[Mariner_9]

Here goes:

1. How long should the muscular endurance training sessions last? I didn’t see anything in TFNA about what % of the total weekly training volume they should comprise. Perhaps I just missed it.

2. I assume that for weeks 9-16, ME workouts should be done in a fasted state? (but not when doing them in Z3 in weeks 17 on?)

Topic

[Scott Johnston]

Scott Johnston on April 26, 2017 at 4:46 pm #4676

These ME sessions should last as long as needed to accumulate the desired vertical as specified in TftNA book. Don’t suggest doing any ME workout fasted. They are pretty glycogen dependent and you want to recover in a timely way.

Scott

[Mariner_9]

Mariner_9 on April 27, 2017 at 12:10 am #4680

Thanks, Scott, that’s very helpful.

One further question: what constitutes an “abbreviated” Max Strength routine? To make it concrete, my Max Strength routine comprises 5 sets of 3 reps for 3 exercises. If I want to abbreviate the routine, I assume that I do a lower number of sets, but how many?

[Scott Johnston]

Scott Johnston on April 27, 2017 at 8:26 pm #4689

Abbreviated means cutting sets in half but using heavier weight if possible. When doing these they are just for maintenance not for building.

Scott

[Mariner_9]

Mariner_9 on April 28, 2017 at 4:31 am #4691

Thanks, Scott, I appreciate the clarification.

[sambedell]

sambedell on May 8, 2017 at 3:47 pm #4746

Hey Scott,

Thinking back to the “Martian Training for Everest” article where you prescribed 2 massive ME workouts each week: How did you train fat adaptation in this situation if you are having the athlete fuel well for this workout? Was this a situation of huge fat adaptation already so you didn’t need to do more or did you stress the fat metabolism by some sort of fasting at the expense of quality ME?

Thanks,

Sam

[Scott Johnston]

Scott Johnston on May 8, 2017 at 9:12 pm #4749

Sam:

David R was already well fat adapted by the time we got around the those really tough ME sessions so he was able to handle them. He did some of his other low intensity aerobic work, mostly runs in a fasted state. This seemed to help maintain the fat adaptation.

Scott

• This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by Scott Johnston.

[Felipe Q]

Felipe Q on June 21, 2017 at 3:40 pm #5252

Hello Scott, I noticed the focus on heavy weight 80-90% of 6 rep max prescribed in the muscular endurance exercises in TftNA. What little I learned from other sources over the years, which is arguably next to nothing, always suggested low weight and high reps to build muscular endurance. Does heavy weight/low rep sets not build larger muscles which require more oxygenation to function and more energy to haul bigger bulk up the mountain? My goals are non-technical long glacier plod type climbing at higher elevations. Thanks for the info.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by Felipe Q.

[Mariner_9]

Mariner_9 on July 5, 2017 at 10:45 am #5508

@ Felipe Q – heavy weight/low reps is for the Max Strength routines. They should improve maximum recruitment without leading to hypertrophy. There is some neat info in Mark Twight’s book about number of reps and the effect on the muscles (recruitment vs. hypertrophy vs. endurance).

Lighter weight/high “reps” is for Muscular Endurance. IIRC the recommendation is for anywhere between 10-30% of body weight for water jug carries (so not really reps in the gym sense). Usual gradualism principle applies, i.e. start at the low end of that range and build up.

HTH.

[Mariner_9]

Mariner_9 on July 27, 2017 at 7:21 am #5734

OK, more Muscular Endurance questions.

1) Should you eat during an ME session? There seems to be a conflict between the principles of ‘train on fat, race on carbs’ and replacing c. 50% of calories burned per hour when doing long bouts of exercise (my ME sessions are currently 3-4 hours and end up burning c. 1800-2400 calories. I consume c. 500-600 ml/hour of fluid and use electrolyte tablets but don’t eat)

2) Any tips for minimizing damages to your joints if you can’t empty the water at the top? : ) My workouts are on the stairs in a high-rise and because of the building layout and my access privileges, I can’t take the elevator down then take the stairs up – it has to be stairs up and down.

Finally, not a question but just an observation – I’m finding it’s very important to space these workouts during the week so as to ensure adequate recovery before the next one.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by Mariner_9.