Train sensibly and eat well when preparing for the Four Peaks
Preparing for a major physical challenge like the Four Peaks requires training and an understanding of the role of nutrition.
Training Tips to get you started
Start your training at a leisurely pace such as road walking or forest trails for the first couple of weeks. Aim for four one-hour walks per week. After a couple of weeks you can increase to two to three hours per walk and pick something a little more difficult i.e. steeper hills or sandy beaches. Sandy beaches are perfect for strengthening your leg muscles and building body stamina.
When you move on to training in the hills, start with easy hikes, two to three hours once a week would be perfect. However, you do need to get out into the hills as regularly as possible to build up your distance and time. You will know yourself how your fitness and stamina level is progressing and you can increase your mountain hikes accordingly. Aim to increase your fitness level to a degree where you are walking in the hills for six to eight hours without putting yourself under stress.
Nutrition advice and assistance
During training, it is important that your body has enough fuel to allow you to train to your full potential. Read below about relevant nutrition, eating and drinking practices before, during and after your training plan.
- Before training - have a low fat meal within one to two hours before training. It is best not to eat anything immediately before you train. A high fat meal (e.g. fried fish and chips) takes about four hours to clear your digestive system, so it can slow you down or cause cramp. A low fat meal (e.g. grilled lamb cutlets, boiled potatoes and vegetables) will clear in one and a half to two hours; so will leave you with more energy for training.
- During Training - replenishing carbohydrates during training will enable you to keep going for longer. You can eat it in cereal bars, dried fruit, glucose sweets, or drink it in the form of sports drinks. The dried fruit or cereal bars will give a longer lasting level of carbohydrate than drinks, but either will work.
- After training - immediately after training your body works to replenish the glycogen stores in your muscles. Your body will lay down more glycogen in the first two hours after training than at any other time. For this reason it is important to eat plenty of carbohydrates, preferably within thirty minutes of training e.g. have your dinner, a bowl of cereal or a sandwich. This will leave you better prepared to exercise the next day.
Sign up for the Training and Navigation Day for Four Peaks climbers
We are pleased to invite one member of each team to attend the Brockagh Resource Centre Training & Navigation Day on either Saturday April 14th or Saturday April 21st for our June event or Saturday July 14th or Saturday July 21st for our September event. The team member who attends must be a climber and not a driver. In order to book your place on this day each team will be required to fill out the training and navigation booking form which must be returned to the Events department after registration. Due to costs and training resources, it is only possible to send one person from each team.
To download a booking form for our September event please click here.
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