“What we resist, persists.” -Ryan Carr
Wandering trails can afford spectacular vistas, boundless sky, crystal clear lakes, abundant wildlife, great fellowship, an achy back, short breaths, and wobbly legs. Backcountry exploration offers many majestic sights, but tackling long treks without getting into shape can ruin a great walk, ride, climb, etc. The older I get, the more I realize that staying trail-ready means working to keep fit. To do that, I’m learning that I need a quality exercise regimen. Today, I’m sharing that journey with you to inspire your trail fit journey.
I’ve never been a gym person or even a daily exerciser. Sure, I’ll take the dog for a long walk and am occasionally dragged to the climbing gym by my spouse (which I always enjoy). Still, like many other working professionals, I have primarily become a weekend warrior. My late 30s came and went, leaving me with more wisdom and patience but also new body aches, bulges, and feeling the strain for days from “off the couch” hikes. This year, I decided to take the advice I provide to TRTA hiking program participants and get serious about my fitness well before trails are snow-free by training for the upcoming trail season.
My alarm goes off at 4:15 AM. After peeling myself out of bed and packing my work bag, I head outside, de-ice my windshield, and shovel out my truck. I don’t want to be late! This winter, I committed to a membership at the Barton Center for Orthopedics & Wellness, a gym in South Lake Tahoe, with access to classes and a personal trainer two to three times a week. 5 AM is my sweet spot. I arrive at the Performance Center with minutes to spare through the cold, icy Tahoe roads. I’m greeted by old-school hip-hop, a smile from my trainer Ryan Carr, and one or two other early birds like me. After ten weeks, I am hooked, motivated, and feeling better than ever. I was taught the importance of body mechanics, body weight strengthening, steady cardio building, and what exercises I can do at home. With this new inspiration and energy, I’m excited to share these tips with my community, including you! I asked the Barton Performance coach team to help break down how to train for the upcoming trail season. One in particular, Ryan, has been training college athletes for the past 20 years at the Division 1 level, which propelled him into sports psychology and strength conditioning for college athletes. In 2017, he brought that expertise to Tahoe to support this unique mountain community. He has a passion for blending mental and physical performance within an athlete’s unique training environment. He stresses mental training skills such as goal setting, imagery, and self-talk.
I asked Ryan and his team to go into more detail on how to protect your back, ankles, knees, and feet and how to build your mental fitness for your upcoming trail adventures. Here’s what they have to say!
Full Q&A with Ryan Carr and his team
Q: Ryan, I know you’re my trainer, but you’re other things too. Tell me more about what you do and about the Performance Center.
Ryan: Starting as a college athlete myself, and having trained college athletes for the past 20 years at the D1 level, those interests propelled me into sports psychology and strength conditioning for college athletes. In 2017, I moved to Tahoe and brought that passion here to Tahoe, to find I could support a totally new and unique mountain community.
I have a passion for blending both mental and physical performance within an athlete’s unique training environment, creating an ecological approach. For example, for an athlete going on a massive hike, like hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail, I make sure we’re supporting them with a training program that supports the muscles, ligament, joints, to keep healthy on that hike, as well as the mental training skills such as goal setting, imagery, and self talk to help support them achieve their specific objective — mastering the trail.
I majored in exercise science during undergrad at University of Hartford (graduated in 2006). He completed his Masters at St. Hall University in New Jersey (Class of 2016). Ryan also just completed his Doctoral program in March 2023, earning a Doctorate of Education in Sport and Performance Psychology (EdD-SPP); now he is Dr. Ryan Carr!
I have two awesome kids, a 4.5 year old and a 2.5 year old, and incredible wife Bailey who grew up in Tahoe and has been a soccer coach for 15 years. They love all activities outside, notably skiing, camping, and soccer. He confirmed there is lots of self talk at home, especially when they are about to do an activity. For example, in recent weeks while playing in the snow berms, he would ask his oldest son, “alright, what are you gonna say?” To which Calum and Brealin answer with, “I am strong, I am brave, I am confident, I can do this, I’ll give it my all!”
Ryan: Having a clear goal is good, it means you’re in for the long haul, mentally. Longevity is important! With that being said, consistency with activities year-round is important. For instance, you hike all summer long because you are passionate about it — then winter comes and you put your training on the back burner. You’re likely going to have a tough time returning to activity ‘off the couch’ and worse, you risk injury. It’s important to keep up consistent training including aerobic, weight lifting, balance, and mobility to keep a solid baseline of fitness.
Even on a day-to-day basis, your training should add variety and supplement the outdoor aerobic activities that you’re doing on the trails. For winter, translate that into complementary winter activities, whether that’s cross country skiing or cross training a few days a week in the Center, focusing on activities that invite movement from your whole body.
It’s important to consider that hiking, running, and mountain biking are all examples of cyclical activities; meaning you perform the same movements repeatedly, and your muscles are moving in the same pattern without much variety. By working on a variety of exercises including lateral — side to side —, rotational movements, and single leg movements, you stress the body in a different way than what it’s normally used to and it helps engage different muscle groups, keeping ligaments, joints, and muscles sharp. Variety doesn’t have to be every single day, but built into a program where a couple days a week you’re ‘switching it up’ will offer the most impact.
Lastly, I stress having a routine of mobility that you complete on most days of the week. Even if it’s just 5-10 minutes in the morning or before bed; could be yoga, traditional stretching, or resistance band routine, whatever works best for your interest.
Q: I’ve always been active, but I’m not feeling as strong and healthy as I used to. Off the couch, backcountry trips are becoming harder. How do I build up my strength to use trails and find myself alone and deep in the backcountry well into my 70s? Where do I start?
How do I protect my ankles?
Ryan: Ankle health starts with taking care of your feet. Obviously, we need to wear proper footwear, but there are also ways we can improve our connection with our feet in support of our ankles. Exercises may include foot doming, toe flexion and extension, and balance drills.
It’s crucial to know your feet: are you flat footed, do you have high arches, do you supinate or pronate? All of those attributes can play a major part in your ankle health. Especially when hiking, it’s key to have healthy feet and ankles — you wouldn’t want to be caught up near Marlette with a sore ankle! Here at Barton, we have two amazing performance labs that can help you break down your very specific attributes: The Gait Analysis with OptoGait, which shows incredible data on your foot strike and stride, with an ultimate goal of improving running mechanics, and also the Orthotics program, where one of our highly skilled physical therapists will take all the measurements and create custom footbeds right here in the Center, which addresses your particular foot profile, helping with balance, support, shock absorption, and other biomechanical considerations.
How do I protect my knees?
Ryan: The key to healthier knees is lower body strength in the muscles surrounding the knees, which can be achieved through exercises that target the large muscle groups and stress each leg individually. Achieve this with a multitude of exercises, such as single-leg squats, hamstring curls, bridge holds, and hip strengthening with resistance bands. In addition, practice good load management. This can be measured with volume, density, and intensity; how much you’re doing (volume), how often are you doing it (density), and how hard is it (intensity)? You may know your threshold, or a coach can help you find one.
How do I protect my back?
Ryan: Again, focus on a mobility routine! Make sure you are stretching daily or almost daily. You can break it up into snackable, bite-sized segments (5-10 minutes). Also, make an effort to perform proper daily movements. Don’t just bend over to grab a pot from a low cabinet. Instead, use proper body positioning, squatting low rather than bending at the waist.
For you as an administrator, you might pay special attention to how much you’re sitting each day and the way you sit. If you perch on the edge of your chair, consider ways you can improve your positioning, and also change positions throughout the day. Try to maintain good body posture and switch up your position every hour or half hour to make sure your body is being awakened. The truth is, it’s difficult to undo what you do for 8-10 hrs. a day. By building good daily habits, and also maintaining strength in the core and glutes, you will set yourself up for success and find greater support in your back.
Q: We all hear it comes down to the core. What are the benefits of building and maintaining my core?
Ryan: I’m a strong believer that everything starts from the inside out. Your health is what you eat, how you build strength, and how you work to build mental focus — all starting from within. So we can look at training in the same way: train your body from the inside out. The core is your center, and it must be strong in order to support the rest of the body. It is the foundation for all functional movement and helps with longevity and overall performance. It also contributed to reduction in injury — especially while hiking with a pack and navigating uneven terrain — as it promotes stability and efficiency, resulting in less energy depletion. If you only have 10 minutes to work out any given day, you’re better off starting with the core: doing planks, side planks, and bridges, as opposed to bicep curls and tricep extensions. A core workout should be heavily woven into any training routine.
Ryan: The program we’ve designed is highly specific to you, based on your personal goals, any past injuries, movements patterns, and muscle profile. You will get the most benefits out of a consistent routine centered around your individualized program, incorporating a mobility routine, quality of movement in daily activities, and core exercises. At-home routines will be modified based on the available equipment, however, many exercises, such as planks, bridges, side planks, and single leg squats can be done with zero equipment! In addition, home is a great place for mental practice of staying in the present moment. You can practice this through mindfulness and non-judgmental awareness, yoga, meditation, or going for a walk in nature. Note: spending time without technology all have been shown to have amazing benefits on your health.
Q: We’ve been working together for ten weeks, but what can I do at home when I’m not in the gym with you?
Q: How do I not get out of breath when climbing 2000’ up a 10% grade above 8000’?
Ryan: At high elevations, it’s good to accept that you’re going to get out of breath. Building your base fitness with a training program that begins 6-8 weeks prior to a major activity will produce significant benefits. Give yourself a couple months to train! Start slow, train consistently, and measure your progress. A good training program progressively overloads the body, building endurance.
Ryan: The two biggest tools are motivational self talk and instructional self talk. I use a three-prong approach called the three A’s: awareness, acceptance, and action plan. When your inner voice says, “I’m tired, I’m going to quit. I don’t want to do this anymore.” – implement the three A’s. First, Awareness: be aware that the voice is there (your inner self talk); Acceptance: accept the voice – it’s happening and you can’t deny the feeling; and the Action plan: create a plan for motivation or instructional self talk.
Motivational self-talk includes words like: “I got this, one more quarter mile,” — set a small, achievable goal to get yourself out of the negative state. Instructional self-talk may include lengthening your stride, shortening your stride, focusing on arms — something to instruct yourself to get out of the mindset.
The key is not to fight your self-talk, “What we resist, persists.”
Q: Sometimes I have to trick myself into continuing a routine, rep, etc. What are some things to tell yourself when you want to stop? What does your internal coach say?
Q: Lastly What are daily activities that I and everyone but the ~dozen folks in your class can do at home and outside?
Ryan: The key is to diversify your training. If you are doing an intense activity on Monday, like mountain biking, on Tuesday, it would be effective to switch it up with a lower impact, less intense activity, such as walking around the neighborhood. That sets you up well for another intense activity the following day. Vary between endurance and high intensity so that you do not overload your body. If you struggle with low-key days, try adding a few interval drills to spike your heart rate and keep it fun, while not overdoing it. Also, enlist a buddy to train with you — there are tons of great benefits of exercising with friends!
Below are ten things you can do at home by using your body weight to prepare for the trail season. Don’t forget to engage your core muscles during each exercise! You can ramp up these exercises by gradually adding weight, reps, or speed.
After my workout, feeling sweaty and invigorated proves I’ve done the work. I hop in the shower, get dressed for work, and head into the office by 7 AM. By now, I’m feeling fresh, grounded, and focused. I’m 16 split squats closer to my summer beast mode goals. Thank you Ryan and the Barton Performance Team for your community support and expertise. Click here if you would like to learn more about Barton Center for Orthopedics & Wellness.
See you on the trail!
Lindsey
