Getting in shape for outdoor activities.

A few years ago, I unexpectedly was called upon to co-guide a leadership trip that involved mountaineering. Although I was in reasonably good aerobic condition, I hadn't backpacked yet that year. I thought I was going to die during that trip. My pack weighed about 55 or 60 pounds and after the first hour of every day, my shoulder and neck muscles would go into spasm. I found myself wondering if maybe I had gotten too old for something like this (how old I actually was is immaterial). And then at the end of the trip, I realized that that wasn't true. What was true is that I had gotten too old to do that kind of trip without really working to get in shape for it.

On almost every trip, some or all of our participants worry that they won't be in good enough shape for the trip, or that everyone else will be in better shape. We deal with those concerns in three ways. First, we try to offer a wide variety of trips, so that there is something suitable for any woman. Second, we try to help women choose trips that are appropriate for their goals and fitness levels. And third, we offer specific suggestions for conditioning for our more strenuous trips.

There are lots of comprehensive fitness sites on the web (just type fitness into any search engine and prepare to be deluged). So this section is devoted to an overview and to some tips that are specifically concerned with fitness for outdoor activities.

1. Have a goal in mind. This is the absolutely best tip I have. Nothing is more motivating to stick to your fitness plan than having a specific end that you're working towards. The only time I have ever been able to consistently get out of bed at 4:45 a.m. was the winter before I worked for Pacific Crest Outward Bound, and knew that I would be the same age as the mothers of most of my students. I just refused to be in worse shape than the 16 and 17 year olds. I still find it very helpful to have specific trips in mind - backpacking in the Grand Canyon or rock climbing at Joshua Tree. And it also reminds me that I don't need to maintain the same level of fitness at all times. I try to keep a basic level, and then start increasing it a couple of months before a trip I know will be strenuous.
   
   
2. Remember that fitness has 3 components: aerobic conditioning, strength training and flexibility. All of these need your attention, although the amount you allot to each may vary with your goals and over time.
   
   
3. There are lots of good ways to get aerobic conditioning. Pick one you like, or one that closely mimics a particular trip you're interested in. And don't just go to the health club or gym. Try cross country skiing, cycling, walking up hills. For those of you who "like data", try a heart rate monitor. It's definitely in the gadget class, but I find it gives me motivation to work harder and also permission to back off a little. You can play endless mind games with it (I'll just get my heart rate up to 150 for 30 seconds, then let it drop back down to 135 ...) which makes the time go faster.
   
   
4. Especially as you get older, flexibility is critical. There is some debate about whether you should do your stretching before or after your activity. My own experience is that my muscles are too cold and tight before, so I do mine after. If you take this approach, it is even more critical to warm up slowly. When I go to the climbing gym, my first climb is always easy and I climb it both up and down, slowly, and trying to stretch as I do it. Whenever I stop stretching, within days an old back problem reasserts itself.
   
   
5. Free weights or weight machines are a good way to improve overall muscular conditioning. Its important to get good instruction in how to do each exercise or you can quickly end up with an injury. A typical strength training regimen will consist of 12 exercises, each performed 8 to 12 times (called a repetition or "rep), to the point of muscular failure (the point at which you can't do one more exercise). The traditional advice was to do 3 sets of each exercise, a set being the continuous performance of 8 to 12 reps. For most of us, one set done correctly is all we need to do. For most women, strength training will not produce large muscles. But strength training by itself is not enough. See below.
   
   
6. Nothing gets you in better shape for a particular activity than doing the activity itself. If you climb indoors in a climbing gym, you won't have to devote the beginning of climbing season just to getting your rock climbing muscles back in shape. And now before every backpacking trip, I spend time at my local state park carrying a backpack up and down hills, while progressively adding weight to my pack. No matter how conscientiously I tried to work the right muscles with weights, it just wasn't specific enough.

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