A Mountain Climber’s Workout

Imagine this: After climbing a couple of mountains in Mexico, a middle-aged man decides to get serious about the sport of mountain climbing. What does he do to stay in shape? The Wall Street Journal reports on the mountain climbing training regimen of Rick Davidson, the president and CEO of Century 21 Real Estate. Davidson, now 51, begins training for a climb 12 weeks out. The Journal reports that he focuses on strengthening major muscles that he will use, like the legs, back and core. He significantly increases his cardio workout; cycling outdoors 20 to 30 miles a ride about twice a week. He works out at least five days a week, doing cross-training sessions that last 75 minutes. To build strength, Davidson will do free-weight exercises such as lat pull-downs, dead lifts, single-leg squats, shoulder press, bench press and incline presses. To improve his grip and core, he swings on a pull-up bar (sometimes he uses a squat weight rack) trying to get his body perpendicular to the floor. For balance and core, he kneels on a stability ball and passes a medicine ball around his waist. And because mountains always go up, Davidson has to train his body to function better with less oxygen. The Journal reports that he does that with interval training for 20 minutes on a bike, elliptical, or treadmill to get his heart rate between 115 and 155 beats per minute. He also practices using pressure breathing, a technique that helps drive more oxygen into the bloodstream and helps control heart rate at high altitudes.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal.