[Michael]

Michael on July 15, 2019 at 2:13 am · in reply to: Thoughts on BFR #25034

Here’s a good meta analysis I found on aerobic outcomes.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329517015_Effects_of_Blood_Flow_Restriction_Training_on_Aerobic_Capacity_and_Performance_A_Systematic_Review

[Michael]

Michael on July 13, 2019 at 11:34 am · in reply to: Thoughts on BFR #24979

Scott, it is sort of a combination of restriction and augmentation since it causes blood to pool and gets muscles pumped.

I have been using it mostly for arms to accelerate healing of connective tissue and now I’m combining it with ARC training. Dt. Tyler Nelson is the main advocate of BFR for climbing.

My open thoughts/questions are as follows: 1) since BFR increases growth hormones could a moderate amount be used with near net zero additional chronic training stress (for qerobic training since clearly contributes to anaerobic load).

2) It seems some component of overtraining is tied to the volume of neural signals for the muscles to contract. So if BFR requires even lower ‘neural load’ than zone 1 training, would that imply low contribution to chronic training stress?

3) Finally, since BFR builds/maintains strength at low intensity, could that enable more time base training and shorter amount of high intensity time needed to peak? In particular, it seems aerobically deficient people that need to focus on just base for a long time might be less slow.

[Michael]

Michael on July 11, 2019 at 3:00 pm · in reply to: Footwear for high volume auto-belay ARC / base training #24932

I agree that I don’t think I lose out on technique improvement since foot holds I can ARC on are large enough that I don’t need tight shoes to be precise.

Yep, still have major fear of falling, which probably has a multiplicative effect with lack of endurance. I think I’ll gradually get over it eventually just by sport climbing more.

[Michael]

Michael on July 2, 2019 at 8:13 pm · in reply to: Aerobic vs strength training effect on willpower depletion #24398

Unmeasured. Ascents might be drifting into zone 3 at times, but trying to keep it in zone 2, which climbs I was doing allow. Descents though are extremely technical, probably zone 4-5 at times and extra cortisol from how steep the terrain is.

It’s a bit hot here at night, which makes it hard to fall asleep so I don’t get up early enough to get a good amount of stuff done in the morning. Circadian rhythms are not perfect, but I am fairly mindful of them. I think the problem is that I am inherently prone to being a bit depressed regardless so it’s tricky for me to understand how exercise plays a role.

I will do more training on the road bike going forward and maybe then I’ll have a different response (installed a wide range cassette), but am now in Vancouver so I want to enjoy the terrain here.

Also, as I mentioned in other thread, I ordered a 24/7 heart rate and sleep monitor so I’ll see if that indicates much higher stress and failure to recover sufficiently each night from biking.

[Michael]

Michael on July 2, 2019 at 2:15 pm · in reply to: Sleep features for monitoring cumulative stress in new Polar watch #24376

Well I’m planning on using it mostly for base training so I think not knowing the spikes will be ok as long as I’m mindful to minimize any sudden changes in effort. Training is not important enough to me to use multiple tools and spend time piecing together different sets of data.

I’m probably a lot less serious than most of the people on this website. I just want to get my aerobic capacity high enough that I can do the things I enjoy all day rather than only for a few hours. I was at that state a few years ago with zero mindfulness around training, so just the intention to focus on base-building and knowing that is what I need should be enough to reach my goals.

[Michael]

Michael on July 1, 2019 at 3:46 pm · in reply to: Sleep features for monitoring cumulative stress in new Polar watch #24336

How do you explain this graph then? https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/06/image-27.png

The only thing I really need is within 5 bpm or so to make sure I stay within zone 2. In fact, the at rest monitoring might be the most useful part since training seems to lead to an increase in resting heart rate even the following day.

I don’t think Polar has any sort of breakthrough, I’ve just seen reviews mentions that among the wrist-based ones they are the most accurate.

Edit: Well, I ended up ordering it… I feel like 24/7 monitoring will matter more for me than accuracy. My pulse is now 75ish even though I’m seated in a coffeeshop. Wondering if the adrenaline-inducing portion of my ride yesterday (very technical descent) slows recovery.

[Michael]

Michael on May 5, 2019 at 10:43 pm · in reply to: Singlespeed Mountain Biking Base and Cross Training Value? #21554

Actually, I should be able to get easy enough gearing with a new rear derailleur and larger cassette so I’ll work on doing that.

[Michael]

Michael on May 5, 2019 at 7:59 pm · in reply to: Singlespeed Mountain Biking Base and Cross Training Value? #21543

Thank you everyone for the input!

Last few years I have been working a lot, which made it so that I went even more extreme on ‘utilization’ side since I kept trying to do fun events, while I did less ‘capacity’ work than ever. Now I’m going to be working remotely part time and ready to build my 1st real base, something I only ever did inadvertently because I enjoyed distance events such as all day bike rides and ultralight backpacking.

Now that I know there is no ‘hack’ with SS to cross-over to hiking so I’m going to start doing ultralight backpacking again now that I can be away from internet for multiple days. I should be able to get a ton of volume doing 1-2 2-5 day trips per month with 20-30 miles/day.

I’m also going to start riding the road bike a lot more, plus will be mindful to have mountain bike rides be descent focused and as short as possible for fun rather than trying to push distance.

For the road biking side of things I have a question about intensity and cadence given my fitness level. Is it possible to have too low of an intensity for base training? My road bike used to be a hybrid with fairly easy gearing and I would average around 10 mph on all day rides, which I think is around 90-120 watts and my FTP is around 200 watts. I currently have a 1x road bike with a cassette ranging from 11-28 (I could get 11-30) and I think the single ring is around 42t. My cadence drops significantly even with a mild hill climb, but I think I am still staying aerobic based on heart rate staying quite low. How much of a loss will I have from this low cadence? Is it worthwhile if it helps me span all of zone 1 and 2 rather than just staying at the lower end of zone 1?

It seems 90 rpm is optimal, but even if I get far fitter than I am now, I will still go on mountain bike rides with steep enough terrain that I can’t spin nearly that fast, but maybe I shouldn’t be thinking about training for that with regards to base.

I asked a friend to help me sell the hybrid bike so I could have him ship it to me if the much wider gear range is necessary. I could also get a road bike for training since I will probably end up selling one of my singlespeeds.