Rock Prodigy scheduling question

[scienceguy288]

I've got a bunch of questions regarding the Rock Prodigy training program which I'll post once I've put together my initial training plan. My biggest problem/concern is that I'm planning a climbing trip in March 6-14. If I were to start the program now, I would be just starting the Power-Endurance phase when the trip hits. So, does it make more sense to just keep going with the program as is and take the trip in the PE phase, or should I shave off a week or two of the base fitness phase (given that I've been doing a lot of gym climbing and some campus training for the past 3 weeks) so that my trip lands in the performance phase, or at least the tail end of the PE phase? Thanks.

[MarkAnderson]

How long is your nominal Base Fitness Phase? If you're planning a BF Phase of several weeks, you could probably sacrifice a week with no ill-effects. As far as how much PE you need on the back end, that depends on the types of route(s) you plan to attempt on your climbing trip. If the climbing is generally bouldery, you may not need much PE. If the climbing is more like The Red, with long pumpfests, then some PE is essential.

If I were in your situation, I would probably shorten the BF Phase, and then I would phase some PE training into your Power Phase by stacking some PE work onto the ends of your power workouts. Here's an example of how to do that within a 3-week Power Phase:

Day 1: LB + Campus + SE
Day 4: LB + SE
Day 6: LB + Campus + SE
Day 9: LB + 1 set of LBC or Route Interval + SE
Day 11: LB + Campus + SE
Day 14: LB + 2 sets of LBC or Route Interval + SE
Day 16: LB + Campus + SE
Day 19: LB + 3 sets of LBC/RI + SE
Day 21: Begin PE Phase

You can tweak the # of sets and frequency of PE depending on how much PE you think you need and how you feel at after your power work.

[scienceguy288]

Hi Mark. Thanks for writing the book and thanks for the reply! Coincidentally, I am looking at either the Red (or maybe the New, but probably the former). As such, PE sounds critical.

I am not sure what you mean by nominal base fitness.  I just stared doing the Rock Prodigy program.  Before this, I tried to create one based on the advice I read in Horst's books.  I generally first did 4 weeks of "endurance," which focused on traversing and his "moving fingerboard hangs" exercise.  Then I did a 3 week strength phase focused on one arm deadpoint lunges, climbing hold touches, and his "pyramid fingerboard hangs." This was followed by a 2 week power-endurance phase with 4x4 circuits.  I must admit that although I did improve, I felt as though my gains were rather slow and the exercises too ancillary.  In an ideal situation where I can have a few 17 week season, I plan on striving for 3-4 weeks of BF, 3 weeks of strength, 2-3 weeks of Power, and then 3 of PE.

Here's what I am thinking based on your suggestions and working back from the climbing trip:

Jan 3-Jan 9: Base Fitness
Jan 10-Jan 16: Base Fitness
Jan 17-Jan 23: Strength
Jan 24-Jan 30: Strength
Jan 31-Feb 6: Power
Feb 7-Feb 13: Power
Feb 14-Feb 20: PE
Feb 21-Feb 27: PE
Feb 28-March 6: PE
March 6-14: Trip

I know it's far from ideal, but I fall into the Novice Trainee category and it sounds like PE is a must for my trip.

Now for the two follow up questions I had:

1.) Assuming that I do include 3 weeks devoted to PE before the trip, should I do the modified power routine you propose above or just do the normal workouts you list in RCTM?
2.) Would you suggest trimming the BF phase to one week? Like I said, I've been gym climbing 3 times a week for the past 4 months, though not necessarily ARCing during that time. The only real reason I had it at 2 weeks was that I liked the uniformity of having 2 weeks for each phase...

Thanks again!

[Admin]

Ok. I would strongly suggest 3 weeks of Strength. I think it will be tough to get much out of two weeks, since it will take a few workouts to get the hang of it (bonus pun). You could take that week out of either BF or PE, but I would do something like this:

Jan 3-Jan 9: Base Fitness
Jan 10-Jan 16: Base Fitness
Jan 17-Jan 23: Strength
Jan 24-Jan 30: Strength
Jan 31-Feb 6: Strength
Feb 7-Feb 13: Power
Feb 14-Feb 20: Power + PE
Feb 21-Feb 27: PE
Feb 28-March 6: PE
March 6-14: Trip

...where the weeks of 7-20 Feb looks something like this:

Day 1: LB + Campus + SE
Day 4: LB + 1 set of LBC or Route Interval + SE
Day 6: LB + Campus + SE
Day 9: LB + 2 sets of LBC/RI + SE
Day 11: LB + Campus + SE
Day 14: LB + 4 sets of LBC or Route Interval + SE

Hopefully that answers your other questions. You could certainly cut the BF phase to one week, but since it sounds like you are relatively new to this, I wouldn't recommend it. Early on in my training career BF was critical to my improvement. Learning to climb efficiently will help tremendously at the Red. Note that you can also do some ARCing during the Strength Phase, assuming you have the time/energy.
Good luck,
Mark

[scienceguy288]

Thanks Mark! I appreciate the feedback and advice. I look forward to getting started and I'll be sure to let you know how the trip turns out!