How to Train for an Expedition
Expedition Fitness
Congratulations!
Awesome you are going on expedition and about to take on the great outdoors. Thoughts of hills, mountains, open water and being at one with mother nature are probably filling your head on a constant basis. An expedition is a journey, often physically and mentally demanding and preparation is key to your success and enjoyment. Along with the various aspect of planning such as equipment, funding, budgets and risk assessments your training should be right there at the top of your list. So here are some of the key aspects of your physical preparation for expedition to take into account:
What is your objective & what have you let yourself in for?
What is are you are trying to achieve and what will be the physical demands of your journey. By this I mean, what are you actually going to be doing. Will you be climbing mountains day after day or are you aiming for one major ascent? Are you going to be battling rough seas or navigation miles of bending rivers? Are you going to carrying a heavy pack on your back over a long-distance trail or will you have to battle unforgiving terrain in extreme weather conditions? The reason I ask these questions is because every expedition is different and everyone’s fitness levels are different, however the more specific your training is in the build up to your expedition the better prepared you will be. By this I mean, if you are going to be trekking over multiple days with backpacks you won’t want to be doing short sprint sessions on an athletics track.
Have a plan
Doing the odd run or weights session is unlikely to make much a different in your fitness. In the physical performance world, we make a long-term plan, that is, we have a specific date/s of the event we are training for and then work back from there or to use the trendy phrase reverse engineer. That way we can then split training into blocks consisting of several weeks with a particular focus in each block for example strength or strength and endurance. Ideally the longer you have to prepare the better but 12 weeks should be a sufficient amount of time to get your fitness up to a good level, as long as you do the work of course. Each block of training would consist of 4 weeks where you progressively build up your training levels for 3 weeks followed by a week of easier training to allow your body to adapt and recover. The next 4-week block would then start off at an increased intensity from the last and so on. As you near the date of your expedition you would begin to taper off or reduce your training load, again to allow your body to recover so that you are fresh for adventure.
Be Strong
Getting stronger is always going to be a good thing, you will need strength to walk or climb up steep terrain, to load your pack with days of kit and equipment and to keep going when things get tough. Having access to a gym or weights will be most beneficial as resistance training with weights is a great way to build strength. Initially focusing on all over body workouts which include multi joint exercises such as squats, lunges and step ups will be best. However, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you only need to train your lower body, your upper body will be just as important for carrying, climbing, scrambling or paddling and exercises such as shoulder press and bent over rows are excellent. Some people however do not have access to the gym, don’t worry, if this is you working with just body weight can still yield good results. There is a bewildering list of types of strength and this can all get quite confusing. When planning your sessions, strength endurance or the ability of your muscles to maintain a consistent level for extended periods of time will be the major focus. Having bulging biceps and rippling abs will not do you much good out in the elements.
Build Endurance
Along with strength you will also need to work on your cardio vascular endurance or aerobic capacity. This is often an area that lets a lot of people down because they have just not put in enough work to build this up. Expeditions don’t always go to plan there are many things that can be beyond your control such as extreme weather or illness but leaving or abandoning an expedition because of a lack of fitness is a bitter pill to swallow and the avoidance of this is a major motivation when training. Like strength you build up your endurance over time, progressively overloading your body so that it reacts and adapts to the training stimulus. This may be walking, hiking, jogging, running, swimming, biking or a combination. You may want to do some of this indoors on a treadmill or stationary bike, this is fine but it is best to try and experience training in all weathers, after all that is what you will get on expedition.
There are many ways to train to improve your aerobic capacity and endurance. You can do one long steady walk or run starting at 30min and building this up over time. You can do intervals where you work hard for several mins and then have a short rest before doing the same again and so on. You should include hill sessions where you find a big hill and walk up it. If you live near smaller hills then walk up and down several times Gradually increase the distance and steepness of the hills plus begin to carry some weight in a pack on your back. If the furthest you have walked is 3 miles carrying a 10kg back pack then begin there and increase over time. In all your training building up gradually is key, if you go at it all guns blazing then you risk burnt out and possible injury.
Recover Hard
The old adage training makes you weak, recovery makes you stronger certainly holds true. When you train you break your body down so that when you rest you heal and grow, building back stronger and fitter. Insufficient rest will lead to overtraining and result in your performance getting worse not better. So, make sure that you get enough rest, sleep and recovery days in your programme these can be days where you do nothing at all or days when you focus on low intensity work like improving mobility or using a foam roller to iron out the tight spots in your muscles, visit your osteopath to free restricted joints or have a gentle swim followed by a sauna.
Be on the lookout for the symptoms of overtraining such as lack of energy, decreased motivation, moodiness, prolonged general fatigue, poor-quality sleep and consistently sore muscles.
Fuel in the Tank
In order to train, recover, repair and refuel you need to have good nutrition. This will come from a varied diet that covers all the food groups: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. If you are allergic to certain foods or avoid certain groups then you must make sure that you still get a varied diet and are not missing the essentials that your body needs to function effectively. Carbohydrates are your body's main source of energy in a healthy, balanced diet. Your body uses carbohydrate to make glucose, which is your main energy source. The slow, steady release of energy from starchy carbohydrates as best. Foods include bread, cereals, vegetables rice, potatoes and pasta. The muscles of your body have limited carbohydrate stores and need to be topped up regularly, so you will need to consider the type and amount of food before, during and after training. If your diet is low in carbohydrates it can lead to a lack of energy during exercise, early fatigue and delayed recovery. Remember also that hydration is important, make sure that you take on board plenty of water and electrolytes if needed, before during and after training, don’t gulp, just sip.
Injury
Minimise your chances of injury by listening to your body, don’t train through or ignore pain. Pain is a signal that something is not right. Seek assessment from a registered health care professional and be guided by them. Make sure that your training programme is specific for your needs and talk with your coach to make sure that you are working on any weaknesses. Always include a warm up and cool down and focus on caring for your feet, in terms of strength, mobility and hygiene. Check out one of my videos on how to fire up your feet.
These are just some of the things to consider before planning your adventure, if you remember and implement the 7p’s you should have successful and enjoyable trip: Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance.
Jamie Archer is a UKSCA accredited strength, conditioning and performance coach, professional mountain leader and specialist musculoskeletal osteopath. He coaches adventure and endurance athletes and can be contacted via his website: www.tacticalperforamcne.co.uk
