[pult]

Hi, since I am Oct. 2019 I am doing my training based on the great book Uphill Athlete. Hope this made me better… The final test at Mont Blanc was canceled due to Corona in April…
Nevertheless I am aiming for some tours in the Bernina region now and I reviewed my last some years and there is a clear pattern. I am fine with normal approaches but steeper ascents like couliars >40° are hard and I am fare above aerobic zones being as fast as my colleagues. What specific training can make me better for that? Muscle endurance? Strength training?

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on July 14, 2020 at 12:17 pm #43580

…steeper ascents like couliars >40° are hard and I am fare above aerobic zones being as fast as my colleagues.

It’s probably not a valid comparison. If your colleagues are typical climbers, they are probably well above their aerobic threshold, likely anaerobic.

What specific training can make me better for that? Muscle endurance? Strength training?

More of the same. And strength. Base aerobic capacity is always “more is better”. Strength training will help and judicious use of muscular endurance training.

[Dada]

Dada on July 15, 2020 at 3:56 am #43601

Hi Pult,

I just came back from the Chamonix & Bernina.

I totally see your point. I observed pretty much the same thing. “The others” were fast, I was in Z3, they probably too (and probably deeper in Z3/4). This leads to the following conclusions:

– the alps are not high enough so the others can still use a lot of anaerobic endurance. If the alps were higher, they would probably slow down more than you had to

– the ascents are not selective enough in terms of vertical difference so “the others” could still use a lot of anaerobic endurance and were not forced to slow down

– I realized, that although being tired, I could still speed up later the day

– The others are probably training way more in Z3 (if not exclusively) so Z3 is their home-turf

So my lessons learnt:

– add a little more Z3/Z4 in training but still keeping the AeT high
– ME training is bomb (despite being my biggest weakness, ME was never the limiter)
– Z1/2 training on steeper terrain could be more sport specific
– back, arms and shoulders are probably earlier in the red zone then the legs, so improving these is worth try
– I want to add leg strength and give it a try

Best regards
Dada

[kurej.tomas]

kurej.tomas on July 20, 2020 at 9:48 am #43727

Is there a difference between training for steeper faster ascents, where you want to be done in 3-4 hours and the longer one?

[gregmarinelli]

gregmarinelli on August 27, 2021 at 4:52 am #56601

Is there a difference between training for steeper faster ascents, where you want to be done in 3-4 hours and the longer one?