[Bergpaul]

Hello
I´m 14 years old and just starting with an a bit more serious kind of training for the mountains. So far I´ve done quite a bit of mountaineering&(alpine-)climbing and also some Trail Running (two “Trail Races”). Now I have read up a bit on the topic of endurance training and am unsure about a few things:
1#: How bad is it to train strength (sportclimbing/bouldering) on the same day with endurance training?
2#: Are there any unusual things when training as a younger person (related to Aet,…)?
3#: How accurate are those chest heart rate monitors (Suunto)?

Would really appriciate some answers!
Paul

Topic

[Thomas Summer, MD]

Thomas Summer, MD on August 30, 2020 at 4:49 am #44627

Hi Paul!

1. I would recommend to space enough time between the sessions, to allow for the specific adaptations.
2. not really. But you should be careful with max strength training at your age. And often HR is higher when you are younger.
3. the chest straps are usually accurate. Measuring from the wrist not really.

As 14 is pretty young, I would recommend getting a good coach/mentor, who can guide you on your way to training and enjoying sports and the mountains. There are some mistakes you don’t have to make yourself;-)

alpine Grüße!
Thomas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on August 30, 2020 at 8:47 am #44631

Paul:

I completely agree with Thomas recommendations and will only add a couple of thoughts because I have coached a lot of juniors (<20years) in my coaching career.

First thing is to NOT try to train like an adult. Don't copy what you see the top climbers or runners (who are 30 years old) doing in their training. Your body is not ready for those kinds of loads yet. You've got at least 8 years before you reach full physical maturity.

It's important that you use these years wisely. You can do this by developing good technical skills, these teenage years is a time when your body is the most plastic ad will learn new skills the fastest. This will be especially true for rock climbing. You will develop adequate strength just through your climbing itself and do not need to get crazy with specific climbing strength yet.

For the running end of things you build this slowly as well in these years. Building strong connective tissue during these years should be your goal. Do this by gradually building up running volume and vertical. But DO NOT go out and run with much stronger and older runners trying to keep up with them.

I hope this helps.
Scott

[Bergpaul]

Bergpaul on August 30, 2020 at 9:07 am #44632

This helps a lot!
Thank you
Paul