[axjms1]

axjms1 on May 16, 2022 at 3:27 pm · in reply to: Choosing a program to combine with Cham Mtn Fit #67274

Hi Vincent,

I think combining both would really be the ideal. In the expedition plan you start out with two strength workouts a week and as the aerobic volume increases the strength training goes down to once per week for maintenance. But as an older athlete (I am 47) I have always stuck with the two strength workouts a week because I felt so much better with that routine and recovered better as long as I didn’t go crazy with the weights.

When the CMF plan first came out I ran the idea by the coaches here about doing the CMF workout once per week and the general strength from the expedition plan once per week to try and thread the needle. They thought that would work well for me and I imagine it would be worth a shot for you. If you are used to going to the gym and moving plates around the CMF plan will feel pretty strange. You spend so much time on balance to begin with you may worry about losing strength. I did anyway. I feel like getting both types of workouts in once a week allows me to progress along both tracks just a little slower than if I would focus on one.

Does that make sense?

[axjms1]

axjms1 on May 16, 2022 at 11:23 am · in reply to: Choosing a program to combine with Cham Mtn Fit #67250

Hi Vincent,

Please take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I have never been an elite athlete in any discipline but I have been fortunate to be very durable. I started my first uphill athlete training plan in January of 2018 and have been consistent since then. I haven’t been using the Chamonix Mountain Fit as long because it just hasn’t been around that long. It sounds to me like you are pretty solid as far as your gym fitness goes but have some real knee issues. The first thing to decide is what your goals are. You mentioned multi pitch climbs of moderate grade. Are you wanting to increase your climbing grade or just get more comfortable on multi-pitches? Is the climbing actually hurting your knee or is it the approach and just being on your feet that long? The CMF program is great for addressing imbalances as it is almost exclusively unilateral work. But its not going to happen by magic, you will have to pause the video and do extra sets on the weak side. Overall, I find the CMF workouts to be heavy on balance and core work but if you are looking for hypertrophy this isn’t the right plan or even the right website.

If you are wanting to get more durable for your long approaches I would just start the expeditionary plan. All of the plans are pretty similar but with the longest plan you are just going to be able build a more solid base. If you aren’t in a rush for a certain goal this is going to be the best plan. I would also suggest being patient with your knee. In the plan there are a lot of workouts that call for a walk or run. Your knee is the limiter here so do them all as walks as you build up your ability to do those long back to back days in the mountains.

Good luck!

[axjms1]

axjms1 on February 18, 2022 at 10:23 am · in reply to: Lift Served Alpine Skiing in Training Peaks #63456

I have a Garmin watch that I use to record alpine skiing. It automatically records just the descent portion of the activity. It ends up getting imported into training peaks and I record it as hrTss but I often downgrade the actual tss component. Unfortunately lift served alpine skiing isn’t too much of a cardio workout. Still fun though.

[axjms1]

axjms1 on February 4, 2022 at 10:43 am · in reply to: When to begin plan? #62928

I am not a coach around here but I am pretty sure they would tell you to start now with the transition month and repeat a base training month or however many weeks you have extra until you can continue the plan and taper as prescribed so your plan ends with Mount Blanc in July.

The other option would be to get the 24 week plan and do that. It seems like that would get you right on the schedule to climb in July. The cost of a well tailored plan is trivial compared to the trip to Mount Blanc and all that.

//Jason

[axjms1]

axjms1 on February 4, 2022 at 10:36 am · in reply to: Chamonix Fit or TftNA General Strength? #62927

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the confirmation. I really appreciate all you guys and gals do.

//Jason

[axjms1]

axjms1 on January 8, 2019 at 11:01 am · in reply to: Beginning the 24 week expeditionary plan #15806

Hey Schoombie,
Yeah, I agree with you because I felt like I read that somewhere as well. But when I repeated the test after a year of consistent training my aerobic threshold moved up from 149 bpm to roughly 152 bpm. Not a as much as I was thinking it would. I was a lot faster though.

//axjms1

[axjms1]

axjms1 on January 7, 2019 at 10:55 am · in reply to: Beginning the 24 week expeditionary plan #15784

Hello,

I am no expert and don’t claim to be but I am running through the same plan for the second year starting this week. I didn’t take half a year off or anything just switched to the ultra running plan for the second half of the year. One thing you said made me want to chime in regarding you looking forward to your zones moving up. Steve and the others can definitely correct me but I don’t think you should expect your zones to move up in a significant way, they didn’t for me. If you do the work what will change is your pace at the same zones. You will become more efficient and your endurance will increase. Also, I would encourage you to do the time, even if it feels like you aren’t working hard. Stay in your zone and do the time. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts.

//Jason

[axjms1]

axjms1 on May 17, 2018 at 12:52 pm · in reply to: Z3 Weighted Hill Climb duration in 24 weeks Mountaineering Plan #9918

Hello,

Don’t want to hijack your thread but I thought I would just continue the discussion if possible. I am working through the 24 week plan myself and have been pretty consistent with it. Yesterday was the first weighted hill climb and I performed the workout with 55 lbs. I was able to gain about 1700 ft of elevation in the first hour of the workout and then walked back down. One thing I noticed was that I did not feel limited by leg strength however my heart rate was pretty high at around 165 while moving up. Do I still need to add weight? I don’t see myself carrying much more than than that load but I guess it is possible. For reference I am a 43 y/o male 6’2″ 200 lbs. My AeT as tested in the start of the plan was 149. Thank you!

[axjms1]

axjms1 on March 14, 2018 at 10:37 am · in reply to: Vertical climber machine #8682

I would love to see an article on gym ME workouts for the vertically deprived. Seems like a lot of us have that issue especially with mid week workouts.