HotShotFitness

  • Sample Page
  • Contributors
  • Yoga For Firefighters
  • Hiking
  • CrossFit
  • Testimonials
  • Step 1 – Goal Setting
  • Strength Training
  • Gear Store
  • Hotshot Fitness Job Board
  • Submit Jobs Form
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • PRESS
  • My Account
  • Friends of Hotshot Fitness
  • The Hotshot 500
  • WYOMING IHC Supt. Matt Prentiss
  • American River IHC Capt. Matt Holmstrom
  • Hotshot Fitness Program Overview
  • McCall Smokejumper Ramona Atherton
  • Find a Hotshot Crew
  • Intro to Running
  • VO2 Max – Measuring Your Body’s Endurance Capacity
  • A Career in Fire
  • NIFC Situation Report aka the “Sit Report”
  • bbp-forum-index
  • Step 2 – Baseline Testing
  • DIY Medicine Ball
  • General Forum
  • Hotshot Workout
  • Hotshot Crew List
  • Circuit Training
  • Climbing Workouts
  • DIY Cold Pack
  • Tony Yao – Professional Rock Climber
  • Fire Boots
  • Ben Zorensky – Owner, Bikram Yoga Tempe
  • Five Hysterically Awful Fire Movies…And One Good One
  • Ken Urakawa – Owner, CrossFit Southwest
  • Interviews
  • Jeff Bloom – Physical Therapist, FAST Facility Manager at Foothills Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation Center
  • Rob Smith – White’s Boots
  • The Greatest Books Ever Written About Fire
  • About Us
  • Carrie Lucero – Running Guru. Shoe Scientist.
  • The Hotshot Fitness Rehab Kit
  • Events
  • Running
  • Contributor Guidelines
  • How To Get a Job on a Type 1 Hotshot Crew
  • Ice vs Heat – Draft
  • The Impact of Stretching on Performance & Injury Prevention
  • Hotshot Training Crews
  • Hotshot Hiking Guide
  • How to Train for the Pack Test
  • DIY Hotshot Hiking Training Pack
  • Urban Hiking
  • Heat & Desert Training for Firefighters
  • Hotshot Hiking Guide Part 2
  • 16 Week Running Plan | Week 1 -8
  • 16 Week Running Plan | Week 9 – 16
  • 3 Tricks for Staying Motivated on a Run
  • Warm Up Routine
  • Interval / Sprint Training
  • Hills
  • Distance Training
  • Nutrition
Home Urban Hiking

Urban Hiking

concrete_mountain

Sometimes You Have to Make a Mountain out of a Mole Hill

Life isn’t always accommodating of our rigid training schedules. Sometimes, you need to improvise, especially if your training program calls for a mountain hike and you’re a hundred miles away from a mountain. I live in Glendale, Arizona and if I want to hike, I need to drive 25-30 minutes to access the nearest trailhead for Camelback Mountain or Piestewa Peak. Like most people, I can’t always build an extra hour into my workouts for travel time. So I developed an alternative. Instead of hiking up a tall mountain, what if I hiked up a little hill multiple times? Believe me, I’d love to be in a beautiful country like Iceland and go hiking up its mountains, maybe one day soon I hope. I’ll have to check out https://www.rent.is/blog/best-time-of-year-to-visit-iceland/ to see when it is best to go, but for now, urban hiking it is.

The picture above is a street overpass in Glendale, Arizona. Hills of any size are hard to come by in Phoenix, so this was the best option I had. It’s a 10 minute walk from my house, which, coincidentally makes for a perfect warm up. By the time I hike over to it, I’m usually lightly sweating and ready to start charging up and down the concrete face. While it’s not the Rockies, with a little imagination, I was able to turn this urban eyesore into a training ground with my favorite training pack (GORUCK’s GR2) and running shoes.

The workout is a hybrid model and incorporates two exercises that are normally not paired together: sprinting and hiking. I’m a big fan of interval training, and this is a great way to build up both your aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.

The Workout is ridiculously simple.

  • Slap a pack on your back
  • Hike up and down the hill five times
  • Drop your bag off at the bottom & sprint to the top
  • Jog back to the bottom
  • Grab your bag and repeat

Simple right? Of course. But surprisingly, this workout can be punishing. I’ve provided a sample routine below that you can use to develop your own. I would suggest starting with 25lbs (Level 1) in your pack and then gradually increasing. As you’ll notice, I’ve incorporated pyramid sets for the hill sprints (1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1) but feel free to modify that depending on your preference and level of fitness. To mix it up a bit, the final round involves some modified pack carries (e.g. throw the pack over your shoulder like a chainsaw, clutch the bag against your chest in a bear hug, carry the pack by its handle in one hand like a briefcase, etc.) From time to time, I’ll work those different carrying styles throughout the routine to change things up. I’ve been doing it so much it feel like I’m getting a little tired of the bag I’ve been using! Maybe I’ll look at some top rated zipperless luggage bags if I really do, but for now it’s all in on the routine.

In total, the beginning routine consists of:

  • 45 intervals (up & down)
  • 25 Hill Sprints
  • 40 Pushups
  • Total Elevation Gain = 900 ft (45 trips x 20 ft)
  • Total Distance Hiked = 5400 ft (45 trips x 60 feet x 2)

The routine below should be challenging for those in moderate-to-decent shape, but as you get stronger, you’ll definitely want to kick up the intensity by:

  • Increasing the # of trips (up & downs)
  • Adding weight to your pack
  • Increasing the # of hill sprints
  • Increasing the # of pushups and adding sets throughout the routine
  • Jogging with the pack / sprinting with the pack
  • Total Distance Sprinted: 1500 ft (~ 1/4 mile)
The Workout
10 minutes Warmup / Hike to hill
20 Pushups
5 Intervals (Up + Down)
1 Hill Sprint
5 Intervals (Up + Down)
2 Hill Sprints
5 Intervals (Up + Down)
3 Hill Sprints
5 Intervals (Up + Down)
4 Hill Sprints
5 Intervals (Up + Down)
5 Hill Sprint
5 Intervals (Up + Down)
4 Hill Sprints
5 Intervals (Up + Down)
3 Hill Sprints
5 Intervals (Up + Down)
2 Hill Sprints

5 Reps

  • 1x Bear Hug Bag Carry
  • 1x Right Shoulder Bag Carry
  • 1x Left Shoulder Bag Carry
  • 1x Right Hand “Briefcase” Carry
  • 1x Left Hand “Briefcase” Carry
1 Hill Sprint
20 pushups
Hike Home / Cool down
Aug 30, 2014Mike

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts
  • Product Review – Born Tough & Elite Sports Gear
  • Wildland Firefighter Health and Behavior Study
  • Captain Brian Hughes, Arrowhead Hotshots, Killed on the Ferguson Fire
  • Hey Mr. Green Fancy Pants – The Jockey #ShowEm Campaign Wants to Hear YOUR Story!
  • The Effects of Stretching on Performance
Archives
  • July 2020
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • May 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • December 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • August 2014
Footer Sidebar 1

Drop a widget on "Footer Sidebar 1" sidebar at Appearance > Widgets page.

Calendar
February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jul    
Footer Sidebar 3

Drop a widget on "Footer Sidebar 3" sidebar at Appearance > Widgets page.

Archives
2022 © Hotshot Fitness