Steve House’s 5 Week Foundation for Rock Alpinists Training Plan
This training plan is for those who want a shorter-term training plan that prepares them for an alpine rock climbing objective, or to prepare for Steve House’s 8 Week Advanced Rock Alpinist Training Plan. The plan calls for 1 climbing day, 3 aerobic training days, and 2 strength training days per week. The focus of the plan is building general fitness that is capable of supporting good climbing technique. This plan will lead to improvements based your technical climbing ability and prepare you for the more taxing “Steve House’s 8 Week Advanced Rock Alpinist Training Plan”.
Is this plan right for you? This training program assumes you have the ability to run at a slow-to-moderate pace for 45 minutes and run or hike for a minimum of 90 minutes. The program assumes you can climb either indoors or outdoors one day per week. The strength training component is built so as to require minimal gear. A place for pull-ups and some free weights, such as dumbbells, kettlebells, or even an improvised bags of rocks will work.
Here’s useful beta about how to purchase and start your new plan and why we use TrainingPeaks. For specific questions about this training plan, or to send us your success story email us at coach@uphillathlete.com. Tag your training with #weareuphillathletes
Train smart. Climb well. Have fun.
-Steve House
IFMGA-certified Mountain Guide, Coach, and Founder of Uphill Athlete
Sample Workouts:
Workout #1: Core Routine
Planned Time: 0:15:00
Do the following Core Exercises for 10 second hold or 10 reps (5/side where applicable). Rest 30 seconds between exercises:
Strict Sit ups
Bird Dog
Windshield Wipers
Plank Pose
Kayakers
Hanging Let Raises
Bridges
Gymnast L-sit
Side Plank
Workout #2: General Strength, Minimal Gear
Planned Time:1:00:00
Turkish Get Up
Split Bench Squat. (weight in hands or in backpack)
Push-ups
Box-step ups (weight in hands or in backpack)
Pull-ups
Goblet Squat (video link below)
Dips (box or regular)
Hanging Leg Raise. Knees to chest or legs straight.
Incline Pull-Ups
Drawings for correct form for all exercises are in Training for the New Alpinism, pages 208-221.
Workout #3: Zone 2 Run
Planned Time: 0:45:00
Aerobic Threshold run.
15 min warm up, Start out very easy and slowly build your pace / HR up to lower Zone 2 and holding in that zone for the duration.
Workout #4: Zone 2 Run
Planned Time: 0:45:00
Aerobic Threshold run.
15 min warm up, Start out very easy and slowly build your pace / HR up to lower Zone 2 and holding in that zone for the duration.
Workout #5: Core Routine
Planned Time: 0:15:00
Do the following Core Exercises for 10 second hold or 10 reps (5/side where applicable). Rest 30 seconds between exercises:
Strict Sit ups
Bird Dog
Windshield Wipers
Plank Pose
Kayakers
Hanging Let Raises
Bridges
Gymnast L-sit
Side Plank
Workout #6: General Strength, Minimal Gear
Planned Time:1:00:00
Turkish Get Up
Split Bench Squat. (weight in hands or in backpack)
Push-ups
Box-step ups (weight in hands or in backpack)
Pull-ups
Goblet Squat (video link below)
Dips (box or regular)
Hanging Leg Raise. Knees to chest or legs straight.
Incline Pull-Ups
Drawings for correct form for all exercises are in Training for the New Alpinism, pages 208-221.
Workout #7: Zone 2 Run
Planned Time: 0:45:00
Aerobic Threshold run.
15 min warm up, Start out very easy and slowly build your pace / HR up to lower Zone 2 and holding in that zone for the duration.
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