Getting in mountain shape with no mountains around?

[deputyrpa]

I leave for CO next week, and I'm feeling the burn already. I whacked my knee building my garage shop workbench, and my right elbow hasn't completely heeled from two sequential rock slams. I just turned 62 y/o, and it seems every year it gets 2x tougher. But it's all worth it.

 

[longrie]

I trained a "flatlander" for a sheep hunt in the Yukon.
Sled drags, loaded carries, dragging a sled while carrying weight, vest walks, dragging a sled while wearing a vest and rucking are the most productive training options I have found for people who don't have access to the mountains.

Good Journey!

Great advice!

 

[longrie]

Find a 50 story hi-rise, a pack pack with 20lbs to start and start walking the steps 3 or 4 times a week...

The closest 50 story building is about 3.5 hours from me haha. I am a flatlander living in a really sparsely populated area (UP of Michigan/Northern Wisconsin).

 

[Felton]

I struggle with this too. I run and hike with a pack as much as I can.

 

[LDHunter]

We have a couple of stair stepper machines at our local gym and I'm thinking besides all the other cardio and weight training I need to hit one of those stair steppers every once in awhile.

 

[Rick Richard]

We have a couple of stair stepper machines at our local gym and I'm thinking besides all the other cardio and weight training I need to hit one of those stair steppers every once in awhile.

They will kick your butt. Best device for training those legs when you're unable to hike UP a mountain….altitude is something totally different though.

 

[LDHunter]

We have a couple of stair stepper machines at our local gym and I'm thinking besides all the other cardio and weight training I need to hit that stair stepp

They will kick your butt. Best device for training those legs when you're unable to hike UP a mountain….altitude is something totally different though.

True that. I lived at 8700ft elevation in Colorado for several years and was used to it but people that came to visit were a bit challenged.

The best cardio fitness you can possibly be in is important, as well as staying very very well hydrated. A large part of altitude sickness is dehydration.