Greetings Steemians! In this blog I will take you through my daily life as a mountaineering athlete. High altitude mountaineering requires a lot of physical and mental strength and you have to train for it every single day. I had attended a lecture of an Everest climber once and someone from the audience had asked him which is the most important muscle for mountaineering? The heart and lung muscles, he replied. That was etched into my mind ever since and most of my training is designed around it.
I live in Noida city in India now and unfortunately I don’t have an easy access to the mountains to train everyday so I have no choice but to make the most of flat lands of Noida. I am blessed to be living with my role model who is one of the biggest mountaineers from India right now, Arjun Vajpai. It was always a dream to train under him and now I am living that dream
My day starts at 4am and I go running every day with a minimum of 5 km every day and 10km twice a week. Most of my runs are medium paced runs with an average pace of 5. Running is one of the best exercises for mountaineering as it builds up legs and core muscles and strengthens the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system.
Usually this is followed by an intense gym session focusing on muscle and core strengthening. After this, I am completely exhausted and my body aches for some rest and good food. Upon reaching home we have some healthy and delicious breakfast. Our breakfast always includes eggs and fruits at least with occasional porridge and parantha! Rest of the morning is spent doing work and at around 11:30am, I go on my terrace and do some conventional workouts like planks, push-ups, crunches etc.
Afternoons are spent resting and occasional power naps In the evening I go for stair climbing thrice a week with a backpack of 30 kg. This is the closest simulation I can get to mountaineering in a city.
Sometimes if I don’t feel sleepy or if I wake up in the middle of the night, I take out my cycle and go on long distance ride. It works as a meditation for me. Its just myself and my thoughts for a very long time. If not cycling, I practice breathing exercises in the middle of the night if I wake up.
Training is my life. A day without it feels like a sin now. There are a lot of sacrifices that has to be made on a daily basis so that I can train and be fitter for mountaineering. I don’t go to movies, I hardly socialize, and I don’t go out drinking or eating. I have isolated myself from all these elements which are like distraction for me. I wake up at 4am and sleep at 9pm. That’s my life and that’s it. With each drop of sweat I drop, I am getting a step closer to my goals!