Ica,
I can’t overemphasize how valuable a simple sitting meditation practice can be. I followed a series of Vipassana courses, but there are many good approaches. Even, I hear, some good apps available if you you like. Good luck and thank you for opening up this line of discussion.
Steve House
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KeymasterKeymaster
Hi, I lived in and trained in central Oregon for about 6 years. My go-to for ME uphill workouts was Gray Butte at Smith Rock. Go down to the bridge, hang a right, and go to the point where the irrigation canal goes through the tunnel. Start there, or for a couple hundred more feet, start down at the river’s edge. Go straight up the fall line to the summit of Gray Butte. Another fun option, though shorter, is Horse Ridge, out east of Bend off HW 20. And of course skinning Mt. Bachelor, esp the upper half. I did a lot of that! Cheers. Steve
KeymasterSorry @landers2189 I simply don’t have an answer to this one.
KeymasterSteve House on February 18, 2020 at 12:18 pm · in reply to: Ice Maintenance During Rock Season #38370@jakedev My personal experience is that my core and shoulder strength goes down during rock season. This could be due to the type of rock climbing I like, generally what people refer to now as slab climbing. When I rock climb I’m mostly on my feet and the moves are small. When I’m mixed climbing I tend to use more core (boots/crampons are heavier than rock shoes) and more big-move shoulder strength (and lock-off). It takes me longer to locate good holds dry-tooling than it does rock climbing, probably due to the sensation of fingertips.
So, what I’ve done is run through a max-strength workout every 10 days or so through the off-season. I found this has provided massive benefits because I didn’t have to start at such a low level when September rolls around. Rather I picked up pretty close to where I had been strength-wise at the end of the winter season. This made my year-on-year gains much greater.
The one area I didn’t address is grip as it’s specific to holding onto tools. I think the rock climbing gripping translates after about 2 weeks. I think it’s the same muscles, just different ways of activating them.
KeymasterGreat work @chrisvmarias. We made the plan, but you put the miles into your legs and you deserve the credit for getting it done! Proud of you. Thanks for being an Uphill Athlete.
KeymasterHi @Raz
As I recall it takes about 7 days for a new red blood cell to be made and reach maturity. The process is called erythropoiesis if you want to google more. That said, you’re cranking out new ones all the time so new ones will be entering your blood stream soon. The dip in hematocrit will signal your body to increase production in the short-term, but the maturation time frame is still about 7 days in an adult. I believe in young babies/children it’s quicker.In my personal experience with blood donation (note that I live at 7,000′, frequently am above 10,000′) I’ve thought I’ve felt the affect for a week. Nothing debilitating, but definitely feel a bit of a drag.
Keymaster@Dada I’ve guided a bunch of trips on Denali on both the West Buttress and the West Rib, I think 18 or so in total. The guide services have it super dialed. There isn’t much downside to go with them except potentially bad group dynamics (equal chance of having great group dynamics too). There is always the option of going with a guide service, and once you’ve been there and seen it all, you’ll know if you want to come back with friends without a guide.
It’s a super magical place and one of the best trips you can do. I truly love it up there and I recommend everyone climb Denali a few times in their lives! Go!
KeymasterSteve House on February 4, 2020 at 9:29 am · in reply to: Article with cautions on female fasted training #37409@wildmoser.j ROAR is a great book with some good information, but do keep in mind that she is not addressing endurance training. We (UA coaches) also advise against fasted training anytime you are doing high-intensity training or any kind of strength workout. It’s only for zone 1 and 2 aerobic capacity building workouts. Fasted training, as we define it (4-12 hours post meal) is pretty light-touch compared to a lot of what is being discussed as fasted training in the media these days. As with many solid, well-understood training modalities, fasted training is being (has been?) taken out of context and distorted to sell stuff.
Also keep in mind that while being integrated into your zone 1 and 2 aerobic workouts we advise slowly increasing the time you go without eating, which means carrying a small snack or two. These times will improve over weeks, but it is never a linear progression. One week you’ll need to eat at 30 minutes, the next workout, 40 minutes, the next workout maybe 25 minutes. That’s all okay. It is our experience that most people can do their aerobic workouts and maintain health (health always takes precedence over training) within 4-6 weeks of applying these techniques.
I do think your morning runs, (put a gel in a pocket) should be fine. Crossfit on only coffee, you could do it but you would have gotten more out of the workouts had you done them fueled. This is the reason we recommend against fasted strength training, carbs are the only fuel for this type of exercise and ignoring that means your muscles simply won’t work as well/fast/strong as they would with cho around.
Lastly here is an article outlining a typical gradual introduction for fasted aerobic training.
I hope this helps.
Keymaster@terrylui I was involved, as a consultant, in speccing some lightweight rappel lines for the military about 15 years ago. I managed to retain a sample for myself 😉 It’s very good, but very, very expensive.
KeymasterSteve House on January 7, 2020 at 1:11 pm · in reply to: Understanding high altitude performance #35663+1 what @OwenFW said, fitness does not correlate with incidence of altitude illness.
We have more experience with this question than probably anyone in the world at this point and I think we can say with confidence that high aerobic capacity positively correlates to high rates of ascent/descent at even the most extreme altitudes.
Fitness does not inoculate one against AMS/HAPE/HACE. But it does provide your body with more energy to address the needs of acclimatization because you’re not tired. Acclimatization is extraordinarily complex and we only understand a tiny portion, probably 1%, of what the body goes through in it’s adaptation to a new altitude.
more info here:
David Goettler and Ueli Steck Put Low-Intensity Training to the Test in the Khumbu
andKeymasterSteve House on January 7, 2020 at 12:54 pm · in reply to: Iñigo San Millán Interview: Mitochondria, Zone 2, and metabolic health #35655This is a GREAT podcast and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a better explanation of the physiology than Scott and I could ever muster. Thanks for posting.
KeymasterHi Nick,
I haven’t seen these, but I have assembled a pretty decent collection of old Silveretta 400’s from eBay and the like. (3 pairs, one back up and two in service) I used an alert function that sent me an email when someone listed anything with the words Silveretta 400 or Silveretta 404.KeymasterHey Anthony,
MY high-school coach used to have us do towel-pull-ups. They really work the grip but I think I got elbow tendonitis from over-using that exercise, so be aware that having to grip that strongly while executing a pull-up puts a lot of strain on the elbow. Might be better just to hang from the gripped towel.I think that you could also (a variation on @dada good suggestion) make something with PVC pipe, a few angles, and wrap the whole thing in athletic tape to have a vertically oriented shaft type thing to hold onto.
The other thing I travel with often is this
it’s lightweight (I used to bring Rock rings until they accidentally got left hanging from a hotel balcony near Venice!) These are much lighter than rock rings and arguably more versatile.Hope you figure something out.
cheers,
SteveKeymasterSteve House on December 17, 2019 at 7:35 am · in reply to: Best HR monitors w/ wrist display? #34538@crwebber707
The cheapest option is probably a $50 Wahoo chest strap and their phone app (assuming you have a smart phone). Then synch the Wahoo app to Training Peaks.I hate working out with my phone for a variety of reasons, but that is a functional option.
Keymaster