This blog has been created to explain what adventure fitness is in my opinion and how preparation can turn adventures into successful and enjoyable experiences.
Adventure Fitness is physical conditioning specific to outdoor activities. This could be a mountaineering expeditions, fell running race, or swimming across the English channel. These are just some examples of outdoor challenges but every time we explore the outdoors we need fitness to get ourselves from point A to point B.
I would like to stress that although we can increase our chances of success through fitness there will always be elements which we can’t control such as weather conditions and time constraints.
While climbing a mountain we need to understanding the level of fitness required to scale that mountain. Such as if I decide to climb Mt Everest (money not being the issue here) then would it be sensible to do it tomorrow without any kind of preparation? Although this is an extreme example I often see people attempting challenges without any preparation. There seems to be a trend in people participating in events such as marathons and triathlons without the experience of fitness to back them up.
I believe there are 3 main elements of preparation which we need to have a successful adventure challenge.
PHYSICAL FITNESS
Preparing the body physically for the stress of the challenge will give you a much better chance of success.
Training needs to be...
Specific to the activity
Progressive (start off easy and make it harder as you get fitter)
Consistent (training needs to be often to allow the body to adapt. if you stop training your body will revert back to normal. We call this reversibility)
Skills preparation
What are the skills needed to complete the challenge and where can you learn them?
Places to look...
Clubs (join a club and learn from others)
Courses (save yourself bundles of mistakes and get tuition from the pros)
Friends (ask a friend who knows what their doing)
Experience
Experience can only be gained by getting out there! We can only gain so much by simulating activities at climbing walls and gyms. The real practice comes from time at your chosen activity so get out there and get the hours in.
I hope you find this information useful and beneficial before your next adventure challenge. Good Luck!