[mthorman]

mthorman on December 23, 2016 at 6:06 pm · in reply to: low and then high intensity #3737

Thanks Scott for the great explanation!! I too was wondering this same question. I also really like your suggestion for an anaerobic threshold test.

[mthorman]

mthorman on December 23, 2016 at 5:41 pm · in reply to: Overtraining is in sight….what to do now? #3736

Leon, Sounds like you are getting things figured out! I have found that in my case there is a lot of trial and error trying to get everything nailed down. Even now in my 2nd year of training I am still experimenting and learning. I feel like a lot of it is learning to understand my body and the difference between tired, wrecked, or sick. During Base phase last year I was tired for like 3 weeks in a row, but my numbers were good and I was getting adequate sleep and nutrition. Then a rest week came and I really focused on getting extra sleep that week. That really helped for me and when I went back into more training the following week I felt much better. I think a lot of it is training your body to handle more work/stress.

One other note I would throw in is to experiment with a Heart Rate monitor. Last year I just guessed a lot at how hard the training was based on how I felt, my breathing etc.. While I think those can be guidelines it really helped me to use a HR monitor. I was pretty shocked that some workouts I thought were Z1 were actually not even high enough (more of a recovery effort). This year I am amazed at how little is in my Z3 even on a bigger day (shows that I have kept a lot from last year’s training). I use an app called 60beat which I really like (just get a HR monitor chest strap that is bluetooth). You can put in your own zone ranges and then at the end of the workout the app will give you a total time and percentage in each zone. This is really helpful to me on those bigger days in the mountains. I don’t use it during the workout, but it is a good check to make sure I was setting the correct pace for my desired output.

Good luck with your training! It is a continual learning process but in my experience from last season it works!!

[mthorman]

mthorman on December 17, 2016 at 3:21 pm · in reply to: Training alongside winter season #3719

Owen, I am no expert but here are a couple of thoughts. I think with any kind of training consistency is super important. Are you getting in your workout hours when you are offshore working? If you are then you should be set to continue those hours on your weeks off of work. I use the the mountains a lot for training. Just know that most likely you won’t be in your best shape or climbing your hardest grades due to the amount of strain on your body. I am not sure what hours you are at in your training so that may limit you a little. For me, I am usually able to get 2 pretty good days in the mountains each week. If I get an extra 10-15% during a week I am not too concerned as long as I am still breaking up my training to my target zones correctly.

For example I am just finishing Base week 7 and my target is 13hrs. I actually got in 14.25hrs for the week which is basically 10% over what my target was. But my training was 85% in hear rate zones Z1/Z2 and only 15% in Z3 (with no Z4/Z5). I was able to spend 1 good day up out in the backcountry touring which accounted for about 40% of my hours and then I also spent about the same amount of time ice climbing (35%) and then the rest was strength training and a couple other small things. One of my big concerns is making sure I am getting my rest and not overtraining.

I guess to answer your question, it probably depends a lot on the number of hours you have set as your goal. If you are only doing 4-5hrs a week on the weeks you work, I would NOT recommend doing a 15hr week on the weeks you are off. You would have fun but that isn’t going to be the gradual buildup towards an end goal. Maybe look at what your highest priority goal is. If you have a big trip or time period where you want to be in peak performance then having to cut things out during the training cycle is inevitable and totally worth it. However if you are just trying to get stronger or stay in shape and you aren’t building towards an end goal, then maybe trashing your body for a week might be worth it…..but only if the climbing is classic and the powder is deep 🙂

Hopefully somebody else with a little more knowledge might chip in too, but that is my $.02