Training For Mountaineering In 2025

​In this episode I explore 4 areas of training which I believe EVERY mountaineer should be incorporating into their week. 

4 Pillars Of Training For Mountaineering 

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​Today, we are talking about training for mountaineering in 2025. And we are starting things off with a clear overview of the four areas of training I advocate for every single mountaineer. 

If you cover these in your week and your month, you get a very well-rounded approach to mountaineering.

I wanted to cover this right off the bat as we re-engage this podcast. 

Before we dive into deeper subjects and the nitty-gritty of workouts, theories, and philosophies, I wanted to give you a good overview. Because it has been a while since I have been on this podcast, and maybe some people have not listened in a while. 

Also, over the years of training many mountaineers for many adventures, I have noticed that most tend to be a little hit and miss with their training. 

Many are strong in certain areas, but almost ninety per cent miss certain key elements.

So consider this a quick overview. A simple way to ask yourself if you are actually doing what you need.

When it comes to training for mountaineering, I centre everything around four big areas. We will explore each in detail in future episodes, but here is the overview.

Pillar #1: Strength Training

Given the name of Summit Strength (my business), you probably guessed I am a fan of strength training for mountaineers.

Strength training is incredibly beneficial for any mountaineer. Many are hesitant. Many do it poorly. But when applied right, it is unbelievably useful.

It can:

• Help prevent pain and injury by strengthening supporting muscles and structures (Considering the absolute plague of injuries in the mountaineering community, things like plantar fasciitis, shin splints, knee pain on descents, hip pain, back pain, and shoulder pain, all of it, strength training can make a massive difference)
• Helps you get stronger for steep ascents and descents.
• Aid pack carrying, sled dragging and climbing
• Improve movement speed (which matters for those who need to hit weather windows)
• Reduce fatigue
• Improve performance in a variety of different ways on the mountain.
  
  

Structured strength training is a must for every mountaineer.

Pillar #2: Mountaineering Specific Conditioning

This is a fancy way of saying specific cardio sessions designed for the demands of mountaineering.

Instead of lumping all cardio together and saying you will run or swim or cycle, you hone in on what you actually need.

If you have a climb coming up and you know the pace will be quick, or you will be at high altitude, or your breathing falls apart on steep ascents, you can use this conditioning to target those things with specific intervals or breathing drills.

If you need to carry a pack or pull a sled, you can structure conditioning sessions to improve that.

If you need to get better at hills or climbing movement, or any mountaineering demand, you reverse engineer the cardio to fit.

These sessions tend to be shorter. 30-60 minutes. Easier to fit into a regular week (compared to longer cardio sessions). Yet they go a long way.

Pillar #3: Longer Cardio.

Every mountaineer should know this, but it still needs to be said. Longer cardio (developing your aerobic capacity) should be the priority of any training program for mountaineering.

Depending on your specific expedition or type of climbing, the amount of this you need to do will vary - but everyone needs to be doing it.

This is best developed through long-duration, low-intensity training.

Doing things like hiking, running, cycling - or whatever you prefer.

The name of the game is accumulating time at a lower intensity. It is not the most exciting training, but it is essential.

Pillar #4: Recovery And Mobility Work.

I lump recovery and mobility together. This involves doing small things during the week to help the body calm down, relax, and bounce back in between sessions.

This might involve:

• Stretching
• Self-massage/foam rolling
• Yoga.
  
  

Whatever suits you. This does not need a lot of time (I typically have my mountaineers do sessions of 10-20 minutes at a time), but if done consistently, it goes a long way.

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These four areas form the structure I use for all my clients' training programs.

From first-time mountaineers, who are stepping into their first expedition...

To more hardcore mountaineers doing 8000m+ mountains.

And everyone in between.

Everyone does strength training. Everyone does mountaineering-specific conditioning. Everyone does longer cardio. Everyone does recovery and mobility.

(And yes, the specifics of how these will be applied will vary from person to person, but the pillars remain the same).

If you can tick off each of these areas consistently and tailor them to your needs, you get a holistic approach for your training.

It tends to be far more manageable than simply doing hours and hours of running and hiking, which is the default approach for many.

This is what we will be basing the rest of this podcast on.

Future episodes and articles will dive deep into strength training. How to structure it. How to get the most from it. Strategies that help.

We will dig into mountaineering-specific conditioning workouts and approaches.

We will talk about longer cardio, and even though the topic gets talked to death, there will be valuable things in there.

We will explore recovery and mobility. A

And we will also talk about mental strength, mindset, nutrition, and other areas that round things out.

I hope that moving forward, you come out the other end with a solid understanding of how to apply these things to your training and see the best results on the mountain.

So welcome back to the show. I hope you enjoyed this refresher and overview.

Yours in adventure,

Rowan 

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