Our student services staff is dedicated to making each course the
most educational and successful that it can be. You do not have
to be an athlete or a highly trained person to come on an Outward
Bound course. You do have to be physically capable, active, and
motivated to meet a physical and mental challenge.
Our courses are demanding. You will use your muscles in new and
challenging ways.
It takes strength and fitness to paddle a boat for six or eight
hours in a day, carry a 50 lb. pack for 5 miles, climb a 14,000
foot peak, scale a rock wall, work your way up and over a high mountain
pass or down into a deep canyon. And that is exactly what you are
going to be doing. So if you aren't already involved in a rigorous
fitness program, now is the time to start.
Every minute you put in will pay off in enjoyment, comfort and
fun as your course progresses.
Exercise and work
Exercise is not the same as work. A person may work quite hard all
day, finish the afternoon exhausted, and still not be getting enough
exercise to be fit. Daily stop-start routines are demanding but,
if they don't allow for an increase in oxygen consumption for more
than a few minutes at a time, they will not contribute to basic
fitness.
The most important training activity to focus on while training
for your course is aerobic fitness training (running, bicycling,
skating, etc.). A good aerobic exercise program is one where a repetitive
motion stimulates heart and lung activity for at least 30 minutes
without stopping.
The aim of your training program must be to increase your body's
capacity to breathe oxygen in and to increase the capability of
your heart and circulation system to supply blood and oxygen to
all organs and tissues.
If you are working out three days a week, get up to five or six
days by increasing your time 10% a week. Stretch and work out with
light weights.
Target heart rate and "the Talk Test"
Exercise physiologists agree that in order to develop aerobic fitness
you are going to have to get your heart beating faster than normal.
Efficient training is not at all dependent upon the speed your body
moves, but rather on the number of times your heart beats per minute
(take your pulse for 6 seconds and multiply by 10). Exercise too
slowly and all you're doing is burning calories, too fast and you
run the risk of burning out. The key to aerobic fitness training
lies in moderate effort and this can be readily monitored in two
ways:
A common rule of thumb is to increase your resting heart rate
to your Target Heart Rate (THR), a number derived by subtracting
your age from 170 (170 - Age = THR). This formula approximates
the number of times your heart should beat per minute in order
to optimize your workout. Maintain this level (which will end
up being in the range of 120 to 150 beats per minute) for a minimum
of 30 minutes, three times a week (five times a week is better).
Perhaps the most useful measure of whether you are exercising
too hard is your ability to pass " the Talk Test". If
you are pushing too hard to carry on a conversation without panting,
then it is possible that you are working harder than your body
can train. If slow running leaves you breathless, then slow to
a walk. If you are a beginner you may find that you have to move
quite slowly to pass "the Talk Test" but, as you train
and your ability to transport oxygen becomes more efficient, your
speed and your ability to sustain performance will naturally increase.
Remarkably, a few weeks of regular endurance exercise will really
begin to pay off.
Many people, novice and experienced alike, commonly complain of
tired and aching bodies; the result of believing that the harder
the body is pushed the faster it will improve. In fact, the opposite
is true: the more moderately you go, as long as you are approximating
your Target Heart Rate, the more quickly you will improve. The most
common mistake people make is going too fast, too soon - quickly
joining the ranks of the stiff, tired and discouraged. Make sure
you take at least one day off a week.
The best exercise there is
For most people the best and most accessible exercise is jogging,
"a combination of walking and running compatible with your
current level of fitness, ability and interest." Why jogging?
It's the simplest, cheapest, least encumbered, most available and
most efficient way to use your large leg muscles - requiring the
heart and circulatory system to pump large quantities of blood and
oxygen.
The most important thing is to find an activity that you enjoy
doing. While exercising three times a week for thirty minutes is
the minimum, 5 or 6 times a week is optimum for a course.
Build in another 15 - 30 minutes every other day for light weight
training. Weight training is for strength, not aerobic fitness,
and by itself is not sufficient. Stretch your muscles and move the
weights through full-ranges of motion. Women should consider using
weights as well as men.
Yoga? Stretching? Imperative. Stretching maintains flexibility
and helps to overcome many of the ravages of gravity.
An eight week fitness program
Once you have passed your pre-course medical examination, the program
outlined here is appropriate. If you don't have the full eight weeks
to train (four weeks is enough for rafting courses 7 days or less
), you may still be in good enough shape to take a course - get
going today and do what you are able. Please take this conditioning
program seriously; getting in good shape before your course will
significantly reduce your chances for injury and increase your opportunities
for enjoyment. This program is appropriate for both men and women.
As Joan Ullyot, MD, puts it, "As far as fitness is concerned,
there isn't much difference between men and women."
The general rules of the road are these: enjoy yourself; mix up
your training so you aren't doing the same thing every day (jog,
swim, bike, dance, etc.); approximate your Target Heart Rate while
being able to pass "the Talk Test"; don't hurt yourself;
increase your load by no more than 10% a week; take at least one
day off a week; finish your workout smiling.
Week One (build)
Day 1, 3, 5 - 30-45 minutes of aerobic fitness training.
Day 2, 4, 6 - 10 minutes of stretching, 10 minutes of light weights.
continued...
Day 7 - Rest.
Week Two (build)
Day 1, 3, 5 - 30-45 minutes of aerobic fitness training.
Day 2, 4, 6 - 10 minutes of stretching, 15 minutes of light weights.
Day 7 - Rest.
Week Three (build)
Day 1, 3, 5, 6 - 30-45 minutes of aerobic fitness training.
Day 2, 4, 6 - 10 minutes of stretching, 20 minutes of light weights.
Day 7-Rest.
Week Four (build)
Day 1, 3, 5, 6 - 30-45 minutes of aerobic fitness training.
Day 2, 4, 6 - 15 minutes of stretching, 20 minutes of light weights.
Day 7- Rest.
Week Five (build)
Day 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 - 30-45 minutes of aerobic fitness training.
Day 2, 4, 6 - 15 minutes of stretching, 20 minutes of light weights.
Day 7- Rest.
Week Six (build)
Day 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 - 30-45 minutes of aerobic fitness training.
Day 2, 4, 6 - 15 minutes of stretching, 25 minutes of light weights.
Day 7- Rest.
Week Seven (build)
Day 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 - 45-60 minutes of aerobic fitness training.
Day 2, 4, 6 - 15 minutes of stretching, 30 minutes of light weights.
Day 7- Rest.
Week Eight (taper one week before course begins)
Day 1, 3, 5 - 30 minutes of aerobic fitness training.
Day 2, 4, 6 - 10 minutes of stretching, 10 minutes of light weights.
Day 7 - Rest, have a great course.
Losing fat and keeping it off
Many students will lose body fat during their course. If you want
to lose fat there is no secret: eat less, exercise more. A pound
of fat contains about 3,500 calories. Every mile you cover on foot,
irrespective of speed, burns about 100 calories. By cutting 100-200
calories a day from your diet and exercising regularly a substantial
amount of fat will be lost in a relatively short period of time.
If you are going to altitude
Each individual responds to altitude in different and unpredictable
ways. Some will experience nothing more than a shortness of breath.
Others may experience headache, nausea and fatigue. While these
symptoms are usually short lived, they can really hold you back
the first few days. The following tips may help: 1) Arrive at your
course start well rested; 2) Avoid fatty foods, excessive alcohol
consumption and caffeine as these substances require a lot of water
and oxygen to metabolize; 3) Eat plenty of unrefined carbohydrates
and drink 1/2 to 1 gallon of water per day.
If you are going to sea kayak
All students taking either a Baja or Alaska Sea Kayaking course,
MUST be able to complete at least two chin-ups in order to be eligible
to take one of these courses. The reason for this is because such
movements are necessary to execute a self-rescue in open water.
In Conclusion
We are given a body and a promise of four-score and ten. However,
somewhere along the line many of us misplace our owner's manual.
As George Sheehan, M.D., perhaps America's best-loved fitness guru,
puts it,
"We lead lives inferior to ourselves," writes William
James. That is the greatest risk. The danger of not having lived
at all, of not fulfilling the promise of birth. To do this, as Emerson
says, "We must first be a good animal." And how to do
that? Follow Nature's rules. Finding out how your body works best
and following those instructions remains the surest way of making
good things happen in your life.
Finally, try to avoid any precise expectations about how you will
perform on your course. There are many kinds of strength and strong
muscles are only one of the things you will need. Others are a strong
heart, a strong mind and a willing spirit. Bring them all. Count
on being challenged in many ways. And be assured, you will find
that your patrol is made up of people very much like yourself -
not super men and women. Each member will bring something very special.
Each will have accepted a very personal challenge and is setting
out on a unique adventure.
Good luck.
Commonly available at most book stores: The New Fit or Fat by Covert
Bailey; Stretching by Bob Anderson; any book by George Sheehan or
Ken Cooper; one or two issues of any of the popular fitness or running
magazines. Physical Fitness Guidelines, available at no charge from
the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 701 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20201 202-272-3430.
