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Post by majorsick on Jul 15, 2015 8:09:37 GMT -7
I'm finishing up my first Base Fitness training phase and ARCing has been a pretty cool ride. It's pretty amazing how much improvement I've seen in these skills and pump management on easy terrain. However, I did a garage bouldering session this past weekend and my strength is WAY down. I was trying problems that were near the end of my warmup several months ago, and my fingers were just opening up on the crimps - felt REALLY hard. I decided the following day to try out some easier routes (stuff I could easily onsight a few months ago) expecting some significant endurance improvements and I was shocked to find I was struggling. This is concerning to me... Has anyone else experienced this?
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Post by joev9 on Jul 15, 2015 8:55:54 GMT -7
It's part of the periodization program. Next phase you will get your strength back plus much more, you have to believe...
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Post by jessebruni on Jul 15, 2015 9:19:31 GMT -7
Believing is pretty hard to do when that happens, but it will come back. One thing I've noticed from training this year is that my highs are higher and my lows are lower. What I mean by that is that when I'm feeling strong, it's the strongest I've ever felt and I feel like I'm pushing into a whole new level. But when I'm feeling weak I seem to be, no joke, doing worse and climbing weaker than I did 2 years ago. In fact when I'm feeling weak I actually AM climbing worse than I did 2 years ago. I think this is just the nature of periodization. Before I started this program I was fairly consistent all year long, never improved, never got worse. Now that I'm improving, my peaks are higher, but my troughs are lower too in order to make up for it. Ultimately I can piggyback off the high peaks and improve over time, but you definitely have to trust the long term program is going to work.
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Post by Charlie S on Jul 17, 2015 10:17:09 GMT -7
I've noticed the same thing. As a ballpark...
Between cycles I'll lose about 25 pounds of strength. And then I'll gain 30 during the strength phase. Then lose 25 again...but overall a net +5 per cycle.
Jessi brings up some great points and experience.
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Post by MarkAnderson on Jul 18, 2015 10:39:22 GMT -7
Agree with what everyone else said. This is rooted in the notion that endurance and power are (somewhat) mutually exclusive. It's hard to increase one without reducing the other, since many of the same fibers are performing each function, and they can't be optimized for both activities at the same time. If you're a boulderer, or roped-boulder (like me most of the time), it's a good idea to avoid things that border on "junk mileage" for this reason. You won't see me ARCing, etc, except in brief stints to warm up, anywhere near my Power Phase. This is also why if someone tells you their new training routine will improve your endurance and power/strength simultaneously, you should squint hard, cock your head slightly, purse your lips and scratch your chin while uttering a slow and skeptical "hmmmmm". The only other thing I have to add is that joe and jesse ought to differentiate their avatar pics because they look really similar and my peripheral vision often gets them confused.  |
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Post by jessebruni on Jul 20, 2015 8:53:47 GMT -7
The only other thing I have to add is that joe and jesse ought to differentiate their avatar pics because they look really similar and my peripheral vision often gets them confused. Ha! I just realized that! I have mine linked to Facebook so that if I change it on Facebook it'll change on here. I guess it encourages people to read what we said instead of just looking at the pictures! |
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Post by joev9 on Jul 23, 2015 6:16:49 GMT -7
Ha ha, didn't realize that. I will poke around to see if I can find a new (and better) one...
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