Workout Adjustments for Cardio

 I watched a video recently on YouTube that was about training for Mountain hiking and trekking. What I have been doing has been good, but there was more I could do to improve my stamina on the trail, especially the inclines. My inclines on the treadmill are good, but I tend to do long stretches at 15%. They recommend doing series of high cardio followed by a low cardio setting. They also recommend doing some weight training. He was talking about how you should feel physically when hiking on an incline and I really was there on most of it. My biggest issue is heat, once I start getting hot I start to struggle. I do also worry about the high altitudes. but no amount of training can prepare you for that. You just have to go slow and acclimate. 

I know I need to increase my cardio as my heart rate was rarely getting above 120 bpm whereas in the early days of my training I was hitting 140+bpm. Since heart rates increase at higher altitudes (which I noticed while in Peru) I knew I would need to work on getting it back up. So I will now make adjustments to my workouts and hope that it will make a difference before I leave for Nepal.

So my new workout schedule:

Sunday & Wednesday- rest days

Monday & Friday - Speed training, Stair-master do series of 70 spm followed by 50 spm. Complete minimum of 1000 steps. Treadmill alternate speed and incline from 3 mph to 3.5 mph and incline from 3% to 15%.

Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday - Wear weighted vest for workout  - Stair-master 55 spm, Treadmill -3.0 mph 15% incline.

I started it this week and I did get my heart rate up with the weighted vest on. The speed workouts made a small difference but not as much as I would like. Maybe once I get used to the weighted vest I will wear it every day. 

I feel pretty proud of myself at the gym as there is no-one near my age that does workouts at the level that I do. There are a few in there 20's and 30's that meet or out perform - but I'm 40 years older than them. When I started this journey I never thought I would be at the level I currently am. It was my goal, but I worried I had set the bar too high. I hope this inspires you to start your own journey. It is never too late.