I’m normally a runner but I’ve been doing a shit ton of inclined walking to train for a climb.
I’ve come to actually love walking now, weirdly enough. Feels meditative. I think part of the key is focusing on form, which leads you to sometimes forget your physical existence.
I've been recovering from a hip injury and can't run more than 2-3 miles but I can walk. My real goal is to climb Denali among other peaks and I'm wondering how I can get into shape during this period with just walking. Do you just max incline 4mph and go for a couple of hours?
Read about cardio zones, understand and internalize them. Then, do all of your training in zone 2. If you have to breathe through your mouth, you’re going too fast and need to slow down.
Be strict about not going anaerobic. Try to get 8-10 hours of cardio a week, with 25%-50% of that on a weekend hike, and ideally one other day that’s 90 minutes or so. Also do some strength training.
But volume is king. If you try to go too fast you’ll only train your anaerobic ability, which you can’t sustain in a hike. You want to be extremely good at going fast at a low level of exertion.
I’m nowhere near 4 mph at 15% incline. More like 2 right now. But I’m gradually getting there with all this volume, and I only started training two weeks ago for this season (before this I was trying to only focus on weights). I also plan on adding a lot of low intensity stair climbing soon.
Despite how much time I’m spending, my body feels great. It’s not like running, which beats you up.
I’ve come to actually love walking now, weirdly enough. Feels meditative. I think part of the key is focusing on form, which leads you to sometimes forget your physical existence.