Max Strength missing from Training for the Uphill Athlete

[Risto]

I’ve finished reading and re-reading Training for the Uphill Athlete and the Strength and Planning sections from TFTNA and noticed that there is no discussion of Max Strength in the Uphill Athlete book. Is this because the pack weight for Mountain Runners and Ski Mountaineers is assumed to be much lower than for Alpinists? I’m planning my first dedicated transition and base periods for the upcoming ski touring and volcano (general mountaineering) seasons in the Pacific Northwest in winter / spring 2025. Seems like I’d be best served by incorporating a Max Strength period into my base training, but wanted to see if Max Strength is still recommended and clarify why it was left out of the Uphill Athlete manual.

Thanks and be well!

Risto

[Scott Johnston]

Risto:

Great question.  It was a problem of space in the book and what would be most helpful to most people.  In my experience, most mountain runners and ski mountaineers don’t do ANY strength training.  To suggest max strength training to people with minimal strength training background would, I thought be risky and irresponsible.  So we focused on very basic exercises and Muscular Endurance.;  Including a real strength training block can be useful for many mountain athletes.  But a weak athlete will see good strength gains from doing an ME block even without a max strength block preceding it.  If you choose to add this I recommend focusing on single-leg exercises like the Bulgarian Split Squat and Box Step Up rather than traditional lifts like deadlifts and squats.

I hope this helps,
Scott

[Risto]

Thank you Scott. Makes perfect sense. As strength seems to be more of my weakness than aerobic capacity, I’ll consider a Max Strength period with a focus on single-leg exercises but will remember that it’s not totally necessary as long as I plan General Strength and Muscular Endurance into my base period. Thanks again!

Risto

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