[rui.jm.silva]

In your article “Fit to Climb: Everest”, https://uphillathlete.com/fit-to-climb-everest/, you mention a required CTL of around 100, which means training 15-24h per week.
Nevertheless, the 24 Week Mountaineering Expedition Plan doesn’t have weekly loads above 10h. Since this plan should be appropriate to train for Denali and Everest (with O2), how do the 10h of weekly training cope with the necessary CTL of 100?
Should I adapt the plan to a CTL of 100? How?

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on April 4, 2018 at 5:12 pm #9104

CTL is only a rough metric for measuring fitness (or better yet, Work Capacity). Where you start your training plan has a great deal with where your CTL will end up.

Keep in mind that these stock plans are by necessity “one size fits all”. They have to be very general because we do not know who will be using them. They are based on the exact same training ideas and plan discussed in our book. The only difference from the book is that we had to make some assumptions and choose a starting volume. We chose a rather conservative volume so as to lessen the chance of doing damage to an unprepared user. Proper training must be highly individualized to meet the needs of the athlete. That is why we have so much free information about training theory and how to individualize your training for yourself both on the site and in the book. As cookie cutter as this plan is, it can be modified to suit your personal fitness level.

If you come into it with very little previous training background then this plan will do as good a job as possible (outside a custom plan or coaching) in getting you ready using the indicated hours. If on the other hand you have a higher level of starting fitness then you’d be wise to use a higher volume. The plan’s structure will be the same just the volume of aerobic work will change.

This plan has been used quite successfully for substantial undertakings on 8000m peaks and other. Please read this:https://uphillathlete.com/cassin-training/

Good Luck with your goals
Scott

[rui.jm.silva]

rui.jm.silva on April 5, 2018 at 4:32 am #9115

Since I’m now starting the last month of the plan before going to Denali, should I double (or increase significantly) the aerobic activities?
Should I increase the weight of the water carries?
Does this also apply to the recovery runs? Instead of a 30min recovery run, can I run for 1h?
When I started the plan I was in a pretty good shape. I’ve gone to Aconcagua after the first 8 weeks and it felt easy (well, not easy, but much easier than expected).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on April 5, 2018 at 6:34 pm #9130

I can’t tell you specific answers to those questions.

You are the only one who knows how this training is feeling to you.

BUT: I would not double the aerobic training volume suddenly as that will almost surely make you overly tired. Instead, try increasing it 20% next week and see how that feels from the standpoint of fatigue and recovery. If that’s ok then add 10% the following week. Then take a light week to see if you fully recover. If you recover well that week then try again another 20%. Be ready to pull the plug and cut back if you do not recover well.

If Aconcagua felt easy after only 8 weeks and you’ve probably done another 10-12 weeks since you may be able to increase but do so gradually. Same with the weight you add to the uphill carries. Add weight gradually. Try 10-12% increase and feel how much more tired your legs get from this.

As for recovery runs. Their job is to speed recovery but I would be very careful not to double their length over night.

Our body does not do well with big changes. We can adapt to small changes if give enough time. But, big loads shock and overwhelm your body’s ability to adapt. You can do that once in a while but doing it as a regular part of training will lead to over training and/or injury.

Scott

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on April 5, 2018 at 6:34 pm #9131

I can’t tell you specific answers to those questions.

You are the only one who knows how this training is feeling to you.

BUT: I would not double the aerobic training volume suddenly as that will almost surely make you overly tired. Especially in the last month. If you make yourself exhausted now you may not recover in time. Instead, try increasing it 20% next week and see how that feels from the standpoint of fatigue and recovery. If that’s ok then add 10% the following week. Then take a light week to see if you fully recover. If you recover well that week then try again another 20%. Be ready to pull the plug and cut back if you do not recover well. Allow a recovery week before you travel.

If Aconcagua felt easy after only 8 weeks and you’ve probably done another 10-12 weeks since you may be able to increase but do so gradually. Same with the weight you add to the uphill carries. Add weight gradually. Try 10-12% increase and feel how much more tired your legs get from this.

As for recovery runs. Their job is to speed recovery but I would be very careful not to double their length over night. Especially if this is the final month. If you have been seeing gains then don’t mess with success now.

Our body does not do well with big changes. We can adapt to small changes if give enough time. But, big loads shock and overwhelm your body’s ability to adapt. You can do that once in a while but doing it as a regular part of training will lead to over training and/or injury.

Scott

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on April 5, 2018 at 6:34 pm #9132

I can’t tell you specific answers to those questions.

You are the only one who knows how this training is feeling to you.

BUT: I would not double the aerobic training volume suddenly as that will almost surely make you overly tired. Instead, try increasing it 20% next week and see how that feels from the standpoint of fatigue and recovery. If that’s ok then add 10% the following week. Then take a light week to see if you fully recover. If you recover well that week then try again another 20%. Be ready to pull the plug and cut back if you do not recover well.

If Aconcagua felt easy after only 8 weeks and you’ve probably done another 10-12 weeks since you may be able to increase but do so gradually. Same with the weight you add to the uphill carries. Add weight gradually. Try 10-12% increase and feel how much more tired your legs get from this.

As for recovery runs. Their job is to speed recovery but I would be very careful not to double their length over night.

Our body does not do well with big changes. We can adapt to small changes if give enough time. But, big loads shock and overwhelm your body’s ability to adapt. You can do that once in a while but doing it as a regular part of training will lead to over training and/or injury.

Scott