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Aerobic training with weighted pack
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In Training for the New Alpinism, weighted packs are used in the ME phase specifically on steep terrain. Is there something counterproductive about doing weighted training with 20+kg packs on general aerobic hiking days in the mountains on undulating trails? Many mountaineering objectives require many days with heavy packs. Wouldn’t this be good preparation for this?
The reason heavily weight hikes are not recommended outside of an ME phase is because it risks turns a Z1-2 session into a Z3 session. 20+kg is an enormous pack weight to be hiking with for a Z1-2 session and, unless you’re enormously strong, is probably going to fatigue the legs and back in a way more reminiscent of a Z3/ME session.
Remember that, in a base period, the goal is to concurrently build as much aerobic capacity and maximal strength as possible independently of each other and then convert that general aerobic and strength capacity into a sport specific capacity using ME training. We always start our training in a given cycle very generally to build as much capacity as possible in the systems we will rely on for our event, and then sharpen that into more sport-specific fitness so that we can utilise our capacities to succeed in our event/race/goal. These qualities need to be developed independently of each other to maximise them, as they require different biological adaptations that cannot be optimally trained in the same session. They can be trained concurrently in a given training cycle, but not in the very same training session.
Aerobic hikes with a 20+kg pack will almost certainly violate the principles of general vs specific training and capacity vs utilisation training as you would be blending the stimuli for adaptations to aerobic capacity and strength capacity, which have competing demands. It might seem intuitive to try and train both these capacities at the same time, but in trying to kill two birds with one stone, you would end up missing both. It’s much better to focus on building up a high volume of running and/or lightly weighted hiking while simultaneously but separately building max strength in semi-sport specific movements such as the box step-up and single leg deadlift, Dedicating specific sessions to each capacity will lead to better gains in both, which will eventually leave you in a better position to convert them into something more specific to mountaineering like hiking with a 20+kg pack. You don’t need to spend 6 months hiking with such heavy pack weights to be optimally prepared to carry them; a targeted ME period of 8-12 weeks after a long and productive base period is in fact a better way to prepare.
Thanks for your thorough answer. Once in the ME phase of the training, would you say that it is a good idea to do the ME weighted workouts on steep slopes suggested in the book AS WELL AS long weighted aerobic hikes on terrain that varies in steepness? Or, to use the weight only for the steep workouts?
The answer is no for the same reasons I outlined above. If you also did heavily weighted aerobic hikes during an ME phase on top of steep weighted carries with a heavy pack, you would run the risk of these hikes essentially being extra Z3 sessions and you would be completely wrecked very soon. While I haven’t done an ME phase with steep weighted carries due to being a flatlander, I have done the gym-based ME progression, and I can safely say that if you’re doing ME right (regardless of modality) then it’s quite unlikely you’d be able to handle heavily weighted aerobic hikes on top of this training. Given that the same muscles used to carry a heavy pack with be heavily fatigued from ME work, how do you expect to be able to throw on a 20+kg pack in the days after an ME session and go do a hike?
Most of us will have to do Z1-only sessions during an ME phase as aerobic base maintenance, because we’ll just be too tired to do Z2. This is purely because of the high neuromuscular load imposed during this period. Even if we are metabolically capable of running or hiking with a heavy pack in Z2 and maintaining a conversational, nose-breathing pace below AeT, the stress imposed on our muscles and joints by the high impact forces of these modalities done in Z2 (assuming you don’t have ADS and the top of your Z2 isn’t quite slow) will be too much to recover from when stacked on top of the high recovery cost of ME work. Your intensity distribution during this period will be polarised something like this: fun-hard, low level burning in the working muscles during an ME session that will take 2-3 days to fully recover from, and super easy, can-do-the-shopping-list-in-my-head-at-the-same-time pace during aerobic capacity sessions.
From someone who’s actually in my final 4 week block of ME I can attest to less is more when it comes to heavy pack training For the first 4 weeks of the block I was doing 1 ME Pack session either on a stairmaster or a 40% hill with 18-23 kg and on the weekends doing a long trail run on day one and a steep hike with just 10-12 kg for day 2. This final block I’m still performing one ME session on steep hill with 27-28kg and on the weekend back to back steep hikes of 800-1200 meters with a 14kg pack (my goal pack weight for my event) and I don’t really get tired at all on these B2B sessions. 1x ME a week with a heavy pack has been an incredible stimulus that has really blown me away with the performance I’ve gained in such a short time. I’m moving uphill with a 14kg pack as fast as I was unloaded 3 months ago at a lower perceived effort and feel like 18-20kg wouldn’t really wreck me like it would a couple months ago
I wrote in this question in part for my own training but also because of the lack of pack carrying endurance I find on Mt. Aconcagua, where I work. Even the climbers that come in good shape, having trained for the climb, seem to fall apart above base camp when they have to carry their 18-22kg pack above 4,400-meters for several days in a row. There are obviously a million factors that come into play here, but I would love to be able to give future Aconcagua climbers some tips so that they come to the mountain better prepared.
@Josh Gray:
Nice work! You’ve given a perfect real life example of how ME training can and should work.
I’ve been reflecting on your question more. One of the principles in TftNA is that, if you’re recovering well from the current training load, you should be reasonably enthusiastic about training and feel energised after each session. Aerobic capacity work, specifically Z1 training that has a low neuromuscular impact, has a recovery effect and should be a sufficiently low-intensity activity that it can be done day in, day out. Max strength training done right should have a similar energising effect if recovered from properly and should not leave you feeling sore. Training these two qualities independently therefore should have complimentary recovery effects on each other, in theory enabling a higher overall volume of training. This should allow for more capacity to be utilised in the ME period, leading to bigger overall gains.
If you train on a steady diet of aerobic hikes with heavy weight, the neuromuscular stimulus from the weight is probably going to be too high to effectively recover from between sessions and continue doing quality aerobic work. On the flip side, this stimulus will be too low to elicit a max strength response, hence the analogy of trying to kill two birds with one stone and missing both in the process.
As for how people can better train for Aconcagua, it’s impossible to say why people fall apart with heavy pack carries without knowing their training history. As you say, a million factors come into play here. It could well be that people who appear to arrive in good shape are in fact lacking the specific qualities necessary for success in high-altitude mountaineering, despite appearances. The best advice you could give them is probably to read Scott’s article on mountaineering training 9 months in advance and train accordingly, to be honest!
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