winter exercises..do you change your routine...?

Do you change your exersise/workouts to reflect the winters cold weather activities??
Many folks here exercise regulary...so I'm wondering if others change their exercises from season to season depending on their anticipated activities.

For example, in the winter my main focus is snowshoeing... for me I need to remember to stretch my legs...lots of step exercises... more stretches etc.
Snowshoeing for me means often my heels will be well lower than normal as I work my way up the steep stuff...things like that. Plus my legs need to be at their best for those times your feet weigh a ton and you have to pick them waaay up around your head (so it seems) to plod along.
In summer it's kayaking for me and all upper body stuff...

What about other folks...do those sking have special exercisies they like for winter time etc.

Those ice climbing, do you work on your upper body strentgh..or legs for front pointing etc..
and of couse those hauling sleds do you work out to build up for it...?

Cross country skiing! It's the best thing ever.

I definitely hit the treadmill more during Winter. It's more demanding hiking in the Winter. I also do a little more strength training. As you said, lifting the legs is something I focus on.

Spinning class twice a week at the local bike shop with a regular bike, not the gym fly wheel types.

Leg exercises and cardio twice a week at the gym

Yoga baby, yoga

I'm all about yoga - having a history of back problems and visiting physical therapists 3-4 times/yr. I got into yoga and have yet to go back to PT (over 3 yrs. now). Yoga is a total body workout getting all the little stabilizer muscles that you don't "normally" use in everyday activities and helps you correct problems on your own as they come up. And one of my yoga instructors says, "Real men do yoga!" so you don't have to question your masculinity if you're doing it as a guy See my signature for a great quote on yoga.....

I trade the bicycle for the XC skies in winter, and join the gym for a little bit of weight training. If it's really miserable out, I'll opt for the indoor treadmill (walk, uphill @15%), or the stationary bike. If I can be outside, I'll either ski or snow shoe. It's pretty near impossible to get a better aerobic workout then XC skiing. I know of no other activity which recruits more muscles. You can, therefore, push at a higher LT (Lactate Threshold, i.e., the point at which you produce lactic acid at the same rate as your body can clear it away...), or a greater % of your maximum heart rate.

For me, on a bike, my LT is between 162 and 167, depending on where in the racing/training cycle I am. On a long, steep uphill race finish, I've hit 184, and been "completely burnt" at the top. Meanwhile, skiing up Cascade Brook or Jennings Peak (black XC trails at WV), I can maintain 178-180 for the entire climb without cooking -- the effort is spread over the abs and arms in addition to the legs. I have a statistical max of (220 - age) 179 at this point (I'm 41), but I saw 186 last year skiing up Tripoli Road (I was burnt at that point.)

This March ('07) will be 144 (12 years!) consecutive months of 100 miles or more outdoors on my road bike, assuming there are 3-4 days per month that aren't icy and/or below 20 degrees. Hasn't happened in the last 11, so it's a pretty safe bet. February is always the toughest month -- shorter and colder.

Tim

UNFROZENCAVEMAN said:

I'm all about yoga - having a history of back problems and visiting physical therapists 3-4 times/yr. I got into yoga and have yet to go back to PT (over 3 yrs. now). Yoga is a total body workout getting all the little stabilizer muscles that you don't "normally" use in everyday activities and helps you correct problems on your own as they come up. And one of my yoga instructors says, "Real men do yoga!" so you don't have to question your masculinity if you're doing it as a guy See my signature for a great quote on yoga.....

Click to expand...

I could not agree more about yoga. But one note if I may; My friend who is a personal trainer states that yoga IS a major workout. You should not do a session then immediatly try endurance or strenght training. Your yoga session should stand on its own. I encourage all hikers to do it. I could not believe how tight I am through the hips, legs and back after a season of hiking.

Namaste dude

Of course, I continue with my 5 days/week of cycling, but I'm another one that does XC-skiing. Weekends, and sometimes a few evenings a week. Being within a couple hundred yards of over a hundred miles of XC-ski trails helps.

Now... I don't know if I winter hike to get in shape for skiing, or if I ski to get in shape for hiking.

This is a timely thread! Just this week I joined a “gym” for the first time. My motivation is to improve / maintain my winter fitness level. Let’s face it; being a weekend warrior during the winter season sure is tough physically.

I joined a “Group Power” class at the YMCA and plan on taking part in it twice a week. Group power is an “athletic-based workout (which) uses barbells with adjustable weights to work every major muscle group in the body.” It was fun… it WAS a workout!

Now if I can just find some ‘cardio’ time during the week…

Onestep

I continue running outside during the Winter months, generally averaging 30-40 miles per week. If you dress properly for the conditions your fine.

If its really nasty out, such as its icy or the roads are not plowed or melted out enough to make it safe to run, I will go to the gym instead.

During the Winter months I'll also do more swimming and visit the sauna. This year I plan to add upper body work to the plan. Also, start some winter hiking too.

We joined a gym a few months ago,and both signed up with a personal trainer. I look at it as a "gear investment"-me!
We're doing cardio 2 or 3 nights and weights 2 nights a week.My cardio is up to a half hour of treadmill at a 12-14 grade at 2.5 mph. My goal is to get to 45-60 at a 14 grade or better.
I was amazed at how much better I felt backpacking after just a month of working out.
Spider,I keep a similar schedule to you,kayaking and sailing all summer. Truth is,particularly if you have good technique,kayaking just isn't all that much work!
And sailing-plenty of bruises but not much exersise!

So many people doing something extra for cardio. Don't you realize that if you commute to work by bicycle, you get free cardio training? Not only that, but you save money on gas, which must be up near a dollar a gallon these days, right?

For hiking cardio is dandy but lately I have found that some form of longer and lower grade endurance exercise with extra weight on my back and uphills works a lot better for me than flatland running. Specificity training.

I try to do a year round workout that is geared towards mountain fitness. I hit the gym in all seasons for upper body strength training and cardio. In the summer, I like to hike and ride my bike. In the winter, I downhill and x-c ski. I find that the cross training through all the activities really complement each other. I have been spinning at the gym this year, and find that this really builds muscle in the legs and improves the cardio. The best overall activity is x-c skiing. If you can go out and ski 50 k, you can do anything.

I don't change my gym routine, I lift free weights year round, 3 days a week, squat, deadlift, bench press, rows, shrugs, curls, skull crushers, etc. And i run 3 days a week to.

I do change my routine in the winter.

In the summer I run and bike a lot, with occasional hikes on the weekends. While I do go on less day hikes and more overnights, I tend to stay out of the woods during the height of big season.

In the winter I hike more and also ice climb. My routine is more involved with the gym, and includes more cardio. I'll typically hit the weights as I'm still building strength, but then I'll hit either the treadmill or the stairmaster. On the stairmaster, remember to also use it backwards, which simulates going downhill while hiking.

Specific execrises for ice climbing are rollies (a string with a weight on one end and then a stock on the other, twist with your arms outstretched, it builds the forearms), the stairmaster on your toes, and pullups. I'm working on getting limber enough to do a Figure-4, but am not quite there yet.

Lawn Sale said:

On the stairmaster, remember to also use it backwards, which simulates going downhill while hiking.

Click to expand...

Does the stair master run backwards? Or are you really simulated walking up hill backwards? I'm not convinced the latter really simulates going down hill. In that case you would be landing on the front of your foot rather then the heel. I ask because I've had knee problems of late, and actually walking down the stairs on stair master was a suggested technique for resolving imbalances in the quad muscle group and alleviating petellar femoral syndrome (mis-tracking of the knee cap).

It's been a while since I've been on the stair master but since they are built to go up hill, I recall the stairs aren't very deep (less so then real stairs) making it more difficult to actually descend them.

An alternative might be an inclined treadmill that runs in reverse.

(I seem to recall, while searching for chondromalacia and other knee afflictions on this site, that your name (Lawn Sale) showed up in several threads, so I'd be curious how things worked out for you.)

Thanks,
Tim

I do my usual weight lifting with free weights 2-3 times per week. It is amazing how much better free weights are at maintaining core strength than weight machines. Also run or hike 2-3 times per week untill there is snow to ski on, then I ski (bc). Recently, I asked one of the 20+ mile day hikers who post here what he does during the week to maintain this phenomenal abilty. "Nothing" Lets hear it for genetics! I am sooo jealous.

I think going backwards up a stairmaster or on an inclined treadmill is a good way to wreck your Pat-Fem joint. I've done it (walked backwards, not wreck the joint ) on a treadmill inclined to 25% and it's great for the quads!

Pete_Hickey said:

So many people doing something extra for cardio. Don't you realize that if you commute to work by bicycle, you get free cardio training? Not only that, but you save money on gas, which must be up near a dollar a gallon these days, right?

Click to expand...

Pete: You clearly don't live or work in or near Boston! If I tried to commute to work on a bike, I'd end up getting killed. I did bike to work two or three times when I lived 10 miles north of Boston and was working the night shift. At least then, there were fewer idiots on the roads _ but then I was biking at midnight through Charlestown, which has its own "treats"...

I don't do much differently in the winter for exercise, though I'm hiking less and maybe doing more x-c skiing. But I generally will do three days of cardio, three days of weight lifting and get additional cardio walking to and from the commuter rail station. If I'm stressed at work or feeling the need to get into a zen moment, I'll add in some yoga _ which is indeed both a workout and a bit of relaxation.