Kettlebell Kettlebells for conditioning ?

[offwidth]

Exactly... no such thing as a free lunch in this game. Twight sums it up very well.

 

[rickyw]

I tried high intensity interval training for mountain biking when I was in school and didn't have a lot of time to train. Yeah, it helped me obtain a certain degree of stamina on the trail and I could hang with the pros for short technical spurts of trail. But they were all doing long slow distance and they would whip me overall, especially where the track was flat and straight. Interval training puts most people just a titch above the noobs...nothing more, IMO

 

[Anders]

I have to admit that none of my friends were totally newbies in training. One of my friend is a hobby cyclist and he bicycles three hours, three times a week, quite intensely, and he also competes. This guy was in the best shape, he is also 18 pounds lighter than me. The two other guys are also around 18 pounds lighter than me, had lighter back packs, and only did train some sort of interval or circle training.

***
I guess I will try to some step-work, and try to loose some 10-15 pounds and maybe also start doing S and S again. I also think I will put in some time on my stationary bicyle, I kind of like it.

**
I think my hiking speed on flat terrain is good enough, but I get a bit too easily tired when hiking steep hills. I get acid in my legs and starts breathing heavily. But as some of you have noticed for themselves, the S and S and general kettlebell work seem to improve the ability to recover after a day of hard hiking.

 

[rickyw]

@Anders, I should specify that I am sharing the flip side of Chris s anecdote in regards to my experiences mountain bike racing. And to be fair, saying hiit makes someone a titch more conditioned than a noob probably is incorrect. I would more so say it makes you decent in amateur circles depending on the length of the event, but closer to last place in more experienced circles or sub elite circles. Back to hiking