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Infrared Training and a Kilimanjaro Climb for Wounded Warriors and First Responders

I’ve written on several occasions about the importance of scheduling a future event as a training motivator for your fitness program. There’s nothing that will get you moving more than looking forward to a trip to a far away place that involves a bucket list activity.

Maybe it’s a yoga retreat in Costa Rica, or a hiking trip to Machu Picchu in Peru. Whatever it is, near or far, make it motivating to you!

In the case of myself and my training partner, Jeremy, we decided to plan the climb of a legendary mountain. We thought, why not climb Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa?! Mt. Kilimanjaro is also the 6th tallest mountain in the world from the Earth’s core. The shorter route to the top takes 5 days and that is the route we will trek beginning this December 10th. This route has a 27% success rate to the summit. It will be a challenge for sure.

We decided to add even more of a reason to make the climb by turning it into a fundraiser to benefit Sacred Mountain Retreat Center in South Dakota. Sacred Mountain is a very special place for wounded warriors and injured first responders to find therapy and solace on their route to recovery. HOTWORX donated two workout saunas to their weight room a few years ago and has been a supporter of the retreat center since that time.

We will be testing our infrared training for sure on this mountain, but we are determined to get to the summit for our warriors and first responders! Our goal is to raise $1 per foot to the summit which will amount to $19,341 as a donation to Sacred Mountain through this fundraiser. Maybe we can raise well beyond that amount by the time we get to the top! If you want to join us in the fund raise to give back to our freedom fighters, you can click on this link:

https://gofund.me/b250a78a

You might be interested in our weekly training routine to see how we have been preparing for the climb. Here’s how it looks:

-Weight training each body part per week 7:15am including Monday-chest, Tuesday-back, Wednesday-shoulders, Thursday-arms, Friday-quads, hams, calves.

-Hot HIIT (high intensity interval training) 5X week 8am immediately following weight training. Usually Hot Cycle Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Hot Thunder on Wednesday and Friday.

-Hot Isometrics (yoga, pilates, warrior) 2-3X per week in the evening. Hot Bands in the evening or during lunch every other week.

You might have expected a more ballistic type of training routine for prep to climb one of the tallest mountains in the world, but I am living proof that high level training can be accomplished with ZERO impact workouts like that of HOTWORX. There is no reason to wear out your joints and bones as you prepare for such activities. Zero impact works well for athletic training just like it does for general fitness.

One of the most difficult things that I have done was to climb to the top of Camelback in Scottsdale, AZ at mid-day in August with rock temperatures toping 150º. I can attribute my ability to reach that summit to the infrared training I practice at HOTWORX! 

Jeremy and I will now apply the HOTWORX training method to Kilimanjaro.

Elevate your fitness!

Let’s do this 👊🔥

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Stephen P. Smith, MA
CEO and Creator of HOTWORX, Author, Former National Collegiate Bodybuilding Champion and Arena Football Player, Certified Professional Trainer

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