Most folks are familiar with the two most commonly trained aspects of physical attributes - maximum strength and strength endurance. These two attributes contribute greatly to one's ability to perform difficult climbing. Another attribute which I find to be nearly as important, yet usually overlooked or even unknown, is stamina. Stamina is the body's ability to recover between efforts, or the ability to exert effort for an extended period of time.
This is an important ability to develop because it allows one to train harder or to work for a longer time at a higher level on projects or onsights. This is great training to do for the early part of a macro cycle, to prepare the body for higher loads of training in the middle part of a macro cycle, and higher loads from performance in the latter part of a macro cycle. This is also good training for consolidating grades or breaking through plateaus.
The workout consists of discreet efforts separated by good rests over a course of 90 to 120 minutes. A simple way to train for stamina is to do a bouldering pyramid, as follows. Pick one problem near your maximum red point grade, two problems one step down, four problems two steps down, and eight problems three steps down. The problems are then performed pyramid style:
* four V3's
* two V4's
* one V5
* one V6
* one V5
* two V4's
* four V3's
Attempt each problem until it is sent, but give no more than three attempts. Rest 3-5 minutes between each attempt. This workout should leave you feeling pretty worked, I would not recommend following up with a maximum strength workout for at least 48 hours.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
4x4 Training for Climbing
One of my favorite workouts is a really good climbing strength endurance pump out.
One thing to note about this type of training, is that lactic acid is toxic for the muscles. Long term exposure to lactic acid can be detrimental to strength gains. Additionally, one does not need to do this type of training for long periods to see gains, and diminishing returns can onset quickly. So this type of training should be moderated. I'll usually do these workouts leading into the peak of a macrocycle, once a week, for four or five weeks in a row. If I haven't been training endurance, and I'm going to get on some ropes, I'll usually do this workout several days before the first day on.
What happens when you do the 4x4 workout, is your are forcing your muscles into a severe anaerobic energy consumption mode, producing lots of lactic acid. The lactic acid builds up in your muscles and you get pumped. In doing this, your muscles build up a tolerance to the lactic acid, and the lactic acid reservoir grows. This means you can produce more lactic acid, as your reservoir is larger, delaying muscle failure, and your muscles will still be able to operate while you have lots of lactic acid in them. Feeling the difference in your muscles from one week to the next is pretty incredible. You can make dramatic gains in a short period of time. Climbing through pump is very enjoyable, and if this workout is executed with high enough intensity, an endorphin buzz will result. MMMMM... so nice.
So how does the actual workout go?
Pick 4 boulder problems 2-4 grades below your max (your max is what you can send given a reasonable amount of time on the problem, maybe 10-20 tries).
These problems should not be tweaky or tenuous, you should know the problems, and be able to send each one consistently, even when tired.
Perform each problem back to back, all four in a row. Do not rest between problems - do not top out, do chalk up if you want to, but do jog to the next start and get back on the wall! Time how long it takes to do one circuit (generally its in the area of 2 minutes).
Rest for the amount of time it took you to do your circuit.
Repeat 3 times. (4 laps on your problems, thus the 4x4).
If you cannot complete your circuit, choose easier problems. You want to finish your circuit - barely. If you fall before the halfway point of a problem, get back on from where you fell, if you fall more than halfway through, move on to the next problem.
With this exercise you will get extremely pumped, I do not recommend doing this until the end of a workout, because its a completely debilitating exercise.
You also will want to choose problems that resemble the type of problems or routes you want to climb outdoors. For me I want to climb steep routes at the Red, so thats what my 4x4 training focuses on- steep boulder problems. If you have a particular route in mind that you are projecting, you can try to choose problems that will resemble the route. Like if your route has a crux about halfway, choose a V1, V3, V2, V1 for your four problems, then you have a crux roughly halfway through.
Stick to this for just a few weeks and you will see a dramatic increase in your strength endurance, that will no doubt help on long problems and routes.
One thing to note about this type of training, is that lactic acid is toxic for the muscles. Long term exposure to lactic acid can be detrimental to strength gains. Additionally, one does not need to do this type of training for long periods to see gains, and diminishing returns can onset quickly. So this type of training should be moderated. I'll usually do these workouts leading into the peak of a macrocycle, once a week, for four or five weeks in a row. If I haven't been training endurance, and I'm going to get on some ropes, I'll usually do this workout several days before the first day on.
What happens when you do the 4x4 workout, is your are forcing your muscles into a severe anaerobic energy consumption mode, producing lots of lactic acid. The lactic acid builds up in your muscles and you get pumped. In doing this, your muscles build up a tolerance to the lactic acid, and the lactic acid reservoir grows. This means you can produce more lactic acid, as your reservoir is larger, delaying muscle failure, and your muscles will still be able to operate while you have lots of lactic acid in them. Feeling the difference in your muscles from one week to the next is pretty incredible. You can make dramatic gains in a short period of time. Climbing through pump is very enjoyable, and if this workout is executed with high enough intensity, an endorphin buzz will result. MMMMM... so nice.
So how does the actual workout go?
Pick 4 boulder problems 2-4 grades below your max (your max is what you can send given a reasonable amount of time on the problem, maybe 10-20 tries).
These problems should not be tweaky or tenuous, you should know the problems, and be able to send each one consistently, even when tired.
Perform each problem back to back, all four in a row. Do not rest between problems - do not top out, do chalk up if you want to, but do jog to the next start and get back on the wall! Time how long it takes to do one circuit (generally its in the area of 2 minutes).
Rest for the amount of time it took you to do your circuit.
Repeat 3 times. (4 laps on your problems, thus the 4x4).
If you cannot complete your circuit, choose easier problems. You want to finish your circuit - barely. If you fall before the halfway point of a problem, get back on from where you fell, if you fall more than halfway through, move on to the next problem.
With this exercise you will get extremely pumped, I do not recommend doing this until the end of a workout, because its a completely debilitating exercise.
You also will want to choose problems that resemble the type of problems or routes you want to climb outdoors. For me I want to climb steep routes at the Red, so thats what my 4x4 training focuses on- steep boulder problems. If you have a particular route in mind that you are projecting, you can try to choose problems that will resemble the route. Like if your route has a crux about halfway, choose a V1, V3, V2, V1 for your four problems, then you have a crux roughly halfway through.
Stick to this for just a few weeks and you will see a dramatic increase in your strength endurance, that will no doubt help on long problems and routes.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Strength Endurance Training
Strength endurance is the ability for muscles to fuel themselves anaerobically for long periods of time. Hard sport climbing is a precise example of an exercise which requires great strength endurance, especially in the forearms.
Strength endurance for climbing is a combination of several factors:
1. maximum grip strength
2. lactic acid tolerance
3. capillary density
Capillary density is the most difficult thing to build up, especially if you are over the age of 20, we won't address that here.
To understand how maximum strength impacts strength endurance, we must understand a little bit about how the muscles work. At low levels of effort, muscles are able to flush out by products of energy production as fast as they are produced, this is important, as build up waste from muscle use is what ceases the chemical reaction used by muscles to do work. Up to about 30-40% of your maximum strength output, muscles operate aerobically. In climbing, we rarely operate in this aerobic zone with the primary climbing muscles. Once the anaerobic threshold is passed, lactic acid starts to build up in the muscles. This is what causes forearms to get "pumped". As muscle effort increases, so does lactic acid production. This build up of lactic acid is what causes muscles to finally fail. So if less effort can be put forth by the muscles, less lactic acid is produced, and muscles can give a sustained effort. Increasing maximum strength allows muscles to do the same exercise with less effort, this means muscles produce less lactic acid, and they can sustain the effort for a longer period of time.
Building maximum strength should always be a part of a training program, however if you want to see very fast gains in your strength endurance, you are going to want to increase your lactic acid tolerance, as well as the size of your lactic acid reservoir. This is what strength endurance training does.
The goals of strength endurance training are:
1. Raise the anaerobic threshold of muscles. This allows a climber to sustain climbing at a higher difficulty.
2. Raise the lactic acid tolerance of muscles. This allows muscles to perform even when lactic acid reservoirs are very high, or "climb through pump".
3. Increase the size of the lactic acid reservoirs of the muscles. This allows a climber to perform anaerobically with more intensity for a longer period of time, before becoming pumped.
There are many ways to exercise which can stimulate the above adaptations. One of the most famous, and one of my favorites, is the 4x4 (four-by-four), which will be the subject of the next post.
Strength endurance for climbing is a combination of several factors:
1. maximum grip strength
2. lactic acid tolerance
3. capillary density
Capillary density is the most difficult thing to build up, especially if you are over the age of 20, we won't address that here.
To understand how maximum strength impacts strength endurance, we must understand a little bit about how the muscles work. At low levels of effort, muscles are able to flush out by products of energy production as fast as they are produced, this is important, as build up waste from muscle use is what ceases the chemical reaction used by muscles to do work. Up to about 30-40% of your maximum strength output, muscles operate aerobically. In climbing, we rarely operate in this aerobic zone with the primary climbing muscles. Once the anaerobic threshold is passed, lactic acid starts to build up in the muscles. This is what causes forearms to get "pumped". As muscle effort increases, so does lactic acid production. This build up of lactic acid is what causes muscles to finally fail. So if less effort can be put forth by the muscles, less lactic acid is produced, and muscles can give a sustained effort. Increasing maximum strength allows muscles to do the same exercise with less effort, this means muscles produce less lactic acid, and they can sustain the effort for a longer period of time.
Building maximum strength should always be a part of a training program, however if you want to see very fast gains in your strength endurance, you are going to want to increase your lactic acid tolerance, as well as the size of your lactic acid reservoir. This is what strength endurance training does.
The goals of strength endurance training are:
1. Raise the anaerobic threshold of muscles. This allows a climber to sustain climbing at a higher difficulty.
2. Raise the lactic acid tolerance of muscles. This allows muscles to perform even when lactic acid reservoirs are very high, or "climb through pump".
3. Increase the size of the lactic acid reservoirs of the muscles. This allows a climber to perform anaerobically with more intensity for a longer period of time, before becoming pumped.
There are many ways to exercise which can stimulate the above adaptations. One of the most famous, and one of my favorites, is the 4x4 (four-by-four), which will be the subject of the next post.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Gabe's Training Log
I just figured out how to share my training log very easily, I've added a link to the right side of the page here, but also here it is:
Gabe's Training Log.
One note, each week is designated as a certain type, indicated by an abbreviation.
GPD - general preparatory developing
SPD - special preparatory developing
GPS - general preparatory stabilizing
SPS - special preparatory stabilizing
There are also times when the volume is bumped up significantly, these are called shock weeks. These different types of weeks have different purposes, and put together they make up mesocycles. This is called periodic training, and will be addressed in depth in a future post.
Gabe's Training Log.
One note, each week is designated as a certain type, indicated by an abbreviation.
GPD - general preparatory developing
SPD - special preparatory developing
GPS - general preparatory stabilizing
SPS - special preparatory stabilizing
There are also times when the volume is bumped up significantly, these are called shock weeks. These different types of weeks have different purposes, and put together they make up mesocycles. This is called periodic training, and will be addressed in depth in a future post.
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Importance of Consistency in Athletic Training
By far, the single most important aspect of a training program is consistency. The key to making long term physiological changes in the body is to train consistently over a long period of time. This does not mean one needs to train at a high intensity level all the time, or even every day. But one must not go through manic phases of training, followed by depressed phases. "Shocking" or "whipping" one's self into shape is not a good way to develop sustainable athletic performance.
It is sometimes good to take a prolonged break, and of course it is sometimes forced via injury. However, one should attempt to train at a sustainable level on a week by week basis. Utilizing a training log helps immensely to find a sustainable training volume and intensity. Training too hard leads to over training and burnout, and possibly injury. Training too little does not stimulate the body enough to progress or maintain fitness levels. A sweet spot must be found, and it should be an athlete's goal to train at this level week in and week out.
I do recommend some down time once or twice per year. The downtime should not be longer than one week with no training at all. A second week of downtime would consist of very light exercises or participation in an altogether different sport. Then getting back into the primary sport should be a gradual progression, starting with very low volume and intensity levels, and ramping back up over a period of one or two months. Taking more than two weeks off of an athlete's primary sport will significantly contribute to the amount of time it takes to ramp training back to previous levels.
Through consistent training, the body will adapt to handle higher training volumes and intensities. This allows the athlete to consistently train harder, and progress performance. Taking long breaks lowers the amount of training the body can handle, and hampers athletic performance.
Specific to climbing, consistency is very important in developing strength of connective tissue. The limiting factor in many climbers' ability to train harder is the strength of connective tissue. It is imperative to train consistently in order to develop strength in these connective tissues.
When planning a training program, a rule of thumb to keep in mind is that the longer the training cycle, the longer the peak of the cycle can be sustained. So for example, consider a training cycle which ramps training intensity and volume up to 100% over a period of one month. The athlete may only be able to maintain this fitness level for one or two weeks at the most, before over training sets in, or a scaling back of intensity and volume is required. Contrast this with a training cycle which slowly ramps intensity and volume to a maximum level over a period of six months. The peak in this case can last for a month or longer, before training must be scaled back. And then the recovery period is shorter, and the volume and intensity can rise again without too much fear of injury or over training.
If it is necessary to take a one or two month break away from a sport, I would still recommend participation in said sport at a minimal level during this time period. This will at least maintain some familiarity of the sport within the body, and will maintain some minimum level of fitness specific to the sport, so that when training restarts in earnest, one has not lost all previously developed adaptations.
Being aware of training volume and intensity is very important in finding an optimal training level for an athlete. A training log is an invaluable tool here, and will help an athlete find that optimal training level for long term, consistent performance development.
It is sometimes good to take a prolonged break, and of course it is sometimes forced via injury. However, one should attempt to train at a sustainable level on a week by week basis. Utilizing a training log helps immensely to find a sustainable training volume and intensity. Training too hard leads to over training and burnout, and possibly injury. Training too little does not stimulate the body enough to progress or maintain fitness levels. A sweet spot must be found, and it should be an athlete's goal to train at this level week in and week out.
I do recommend some down time once or twice per year. The downtime should not be longer than one week with no training at all. A second week of downtime would consist of very light exercises or participation in an altogether different sport. Then getting back into the primary sport should be a gradual progression, starting with very low volume and intensity levels, and ramping back up over a period of one or two months. Taking more than two weeks off of an athlete's primary sport will significantly contribute to the amount of time it takes to ramp training back to previous levels.
Through consistent training, the body will adapt to handle higher training volumes and intensities. This allows the athlete to consistently train harder, and progress performance. Taking long breaks lowers the amount of training the body can handle, and hampers athletic performance.
Specific to climbing, consistency is very important in developing strength of connective tissue. The limiting factor in many climbers' ability to train harder is the strength of connective tissue. It is imperative to train consistently in order to develop strength in these connective tissues.
When planning a training program, a rule of thumb to keep in mind is that the longer the training cycle, the longer the peak of the cycle can be sustained. So for example, consider a training cycle which ramps training intensity and volume up to 100% over a period of one month. The athlete may only be able to maintain this fitness level for one or two weeks at the most, before over training sets in, or a scaling back of intensity and volume is required. Contrast this with a training cycle which slowly ramps intensity and volume to a maximum level over a period of six months. The peak in this case can last for a month or longer, before training must be scaled back. And then the recovery period is shorter, and the volume and intensity can rise again without too much fear of injury or over training.
If it is necessary to take a one or two month break away from a sport, I would still recommend participation in said sport at a minimal level during this time period. This will at least maintain some familiarity of the sport within the body, and will maintain some minimum level of fitness specific to the sport, so that when training restarts in earnest, one has not lost all previously developed adaptations.
Being aware of training volume and intensity is very important in finding an optimal training level for an athlete. A training log is an invaluable tool here, and will help an athlete find that optimal training level for long term, consistent performance development.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Keeping a Training Log
The importance of keeping a training log cannot be stressed enough, if one wants to take full advantage of training time and energy. Its easy to plan individual workouts for different goals - maximum strength, technical proficiency, muscle hypertrophy, etc. But compiling individual workouts into a medium and long term training program takes thought and work. In order to analyze training stimuli and the body's adaptation to them, one must have a comprehensive history of workouts and commentary on them. Providing this training history is the task of the training log.
The exact format of the log will be defined by the individual, but there are some particular pieces of data which all training logs should contain. The log should contain an entry for each workout, what was performed in the workout, and the general volume and intensity of the activities performed. With just these few pieces of information, it will be easy for one to realize how much one has trained within a given time period. I like to measure volume and intensity on a one to five scale. A training entry for a workout might look like this:
Here I've also included some prose commentary on the workout. Additionally if I've got some soreness or an injury, I track pain level on a one to ten scale. This is very valuable in detecting when an injury is healing or getting worse.
Simply keeping a log puts one in the frame of mind to think about the big training picture. Trends will start to become obvious and even predictable. It will start to become easy to plan a training program for reaching specific goals. Training at a level which is both sustainable and sufficient for improvement will become easy. Avoiding injury, working through injury, and just knowning when to rest, will be as simple as analyzing the training log for simple trends in volume and intensity of training, and pain levels.
A comprehensive training program sets short term (weeks to a month), medium term (a month to six months), and long term (years) goals. Training cycles are planned to reach these goals, and performance is measured and evaluated. None of this is possible without the training log. The training log is the foundation to a serious training program, and is an absolute necessity if you want to reach your potential.
footnote
Google Notebook is a great tool for keeping a training log! I have several notebooks related to training here, one for goals and a tick list, one is simply an index of training resources and information, and another is the training log. With the log, I keep each week as one note.
The exact format of the log will be defined by the individual, but there are some particular pieces of data which all training logs should contain. The log should contain an entry for each workout, what was performed in the workout, and the general volume and intensity of the activities performed. With just these few pieces of information, it will be easy for one to realize how much one has trained within a given time period. I like to measure volume and intensity on a one to five scale. A training entry for a workout might look like this:
warm up - yoga movements
technical
dyno practice
maximum strength
barbell biceps curl - 75x4, 75x5, 75x5
barbell triceps extension - 75x3, 75x4, 75x4
strength endurance
bouldering 4x4 - brown V6, pink V4, red/purple V4, blue V4
summary
it was very hot in the gym, also body didn't want to warm up, felt good once warm, slipped off holds during 4x4's due to heat and poor route selection - brown is slippery
volume - 3/5, intensity - 5/5
Here I've also included some prose commentary on the workout. Additionally if I've got some soreness or an injury, I track pain level on a one to ten scale. This is very valuable in detecting when an injury is healing or getting worse.
Simply keeping a log puts one in the frame of mind to think about the big training picture. Trends will start to become obvious and even predictable. It will start to become easy to plan a training program for reaching specific goals. Training at a level which is both sustainable and sufficient for improvement will become easy. Avoiding injury, working through injury, and just knowning when to rest, will be as simple as analyzing the training log for simple trends in volume and intensity of training, and pain levels.
A comprehensive training program sets short term (weeks to a month), medium term (a month to six months), and long term (years) goals. Training cycles are planned to reach these goals, and performance is measured and evaluated. None of this is possible without the training log. The training log is the foundation to a serious training program, and is an absolute necessity if you want to reach your potential.
footnote
Google Notebook is a great tool for keeping a training log! I have several notebooks related to training here, one for goals and a tick list, one is simply an index of training resources and information, and another is the training log. With the log, I keep each week as one note.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Recovering From Workouts
So we've talked about maximum strength workouts, and hypertrophy workouts. Other types of workouts which will be addressed at some point are strength endurance, aerobic, power(speed), and stamina workouts. Each different type of workout works the body in a different way, and requires some different sources of energy. It makes sense then, that the different types of workouts also require different recovery periods. To get the most out of workouts, it would not be a good idea to do hypertrophy workouts working the same muscles on back to back days, in fact this would be counter productive. Not allowing the body enough time to recover is a horrible thing! You can have a great diet, get plenty of sleep, and work your tail off, but if you don't give your body time to recover, you will not see gains, and you may even lose some ability.
Following is a breakdown of the type of workout, and the amount of time it takes to recover the ability to perform other types of workouts. This information can be an invaluable guide when planning your workout schedule.
after aerobic endurance
speed - 6 hours
anaerobic - 24 hours
aerobic - 60 hours
after anaerobic endurance
speed - 24 hours
anaerobic - 48 hours
aerobic - 6 hours
after speed
speed - 48 hours
anaerobic - 24 hours
aerobic - 6 hours
So now when planning your workouts, you know it would be a bad idea to lift weights with the same muscles on back to back days, as anaerobic endurance workouts (hypertrophy, to an extent maximum strength) require 48 hours to recover the ability to do another anaerobic endurance workout (with the same muscles).
Workouts can be planned to do different muscles groups on different days, or different types of workouts on different days. Here's a sample one week workout plan:
Monday - rest
Tuesday - speed (power)
Wednesday - anaerobic endurance (hypertrophy)
Thursday - active rest (jogging/aerobic)
Friday - speed (power)
Saturday - technical (climbing)
Sunday - technical (climbing)
Scheduling workouts this way is just the beginning of planning a training program. The volume and intensity of the work performed is another crucial point to consider, and will be addressed in the next post.
As a side note, I highly recommend at least one full rest day per week, with another active rest day recommended.
Much of this information is sourced from the book, Science of Sports Training, by Thomas Kurz.
Following is a breakdown of the type of workout, and the amount of time it takes to recover the ability to perform other types of workouts. This information can be an invaluable guide when planning your workout schedule.
after aerobic endurance
speed - 6 hours
anaerobic - 24 hours
aerobic - 60 hours
after anaerobic endurance
speed - 24 hours
anaerobic - 48 hours
aerobic - 6 hours
after speed
speed - 48 hours
anaerobic - 24 hours
aerobic - 6 hours
So now when planning your workouts, you know it would be a bad idea to lift weights with the same muscles on back to back days, as anaerobic endurance workouts (hypertrophy, to an extent maximum strength) require 48 hours to recover the ability to do another anaerobic endurance workout (with the same muscles).
Workouts can be planned to do different muscles groups on different days, or different types of workouts on different days. Here's a sample one week workout plan:
Monday - rest
Tuesday - speed (power)
Wednesday - anaerobic endurance (hypertrophy)
Thursday - active rest (jogging/aerobic)
Friday - speed (power)
Saturday - technical (climbing)
Sunday - technical (climbing)
Scheduling workouts this way is just the beginning of planning a training program. The volume and intensity of the work performed is another crucial point to consider, and will be addressed in the next post.
As a side note, I highly recommend at least one full rest day per week, with another active rest day recommended.
Much of this information is sourced from the book, Science of Sports Training, by Thomas Kurz.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
