Long term training program with no performance period

[RawkCawk]

Hello everybody.  I want to start by saying thanks to the Anderson bros, your book and your hangboarding regimen kick ass.

I have seen ideas floating around of strength and power being more "crystalline", while endurance is a transient beast.  This idea has been brought up by Steve Bechtel (http://www.climbstrong.com/articles/20140313), and I also saw Horst mention it recently, but I can't find the article. 

I have been focused hard on climbing for a decent duration of time (7 or 8 years), and I just recently started physician assistant school and will not be climbing outside a whole lot for the 24 months I am in it.  My question is, what would a good training schedule look like that maximizes long term gains?  I do not really care about having any performance peaks anytime soon. And I do not need any improvements in my base fitness, I already do (probably too much) weight lifting and other workouts on the side.  I also have access to a modern climbing facility complete with all the training stuff I need (treadwall, hangboards with pulleys, campus board, etc)

Would it be a good strategy to alternate strength and power cycles exclusively?  Would ARC be useful?  What about doing climbing focused upper body flexor muscle strength training? 

Thanks everybody! Keep crushing.

[seano]

Sorry, I have nothing constructive to add except that this has been discussed at least once before: rockprodigytraining.proboards.com/thread/970/long-term-minimal-outside-climbing

I think there might be another thread floating around too; try searching for it.

I also find it impressive that this question is much more common than "How do I do minimal training and crush all the time?" It shows the general dedication of people here!

[tedwelser]

I participated in an earlier discussion and I did a couple seasons with no performance phase, as well as taking time away from training for a couple weeks at a time.

I think that you want to find a training strategy that fits your schedule and maximizes your desire while building strength, and minimizing risk of injuries. For this reason I think it is worth it to keep some ebb and flow, and to maintain the notion of cycling between phases. However I would think it is helpful to increase the proportion of hangboarding cycles since HB workouts are the easiest to manage with demanding schedules and finger strength is a long term project.

[RawkCawk]

Good advice. Did you find that that routine worked well for you? So far I have been emphasizing power and strength phases, particularly hangboarding and campus boarding. I agree on the injury prevention, I have been taking an occasional extra rest day or two here and there whenever I feel especially wrecked.