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Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby Alfachick » Fri Jan 03, 2020 4:34 pm

Thank you all for your kind comments and suggestions. I have started incorporating a slightly more hilly round on my dog walk and I intend to try and walk this as fast possible as much as possible.

The stair running is a great idea, I might try that out although I am sure the dogs will do their level best to kill me whilst undertaking it.... The story of being able to just march up Ben More is amazing! It looks like a punishing hill! I will be doing the stairs thing I think. I know it's going to hurt.

Squats... Yes. I will work those into my routine, I cant believe I didn't think of those! :roll:
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby Walkinmyfootsteps » Fri Jan 03, 2020 7:39 pm

Your hill fitness will soon come back once you’ve done a couple. If you have a base line fitness climbing Munros is relatively easy.
Biggest thing for you I would suggest is lose the extra timber.
Whatever you’ve gained will be like the old you hitting the hills but with that weight in your rucksack. This will put more pressure on your knees, back and shoulders.
I was training for a charity event the Paras 10 last year and did a couple of mountains wearing a 10kg vest including my rucksack with normal equipment water and food.
Really noticed the difference with the extra weight.
Get out with the dog and incorporate a bit of a jog into your walk each day. Timber will soon drop off as long as you’re eating reasonably healthily and the dog will thank you for it. Win win. Good luck 😉
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby largeruk » Sat Jan 04, 2020 11:35 pm

DavidShepherd wrote:Some science here....eat well - keep your energy levels up and eat the right stuff after your exercise to recover properly - it can't be overstated how important this is to keeping your muscles etc in good condition.

Hope you don't mind my asking - I'm interested in the science of training, ie. me just trying to get a decent level of strength, flexibility and cardio fitness in the most efficient way possible - for me that's time; shortest period of time spent each day for quickest/maximum gains with best recovery.

I'm not flush with cash - don't have a bike, can't afford gym membership so it's basically me, my bodyweight, a couple of low kg dumbells & kettlebells and that's it! I don't have a specific activity goal in mind at the moment but would really appreciate your advice & from anyone else too who knows about this stuff- how best to train to achieve strength, flexibility and cardio fitness, how best to recover etc.

What's lead me to post here is that I love walking in the countryside and by the sea but live close to neither so do it nowhere near as often as I would like.. The various exploits and broad knowledge of the forum members keeps me interested and motivated though. Thank you to all of you for the vicarious pleasure and insight you bring...
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby Scottk » Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:26 am

I see you are in Aberdeenshire too. I get up Bennachie every week if I can’t get to the hills. The 3 main tops are about 10k and 600m ascent but if you add in millstone and back up Mither Tap it is 15k and 1000m.
The exercises which have helped me are single leg squats and another exercise where you stand on one slightly bent leg and bend down to put your hands on the floor and back up. 10 reps and 3 sets on each leg in bare feet for both these. Start at 7/8 reps if 10 is too hard. Move slowly and stop if you lose form. The second exercise helps stability. These were given to me by my physio when I tore my medial ligament last year.
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby WalkWithWallace » Sun Jan 05, 2020 11:34 am

Getting out as much as possible will help the most. However cycling 15 miles a day back and forth to work on a daily basis helps my hill fitness.
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby Shuginho » Sun Jan 05, 2020 4:41 pm

play badminton once a week :)
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby Skyelines » Sun Jan 05, 2020 5:28 pm

Hill Fitness - the ability to raise the weight of your body and that of your kit by a few thousand feet one leg at a time.

That should tell you what sort of activity will help.
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby JonetCol » Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:42 pm

Agree with David Shepherd re stairs. Even in a bungalow there's usually a backdoor step to use. A New Zealand hiking guide I once read recommended putting one foot on the step and raising the other to meet it a dozen or so, then switching feet, rather than left right, left right etc. I find this convenient, especially when I'm pushed for time. Its simple but progressive too as you can start with a few steps, then build up to suit yourself. If you've a staircase you can also repeat on a higher step to prep for steeper slopes.
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby Alteknacker » Sun Jan 05, 2020 11:13 pm

ScotFinn65 wrote:I can't offer any advice but only can tell what works for me.

For all round cardio, nothing beats jogging. It hurts in the beginning (like everything else) but after a few weeks of jogging slowly, l can build up the time and increase the speed a little...

For hill specific fitness, nothing beats hills. I just take it easy and expect to be blowing out my bum but that is part of the process. Starting with shorter walks and easier inclines and then adding backpack and increasing time and ascent...


This is exactly my experience also.

Until I was kyboshed by a heart problem last year, I used to run 3 or so 10kms a week with our dogs, not trying to break any records, and that seemed to keep me reasonably fit for hill walking - though I would agree with ScottFinn that nothing beats ascending hills for gaining hill fitness. This is exactly what my son did in advance of our walking the Welsh 3000ers - 8 or 9 times up and down a steep part of the South Downs near where he lives at least every other day - and after a couple of months of that he found the 3000ers relatively straightforward. Running doesn't cost anything, which is ideal for a Yorkshireman...
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby Outnabout » Sun Jan 05, 2020 11:59 pm

largeruk wrote:
DavidShepherd wrote:Some science here....eat well - keep your energy levels up and eat the right stuff after your exercise to recover properly - it can't be overstated how important this is to keeping your muscles etc in good condition.

Hope you don't mind my asking - I'm interested in the science of training, ie. me just trying to get a decent level of strength, flexibility and cardio fitness in the most efficient way possible - for me that's time; shortest period of time spent each day for quickest/maximum gains with best recovery.

I'm not flush with cash - don't have a bike, can't afford gym membership so it's basically me, my bodyweight, a couple of low kg dumbells & kettlebells and that's it! I don't have a specific activity goal in mind at the moment but would really appreciate your advice & from anyone else too who knows about this stuff- how best to train to achieve strength, flexibility and cardio fitness, how best to recover etc.

What's lead me to post here is that I love walking in the countryside and by the sea but live close to neither so do it nowhere near as often as I would like.. The various exploits and broad knowledge of the forum members keeps me interested and motivated though. Thank you to all of you for the vicarious pleasure and insight you bring...

Strength- stick to compound movements. If short of cash do BW squats, pushup, dips, planks to name a few.
Flexibility- stretching routine daily before bed, something I really need to start doing more of myself.
Cardio fitness--simple really, move more. Take up running, after you eat a meal go for a brisk walk for 10mins,it all adds up.
Recovery- can't stress enough how a good night's sleep is for recovery, that and plenty good sources of food.
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby DavidShepherd » Mon Jan 06, 2020 11:04 am

largeruk wrote:
DavidShepherd wrote:Some science here....eat well - keep your energy levels up and eat the right stuff after your exercise to recover properly - it can't be overstated how important this is to keeping your muscles etc in good condition.

Hope you don't mind my asking - I'm interested in the science of training, ie. me just trying to get a decent level of strength, flexibility and cardio fitness in the most efficient way possible - for me that's time; shortest period of time spent each day for quickest/maximum gains with best recovery.

I'm not flush with cash - don't have a bike, can't afford gym membership so it's basically me, my bodyweight, a couple of low kg dumbells & kettlebells and that's it! I don't have a specific activity goal in mind at the moment but would really appreciate your advice & from anyone else too who knows about this stuff- how best to train to achieve strength, flexibility and cardio fitness, how best to recover etc.

What's lead me to post here is that I love walking in the countryside and by the sea but live close to neither so do it nowhere near as often as I would like.. The various exploits and broad knowledge of the forum members keeps me interested and motivated though. Thank you to all of you for the vicarious pleasure and insight you bring...


Not at all.
Someone else has all ready recommended compound exercises for strength - this is a good idea. You can do press ups, squats, rows and pull ups at home using your dumbells and kettle bells. Compound exercises target multiple muscles groups so you get an efficient workout in less time. You don't need to do many to start with but it's a good idea to find out how many you can do to failure, i.e. how many press ups can you do before you can't do any more!

For flexibility stretching is obviously good but you've got to do the right kind. I would recommend yoga, and see if you can find some very easy beginner video's - there are a tonne of online services that can provide this through youtube for example

Be careful with exercise at home though - if you feel in any pain when you are doing it stop immediately and let yourself rest.

cardio is the easiest at home - get in to interval training or High Intensity Interval training - it can be tough but it will rattle your fitness level's up pretty quickly. If you look for videos by that Joe Wick's guy on you tube, you should find plenty of beginners, intermediary or advanced stuff with him ranging from 15 minutes (where i would start!) to much longer.
Think about jogging also. Personally i hate running, but a 3 mile jog every other day can really up your stamina.

Recovery - definitely get good sleep, hydrate well every day (it's a pain the bum because you will need the loo more often) but you need plenty of water to help muscle recovery. Always, for the first few months at least, give yourself a day off after working out - do 1 day of exercise then a day off then exercise then a day off. If you can afford protein supplements they might help (look at myprotein.com - they do samplers). You don't have to go crazy with these but they can help muscle recovery if you aren't getting enough protein in your diet.

Hope this helps.
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby Bonzo » Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:01 pm

Shuginho wrote:play badminton once a week :)


This reminded me of my return to badminton after a year of not playing. On waking up the following morning I quickly realised that my buttocks were so stiff that any movement was almost impossible. I spent a couple of days walking like C3PO :D
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Re: Best way to gain back hill fitness?

Postby Raynor » Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:51 pm

Bonzo wrote:
Shuginho wrote:play badminton once a week :)


This reminded me of my return to badminton after a year of not playing. On waking up the following morning I quickly realised that my buttocks were so stiff that any movement was almost impossible. I spent a couple of days walking like C3PO :D


:lol:

I played badminton at school with one of the top ranked youth players in the UK. I always thought I was pretty decent and held my own. Played it after a ten year layoff and was amazed to find I could barely hit the thing. A sobering lesson in "use it or lose it" :shock:
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