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On October 1st 2019 I set out on a goal to reach 150,000 steps climbed before the first 2020 Spartan Stadion in April, 2020. Why? Besides the obvious reason, that I was training for a Spartan Stadion, which requires an insane amount of stair climbing and descending, I also wanted to improve my overall hill climbing because I don't have access to mountains or even many hills near me.
I started off on the Stair Master and got to the point where I could consistently do 5,000+ steps climbed in an hour without feeling like I was going to die. This was a great way to build a foundation, but in my heart, I knew that being on actual stairs would be WAY more practical and beneficial than the Stair Master. So, I started doing repeats at a nearby parking garage that is 8 stories high. It is 129 steps to the top.
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The first workout was TOUGH, much harder than the Stair Master. This was partly because I was skipping steps (since that's what I would do in a race anyway) and also because there isn't a belt running under my feet to keep my at a certain pace. Oh yeah, and don't forget the part where you have to go back down the stairs, which is much more realistic (for races) than the Stair Master because there is a lot of descending stairs in Stadion races.
Urban Mountain training will also be beneficial for OCR's on mountains and big hills. When going up stairs you are using the same muscles you would when climbing up a hill. No, it's not the exact same as climbing a mountain, but for someone with limited access to steep inclines, it will definitely help improve your hill climbing and overall running as well. PS. I am going to continue on to 250,000 steps by October 2020.
Find some stairs and give this workout a try! 5 Rounds - 2 minutes rest between rounds - 5 Minutes stair climbing/decending - 20 burpees - 15 pullups
At Trio Fitness OCR we train clients for mountains when they have no mountains to train on. We train athletes for obstacles when they have no obstacles to practice on. Our programming is developed to match the resources available to you without sacrificing any of your goals.
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Joel Hayes (Coach)
Luke Hayes (Coach & Article Author)