6 Strength Training Myths For Mountaineers

​In this episode, we explore some common myths about strength training that are commonly shared in the mountaineering community.

Episode Chapters:
​
0:16 
Introduction to Strength Myths
5:26 
Myth One: Muscle Failure Not Required
6:51 
Myth Two: Equipment Limitations in Strength Training
9:28 
Myth Three: Rep Range Misconceptions
10:44 
Myth Four: Gym Machines and Relevance
11:54 
Myth Five: Strength Training and Weight Concerns
14:17 
Myth Six: Pack Walking vs. Strength Training
15:59 
Conclusion and Wrap-Up

Episode Transcript:

[0:00] All right. Hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen. So in today's episode, we are going to be talking through a few strength training myths for mountaineers and just covering a few things that I've seen pretty recently and seen pretty commonly,

[0:14] which are just myths. And I don't know why they're still around, but they need to be addressed. Now, this was inspired by a video I was watching the other day from another coach in the mountaineering space. And I do tend to kind to just run my eyes over what other people are talking about. And I was talking about strength training for mountaineering in one sort of context. And this particular video had a million comments on it. It talked about a bunch of different things, people sharing their experiences, this and that. And in this comment section, it was a bit wild. There were so many statements said very, very, very confidently from people, which are just like, it's just so wrong.

[0:57] And so many comments, which some people are saying, this is how it is. But in all honesty, they're just an absolute myth. So today we're going to be taking you through six different strength training myths that I've seen very, very recently. So you can be aware what's true, maybe what's not so true. So the first myth I want to address is someone was saying, if you want to build strength, strength you have to hit muscle failure so what this means is essentially some people claim that if you want to improve your strength and in this context improve your strength to help you with mountaineering when you are doing your strength training you have to do your sets where you absolutely go to failure where you absolutely push 100 so if you were doing a set of eight repetitions you would literally find a weight where once you got to that eighth repetition If you tried a ninth, you would collapse or you wouldn't be able to lift the weight. You would hit that failure point.

[2:03] And I'll tell you something. You can absolutely get incredibly, incredibly, incredibly strong with never having to hit muscular failure. And on top of that, 95% of the time, I would recommend for a mountaineer that you don't have to do this when it comes down to your strength training. It is perfectly possible to get strong without this, as long as you have adequate stimulus. And as long as you are progressing over time, you can get strong. Now, this myth really does sort of come from, I guess, the old school approach of the whole go hard, go home thing, but also there's a lot of people in the kind of optimal training space and optimal in quotation marks, which kind of push this. And a lot of people will often talk about building muscle, like hypertrophy for like bodybuilders. And a lot of people talk about powerlifters, people whose job and sport is literally to lift as heavier a weight as possible for one repetition. And there's a lot of arguments in those spaces around muscle failure. And a lot of people will sort of say, and there may be some studies to support this, maybe some studies to not, but you have to hit muscle failure to get the best stimulus for hypertrophy. And obviously with a power lifter who is trained to know the absolute limits for strength, they have to hit muscle failure to see at certain points to see the best results.

[3:31] But this doesn't apply to just building strength. This doesn't apply in the mountaineering context. And I would argue that it's just not a good thing to chase. What I typically recommend for mountaineers when it comes down to strength building is you in intensity targets use something that's called two reps in reserve. So when we're doing, let's use this example of eight repetitions, instead of choosing a weight or a resistance where you get to that eight and you literally cannot do anymore. You choose a weight or a resistance, where if you really push to that point, you could probably get 10 repetitions, but instead you just finish at eight.

[4:10] Now, the idea behind this, this two reps in reserve, always having two reps in your pocket, it is a really, really nice measure where it kind of gives you enough of a stimulus to move you forward. And as long as you are planning progression over time and doing intelligent programming, this will give you enough of a stimulus to push your strength forward. It also reduces a lot of the risk that comes with that kind of pushing to failure. Because if you've ever got a history in strength training, you probably know the times when things tend to go wrong. When we pick up niggles or aches, it's when we're kind of getting to that very end point. We're just trying to grind out that last rep or two, and it reduces a lot of the risk around that. And also number three, this can be a really good option when we're just like, it helps work around our energy in the sense that if we're having a really, really high energy day, we're super motivated, we're super excited, we get in the gym or do our workout, if we do this two reps in reserve, we may end up doing quite a bit of resistance and weight. Alternatively, if we have a really, really low energy day. These two reps in reserve will probably end up adjusting our weights and it will feel more manageable as opposed to trying to go to failure and push it to the limit when we are just low energy. That just feels nasty and it's very, very demotivating sometimes.

[5:27] So myth number one, you do not have to be hitting muscle failure to build strength. And I'd sort of say the same for endurance as well. Myth number two you can only build strength with certain equipment this was something that someone said very very very confidently in these uh these um comments and what they were saying was you can only build genuine strength if you're using barbells or dumbbells you can't build genuine strength with other things.

[6:00] And yeah, using a barbell or using dumbbells with enough weight, it does make it easy to load up the body because that's what they're designed to do. But the body doesn't care what equipment you have. The body responds to stimulus. You can apply resistance and challenge through barbells. You can apply resistance and challenge through dumbbells. You can also do it through body weight by leveraging different things there. You can also do it through pack weight by loading up a heavy pack and doing that. You can also use bands or chains or whatever it may be. And as long as you're applying the right amount of stimulus, the body doesn't care. So yes, certain equipment makes things easier. That is perfectly possible to

[6:45] get incredibly strong with any equipment, as long as you're applying enough resistance. And yes, if you are a power lifter and you are training to lift a barbell, you're probably want to be using a barbell but as a mountaineer that's not what you're doing so you can definitely build strength with any equipment and then for me in a personal note a lot of my mountaineers they are literally training with a heavy loaded backpack for a lot of their strength work and bands some people using barbells some people using dumbbells some people using machines at the gym whatever it may be everyone's a little bit different but we can see improvements through intelligent programming and the right stimulus either way.

[7:29] Myth number three, you can only build strength in certain rep ranges. And this is sort of like the argument here was this person was trying to say, hey, you will only ever get strong if you were doing, I think they were saying like five repetitions at a time or lower.

[7:47] And, you know, this is a bit of a funny thing because when we are talking about building maximal strength and when we're talking about really, really loading up the body, typically we recommend trying to choose repetition ranges of two reps, three reps, four reps, five reps, six reps, maybe up to seven at a time. And we say that's kind of the optimal dosage for maximal strength. And absolutely, like if we're trying to chase max strength, we probably want to be getting on that lower end of things because we can apply more resistance in those situations and great. That doesn't mean you can't build strength in other areas. You can't build strength through eight or nine or 10 reps. Some people, even when you're doing 15, 20, when we're seeing just muscular endurance work, we'll still see strength benefits. It really sort of comes down to your training history, your training age, and what's kind of different for you.

[8:39] If you're more on the beginner end of things you can build strength through pretty much any rep range initially and it's only as you get stronger it's only as you get more experienced that you need to chase that lower start and if you're a mountaineer who's kind of dabbled in a bit of strength training here and there and they came to me and wanted to get strong i would probably start you on 10 eight repetitions at a time and that would be enough of a stimulus to get you strong And then over time, we will progress things. It's not black and white when it comes down to rep ranges. And again, people who argue this type of stuff, they're looking at the whole concept of power lifting. And yes, if we are looking at the studies, and yes, we want to see the optimal way to build strength, there are certain rep ranges is probably there. But it's not the be all end all.

[9:28] So that's myth number three. Myth number four, machines in the gym don't build relevant strength for mountaineering. Now, this is a big one. And if you, you may get a little bit fired up about me talking about this, if this has come something you believe, but let me talk about, there is a bad rap for machines when it comes to the gym, where people say it is not relevant for athletes. They are not relevant for sports. They are not relevant because they don't have enough stability requirements. You're just on a moving plane and it won't translate to you out in the mountain or in your sport. But in all honesty, it doesn't quite work this way. Yes, gym machines will have more stability. Yes, gym machines will require for you to use less stability in certain areas of your body. But gym machines are a perfectly legitimate option for you to build strength if you want. Because again, what we're doing in the gym, what we're doing with our strength training, it's not meant to be 100% specific to mountaineering. As always, no matter how specific in quotation marks we get with this type of

[10:43] training, it's all going to be general in nature. We are just trying to apply stimulus to certain areas of the body to chase certain adaptations through strength, through endurance, through changes in the connective tissue, whatever it may be.

[10:56] Machines can do this. If you want to build strong quads, doing a leg press can be useful. If you want to build strong lats, doing a pulldown can be useful. If you want to build a strong chest or strong calves, doing a donkey calf raise or a chest press can be useful. There's nothing wrong with machines. Now, I wouldn't sort of say do 100% of your training on machines. It's definitely valuable to be doing free weight and body weight exercises and just exposing the body to different levels of that kind of stability continuum, they call it. But it's perfectly possible and fine for you to use machines here and there. Now, again, I know a lot of people just don't like the gym. They don't want to be in that environment and use machines. And that's fine. I'm not saying you have to do it. But if you want to do it, absolutely fine.

[11:46] Myth number five, mountaineers shouldn't be strength training because they don't

[11:51] want to carry more weight up the mountain. Now, I've talked about this before on the podcast, I'm pretty sure. And it's a funny one. in the sense that some mountaineers are so adamant that they shouldn't be strength training because they are saying, hey, you don't want to be carrying all these extra kilos of muscle up the mountain. But in all honesty, for anyone who's tried.

[12:12] To gain muscle, it's very, very, very hard for you to put kilos and kilos of extra weight on.

[12:20] Most mountaineers are not going to be doing that. It is perfectly possible for you to see incredible improvements in regards to your strength without actually putting on any weight. Because when it comes down to strength improvements, there are two ways we can see improvements through the strength. Number one, building more muscle. That is an option, and that can happen. And bigger muscles typically equal bigger strength. They call that a functional hypertrophy. I forget the terminology, but that is an option. Option number two, we can improve strength by improving the connection between our brain and our muscles. And this is where the majority of strength comes from. Because if you ever started a strength training program, in the first three, four, five, six weeks, you may see quick improvements in regards to strength. You might be like oh my gosh i'm getting stronger and stronger and stronger but you don't see any change in your body that's because it's coming from this connection between the brain and the muscles it is perfectly possible to get incredibly strong without putting on any extra weight on top of that for you to actually put on muscle you need to be eating lots and lots and lots and most mountaineers chronically under eat as it is so if you are worried about this about putting on extra muscle, pay attention to your nutrition, figure out how much you should be eating, which will balance out your energy needs so you can get strong without worrying about extra muscle. And worst case scenario, say you put on an extra kilo of muscle and you go climb a mountain.

[13:49] I would argue that if as long as you trained in the right ways and you weren't just doing bodybuilding training, but you're doing genuine strength training, which is relevant for mountaineering, and if you put on an extra kilo through that, you're going to be in a better net positive anyway. It's a funny thing. And I will do a whole podcast talking about this in a little bit more detail and about how we can go about this and things that we can limit ourselves to reduce the likelihood of putting on weight, but it is something that needs to be said.

[14:18] And then the final myth I want to sort of say is loaded pack walking is not a replacement for strength training. The same thing as loaded vest walking is not a replacement for strength training. And rucking is not a replacement for strength training. I see people often sort of say, hey, I don't need to do strength because I just do lots and lots of heavy pack work. And yes, heavy pack work, very, very, very beneficial for mountaineers and 100% should be part of anyone's program. But it's not a replacement for strength training. The stimulus between a load of pack, even if you go outrageously heavy and actual strength training is very different. Because say, hypothetically, you loaded up a load of pack and you put so much on that you could barely walk you could probably still if you went to absolutely outrageous amounts you could probably do 10 minutes of walking up a hill before you get tired or at the very least like three or four or five minutes of walking before like you're like hey i need a rest which could be good for certain stimuli but it's not strength training because strength training will typically take you you will hit failure after 10 seconds 20 seconds 30 seconds maybe up to 40 seconds and then you need a rest the stimuli are very very very different yes pack walking is great yes pack walk work is awesome yes if you're loading up a pack going up a hill going upstairs super beneficial.

[15:41] It's not the same thing as strength training if you want to get the best results for your mountaineering you want to be making sure you're doing the right things to get the right stimuli to get the adaptations you want in the different areas of your training so don't get confused on.

[15:56] So there we go, guys. Six...

[15:59] Common myths I see in regards to strength training from Mount Mears.

[16:05] Six myths that came out of this dumpster fire of a comment section. But there you go. So, with that being said, I'm going to wrap things up there. Hopefully, it's useful. I understand if you've heard these things before and you believe these things, me just talking about something briefly, sometimes isn't enough to, I guess, maybe change your mind or explain things or give you the whole context or whatever may be. So if you are interested in learning a little bit more about any of these things, please let me know, reach out, flick me an email. I'm happy to expand on things a little bit more. Some of these, I probably will expand on future podcasts and just go into a bit more detail, but for now, hopefully it's useful either way. So last thing I will sort of say is if you are a mountaineer, you're interested in strength training and getting the best results from your strength training to best help you on the mountain. And on top of that, you're interested in just discovering what a good, comprehensive, well put together program will do for your mountaineering, not just covering strength, but making sure you're nailing your cardio, making sure you're nailing your mountaineering specific fitness, making sure you're nailing other bits and pieces. And you want to find out a little bit more about what we do? I would love to chat with you. If you want to find out a little bit more, you can go to summitstrength.com.au slash mountaineer. On that page, there's a big video, talks a lot about our program. And if it sounds like something you want to explore a little bit more, there's a link on that page. You can book a free call with our team. We can have a bit of chat about it all. So if you want to check it out, go to summitstrength.com.au slash mountaineer, and we can take it from there. So with that being said, thank you so much for listening. Hope you've enjoyed it. Hope you got a little bit out of it, and we'll talk to you very, very soon. Bye.

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