Training for the Uphill Athlete: A Manual for Mountain Runners and Ski Mountaineers

Description

Dovetailing on the success of Training for the New Alpinism and Patagonia’s own emphasis on all mountain use, Training for the Uphill Athlete translates theory into methodology to allow you to write your own training plans and coach yourself to endurance goals. Steve House, one of the best mountaineers, and his coach Scott Johnston, an Olympic-level cross country ski coach, along with Kilian Jornet, hands-down best endurance athlete at this time, present training principles for the multisport mountain athlete who regularly participates in a mix of distance running, ski mountaineering, and other endurance sports that require optimum fitness and customized strength. This is an authoritative but accessible training manual for athletes and coaches who feel most alive in the mountains or pushing the uphill ascent. Distance running, ski mountaineering, skimo, and skyrunning are becoming increasingly popular all over the world, and are often undertaken by the same person during a single year. This book collects the scientifically backed and athlete-tested wisdom and experience of three of the best uphill athletes and coaches and extrapolates both to educate outdoor athletes of all stripes to perform their best. The book includes the same mix of theory, application, and experiential essays from experts in the field, as well as instructional illustrations as in Training for the New Alpinism . Contributions by Kilian Jornet increase the worldwide appeal of the book. Review: Clear, honest and authentic advice for aspiring and experienced uphill athletes - This book sets out clear training principles for uphill athletes with excellent explanations as to why the plans work. The author usefully explodes the myth that high-intensity training is a substitute for low-intensity graft when developing endurance. The book has many interesting anecdotes from top athletes but never feels judgemental when describing slower participants. Highly recommended. Review: Even for the over-the-hill 'athlete'. - I bought this book earlier in the year (2020) and was immediately impressed with its layout, stunning visual appeal, and intellectual content. The superbly illustrated section on 'Aerobic Deficiency Syndrome' (credited to Phil Maffetone) was especially pertinent to me and was all the excuse I needed to continue my glacially slow locomoting at Zone 2 'intensity'. The 'vacuum cleaner' analogy really helped my understanding of the physiology involved in the aerobic base building process and was perhaps worth the price of the book in itself. Regardless of some gripes about the 'core' training section, and the fact that I am too old to put into practise a LOT of the information in this book, I still love it. Mr House and Mr Johnston's knowledge, experience and passion is the driving force behind this great book, and their UpHill Athlete website (with its excellent series of podcasts). I commend them for presenting this material in such an inspiring way and I think it is the gold standard text in this field.