Fitness training for CTSS expedition members Training for mountaineering encompasses many components: Aerobic capacity, general and core strength, technical movement proficiency and mental toughness are all important elements you need to develop to be successful in the mountains. Many mountaineering objectives require you to sustain your performance for days, weeks, or months. Proper training, like the sport itself, takes a great deal of commitment and a high degree of consistency. In the mountains, fitness equates to safety. The faster and more efficiently you are able to move, the safer you will be, period. Some routes offer only limited safe locations for breaks, and you often have to climb at a constant pace for several hours between snacks and sips of water. Objective hazards, such as rockfall and avalanches, can threaten sections of the route. Sometimes the only safe strategy for moving through these areas is to limit the time you spend in them, meaning you have to go as fast as you can without burning yourself out for the rest of the climb. Unlike organized races, mountains don’t offer an easy exit if things go wrong. You can’t duck under the ropes and hobble into a medical tent if you are exhausted or injured. You have to rely on yourself and your teammates to get you up and, most importantly, down the mountain safely. As a member of a rope team, it’s your responsibility to make sure you are fit enough to complete the objective, and that you have plenty of fitness reserves to support your teammates if unexpected issues arise, as they often do in harsh mountain environments. The process of developing your mountaineering fitness takes time. Thankfully, improving your fitness can go hand in hand with learning the technical skills and gaining the on-mountain experience you need to become a proficient mountaineer. As your fitness profile grows, so should your rope skills, crampon technique, and technical repertoire. On top of that, your training efforts will take you into some beautiful outdoor landscapes, fueling your spirit and motivating further explorations. If you can learn to love the process, finding joy and utility in a consistent routine, you will inevitably reach your goals.
Aerobic Capacity The most important component of endurance fitness is aerobic capacity. Not only does your aerobic capacity give you the ability to complete long efforts without succumbing to fatigue, but it also supports your performance during higher-intensity work and significantly contributes to quicker recovery. A well developed aerobic system will always be your best tool to deal with the rigors of performing well in a low oxygen/high altitude environment that is commonplace in our mountaineering world. Given the importance of aerobic capacity and the physiology of how you improve, it should come as no surprise that the majority of training hours throughout all phases of a workout plan are devoted to improving aerobic capacity, also referred to as the “aerobic base.” Aerobic base training supports and counterbalances other layers of fitness. Professional endurance athletes commonly spend 80-90% of their total training hours on aerobic base training. Entry-level athletes will benefit from training in a similar fashion.
Assessing your aerobic capacity should be one of the first steps you take when embarking on a training plan.People with a history of performance in endurance sports may have built up their aerobic capacity already, but the majority of folks who are new to mountaineering do not have an adequately developed aerobic capacity to support the back-to-back multi-hour days that come with mountaineering. People who have spent much of their fitness life doing high-intensity workouts, such as CrossFit or HIIT, have honed their ability to exert short and powerful bursts of energy, the opposite of what is
needed for mountaineering oriented endurance sports. Spending a lot of time in the gym doing high intensity work doesn’t mean you have the requisite aerobic fitness to climb a big mountain, in fact, the opposite may be true. The energy needed to contract your muscles and move your body comes from two metabolic pathways: aerobic and anaerobic. The aerobic metabolic process relies on oxygen and is fueled mostly by fat during these long, lower-intensity efforts. The anaerobic metabolic process does not require oxygen and is fueled by breaking down sugars to produce short bursts of power. The cellular and muscular componentry for each process can be trained, but the two have a rather competitive relationship. Training one pathway tends to diminish the other pathway and vice versa. A history of high-intensity training without enough aerobic base training to complement it has led many people to have an underdeveloped aerobic capacity. Fixing this underdevelopment is an essential step for any athlete with endurance goals. Moving the needle on your aerobic capacity can be slow and arduous. The only reliable method is to do a high volume of aerobic exercise at or below your aerobic threshold (AeT). You can roughly determine your aerobic threshold heart rate using a heart rate drift test or the MAF 180 Formula, which is simply (180-your age) i.e for a 45 y/o athlete 180-45=135. You can supplement tests and formulas with no-tech gauges, such as being able to breathe through your nose and the ability to carry on a conversation while exercising. Regardless of how you identify your exact AeT, the key to developing your aerobic capacity is to train at intensities at or below this threshold. In other words, you must log a lot of hours of low-intensity training. There are no shortcuts! The first phase of a proper endurance training plan is often called the “patience phase.” It can be frustrating and monotonous, especially for folks who are accustomed to the feeling of high-intensity workouts. Trust the process and give your body time to adapt. As you progress, reassess your aerobic capacity often. Seeing quantifiable improvements can be the carrot you need to stay motivated. Many types of aerobic activity are beneficial for improving your aerobic capacity, but since you are training for mountaineering, we encourage athletes to focus primarily on upright, weight-bearing activities such as hiking and running. Prioritizing sport-specific activities that closely resemble mountaineering will produce fitness gains that directly transfer to your event. Biking and swimming, for example, might make you more aerobically fit, but only a portion of the hours you spend training will transfer to the fitness you need to climb a big mountain. Being efficient with your time is part of a successful training regimen. With that being said, light recovery sessions where the goal isn’t to produce a major training stimulus can be a good time for different activities. An easy bike ride, swim, row, or other aerobic activity can be a refreshing compliment to a heavy dose of hiking and running. Try to find enjoyment in the feeling of aerobic base training because no matter what phase of a training plan you are in or how strong an athlete you are, it is always an
essential element. Use the opportunity to get to know your favorite local trails and visit some locations farther from home. If you’re stuck on a treadmill or a stairwell in a skyscraper, we recommend finding a good podcast or audiobook. And remember, you may have to train slowly to go fast! Strength Strength may be the most individual training intervention. Your body type, training history and climbing goal all need to be taken into account. Improving your strength in sport-specific movement patterns without adding bulk is the goal. Fundamentally, the act of climbing a mountain requires an athlete to place one foot higher on a slope than the other foot and stand up on a single leg. During the descent, this motion is obviously reversed. There are many other movement patterns used during a climb, such as stepping laterally across a steep face, pulling on a fixed rope, or bending over to pick up a heavy backpack or snow block while building camp. Steeper or vertical terrain places greater demands on the upper body and specific lower body muscle groups like the calves. The basic single-legged propulsive movement patterns, however, are relatively simple and where the bulk of your strength training time should be focused. Exerting greater force within these movement patterns, and being able to replicate that same force for hours and days on end, is what will make you a faster mountaineer. We have put together two workouts that cover the exercises we consider to be most important for mountaineers. This is not a comprehensive list but provides a good starting place for many athletes. You can find these at the bottom of this PDF. Core strength is another important factor in the mountains. A strong core contributes to everything you do. It helps you lift your knees when stepping up a slope, carry a heavy backpack in good balance, pull yourself up a steep face, and absorb impact on the descent. You don’t need to have a six-pack to climb a mountain, true core strength is different from rippling abs. The exercises we recommend are designed to strengthen the deep internal muscles that will create a notable difference in all your outdoor activities. One main benefit of strength training, if done properly, is that it makes you more durable and injury-resistant. Muscles are interdependent, meaning they have their own function and purpose but also rely on and influence other muscles throughout the body. Isolating and working on small, overlooked muscles that aren’t activated in compound movements can encourage symmetry and prevent overuse injuries. For example, working on the abductor muscles in your hips will lead to better hip stability, which in turn supports a cleaner form in your lower legs and prevents knee injuries. Similarly, strengthening the muscles in your posterior chain can alleviate some of the imbalances that might develop from a sport like mountaineering, which places most of the muscular strain on the front of the body.
Our mountaineering training plans have three phases of strength training: general strength, max strength, and Muscular Endurance. Athletes will want to consider their specific situation and will likely want to include all three in their long term training architecture. The general strength phase is where athletes develop the foundational strength upon which the other two layers are built. Focusing on clean form and a full range of motion without adding too much resistance or weight is important in this first phase. The goal of the max strength phase is to improve the strength in your existing musculature without adding bulk. The basic idea is to increase the amount of weight your muscles can move across sport-specific exercise patterns. The best way to do this is to add progressively heavier weight to each exercise while doing a relatively low number of reps and sets. This won’t produce the same burn, exhausted feeling, or subsequent soreness that you might be used to from other strength workouts. But if you stick with this work and get enough recovery, you will see your weights begin to increase. This means you are also increasing your strength reserve. Your strength reserve is the difference between the maximum strength you have to perform a given movement and the strength you need to perform the same movement during your event. In other words, if you need to carry a 50-pound backpack up a mountain and you can perform step-ups with 100 pounds, your strength reserve is 50 pounds. In general (with a few caveats), the bigger your strength reserve, the easier it will be to complete your event. Muscular Endurance is the final, most important layer of strength training. Because it is a complex subject and is so critical for endurance fitness, we decided it needed its own subheading. Muscular Endurance While it’s important to be able to step up on one leg with more weight than you need to carry (max strength), it’s far more important to be able to step up on that leg ten thousand or more times, with the last step exerting the same powerful force as the first. Muscular Endurance (ME) is The ability of a muscle to exert a relatively high percentage of its maximum force for many repetitions of the propelling movement. In other words, improving Muscular Endurance will help you go faster for longer. In his deep dive into Muscular Endurance, Scott Johnston writes about the physiology of ME, explaining how muscle types come into play and looking back at the history of ME training. The article even provides detailed workout protocols for gym-based and outdoor ME training sessions. Mountaineers must keep in mind that ME training is most effective when it is layered on top of a large aerobic capacity and strength reserve. Because of the muscle types involved, aerobic base workouts need to continue with the same volume and regularity as in earlier phases of training.
ME workouts are an intense training stimulus and need to be moderated with adequate rest and active recovery sessions if an athlete is going to make consistent gains. Typically only one ME workout per week is all that is needed to go faster for longer in the mountains.
Since ME is typically the final phase of a training plan, leading directly into your taper, it’s imperative not to overdo it. The gains you experience from this type of training can be rapid and impressive, which can lure you into thinking more of it and will make you even stronger. Be wary: Too much could easily lead to overtraining, burnout, or injury, which are the last things you want right before your climb. Tapering Proper tapering for any athletic event is as much art as science. Each event requires a slightly different approach, and every athlete reacts differently. In general, the goal is to balance rest and recovery with continued exercise, maintaining an athlete’s fitness while allowing their body to reach a state of equilibrium. In this in-depth discussion of tapering techniques, Scott Johnston writes about how to make the most of tapering, when to apply a taper, and some general guidelines to keep in mind. For mountaineering objectives with extended travel time and/or longer approach treks (e.g. Everest, Aconcagua, Vinson), one can train closer to the point of departure. The first part of the trip becomes the final part of the taper. In this case, a 3-5 day stretch of very light training will make sure the athlete is rested enough that their immune system
is strong and will allow a little extra time for last-minute packing, family, and work responsibilities. For trips that are more arduous right from the start where you need to hit the ground running (or dragging a sled, like Denali) may demand a more thorough training taper beforehand. For most trips of this type, a 1-2 week taper is appropriate. This period should look similar to your normal training weeks, but you should reduce the volume of everything by about 50%. A good gauge for this is your normal consolidation or recovery weeks during training. Do you feel quite rested and ready to work hard after a consolidation week? Or do they leave you feeling flat, and it takes a few workouts to get going again? This is good information to take note of and use to tailor the taper to your individual needs. One thing that you should consider in almost all taper strategies is removing any Muscular Endurance training for the last couple of weeks before launch. ME training has a very high recovery demand and will typically yield the best results with a slightly longer taper than other types of training. Technique For athletes and coaches alike, the discussion of preparing for endurance goals can get solely focused on the minutiae of training to be as fit as possible. While this is obviously hugely important, it is not the only factor that is firmly in your control. Another big factor in your success is being proficient in the techniques required for your mountaineering goals. This can be thought of as the ability to effectively and efficiently apply your hard-won fitness to technical mountain terrain. Modest gains in movement efficiency will result in big reductions in energy expenditure over the course of a long day of climbing in the mountains. We have seen many instances of athletes with solid training data who fail on their climbs due to a lack of technical ability. They're just not proficient enough climbers to apply their hard earned fitness. Don’t let that be you! Working on climbing techniques is an ongoing and lifelong pursuit. For those who don’t live in areas where the desired type of climbing is readily accessible, it will require some travel and dedication to get into the type of terrain where you need to practice. If you are new to mountaineering, one of the best ways to learn technique is to spend some time in the field with a knowledgeable guide who can safely push the boundaries of your climbing skill, demonstrate proper techniques, and help correct errors in real-time. Consider building your skill set through a series of beginner and intermediate level climbs or a CTSS mountaineering course that will teach you the basics, such as walking in crampons, using an ice axe, and managing the rope. Knots, pacing, glacier travel techniques, and crevasse rescue techniques are usually covered in these courses as well. Once you’ve learned the basic techniques, the goal is then to refine and expand your knowledge on steeper, more technical terrain. Ultimately, you want to be proficient
in moving through obstacles that are similar to what you will encounter on your goal climbs. If you are climbing Mount Everest, for example, learning how to ascend and descend fixed ropes on terrain of various angles is critical. No one's physical or cognitive abilities improve with altitude so the necessary skill needs to be ingrained and mostly second nature. Consider what other event-specific skills you need to develop. Should you practice hauling a heavy sled while wearing snowshoes for the lower portions of Denali? Do you need to practice walking in boots on talus or rough rocky Aconcagua? Whatever your goal is, identify the specific techniques you need and use some of your training sessions to practice them. Another way to build your repertoire and improve your technique is to create several smaller, intermediate climbing goals that have similar technical demands to your ultimate goal. This creates litmus tests along the way and gives you a chance to define and refine areas of movement skill and fitness that may need some polishing. Pursuing intermediate goals will also bring you to some amazing mountain landscapes. Using your training sessions to experience the beauty of nature will feed your soul and motivate you to continue exploring. Mental Preparation Climbing mountains is as much a mental game as well a physical one at times. No matter how fit you are, reaching the summit and getting down will not be easy. Setbacks and unexpected obstacles will inevitably arise along the way. The challenge and the uncertainty of the outcome are what attract many people to mountaineering. If it were too easy, we probably wouldn’t feel the sense of accomplishment we do upon being successful. Some of the most rewarding climbing experiences are often some of the hardest. One side benefit of doing a lot of aerobic base training is that long, slow efforts naturally increase your tolerance for discomfort. Scientific studies in the field of endurance have demonstrated that prolonged exercise at relatively low intensities causes adaptations in the brain that increase fatigue resistance. When you exercise for extended durations, your brain is required to stay focused on the task the
whole time. This is part of why very long efforts are more mentally challenging than shorter ones. By completing long aerobic base hikes or runs, you are not only developing your aerobic capacity but also training your brain to be more resilient. Mountaineering is often uncomfortable. Conditions might be extremely cold or scorchingly hot, sometimes within minutes or hours of each other. Sunburn and frostbite can happen simultaneously. Heavy backpacks dig into hips and shoulders. Feet are pounded against stiff boot soles for hours and days on end. High altitudes sap the body of energy and limits recovery. Creature comforts like warm showers, comfy beds, and freshly laundered clothing don’t exist in the mountains. Some athletes will take measures to train themselves to be comfortable with discomfort. Wearing mountaineering boots and carrying a heavy pack during training sessions is one way to get ready. Sleeping on a thin pad on the ground or in the snow is another. Old school climbers would even swim in frigid water to prepare for the cold and sit in saunas to train for the heat. We don't necessarily recommend all of these to every climber, but we do encourage you to spend some time toughening up your body and mind before your trip. A lot has been written about the power of belief. Believing in yourself and your abilities can result in some truly amazing achievements. Some of the best climbers we have encountered aren’t the most physically gifted or technically astute people in the room; they simply believe without any doubt that they can complete their goal. Similarly, a very fit athlete who lacks a sense of belief in themself and an innate drive to complete the endeavor will often perform worse than a less fit athlete who simply wants to reach the summit and believes they can get there. Visualization techniques, meditation, and other mental practices can be beneficial in building your inner belief and self-confidence. Without wading into a nebulous discussion of the many ideas out there, we suggest exploring some different practices in a way that feels right for you. Conclusion If you’ve read this far, you’ve already taken a positive step to improve your performance in the mountains. Part of being a successful mountaineer and endurance athlete is continuing to learn, whether it be improving your skills and techniques, strengthening your mind, or implementing the best training methodology out there. Our website www.evokeendurance.com is chock-full of valuable knowledge and is being updated regularly with new articles and content that will help you be a better mountaineer. Whether you are a seasoned climber with dozens of peaks on your resume or a new mountaineer dreaming of your first climb of a glaciated volcano (or anything in between), please don’t hesitate to engage in our forum or contact us coach@evokeendurance.com for information about our training plans or 1:1 custom coaching options to have you at your very best for your upcoming goal. Onward and upward!
The General Strength Routine Notice that the exercises alternate between upper and lower body and need minimal props, which means that they can be completed almost anywhere. Start with one to two times through the circuit. Every two weeks add another lap through the circuit. Go one time through during the first two weeks, do two circuits during the third and fourth week, and so on up to four circuits in the eighth week. Move from one exercise immediately to the next. Take a three-minute break between circuit laps but try to move from one exercise to another within thirty seconds. Add more challenge whenever you can do more than ten repetitions of any one exercise. Repeat the same or slightly varied routine twice a week and feel free to create your own variations on the exercises. With this variety of exercises and with many of them being body weight, we have specified a recommended number of repetitions for each exercise rather than a more typical blanket prescription of four sets of ten to twelve reps. Do not push yourself to failure. Look for details in the notes accompanying each exercise photo and description. Don’t expect it to be easy. Turkish Get Up
The difficulty is mainly due to shoulder and hip flexibility along with core, not leg, strength. Using a weight that is too light (a small dumbbell) will allow you to cheat the EVOKEENDURANCE.COM 1
form and lose a lot of the benefit of this exercise. Once you learn the movement and develop the hip and shoulder flexibility, you need to increase the weight. Change dumbbell hands while you are supine. When you can do five reps of each hand, then increase the weight. For advanced users, try using a long barbell. Push-Up
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Great whole-body exercise that connects hands to feet. When you can execute ten reps, progress to raising one foot off the ground while maintaining strict push-up form. When an elevated single foot gets easy, add a weight vest or place an exercise ball under your feet. Split Bench Squat
Similar to a lunge, this works the big muscles that propel you uphill and does it on one leg at a time, which requires balance. Use a split stance with both feet on the floor and body weight only. Pull your hips up over the front leg, trying to use the back leg only for balance. Progress first by raising the rear leg on to a bench or even an exercise ball. Once balance is established add resistance via anything from a backpack or weight vest (easiest) to a barbell, which will be a big balance challenge. When you can do ten reps, start adding the variations to increase the challenge.
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Dips
Great for general shoulder health and will help with those pesky mantels. Unless you have a shoulder injury, use a full range of shoulder motion: Drop so far down that you feel a good stretch in your pectoral (chest) muscles. You may need assistance on this one but still use full range of motion. When you can do ten reps, add more resistance
Box Step-Ups
This is another exercise that effectively targets crucial uphill propulsion muscles. The higher the box, the harder it will be. The lifting of the foot onto the box is part of the exercise. Imagine punching steps up a steep snow slope. You know that feeling of EVOKEENDURANCE.COM 4
stepping up two feet (0.6 meters) high and then standing up on that foot while it sinks as the snow compresses (but hopefully does not fully collapse). Now you get the feeling of what we are training here. This is mind-numbing work, but an essential strength for anyone spending serious time in the mountains. Step up and fully balance on the loaded leg before stepping back down. Repeat. When you can do ten reps increase either or both height (up to almost-crotch high) or weight. Use a pack, or for a real challenge use a barbell resting on your shoulders. Pull-Ups
From the base of strength you gain can come just about any sort of variation and progression you can dream of. Once you can do fifteen normal pull up reps you are ready to mix it up a bit. You can do this either by doing one of the variations we list below or progressing the strength via the method laid out in the Max Strength section. Be aware that a high volume (many dozens in a day) of normal pull-ups from a bar can increase the likelihood of elbow tendonitis since the fixed handgrip forces your elbow into a restricted range of motion. Rather than go for volume with these, pick the one you see as building a more climbing-specific strength base. Here are a few we have used over the years. EVOKEENDURANCE.COM 5
• Add weight to whatever variation you can do fifteen reps of. • Offset—one hand higher than the other. • Lock-off 90s to 120s—Pull up, hold the full lock-off for five seconds with your chin as far over the bar as possible, lower to 90 degrees, hold for five seconds, lower to 120 degrees, hold for ten seconds. Vary the exact positions so you build lock-off strength in any arm position. • Frenchies—This is an advanced pull-up technique that combines the maximum strength gains that come from isometric holds while taxing the muscular endurance of your fast twitch fibers. It’s a great addition to the experienced climber’s strength-training repertoire. Begin in the normal pull-up position with palms facing away. Pull up to the top position with your chin above the bar. Hold that position for five seconds. Drop back to the bottom hanging start position and immediately pull back to the chin above bar position then immediately lower to the midpoint spot where your elbows are bent 90 degrees. Hold this position for five seconds and then lower to the bottom again. Once again pull all the way to the top, but this time lower to the point where your elbows are bent 120 degrees and hold for five seconds. This completes one full repetition. Weaker climbers should then take a break and drop off the bar and rest for three to five minutes before doing another repetition. Continue with that method until you can do five full repetitions. Stronger climbers can immediately begin the next repetition with no rest. If you are unable to complete three repetitions without stopping you make faster progress by taking a three to five minute rest break and doing more repetitions.
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• Typewriter—with a wide grip, pull up on the right, traverse your chin along the bar, and lower on left. Make circles going in both directions. • Hang board with various grips. • Muscle-ups—start with a pull-up then continue upward by pressing as in a mantel. • Deep pull ups using ice tools—lock off with your hand as far below your chin as you can. Really strong climbers can bring their hands down close to their waists.
• Towel pull ups—hang a towel over the bar and pull up while gripping each end of the towel. Let your imagination take over. The possibilities are many.
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Scott’s Killer Core Routine The “core” of our body contains several layers of muscle, some superficial, like the rectus abdominis that create the “six pack” which is involved in flexing the spine. Some of the deeper core muscles, like the transverse abdominis, (TA) function primarily to stabilize the spine and the hips. While an attractive belly is not a bad thing, there is a lot more to core strengthening than doing sit ups or crunches that target that six pack. In fact, those deeper, and often overlooked, muscles of the core are of more importance to a healthy and functional athlete. By stabilizing the spine to the hips and the hips to the ribs these deep core muscles provide a solid foundation from which all 4 limbs, but especially the legs, can work to propel you.
Because they are the most distant abdominal muscles from the spine, the six pack can exert the most force to flex the spine. Repeatedly training crunches and sit ups is strengthening the strongest link in the chain. To address the weakest links in our core It takes some clever training methods to engage these deeper core muscles. Increasing these muscles’ strength is the goal here. To build strength (rather than endurance) you need to have enough resistance and strict form so that you will reach failure within 5-6 reps or 5-6 seconds of an isometric hold. By failure we mean inability to complete another rep with perfect form.
Let’s review some reasons for developing core strength:
• All athletic movements originate with the core musculature. • Your core connects your arms to your legs. • A weak core results in a less effective use of your arms and legs. • A weak core exposes you to injury. • Strength in the core will become the foundation for all your endurance.
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There are many ways to target these deep core muscles. On the following pages is a core strength routine we have developed over the years to build good overall strength of virtually all the core muscles. We offer it here not because it is the best or only way to do this. We just know that this routine works.
The principles of the Killer Core Routine are: • Do this routine in a circuit fashion with thirty seconds between exercises. • Strict form is essential. You’re finished with the reps (if more than 10, add resistance) for each exercise when you can no longer hold the position, complete another perfect repetition, or if you begin to shake during an isometric (if more than 10 sec add resistance) hold. • Start with one time through the circuit if you are a beginner or if you find the exercises are difficult for you. • If you allow poor form to take over in order to get in more reps, you are defeating the purpose of this workout because you’ll be compensating for weak core muscles by using some of your stronger ones. • Don’t hold your breath during the poses. Training yourself to breathe through this kind of core tension will transfer positively to all athletic movements.
Strict Sit-Ups This version of the sit-up is meant to isolate the deep hip flexor muscles by eliminating flexion of the spine. Assume a normal sit up position: knees bent to about a 70 to 90 degree angle, back flat on the floor, toes hooked under something you can pull against. Cross your hands over your chest so that your fingers are resting on your collar bones. Now slowly, and in control, sit up by only flexing at your hips. Do not crunch by curling your EVOKEENDURANCE.COM 2
spine. Keep your spine in a neutral (straight) position while coming up to the point where your elbows touch the top of your thighs. Return to the start position for one repetition. Increase challenge by interlocking your fingers behind your head, keeping elbows even with your ears so as to not “pull” yourself up with your arms. Increase difficulty by holding a weight on your chest.
Bird Dog This oddly named exercise combines hip flexibility with transverse abdominis and oblique muscles’ strength. Get on all fours with knees directly below your hips and hands directly below your shoulders. From this decidedly dog-like position pick up one leg and, while holding the knee bent at 90 degrees, move the hip joint through the full range of motion. This means drawing a big ellipse with your knee in the air. At the same time you are working hip strength and range of motion, pick up the opposite arm of the leg you are moving, and point it horizontally in front of your shoulder so that it is in line with your back. You may not feel this exercise is too tiring, but more than likely that is because you have poor hip mobility.
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The name for this one suggests the action of your legs as they wipe across an imaginary windshield. Lie on your back with your arms outstretched from your shoulders with palms placed against the floor. Now flex your hips so that your feet are together and pointed at the ceiling. Slowly rotate your hips so that your feet lower to the floor to one side; keep your feet locked together with knees straight. You’ll want to resist the rotation of your shoulders by pushing down hard with your hand on the side you are rotating toward. Just lightly touch the floor with the side of the lower foot before raising both feet back to the 12 o’clock position, and on to the other side where the other foot will touch down. Return your feet to the 12 o’clock position to complete one repetition. Do this slowly and with control. If you cannot manage to keep your knees straight, or legs together, then bend your knees and do the same rotation while keeping your knees together and knees pointed at the ceiling when you are in the 12 o’clock position. To increase the challenge wear heavier shoes.
Three Point The intention of this exercise is to build a strong neural connection between opposing limbs by fully engaging the transverse abdominis. Assume a good push up position (a straight line running the length of your back and legs) with hands directly under your shoulders and feet spread about two feet apart. To start: pick up one hand without rotating your shoulders or hips. Point that hand straight EVOKEENDURANCE.COM 4
out in front and in line with your spine; hold till you feel your shoulders rotate, hips rotate or your back sag—anything that gets you out of the straight line you were in when you started the push up position. In turn, pick up each limb and hold till failure. When this is no longer a challenge you can pick up the opposite hand and foot, and hold that in line form. We have some athletes who do this exercise with as much as a sixty-pound weight vest.
Kayaker By mimicking the counter rotation of the hips and shoulders that a kayaker does, we can target some of the deepest core muscles connecting the spine to the pelvis. Sit on the floor with legs stretched out in front of you. Bring your knees up to a 90-degree bend and lift your feet a few inches off the floor. Clasp your hands together in front of you and rotate your shoulders so that you can touch your hands to the floor lightly just beside one hip. Rotate all the way to the other side and touch the floor again. Do this slowly and in control. Hold a dumbbell and touch it to the floor for added resistance.
Bridge
In this exercise you will form a bridge (or coffee table) by getting onto all fours with your belly facing the ceiling. Hands directly below shoulders, feet flat on the floor directly below your knees: all angles should be nice and square. The first step is to push your navel toward the ceiling as far and hard as you can. Hold that position for as long as you can. For many, this will be enough of a challenge. The next stage is to lift one foot off the floor by straightening that knee. Your straight leg will be in line with EVOKEENDURANCE.COM 5
your torso. Hold this while pushing your navel up. If you can do this without dropping your hips, then you are ready for the last stage: flex the hip of that raised leg so that your toes point to the ceiling. Do this all while keeping your navel pressed high. Hold this end position as long as possible without your core sagging.
Gymnast L-Sit
The gymnast L-sit is a very advanced exercise that teaches balance, hip flexibility, and tension from the fingers to the toes. Sit squarely on the floor, toes pointed, knees straight. Place your palms on the floor so that your fingers point toward your toes and the heel of your hand is about even with your crotch. Slowly rock your shoulders forward so that your shoulders come over your hands as your elbows straighten and your shoulders drop slightly. These two actions combined will lift your hips off the floor. Push down hard through your hands and lift your feet while keeping your knees straight. Don’t be dismayed if you cannot get your feet off the floor at all, or if you can, it is only for a split second. Keep working at it no matter how short a time you can get your feet up. Eventually you’ll be able to hold your feet outstretched for many seconds. Start with bare feet.
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