[Anonymous]

Been increasing my volume steadily, this week was 16h total. My long Z1s the last couple of weeks have been a 5.30h-6h hike over fairly flat (20 miles, 500m ascent) terrain.

I’m wondering if it is worth increasing the length of this walk a bit or if it is long enough already and I should add the volume to my other Z1 work I do during the week? I’ve been aiming to do one other long Z1 hike per week, 2-3 hours, which I could increase instead.

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on May 11, 2020 at 1:45 pm #41565

Hi uk_climber,

The question on how long is “long enough” really depends on your goal objective, but also on the total volume you are able to be accomplishing each week. Generally speaking, i rarely have athletes train over 5 hrs in any given session unless they are completing a specific prep workout (such as running a 50km trail run/race as preparation for a goal event); using these long durations require a much greater recovery period to follow, and can hamper a consistent training load.

Without knowing your goal objective I hesitate to say you should add more volume, but I would suggest you look to the other days and sessions in your training week/microcycle, and consider whether you could get more value in your training by adding quality elsewhere, such as a moderate intensity session or muscular endurance.

Cheers,
Sam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on May 12, 2020 at 2:12 pm #41614

Thanks, that is helpful. I won’t go increasing that any further. Don’t really have a goal due to the current situation, but certainly nothing that long.

I’ll look to add in some muscular endurance now.