Scrambles and climbs in the Teton Range of Wyoming usually involve some fairly direct ascents from the valley. I remember one of the local guides refer to an efficient mode of climbing as the Teton Rest Step .
A well known mountaineering technique, I doubt it was actually invented in the Tetons but it certainly works well there and many other situations when you are moving on steep terrain.
The idea behind the Rest Step is threefold.
1.Firstly it works as a way to regulate your cadence on persistently steep grades so that you don't persistently redline your heart rate or muscles and have to stop to recover before moving on again.
2.Secondly , the rest phase allows a short recovery for your working lower limb muscles every step cycle.
3.Thirdly it encourages you to engage your larger, stronger posterior chain of muscles to create a more efficient drive uphill rather than loading the quadriceps primarily.
How you do it .
In a normal walking pattern uphill we don't usually fully extend either leg. Our muscles are always engaged in both legs. The simplicity of the rest step is that on each footfall we fully extend the knee and hang there momentarily with our skeleton supporting our weight before swinging the other leg through.
This pause may be only half a second or so at lower altitudes but can be lengthened depending on the situation or altitude.
For the moment just focus on your dominant leg going up some stairs. Swing it through and then as you land on it , tense your glutes (butt muscles) and actively lock out your knee . Once the knee is locked, balance on this leg and relax your muscles : that is "rest" with the leg extended . Try counting "one thousand and one" , then swing the other leg through to repeat the process on the new leg.
Just recently I was in a local National Park with a constant climb- mostly oddly placed steps interspersed with scree. I was powering up using the speed hiking technique of driving up with hand on knee. I was getting the heart rate up there and found I needed to have some short stops to get that down momentarily before continuing. So I switched to the rest step instead. The interesting thing was, in the steepest zones I ended up moving along at a similar rate as I didn't need to take breaks. So even though each step feels (and is ) a slow motion effort , you can keep going "unbroken" for much longer.
How to practice it at home
It's easy to practice this on stairs, a steep incline , a ramp: anywhere you can get at least 2 steps in sequentially.
Better still get outside to your favourite hill walk, a local park, some outside steps.
Practice exaggerating the movement . It will feel awkward at first, but soon becomes a familiar and easy tool to use when out on the trails .
Where you can use it other than a mountaineering situation?
It doesn't make sense using the rest step on terrain less than 15% (unless you are mountaineering at high altitude ). You can use it on steep trails, steps, boulder /scree fields and snow slopes. You can employ it as your main movement pattern for a section of trail or just do a few steps of it as a recovery move rather than a complete pause if you are moving generally more quickly .
If you use walking poles you can add the rest step to a double pole drive to really unweight the leg initially and then drive upward with both the poles and that engaged strong posterior chain.
Have fun, experiment with it and most importantly Get Outside !
If you need any help achieving your health and fitness goals and want to keep skiing, surfing, hiking or snowboarding as you get older reach out to Primal Regeneration . I offer Health Coaching specialising in these areas . My background as doctor, Primal Health and Fitness Coach, ski coach and surfer all contribute to my ability to help you on your journey.
See you in the outdoors!
Photo by Fabrizio Conti on Unsplash
