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Training for the Uphill Athlete: A Manual for Mountain Runners and Ski Mountaineers
Dovetailing on the success of Training for the New Alpinism and Patagonia's own emphasis on all mountain use, Training for the Uphill Athlete translates theory into methodology to allow you to write your own training plans and coach yourself to endurance goals. Steve House, one of the best mountaineers, and his coach Scott Johnston, an Olympic-level cross country ski coach, along with Kilian Jornet, hands-down best endurance athlete at this time, present training principles for the multisport mountain athlete who regularly participates in a mix of distance running, ski mountaineering, and other endurance sports that require optimum fitness and customized strength.
This is an authoritative but accessible training manual for athletes and coaches who feel most alive in the mountains or pushing the uphill ascent. Distance running, ski mountaineering, skimo, and skyrunning are becoming increasingly popular all over the world, and are often undertaken by the same person during a single year. This book collects the scientifically backed and athlete-tested wisdom and experience of three of the best uphill athletes and coaches and extrapolates both to educate outdoor athletes of all stripes to perform their best. The book includes the same mix of theory, application, and experiential essays from experts in the field, as well as instructional illustrations as in Training for the New Alpinism. Contributions by Kilian Jornet increase the worldwide appeal of the book.
This is an authoritative but accessible training manual for athletes and coaches who feel most alive in the mountains or pushing the uphill ascent. Distance running, ski mountaineering, skimo, and skyrunning are becoming increasingly popular all over the world, and are often undertaken by the same person during a single year. This book collects the scientifically backed and athlete-tested wisdom and experience of three of the best uphill athletes and coaches and extrapolates both to educate outdoor athletes of all stripes to perform their best. The book includes the same mix of theory, application, and experiential essays from experts in the field, as well as instructional illustrations as in Training for the New Alpinism. Contributions by Kilian Jornet increase the worldwide appeal of the book.
516 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 12, 2019
832 people are currently reading
2673 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
October 23, 2019
This is now my favorite book about training in general and mountain or trail running in particular. It starts with a description of sport physiology and theory of training that is easy to understand by the layperson. Based on these principles the training plans are later laid out. When you understand what you are doing then it's much easier to get the intensities right and stay motivated.
All the components are examined and no stone is left unturned. A special focus is put on creating a strong aerobic engine (see The Big Book of Endurance by Phil Maffetone) and a strength-building program is outlined as well. Usually the authors give you options to pick from. They very well understand that every human is different and will respond differently to various training stimuli. Nobody will be able to train like Kilian Jornet, for instance, but one can try the things he does and observe if they work.
On top of that there are many inspiring stories from elite athletes together with fascinating pictures. This alone is a huge boost in motivation so the next time when it's cold and wet outside and you ask yourself what you are doing, remember the fantastic mountain peaks that are waiting.
The book is excellent for beginners as well and for them consistency is the key. Before you haven't trained consistently for a couple of months, forget the talk about speed work. As the old saying goes, get the work done to get the work done. There are guidelines for yearly training volumes and workouts for practically any kind of level.
I will report in summer 2020 how it went. :-) Until then 5 stars out of 5.
All the components are examined and no stone is left unturned. A special focus is put on creating a strong aerobic engine (see The Big Book of Endurance by Phil Maffetone) and a strength-building program is outlined as well. Usually the authors give you options to pick from. They very well understand that every human is different and will respond differently to various training stimuli. Nobody will be able to train like Kilian Jornet, for instance, but one can try the things he does and observe if they work.
On top of that there are many inspiring stories from elite athletes together with fascinating pictures. This alone is a huge boost in motivation so the next time when it's cold and wet outside and you ask yourself what you are doing, remember the fantastic mountain peaks that are waiting.
The book is excellent for beginners as well and for them consistency is the key. Before you haven't trained consistently for a couple of months, forget the talk about speed work. As the old saying goes, get the work done to get the work done. There are guidelines for yearly training volumes and workouts for practically any kind of level.
I will report in summer 2020 how it went. :-) Until then 5 stars out of 5.
October 11, 2019
Uphill Athlete combines elements of a coffee table book and a fitness manual. The heavy tome interleaves pictures and stories of elite athletes in mountain settings with training instruction for mountain runners and skiers. As with most fitness manuals, the content is highly redundant. One purpose of the redundancy seems to be to convince the reader that their paramount goal should be increasing aerobic capacity which can only be accomplished by zone 1 and 2 volume (i.e. long slow distance). It was effective in convincing me despite my previous research showing that current academic papers on the topic still lack sufficient sample size to settle this question. Another purpose of redundancy seems to be to allow use of each chapter or page in isolation without referring to other sections or pages. For example, the descriptions of Base week and Intensity week on successive pages use more than half repeated sentences. When you read the book from front to back as I did this gets a bit tiresome. But, in the end, I was inspired by the tales of elite athletes and convinced to change the way I train.
September 3, 2019
Spectacular. I loved the whole thing. I can't wait to implement much of what the authors talked about to improve my endurance. I loved all of the stories from the athletes. I loved the science. They have done their research. If you are looking to become a better endurance athlete this is the book for you.
In addition, it teaches a lot of life lessons. If you're trying to be better yourself, a) you have to have a plan and b) your plan can't resemble someone who is stellar at the improvement you're trying to make, because you just won't be able to sustain the changes. You have to start small and build into the changes you want to make. Absolutely look at how they got to where they are, but look at where they started. The goal is to be able to get to the end of a week and feel energized and invigorated, not to give it your all and be drained every day. The book is all about introspection and personalization. Record how you feel, analyze those recordings and make changes based on what you find. You won't find any shortcuts in the book.
My favorite book I've read in a while.
In addition, it teaches a lot of life lessons. If you're trying to be better yourself, a) you have to have a plan and b) your plan can't resemble someone who is stellar at the improvement you're trying to make, because you just won't be able to sustain the changes. You have to start small and build into the changes you want to make. Absolutely look at how they got to where they are, but look at where they started. The goal is to be able to get to the end of a week and feel energized and invigorated, not to give it your all and be drained every day. The book is all about introspection and personalization. Record how you feel, analyze those recordings and make changes based on what you find. You won't find any shortcuts in the book.
My favorite book I've read in a while.
January 18, 2024
The book harnesses research in a way that defied my expectations and made an impression on me. Though I have no interest in being an "uphill athlete," I found many insights in reading such a niche document. I came at this from the perspective of a middle distance runner who can't understand competitive trail running, nevermind the other stuff. Primarily, I found the focus on Z1 and Z2 training to be interesting. But, also, as someone who cross trains a lot, the structured training plans for all types of activity (including SkiErg) were useful.
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January 26, 2026first audiobook ever lol, nothing groundbreaking but nice to reaffirm previous training research
August 8, 2023
I'm a mountain runner. I enjoyed this book a lot.
January 24, 2025
Some new ideas I hadn’t read about before. Love love love their cardiac drift test protocol to help nail down where the aerobic threshold is at. Has helped me a ton. Would have liked a little more specificity in creating a training program. I bought one of their training plans in Training Peaks, and it seems to differ quite a bit from what is suggested in the book.A great resource overall!
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February 17, 2022Absolutely loved this book! Feeling inspired.
This was great, because it mixed legit science with some really inspiring, interesting, funny, and heartfelt stories, from athletes that I really admire. Would definitely recommend this for anyone who is interested in endurance sports!
This was great, because it mixed legit science with some really inspiring, interesting, funny, and heartfelt stories, from athletes that I really admire. Would definitely recommend this for anyone who is interested in endurance sports!
January 21, 2024
Great training manual for any athlete.
March 6, 2021
Every once in a while, I come across a book outside of my own sport (triathlon) that leaves me wondering why books in my own domain aren't more like this! A departure from the gimmicky hacks and "time-crunched" nonsense of the present to the wisdom of the past. A focus on health, well-rounded fitness and the long term development of the aerobic base. A must-read for all endurance athletes regardless of sport.
February 23, 2021
I'm very greedy and careful with using 'must-read', but this book is.
It's a combination of well-explained theory, science, athlete's stories and training programs.
And if you're doing any kind of endurance exercising or physical activity and want to understand it better - read it.
Doesn't matter if you're a nerd like me who just started running or doing this for years.
It's a combination of well-explained theory, science, athlete's stories and training programs.
And if you're doing any kind of endurance exercising or physical activity and want to understand it better - read it.
Doesn't matter if you're a nerd like me who just started running or doing this for years.
November 19, 2021
Wonderful. Anyone interested in endurance sports should read this. Only few parts of the books focus on the mountain athletes. Great stories by the runners in between too.
October 4, 2024
Inspiring and perfectly-organized.
The authors are three of, if not “The” three, most accomplished mountain athletes in history. They organized the book with the detailed but clearly and simply-explained metabolic science of endurance at the front, specific examples of workouts for each component of endurance training in the middle, and the combining of those workouts into periods of training in a comprehensive training plan. Interspersed in those three sections are dozens of stunning pictures and incredible stories from mountain athlete champions that make you itch to get outside and suffer on a steep hill somewhere.
I loved it! The absolute first book I would recommend for any aspiring intermediate runner (defined as someone who consistently runs at least 20 miles/week).
The authors are three of, if not “The” three, most accomplished mountain athletes in history. They organized the book with the detailed but clearly and simply-explained metabolic science of endurance at the front, specific examples of workouts for each component of endurance training in the middle, and the combining of those workouts into periods of training in a comprehensive training plan. Interspersed in those three sections are dozens of stunning pictures and incredible stories from mountain athlete champions that make you itch to get outside and suffer on a steep hill somewhere.
I loved it! The absolute first book I would recommend for any aspiring intermediate runner (defined as someone who consistently runs at least 20 miles/week).
October 18, 2022
This is a foundation of endurance training for me. It addresses the most basic things that you simply have to get right: build the base, don't get injured, don't overtrain and get sick - and build upon it. It elaborates on the ways to recognize signs of fatigue and how to train for strenght and prevent injuries. Consistency, consistency, consistency.
I would recommend this to any runner - mountain or road runner alike.
I would recommend this to any runner - mountain or road runner alike.
January 9, 2021
One of the best training books I have ever read, and probably the best book I have read in terms of explaining the underlying physiology to explain the “why?” Behind training. It is set up similar to Magness’s The Science of Running, but it much more geared to toward mountain sports (trail running, skimo, ski mountaineering). It was also very interesting to read more about skimo training, as I know virtually nothing about that sport. To top things off, it is a beautiful book with trail photos throughout the book. A must read for ex phys nerds or serious mountain athletes.
October 23, 2021
Super insight from masters of the mountain. Not only science based and coaching/real life verified, this book is filled with practical plans and athlete’s stories. Inspiring and helpful. Rigorous focus on building an aerobic base.
March 14, 2023
Przeczytałem całkiem sporo książek o bieganiu (istnieje jakieś prawdopodobieństwo, że przeczytałem więcej książek o bieganiu niż przeciętna osoba książek w ogóle xD) i jest to zdecydowanie najlepsza książka poruszająca zagadnienia treningowe.
Kompletne kompendium wiedzy, co w sumie może trochę zrazić, bo początek to dosyć szczegółowy opus fizjologii, ale jest to ważne, żeby zrozumieć, jak i po co biegać.
Polecam nie tylko biegaczkom górskim.
Kompletne kompendium wiedzy, co w sumie może trochę zrazić, bo początek to dosyć szczegółowy opus fizjologii, ale jest to ważne, żeby zrozumieć, jak i po co biegać.
Polecam nie tylko biegaczkom górskim.
April 18, 2022
A detailed guide to successful training for mountain running or any other endurance exercise. Very technical. Very nerdy.
May 5, 2022
Excellent book to understand structured training. Full of tips and precious information.
July 22, 2022
It's kind of an uphill training bible.
April 14, 2023
Really helpful!
March 9, 2022
I keep coming back to it. Obligatory reading and entertaining as well.
October 14, 2023
Dense, but probably the best book on training for long distance running that I have read!
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May 24, 2025i am aerobically deficient
September 3, 2025
a m a z i n g
July 15, 2022
The book explains the main concepts of training. It covers all the stages of preparation to a race (longer or the shorter). Authors weren’t focusing training plans for a race, but more on explaining in details what is the purpose of each training you need to do (low/high intensity running, HR zones, strength training, recovery). How not to overtrain. Between these technical chapters, there are short essays by famous trail runners. They sharing their life stories there. Sometimes it is related to what was written by authors before. Sometimes it isn’t. But it makes reading smooth and enjoyable. Last chapters were more about exact plans - a lot of numbers, figures. Boring :)
As runner who is training most my life without a coach, the main goal of reading this book was to get the proofs and confirmation that I’m doing everything right training “by feel”.
Did I achieve this goal? Mostly, yes. I confirmed that I’m not killing myself with my trainings
As runner who is training most my life without a coach, the main goal of reading this book was to get the proofs and confirmation that I’m doing everything right training “by feel”.
Did I achieve this goal? Mostly, yes. I confirmed that I’m not killing myself with my trainings
July 9, 2025
Hell yeah! it all comes together now. Inspiring, science based, covering a lot of the essentials and nice to read, with beautiful side stories and pictures. Gives more of a framework to work with than set prescriptions, just what you need as a self coached runner!
February 18, 2025
Good book to get the training fundamentals on top of which structure a training plan. Good read, arguments backed by science and easy to follow.
On a side note, would definitely read a while book on athlete stories.
On a side note, would definitely read a while book on athlete stories.
October 30, 2020
The content seems useful and is corroborated by both what I already knew and have heard from reputable sources, e.g., regarding polarized training, which is what the book endorses. I think the book is worth reading if you are interested in and especially self-coaching in the relevant sports.
The book, however, would have been improved with better editing:
As others have noted, obvious errors remain throughout the book, these are often only typos or photo captions that have been duplicated across multiple photos, but in some places the authors seem to say the opposite of what they are intending, e.g., on page 119: "Typically this type of fatigue is self-limiting as your ability to contract those muscles powerfully will naturally end that type of movement; you can manage one more pull-up." I assume they meant that it is self-limiting because you eventually can't manage one more pull-up.
30-40% of the book is comprised of beautiful photos of people outdoors. Another 10% is "Athlete stories". These are often inspiring, but make the book twice as long as it needs to be. They also often interrupt the main text in a way that makes it difficult to pick up again. It also makes it harder to use this book as a reference.
There is quite a bit of repetition of both the main ideas and specific features of types training weeks (which are sometimes copied nearly verbatim several times).
The book, however, would have been improved with better editing:
As others have noted, obvious errors remain throughout the book, these are often only typos or photo captions that have been duplicated across multiple photos, but in some places the authors seem to say the opposite of what they are intending, e.g., on page 119: "Typically this type of fatigue is self-limiting as your ability to contract those muscles powerfully will naturally end that type of movement; you can manage one more pull-up." I assume they meant that it is self-limiting because you eventually can't manage one more pull-up.
30-40% of the book is comprised of beautiful photos of people outdoors. Another 10% is "Athlete stories". These are often inspiring, but make the book twice as long as it needs to be. They also often interrupt the main text in a way that makes it difficult to pick up again. It also makes it harder to use this book as a reference.
There is quite a bit of repetition of both the main ideas and specific features of types training weeks (which are sometimes copied nearly verbatim several times).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews