MT.FURY: TRAINING PREP. BLOG 1/7

I finally decided to give Mt. Fury a go. I’ve been putting off this trip for years, and I’ve come to the conclusion that times goes too fast, life flies by at crazy speed, and if I put this one off any longer it’ll simply never happen. So here it goes. Mt. Fury will probably be one of the toughest hikes/climbs of my life – but hopefully one to remember for the rest of my life – in a good way!

I have exactly 7 full weeks to prepare for Mt. Fury. I did a field run the other day with a 35lb pack in pretty rough, hilly terrain for a total of 3 miles, and came to the conclusion that my cardio still sucks and that my body weight of 218lbs is tough to carry around. Also, carrying the heavy backpack, I realized I seriously lacked endurance in my upper back area and core. I kept hunching and rounding my shoulders like crazy, and I felt fatigue in my upper back.

Anyway, to help me prepare for Mt. Fury, I partner up with one of the best athletic sport performance coaches in all of Orange County: Mike Axe. This guy is a total badass and probably one of the smartest guys in the industry – on top of being a former Army Ranger, bodybuilding champion, and one of the most jacked 45-year-olds I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s no-one else I’d rather ask for help – well, maybe Jason Bourne or Hillary Clinton. But Mike will do.

Mike Axe

Objective: Mt. Fury is going to be a brutal, four-day-long hike/climb through some insanely rough terrain. I’ll have to carry about 35-45lbs of bullshit material on top of my body weight of 218lbs. So basically:

A.     I’m going to need to develop some pretty sick cardiovascular endurance. 

B.     Carrying a 35-45lb backpack, especially for four days, will wear the shit out of my back. It could easily cause me to hunch over like crazy, resulting in some serious back pain. To avoid this, I’m going to need to develop some serious strength endurance in my upper back area, my entire core, and entire posterior chain in general to prevent this from happening.

C.     I also had a lower back injury in early January. I will need Mike to create a conditioning program that will emphasize strengthening the lower back and fixing the issue, while avoiding aggravating it any further.

So here is what we came up with:

The Program - first 3 weeks of the 7 week routine:

MONDAY: Structural Balance/Endurance 1

TUESDAY: Lactic Power Intervals Mixed with Band Work Followed by Ab Circuits

WEDNESDAY: Structural Balance/Strength

THURSDAY: Lactic Power Intervals Mixed with Band Work Followed by Ab Circuits 

FRIDAY: Structural Balance/Endurance 2

SATURDAY: OFF

SUNDAY: Tempo Hike. Gradually add weight each week. I aim to be just 30-40% shy of the length/duration of the climb around week 6 or so.

Want this routine? Send me an email and forward it to you for FREE. No bullshit. Trainers charge hundreds if not thousands for such a routine.

Checkout Mt.Fury: Training Prep. Blog 2/7