New Alpinism
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Hey all, I've been coming here for a while mainly for the bouldering aspect of climbing, but it was really climbing mountains and thruhiking that got me into bouldering in the first place as the idea was to boulder in the winter to get stronger for the summers as my hiking routes got more inventive and tougher and I began making them more technical, longer, and more reliant on going off trail, using topos and a compass to try new routes between trails, etc. Anyway, I've never seen a need to post on this site before even though I've been visiting a for a while. Furthermore, I apologize if this topic has already been covered and/or is in the wrong section for this subject. |
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I'm reading through it. I really like the approach Steve & Scott have. I'm "re" learning a ton about my own training and plan on putting much of their approach into practice. I'd like to figure out where I am and tweak my training. I have upcoming expeditions in 2015-16 that I'd like to get my base fitness and periodization figured out for (including my yearly cragging, mountaineering and ice climbing projects in the continental US). |
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I bought it and have read through all of it. Great book. In certain ways it's geared towards hard core elite alpine climbers, but all of the information can be used and adapted to however intensely you want to train/climb. I have other training books that are very good including "Climbing Stronger, Faster, Healthier: Beyond the Basics" but New Alpinism can pretty much replace them all. It's not that New Alpinism contradicts what they say, but it's comprehensive and covers everything I've gotten from other books. Highly recommended. |
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Just looked at CC's post. Looks like it's shit ton of zone 1 training, with strength toss in between? |
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I've been quite impressed with the book as well. Almost the quality of information you'd expect from a well written college-level textbook. A good mix of science and real world experience. |
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Jonathan, |
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Thanks, everybody, I appreciate the info. I'm gonna see if I can find one in town tomorrow to flip through, and comments on the book being a good resource are very encouraging. Basically, I'm training with the idea that I need to be able to carry 50 lbs or so as effortlessly as possible and still be able to climb well without turning into one of those gorilla dudes who stop improving and even having fun. What I've been doing is yielding very positive results so far. Nutrition is a thing I've gotten much better at over the years but more info on that is always appreciated. Same goes for altitude adjustments. I've learned a lot the hard way! |
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On Amazon you can check out a very substantial excerpt from the book...looks great! |
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I am surprised with the amount of zone1 training as well. I think it really depends on what your goals are. If you want to climb a multiple day route then their methodology is sound. However, I doubt a 3 hour speed climb is in zone 1. So when it comes down to it, you need to train in the intensity that you expect your climb to be. |
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Hey, all. I went and picked up a copy last week and as far as I'm concerned it was money well spent. I read it all in a few days. It was a relief to find out that some of my training ideas really aren't so crazy, and all of the science I found to be fun to read and backed up by actual scientists and studies. |
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Hey beytzim, I hear ya. I'm training for Liberty Ridge too, and since reading this book I'm now taking 2 hour trail runs multiple times a week, lifting, and hiking/climbing all day on the weekends. I have no other life now. |
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LOL. I'm also training for Lib Ridge. I have a pretty good aerobic base already. I'm just trying to improve. I think the problem I've discovered is that I've had years of overtraining so I'm trying to adjust for that. |
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Very much like this book. It's a good mix of design, inspiration, physiology, exercise science, and alpine expertise. The organization is well thought out, and the recommendations solid. It's easy to digest. |
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Jay Bach wrote:Hey beytzim, I hear ya. I'm training for Liberty Ridge too, and since reading this book I'm now taking 2 hour trail runs multiple times a week, lifting, and hiking/climbing all day on the weekends. I have no other life now. It's amazing what a difference staying in Zone 1 does though. Last weekend I did two long days in the Desolation Wilderness wearing a heart monitor, and by staying at the right HR I felt like I could've gone indefinitely. Also, I like how much discussion of physiology/biology is in the book because having that "why" in my head keeps me motivated and prevents me from rushing along in Zone 2, and then bonking, like I have in the past. This is also definitely a book to be reread multiple times. I'm sure I'll be learning from it, and improving my training methods, for years.I'm really enjoying the book as well, it's incredibly well-thought-out and makes very good physiologic sense to me. I've done a couple of zone 1 workouts now (with a monitor) and also felt, after 6 miles, which would have normally been a long run for me, that I could have just gone and done the whole "run" again! At the end, just to compare, I bumped up to my normal pace to see what "real" running looks like on a monitor, and it turns out that 85-90% of max is where I normally hang out. My question: my normal pace is about 7:45-8:00 min/mi (hardly world-beating) but with this zone 1 run I was down at about a 13 minute mile! Is part of the plan that this is going to get faster if I stick with it? I don't feel like they really talked much about pace in the book, but maybe I was just reading too fast? |
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Optimistic wrote: I'm really enjoying the book as well, it's incredibly well-thought-out and makes very good physiologic sense to me. I've done a couple of zone 1 workouts now (with a monitor) and also felt, after 6 miles, which would have normally been a long run for me, that I could have just gone and done the whole "run" again! At the end, just to compare, I bumped up to my normal pace to see what "real" running looks like on a monitor, and it turns out that 85-90% of max is where I normally hang out. My question: my normal pace is about 7:45-8:00 min/mi (hardly world-beating) but with this zone 1 run I was down at about a 13 minute mile! Is part of the plan that this is going to get faster if I stick with it? I don't feel like they really talked much about pace in the book, but maybe I was just reading too fast?I was interested in that as well. I dont own a heart rate monitor so I was just guessing my zones on how I felt. Your heart rate in zone one shouldnt be very high, so that sounds somewhat accurate. It does seem like you have to restart your training and go through the paces; especially for me since I have already been running for a lot of my life. I adjusted the training more for my needs and it is working better now considering where I am at with my fitness. |
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I love the new book, pretty damn comprehensive and well thought out. |
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Brady Deal wrote: I was interested in that as well. I dont own a heart rate monitor so I was just guessing my zones on how I felt. Your heart rate in zone one shouldnt be very high, so that sounds somewhat accurate. It does seem like you have to restart your training and go through the paces; especially for me since I have already been running for a lot of my life. I adjusted the training more for my needs and it is working better now considering where I am at with my fitness.For me their "nose breathing" pace seems to line up pretty well with my about 70-75% on my HRM. I can only get below 70% by walking, and as I said, have to run WAAAAY slower than my normal comfortable pace to stay below 75%. I'm super curious to see how it things change over the next few weeks. I'm happy to do the experiment, though: as others have noted, I feel sort of "charged up" by the Zone 1 training rather than slammed by it, which is how my usual zone 3 pace sometimes feels (in a good way). |
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Optimistic wrote: My question: my normal pace is about 7:45-8:00 min/mi (hardly world-beating) but with this zone 1 run I was down at about a 13 minute mile! Is part of the plan that this is going to get faster if I stick with it? I don't feel like they really talked much about pace in the book, but maybe I was just reading too fast?Similar here. My "natural" pace for running 3-6 miles had been about 8:20/mile, sub 8 if I was trying harder. I have found 12:30 to be my limit for nose breathing - monitor puts me at about 140 bpm. |
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I'd be psyched if you guys and other Zone 1 explorers would post up here as you go along. |
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For you people following the book and heart rate monitor advice, did you do the true maximum heart rate fitness test recommended or are you still using that old bullshit rule 220 - your age? |
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This is a book written by people who know their stuff and know how to climb, however on a personal note, it is interesting how in climbing the word "training" has come only to mean stuff about getting stronger or fitter. In most sports this isn't so. In tennis, training is partly about tendons and stuff, but just as much about hitting the ball in the right place. |