Waiting for training season to begin

[daustin]

Hi Andersons. First off, love the book and site -- great work!

I have a question about how to structure my time before I start my first ever training season. I'm planning on starting a base fitness phase July 6th, and then basically following the 'novice trainee' plan from the book, culminating with being in the middle of my performance phase for a trip to the RRG in October. So that means I have the month of June free of training plans before I begin training, and I want to use it productively!

The one major limiting factor is that I sprained my ankle pretty badly a couple of weeks ago, so I expect that of this 'free' month, I'll be relegated to only hangboarding for the first ~2 weeks, and then maybe some top-roping or light ARCing for the second ~2 weeks. Given that the injury has forced me to rest for the past couple of weeks, I'd also like to avoid the free month being totally devoted to rest, as I think I need something to keep myself active for my sanity and to make up for the lack of aerobic exercise due to the injury.

For the first ~2 weeks of June should I focus on very light HB workouts, to get used to the routine and grips, and to avoid to much muscle atrophy? For the second ~2 weeks should I just extend my base fitness phase a bit longer?

Aside from the sprained ankle, I am a novice trainee, but not a total novice climber. Not exactly sure what I'd say my RP max is -- I haven't spent much of any time projecting or working RPs outside. I'd say I regularly OS 5.11+ sport and expect that I'd be able to RP 5.12+ if I put in the time/effort (which I plan to, hence the training! ). I'd also say I regularly boulder V5, and occasionally send V6-7.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Best,
Dan

[MarkAnderson]

Dan,

That's a drag, injuries are no fun. I take it the ankle is too bad to climb on? If so, I think your idea of a mini-hangboard cycle sounds great. Note that normally you would do your Base Fitness/ARC Phase before beginning oyur Strength/Hangboard Phase, but if your ankle won;t allow climbing at present, swapping the order is a sound compromise. I would spend this initial hangboard time getting used to the timing and logisitics, settling on which grips to train, and figuring out your baseline resistance for those grips. Once you're able to climb, I suggest getting outside as much as possible for some Outdoor Mileage training, focusing on skill development and grip control. If you have to do that inside, so be it, but considering that your not really training yet anyway, you might as well get outside if you can.

Mark

[daustin]

Thanks, Mark!

Almost a couple weeks in now, and I've done a bit of hangboarding and also a bit of ARCing (ankle is good enough for some very light ARCing). Mostly just trying to stay relatively active and fit so my overall baseline doesn't decline too much before I start my full cycle (BF -> Strength -> Power -> PE) in July. And also going to heed your advise re: OM. Not sure if I'll be comfortable leading outdoors on the ankle, but will certainly benefit from TR laps for skill development and grip control.

[Michael Hall]

i suppose if you stay overhanging enough on lead the falls should be clean...hang in there! some psyche for training through injury...www.youtube.com/watch?v=REtTkCllKQw&feature=kp