FAQ/Q&A

Frequently asked questions:

WHAT IS YOUR TRAINING PHILOSOPHY?
We believe in purposeful, planned, periodized, and progressed training. Improvement in any endeavor happens for a reason, so nothing here is accidental, capricious, or unnecessary. We train inside to perform outside. Outside performance is paramount and we adjust our training programming and philosphy accordingly.

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I'M NOT A MOUNTAIN ATHLETE. CAN I STILL TRAIN AT YOUR GYM?
Yes. Our programming and training will benefit any athlete. In addition to mountaineers, we train endurance runners, motocross racers, triathletes, Nordic skiers, weekend warriors and house wives. You do not have to be an accomplished mountaineer, athlete, or even in shape to train at our gym. But you do have to work hard.

HOW DO YOUR TRAINING SESSIONS WORK?
We coach small groups (up to 8 athletes at a time). Sessions begin on time, and generally, all the athletes in the session do the same workout under the guidance of a coach. Training sessions, however, are not "walk-in," though you can drop-in for a session if you give us a heads up. Please email: rob@mtnathlete.com or jordan@mountainathlete.com to schedule a session.

HOW DO I SIGN UP FOR YOUR ONLINE SESSIONS?
Go to our Base Fitness tab and click sign up for membership. If at anytime you want to cancel your membership you can by canceling your paypal account with us or emailing Rob directly Rob@mtnathlete.com.

HOW DO YOUR ONLINE TRAINING SESSIONS WORK?
When you subscribe to our online sessions you have access to not only our current cycle but our past training sessions as well. These sessions are designed to be completed in order and, unless otherwise noted, within an hour. We discourage doing the sessions out of order as that defeats the purpose of periodized and progressed training. After each session there is an area with our comments concerning the sessions and how our athletes performed, any thoughts our concerns we had or just training guidelines in general. All of our sessions have been performed by us and our athletes to insure safety and success with each session.

HOW DO I KNOW WHICH TAB TO USE?

On the left of the site, at the top, you see Mountain Guide Fitness and Base Fitness. Base Fitness is for the general athlete who wants to achieve an elite level of general physical preparedness for mountain sports. Above Base is Mountain Guide Fitness, which is designed for professionals or recreational athletes who always want to be prepared for the demands of the mountain, be it long days backcountry skiing, peak bagging effort, or a long approach followed by a day of rock climbing.

Below those, you'll see links to pages for specific sports (e.g.: Freeski, Ice Climbing) or sport modes (e.g.: Ski Strength).

Once you subscribe, you will have access to all of the training sessions for all sports and their archives. So which is for you? Let's look at an example:

Let's say you're an avid skier, rock climber, and backpacker. You subscribe to the site in May.
Start with following the Mountain Guide Fitness. Click on the link in the side bar, then on the current date. That will take you to that day's session.
In August, we'll start our sport-specific ski training. Since you're a skier, start following the Freeski Training sessions and stick with those through November.
After November, go back to Mountain Guide Fitness to increase your general level of fitness. If you're skiing a bunch, you don't have to train every session, but still do the sessions in the order they appear on the site, don't skip around.
Around mid-February, the ski season is winding down, but the rock climbing season is approaching. You'll switch to Rock Climbing Training to train sport specifically for that season.
In April, you'll be ready for rock climbing and you can switch back to Mountain Guide Fitness through the summer until August, when you'll start the process over.
This is the same process each athlete will use for their chosen sports. In this way, you'll use the timing of your seasons to design your own training flow.

If you're looking to build general fitness, follow Base Fitness, which is our approach to building a strong, well-rounded athlete.

If you only like to ski or rock climb, and don't do anthing else in the mountains, follow Base Fitness until we begin the sport-specific training for your sport.

HOW IS MOUNTAIN ATHLETE DIFFERENT THAN A COMMERCIAL GYM?
1. We provide the athlete's programming. This means we design each workout with the ultimate goal of developing the athlete's absolute strength, relative strength, explosive power and muscular endurance.

2. You are professionally coached. Rob and Jordan teach exercises, critique techniques, record weights lifted, and push the athletes. Unlike a commercial gym, athletes can't come in and start doing their own workout.

3. Our workouts are killer. You've never worked this hard.

4. We don't have any weight lifting machines. We only use free weights.

5. Have you ever thrown a sandbag around, tossed a med ball, carried a 60-pound rock, climbed a rope, done wind sprints, run while shouldering a sand bag, or done a power clean at a commercial gym? You will here.

6. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, you will be invested in your own fitness like never before. You will be immersed in a goal-driven culture of hard work, perseverance, and continual progress.

WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTH STANDARDS?

LIFT                    MEN        WOMEN
Front Squat        1.5x BW 1.0x BW
Dead Lift             2.0x BW       1.5x BW
Bench Press       1.5x BW 1.0x BW
Push Press         1.1x BW .7x BW
Squat Clean        1.25x BW     1.0x BW
Squat Clean+ Push Press    1.15x BW .75xBW

"BW" = body weight

I'M NOT IN SHAPE. CAN I STILL TRAIN THERE?
Yes. Workouts are scaled down with lighter weights, less reps, fewer rounds, etc. to meet the fitness levels of beginning athletes. It's still not going to be easy, but new athletes are not expected to perform as well or lift as much as experienced athletes.

I'VE NEVER LIFTED WEIGHTS. CAN I STILL TRAIN THERE?
Yes. Many of our current athletes had little to no weight lifting experience before starting with us. Don't be intimidated by the photos on the website. You too can do this stuff.

I HAVE AN INJURY. WILL YOU STILL TRAIN ME?
Yes. We have trained athletes with broken shoulders, busted up knees, back problems and other injuries. We simply train around the injuries by choosing exercise and programming which avoid the injured area, but work the rest of the body. Just because you are injured doesn't mean you have to lie around getting fat and lazy. The rest of your body can stay in shape while the injured area recovers.

DO YOU PROVIDE PERSONAL TRAINING?
Yes. E-mail rob@mtnathlete.com for details.

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL WORKOUT LOOK LIKE?
We strive to enhance four primary athletic attributes: Abolute Strength, Relative Strength, Explosive Power, and Muscular Endurance. A typical workout will be designed to address one to two of these attributes. Please surf to the free workouts page for examples, photos and video.

WHEN DO YOU TRAIN?
Please click the Training Session Schedule link on the homepage for the current schedule.

WHERE IS THE GYM LOCATED?
3535 South Park Drive: Drive south of town approx 2 miles past Smiths. Turn left on South Park Drive. Drive up the hill past the Motorcycle dealership, and follow the road as it turns left. At the top of the hill, take the first left. Look for the sign.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
We have two pricing options to train at our Jackson Location. A full month of unlimited training sessions costs $200. Individual session workouts cost $30. Drop-in fee is $20.

HOW DO I CANCEL MY ONLINE GYM DUES SUBCRIPTION?
You can canel anytime through your paypal account.
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