by Carrie Lane, Director of Sport Performance
Training for a trekking trip can get tedious. There is lots of uphill walking involved, which can get old if you live in a flat area. To account for the effort you’ll exert at altitude, you may add a weighted pack and some strength training. All of these training components are necessary to build your lungs and legs for your trip. But how do you ensure that your training will help you move efficiently as you race weather changes, gain elevation, and get into higher altitudes? One technique that endurance athletes use to gain fitness is employing “fartleks” into their training. “Fartlek” is Swedish for “speed play” and has been used for decades in coaching programs for endurance athletes.
One of our remote athletes uses fartleks while skinning up a peak Quite simply, a fartlek workout assigns intervals of time or distance where you increase your pace and then slow back down to a recovery pace, never stopping completely. A fartlek trains the body to recover on the move, ultimately adapting your body to decrease the amount of time you spend restoring all that energy you just burned on the harder interval. Imagine how valuable it would be in the mountains if your body learned how to recover quickly after a steep bout of oxygen-sucking elevation gain.
What’s the science behind speed play? When you’re hiking at a comfortable, conversational pace, your body is burning fatty acids for energy. Fatty acids are a plentiful, slow-burning fuel, perfect to use for low-effort energy output. However, when your effort increases outside of your comfort zone – usually on steep inclines, higher altitudes, or faster speeds-- your body needs energy FAST! It taps into glycogen, which is a faster-burning fuel but not as plentiful as fatty acids. Eventually, you’ll run out of glycogen, causing you to stop and catch your breath while your body restores its supplies and goes back to slower-burning fatty acids. Using fartleks, you can train your body to burn less of that valuable glycogen and to replenish the used glycogen faster. Thereby reducing the time you’ll need to stop and catch your breath. Thus saving you valuable time in the mountains.
Here’s a sample Fartlek hiking workout:
1) 10-20 minute warmup walk, elevating your heartrate to around 120 beats per minute (the heartrate guideline will vary depending on your fitness level and on the altitude you are walking at.)
2) 2 minutes hiking at a faster pace getting your heartrate to around 140-150 bpm by the end of the interval.
3) 30 seconds easy hiking (no stopping!).
4) 30 seconds very brisk hiking (faster than the 2 minute interval).
5) 2 minutes easy walking (do not stop moving, just walk as slow as you need).
6) Repeat 3-5 times.
7) 20 minutes or more cooldown walk
1) 10-20 minute warmup walk, elevating your heartrate to around 120 beats per minute (the heartrate guideline will vary depending on your fitness level and on the altitude you are walking at.)
2) 2 minutes hiking at a faster pace getting your heartrate to around 140-150 bpm by the end of the interval.
3) 30 seconds easy hiking (no stopping!).
4) 30 seconds very brisk hiking (faster than the 2 minute interval).
5) 2 minutes easy walking (do not stop moving, just walk as slow as you need).
6) Repeat 3-5 times.
7) 20 minutes or more cooldown walk
As these get more comfortable, add a weighted pack and/or steeper inclines, which will help you gain additional leg and lung strength.
Treadmill fartleks are a great mid-week intense workout when you're pressed for time Because speed play workouts are more intense, your fartlek workouts can be shorter than the longer, steady hiking days that you also need to make time for. So fartleks are great to do during the work week on a treadmill, stair mill, local hill, or stadium stairs when you can’t get to a hilly area for a hike. They also break up your normal cardio, giving you some goal heartrates and intensities to hit.
Over the course of about 6 weeks, you’ll start to feel the effects of these fartlek workouts. You’ll find that your recovery becomes more complete during that 2 min rest interval. In which case, you’ll want to either shorten the rest interval or lengthen the work interval.
Over the course of about 6 weeks, you’ll start to feel the effects of these fartlek workouts. You’ll find that your recovery becomes more complete during that 2 min rest interval. In which case, you’ll want to either shorten the rest interval or lengthen the work interval.
There are literally thousands of speed play combinations you could do, so play around with the intervals and rest, and have fun with those short, hard bouts of work.
What's your favorite fartlek workout? Leave it in the comments below
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