Training 2010

Jan 18, 2010 | Training | 1 comment

Jan 18, 2010 | Training | 1 comment

Wise people admit their mistakes easily. I must be dumb, because for the last few years, I’ve noticed myself falling into a very predictable routine in terms of my climbing performance. Usually, I train for a couple months during the winter simply by bouldering indoors and get a little stronger. I enjoy about a month or two of climbing well in the spring and early summer, but then, my power drops and I plateau for about two or three months. I think this is because I get sucked into sport-climbing-project mode–and am just maintaining by doing the same routes, just working power-endurance.  By October, I’m unable to send anything, and, despite my protests, I suspiciously begin to gain a lot of weight–usually 10 pounds in a couple weeks right at the end of October! (Weird, huh?) This is strange because 1) it happens every year, and 2) I don’t eat anything different–it just seems to be my body’s natural way to prepare for winter. By November, I’m burned out on climbing and just want to be lazy and overly fed until New Year’s.

For 2010, I’ve decided to plan my year differently–and recommit myself to training to get stronger. Here’s what’s on the agenda: I’m going to try to follow a very general  periodized training routine that begins with four weeks of strength training, then four weeks of power, then four weeks of power-endurance. I’m spicing that routine up by adding in some realistic climbing goals for myself that include accomplishments on real rock–just to keep the training period more interesting.

This will be the first 1/3 of the year. To prevent myself from plateauing during the second 1/3 of the year, as I usually do, I’m going to take a two-month break from sport climbing and just go bouldering and continue to do some strength/power training on the side. If that goes well, I should theoretically be able to head into the fall season, the final 1/3 of the year, my strongest yet as opposed to how it usually works, where I enter the fall at my weakest.

Here are some more specific details about the routine:

First 1/3 of 2010: Periodized training & goals

STRENGTH: Four weeks of strength training: This includes lifting weights twice a week, and one day of climbing gym. The weight-lifting routine (about two hours) goes like this:

  1. • 20-min cardio
  2. • 30-min light bouldering
  3. • Pull-ups to failure (3 sets)
  4. • Pull-down machine, 3 sets of 12 reps; Then, increase weight so I can only do 3 sets of only 2-3 reps with lots of rest in between.
  5. • Front levers–two sets of 6-12
  6. • Wide & close-grip push-ups (3 sets each of 15)
  7. • Triceps & biceps (3 sets of 12)
  8. • Light shoulder & rotator cuff work (lots of reps)
  9. • 30-minutes minimum of core work (to be done in between all of the above exercises) such as leg lifts, ball sit-ups, etc.
  10. • Stretch to cool down.

Days in the climbing gym:

  1. • Warm up, stretch, and 30-min of easy bouldering, eventually warming up enough to do a few V7 or V8s
  2. • Systems board work, focusing on small holds and two-finger pockets. With the system board, I will use a weight vest in order to produce muscle failure quicker. I’ll do three sets with one “pair” of two fingers, then do three sets with the other pair of two-fingers. I don’t use “actual pocket” holds, just two fingers on a flat edge.
  3. • Hangboard: 25 minutes. My preferred hangboard work out involves picking a hold, then hanging from it for 8 seconds with a 5 second rest, then 8 sec, 5 sec rest–repeat for just over one minute. Then rest two minutes. Pick a new hold and follow the above time schedule. I hang a 25 pound weight from my harness belay loop while doing this–unless I’m doing just two-fingers, in which case I’m not strong enough yet to add weight there.
  4. • 30 min core work. Core work is important, and involves not just abs, but lower back!

 

POWER: During the power phase (next 4 weeks), I’ll focus on hard bouldering and campus-boarding. I’ll switch the routine so that I lift weights one day a week (doing the same schedule, but shortening rest times between sets), and boulder two days. The focus will be more on climbing hard, short boulder problems. During this stretch (mid- to late February), I’ll be taking some trips out on the weekends to Joe’s, and hopefully, will be able to tick off some problems there that I’ve wanted to do, like Resident Evil, the Worm Turns and Finger Hut.

POWER-ENDURANCE: During the final 4 weeks of the periodization, I’ll start doing longer circuits in the gym, three times a week. I’ll stop lifting weights, but continue campus boarding. Rifle will just be starting to be climbable, and the goal will be to tick some short power-endurance 5.13’s there quickly. Depending on what’s dry, I’d like to get on something like Music For the Dead, Dumpster, or maybe something in the Winchester. Unfortunately, the ultimate power endurance route: Living in Fear, will likely be wet still. After falling painfully high on the climb last fall, I need to finish that one up! I’m also planning on taking a trip back to southwest Utah to help Joe Kinder bolt some new caves, and climb at the Wailing Wall/Cathedral. There are some great power-endurance routes there I want to finish up like Resurrection, Hanging with Andy Raether, etc. The goal is to do one or two of these routes in a few tries (one or two days), and build confidence before heading back to Rifle for a bigger, harder project.

After those four weeks are complete (late March/early April), I’ll take 10 days off and just rest and recover. During that time, I plan on doing an annual cleanse. Last year, I did the Master Cleanse, which I hated at the time, but in retrospect, really enjoyed. It made me feel pretty healthy. I’ll probably do the M.C. again, and then, transition into a raw-foods cleanse for another week. This is the perfect time of year for this type of thing because of all the fresh fruits and veggies that are once again available.

Second and third 1/3 of 2010:

I am planning on taking some trips abroad to climb and do some features for R&I. Hopefully I’ll be in shape to crush. In July and August, I’ll return to some indoor training routine, and outdoor bouldering. Mixing in bouldering and strength training in the middle of the season of Rifle’s longer enduro-routes will be key to preparing for a more productive fall.

I’d be interested in hearing if anyone has any advice for me, or questions. Here’s to getting stronger!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

 

About The Author

Andrew Bisharat

Andrew Bisharat is a writer and climber based in western Colorado. He is the publisher of Evening Sends and the co-host of The RunOut podcast.

Free Climb. Free Thought.

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Comments

1 Comment

  1. Avatar

    I’m curious to know if you stuck to your plan and, if so, then how were your results.  I always try to make a training plan but I never stick with it…..

    Chad

    Reply

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