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fracture
Mar 21, 2006, 7:12 PM
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Registered: Jun 13, 2003
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I have seen people talk about doing ARC-only days as "active rest", and such things. I also seem to recall reading in the SCC that ARC workouts can be performed "every day" (but I don't know if this means every climbing day, or literally every day).
Obviously different people need different amounts of recovery time, but here's two questions I have if they can be answered generally:
1) Is it a bad idea to do 4 (or more) days of ARC-only training in a row? How many consecutive days can be put together? Will you decrease the benefits to your local endurance if you do too many in a row without pure, "inactive rest" in-between?
2) If you have had a more strenous training or performance day (or two in a row), is substituting a rest day with "active rest" by ARC'ing a bad idea? Will you loose training benefits by not allowing enough recovery from those earlier days? Will you increase risks of injury?
(Ignoring for now the issue of how well you stick to your plan and resist the temptation to try harder stuff . I know personally that I can't go to my local gym during peak hours and just ARC---too much of the wall will be in use, and too many people will be trying interesting routes or boulder problems that I'll want to try.)
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wyomingclimber
Mar 22, 2006, 4:44 PM
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Registered: Sep 11, 2002
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I don't think there are really any studies on this, but from my experience in climbing and cycling:
In reply to: 1) Is it a bad idea to do 4 (or more) days of ARC-only training in a row?
Done properly, this shouldn't be a problem. Think of cyclists: They work at roughly this intensity basically all day every day during the early season. By comparison, climbers are kind of wimpy.
In reply to: How many consecutive days can be put together?
At the end of an ARC cycle, I'm usually 6 days on/1 day off (I define an ARC day as 1-1.5 hrs traversing without touching the ground.) Do I really need the day off? Probably not physically, but I certainly look forward to it mentally.
In reply to: Will you decrease the benefits to your local endurance if you do too many in a row without pure, "inactive rest" in-between?
By definition, you should be fully recovered 24 hours after an ARC day, so you shouldn't have a problem physically. However you could reach mental burnout which is just as bad. My recommendation: Take a day off every week. What can it hurt?
In reply to: 2) If you have had a more strenous training or performance day (or two in a row), is substituting a rest day with "active rest" by ARC'ing a bad idea?
Not necessarily--particularly for advanced climbers. This is a bit of a tough one, though, because I don't think there's any research at all on it. Keep in mind that aerobic athletes differentiate from an aerobic pace (essentially, ARC) and a recovery pace. We don't.
If I'm really fit, I tend to do (on consecutive days) P, PE, ARC, Off. I feel like that gives me a better recovery than two days completely off.
I have done P, PE, ARC, ARC, and while I couldn't find any objective evidence that I was overtraining, it felt like too much climbing. Also, as a practical matter, it's kinda hard on the skin.
If I'm doing a five week cycle using the above protocol, I tend to mix up the rest. Sometimes 2 days off, sometimes one ARC day and one day off, sometimes two ARC days.
At the very end of the cycle I cut some of the rest/ARC and overtrain (technically referred to as overreaching.) A bit dangerous, but effective if you don't get hurt.
In reply to: Will you loose training benefits by not allowing enough recovery from those earlier days? Will you increase risks of injury?
I doubt it. ARC is about volume and it seems unlikely that there are many climbers with the logistical ability and mental toughness to overtrain ARC (unless they do it improperly.) I mean, done right, I wouldn't be surprised if a very fit climber could do 4 hours a day 6 days a week easy. Though I have no evidence of that because there's no iPod interesting enough to make me try it...
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rockprodigy
Mar 22, 2006, 6:43 PM
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Registered: Sep 10, 2002
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He pretty much hit the nail on the head, as far as I'm concerned.
I completely agree that mental fatique is probably the biggest concern, and skin is another issue. If you're one of those lucky people with no job and a belay slave who can ARC outdoors, say on a long trad route, then go for it. Doing horizontal laps in a gym can be very draining...you need to save that psyche for your hard workouts.
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