Disclaimer: These articles and narratives are in no way a substitute to the formal climb preparations and fitness conditioning recommended by authorities on climbing. Precautions and consultations should be done with professional or experienced climbers prior to undertaking any preclimb and climbing expeditions.
There were at least 6 of us from my place, Tacurong City. Judging from the age and the crop of my would be climbing buddies, I was the most senior by age, but probably the youngest by climbing experience. There will be 10-15 other persons joining us from another city, plus our “sherpa” guides (thats what we call our buddy-guides) and possibly, porters. Being a doctor -an orthopedic surgeon at that, and my accidentophobia made my climbing paranoia even worse. I guess I’m driving these guys crazy with our climb preparations! I even wanted a Basic Course on CPR and First Aid be given, again!
Parallel physical conditioning for an unusual work schedule like me.
I played and played badminton for hours (at least 2 hours) each day. The cardiovascular training and stamina I gained from these rapid game outburst is surprisingly increasing. Jogging at least 30-45 minutes a day also make my sustainable lung capacity even longer. My warming up and cooling down sessions were basically the same with my badminton exercise, dynamic stretching before the exercise proper and static stretching after. (You can read my blog regarding warm up and cooling down here).
A daily 5k run is the minimum preparation for this climb. But man, I could die of boredom and exhaustion running 5k daily! So I’m doing 1k for now. To prepare myself for carrying at least a 40Li backpack, I have to increase my weight bearing capacity for a prolonged period or I’ll hurt my back muscles and sore my legs during the climb. The only weight training I can do right now are those exercises I could do with dumbbells. Yes, lacking, but better than nothing. So i didn’t add any more than my muscles (or the lack of it) can handle.
I still wanted to do cold acclimatization since this is were my worst adaptation capability is. And I have allergic rhinitis! Maybe the air conditioning unit will suffice in this hot summer days! And then carry 3 layers of anti-freeze garments (underlayer, a sweetshirt overlayer and an external shell plus warmers) on top of Mt. Apo.
Next: Preparing my Mount Apo climb through cyberspace
