Rest times for back to back cycles

[bickill]

Hi everyone,

My season for outdoor climbing is essentially done for the summer, up until about October. I'm looking to put together back to back bouldering training plans during the summer (or maybe one basic plan just to get a little extra endurance followed by a bouldering plan). My question is what is an appropriate amount of rest time? I know I will be peaking at one point, but when is it proper to start the next plan?

I guess a side question would be, is doing back to back plans even advisable? There's just nothing climbable outside and I don't want to sit around for 4 weeks during a peak phase.

Thanks for the advic

[MarkAnderson]

I've never done it but plenty of others on hear have asked about it, hopefully some of them have followed through and can share their experience. In theory, if you end your first cycle injury-free I think you could have no rest and just go from a Power Phase straight into the next BF or Strength Phase. I wouldn't do that because I have a life and periodically want to do something other than climbing or climbing training So I would probably take off 1-2 weeks, depending on how much time I had to work with.

In the past I've done consecutive cycles with as little as 3 rest days in between, but these were full-blown cycles with long outdoor performance phases. In any case I don't think there is any long-term benefit to going straight from one cycle into the next.

[bickill]

Thanks for the reply mark. It doesn't sound like you're a big fan of doing back to back cycles. In your opinion would it make more sense to just use the "maintenance" program you guys have in the book combined with some hard gym bouldering? Then just do a plan when I'm closer to climbing season?

I'm basically trying to maximize my strength/power gains this summer while outdoor climbing isn't really an option here.

[MarkAnderson]

May 6, 2015 4:51:36 GMT -7 bickill said:

 It doesn't sound like you're a big fan of doing back to back cycles.

I'm not a fan of doing it myself. I live in a place where it's practical to climb outside year-round, so I have never had a good reason to do it.

May 6, 2015 4:51:36 GMT -7 bickill said:

  In your opinion would it make more sense to just use the "maintenance" program you guys have in the book combined with some hard gym bouldering? Then just do a plan when I'm closer to climbing season?

No. Maintenance training generally won't make you better, it allows you to stay at or near whatever level you were at when you started the maintenance training. It is a way to prolong your performance peak. You're looking for the opposite of that--no performance peak. I think back to back seasons is the way to go if you're looking to maximize your long term improvement.