[madanyang]

Hi,

I am using the 24 week Mountaineering plan and this is my third year. Last year the training went very well and I was quite happy with my performance. The only thing that got me questioning was the recovery weeks which were planned as 3:1 so 3 weeks of loading and then the recovery week.

This year I want to try out the 2:1 ratio so 2 weeks of loading and then recovery week. However I am not sure what should be the volume decrease with this training/recovery. I recall Scott Johnston recommends 50% volume decrease in recovery weeks (though I am not so sure that is the case with the 24 week plan). What would be the recommend decrease be it this situation and would one needs to extend/alter the program to reach the same CTL as one would with the normal 3:1 ration training

Thansk

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on October 23, 2018 at 4:24 pm #14082

The ratio of build/recovery weeks is something that you should experiment with. 3:1 seems to work well for the majority but 2:1 works great when the loads are high relative to what you’ve done before.

When I said to drop volume 50% that might mean dropping it 60% after a really heavy building period or maybe 40% when the load has been light. Volume is not really the best word to use here. Training Load which is a more subjective term (which is why I use volume).

The critical thing to keep in mind in a recovery week is RECOVERY. This week is not for building more fitness. It is for absorbing all the work you’ve been doing in the recent weeks. If you need 3 days off. if you need to cut training volume 70%, do it. Do any and everything you need to do so that you are ready to begin the next heavy building cycle. Don’t get stuck on some number like 50%.

Scott