Maximize performance by training for specific activities
Windsor, ON --Outdoor activities such as trekking, paddling, and skiing burn calories and build fitness all year through fun, challenging outlets. According to wilderness fitness trainer Doug Schurman, outdoor enthusiasts can maximize performance, enjoyment, and safety by training for their favorite activities. He and his wife, Courtenay, have teamed up on an upcoming book, The Outdoor Athlete (Human Kinetics, 2009), to offer training advice on outdoor activities.
According to Schurman, strength training--often overlooked in favor of endurance training--provides the base for the safe pursuit of challenges in outdoor activities. "Strength training is crucial to success in outdoor pursuits because appropriate training gives you power, strength, force, and the ability to withstand both the predictable and unforeseen challenges," Schurman says."It also helps the body adapt to overload to prevent injuries, provides muscle balance, improves performance, and enhances body composition."
- Helps the body adapt to overload. Strength training gets outdoor enthusiasts ready for any and all overloads that might happen in their activities. "If you start into an outdoor activity too quickly without allowing enough time to adapt to overload, you might suffer injury from stresses that are too great," he explains.
- Provides muscle balance. Strength training helps keep joints healthy by ensuring that the opposing muscle groups are worked in direct proportion to the primary movers. "After a substantial time, if you have used one group of muscles almost to the exclusion of the others, the body will stray from ideal posture," Schurman says.
- Improves performance. Strength training significantly improves performance with both outdoor and everyday activity. "A trail runner with fantastic cardiorespiratory endurance might feel ready to tackle a challenging backpacking trip," says Schurman. "But until he gets his legs used to moving uphill over uneven terrain with added weight, he might struggle with a short hike that gains several thousand feet of elevation."
- Enhances body composition. Strength training enhances body composition by increasing lean muscle mass and improving calorie-burning metabolic functions. Schurman says that instead of relying on the number on the scale, you should pay attention to what your body is saying about energy levels, task performance, and a change in clothing size or inches lost.
The Outdoor Athlete offers workouts and programs for 17 activities, including alpine mountaineering, trekking, rock climbing, trail running, snowshoeing, and skiing. The book also includes nutritional considerations for each activity and information on environmental factors affecting participation and training.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Courtenay Schurman, MS, CSCS, is an avid outdoor enthusiast active in mountaineering, rock climbing, biking, strength training, rowing, and step aerobics. She is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. She has more than 10 years of experience in training wilderness athletes, including amateur skiers, kayakers, hikers, and clients wishing to tackle Mount Everest or 100-mile trail runs. Courtenay has been a climb leader for the Seattle Mountaineers since 2003. She coordinates, develops, and teaches seminars and workshops in the Seattle area and offers outdoor conditioning consulting for clubs, groups, and individuals. She authored the chapter on alpine conditioning for the seventh edition of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, which has sold more than half a million copies; coauthored and coproduced Train to Climb Mt. Rainier or Any High Peak DVD (2003); and authored numerous magazine articles, e-books, and over 500 training pages for various wilderness sports at www.bodyresults.com. She is co-owner of Body Results, a company that specializes in outdoor strength and conditioning.
Doug Schurman, MBA, CSCS, is a competitive powerlifter and has been a certified strength and conditioning coach through the NSCA since 1998. Active in mountaineering and rock climbing, he coauthored and coproduced the Train to Climb Mt. Rainier or Any High Peak DVD (2003) and coauthored numerous wilderness sport articles at www.bodyresults.com. He is a qualified climb leader for rock, ice, and glacier climbs and has been a member of the Seattle Mountaineers since 1992. He is co-owner of Body Results, conducts wilderness sport fitness training seminars and workshops, and coaches wilderness athletes from around the United States to achieve their adventure sport goals.
CONTENTS
PART I Foundation for Outdoor Fitness
Chapter 1. Principles of Training
Chapter 2. Assessing and Applying Intensity Levels
Chapter 3. Increasing Endurance
Chapter 4. Maximizing Strength
Chapter 5. Fueling for Outdoor Pursuits
Chapter 6. Overcoming Environmental Challenges
PART II Conditioning for Specific Activities
Chapter 7. Trekking
Chapter 8. Mountaineering
Chapter 9. Climbing
Chapter 10. Trail Running
Chapter 11. Mountain Biking
Chapter 12. Paddling
Chapter 13. Backcountry, Cross-Country Skiing, and Snowshoeing
PART III Exercises for Peak Performance
Chapter 14. Flexibility and Mobility
Chapter 15. Core Stability and Balance
Chapter 16. Strength
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