up about 80% of the way, but not to the point where I can touch the bar. Should I continue doing it this way in the max strength sessions, or should I do versions that I can complete (i.e. like with arms locked at 90 degrees)?
4. For the box step up in the max strength sessions, I typically use a 16” box (I am ~ 5’ 9”), and I can do sets of reps with a backpack with 65 lbs weight (in the last training season I had gone up to 80-85 lbs in weight and I think I can get there now too by the time I am done). I found it much more challenging to try this with an 18” box – I will have to drop the weight of the pack to do ~5 step ups that I do with 16” box. So the question is whether it is better to use the higher box with less weight, or lower box with more weight?
And one question regarding the aerobic workouts,
Given the lockdown where I live thanks to CoViD, it’s getting harder to justify driving to my favorite steep hills or staircases for the prescribed “steep uphill hike” workouts. I am fortunate to have a treadmill that can get up to a 15% incline in my garage. Is it ok to use this as a substitute (if a suboptimal one)? I am already using it for the “uphill hike” workouts for which an inclined treadmill is listed among the acceptable alternatives.
Even with all the training, cancellation of my mountaineering trip in July may be unavoidable given the current situation!
Thanks in advance for the feedback and stay well!
