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"LEGS HURT?"
Obj: Strength Endurance
Warm up:
3 Rounds
Row 250m
15x Wall Ball (M-20#/W-16#)
Training:
(1) For time.....
Goblet Squats 80 64 48 32 16 (M-25#/W-15#)
Swings 40 32 24 16 8 (M-20kg/W-12kg)
Jumping Lunges 20 16 12 8 4 (20x=20x each leg, etc.)
Men - hold a 25# dumbbell or 12kg kettlebell for your squats. Women hold a 15# dumbbell or 8kg kettlebell.
First round looks like 80 squats, 40 swings, 20x jumping lunges each leg, and so on. Total: 240x squats, 120x swings,
120x jumping lunges.
(2)
10 Rounds (grind, not for time)
5x Strict pull up (men) .... 3x Strict pull up (women)
10x Dips (men) .... 5x Dips (women)
15x Push ups (men) .... 10x push ups (women)
Comments:
The focus of "Legs Hurt?" is lower body strength endurance. Rarely do I target this at Mountain Athlete. We
do plenty of strength endurance work for the upper body and core, but because we lift so hard and heavy with the legs, I've
shied away from this type of low weight, high rep stuff.
As a coach and a gym rat myself, I've learned that maximal strength and strength endurance are limited in the way they
complement each other.
Just because you can do 500 straight air squats, does not mean you can front squat twice your body weight. And vice versa
- a 900 pound squat does not always translate into exceptional strength endurance.
Alwyn Cosgrove is a well known coach and personal trainer who demonstrates the power of lower body strength endurance
at personal trainer conferences. He'll lure some unsuspecting power lifter with huge squat numbers to the front of the room
and put the poor guy through a couple rounds of the "leg blaster." There are different versions of this, - here's
one I've used before. I like to do 4 rounds:
1 Round =
24x Air Squats as fast as possible
12x in place lunges each leg (24x total)
12x jumping lunges each leg (24x total)
12x Squat Jumps (hands behind head)
Put yourself through a couple rounds of this little devil, with a short break in between, and try not to cry. Needless
to say, the big squatter is quickly brought to his knees by this unloaded, body weight, high-rep work.
So what mode of leg training - max effort or strength endurance - is best and more transferable for mountain athletes?
At first it would seem obvious that the strength endurance work would be most transferable. But in my gym, I've shied away
from a lot of leg strength endurance work for these reasons:
- I assume that my alpinists, climbers, bikers, etc. are getting quite a bit of this already in the mountains - just by
climbing uphill.
- Many of the athletes who come through the door have soccer or endurance sport backgrounds - and I assume that leg strength
endurance is already a strong point for them. What they lack is maximum strength - so I focus on it.
- Lower body max strength training has physiological benefits beyond making the legs strong. The front squat is one of
the best core exercises out there, and many studies have shown and coaches have demonstrated that simply doing heavy squats
builds strength and muscle throughout the body - not just the quads. I don't see the same carryover benefits from lower body
strength endurance work.
Have I been wrong in avoiding leg strength endurance work? Perhaps. I'll watch close to see how my athletes perform on
this session. Also, it will be interesting to see how sore they are 1 or 2 days after......
After the first round of the squat/swing/jumping lunge part of "Legs Hurt?" you'll see where this workout gets
its name. I can't remember where I got this rep scheme - it could have been Gym Jones or another site, but I do know that
I added the jumping lunges at the end.
I did the squats holding a 45# plate on my back and touching my butt on a dynamax ball. I swung a 24kg kettlebell and
finished this part of the session in 18:28.
However, holding the plate like this during the squat can fatique your lower back. Instead - do goblet squats.
I've prescribed a 15# dumbbell for women and a 25# dumbbell for men, if the squats become unbearable, there's no shame
in dropping the dumbbell. You'll still get a great workout.
I received the following question via e-mail:
QUESTION:
Rob,
I'm quite intrigued by your post today, and the idea of neuroendorcine response:
"Exercising with protocols known to elevate these hormones eerily mimics the hormonal changes sought in exogenous
hormonal therapy (steroid use) with none of the deleterious effect. Exercise regimens that induce a high neuroendocrine response
produce champions! Increased muscle mass and bone density are just two of many adaptative responses to exercises capable of
producing a significant neuroendocrine response. "
Sounds like natural steroids, without the side effects? Sign me up! (Obviously nothing is free - the price of admission
is paid in sweat and blood in the gym. But good. If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing.)
So my question is: Do those hormonal changes take place only during one of these intense workouts, or do they change
the athlete's body chemistry all day?
I'm mainly interested in this question because I'm a rock climber, and most rock gym training does not fit this bill:
"Heavy load weight training, short rest between sets, high heart rates, high intensity training, and short rest intervals,
though not entirely distinct components, are all associated with a high neuroendocrine response."
Heavy loads, maybe, but that's about it. Bouldering with some buddies in the gym feels more like doing a few casual
sets of bicep curls at Gold's Gym. Sure you can get a bit of a pump, but I don't feel like I'm activating any endocrine systems,
or changing my body chemistry.
So I wonder, would doing these intense workouts activate my "natural steroids," and thus increase the effectiveness
of my workouts in the rock gym? Or do we need to find a way to go heavy, short rest, high heart rate, and intense with climbing-specific
workouts?
I appreciate your site greatly. It's a tremendous resource, and always thought provoking.
Kevin, SLC, UT
COMMENT/ANSWER:
Kevin,
Certainly CrossFit's Rob Miller (and Black Diamond Sponsored-climber) would argue that these intense general conditioning
gym workouts enhance climbing.
"The reason we have such profound results is the systemic response as a result of that intensity. There is a shift
in the hormonal milieu within the bloodstream: we are getting stronger in ways that we aren't even training for that day."-
Miller wrote one of my climbers.
And I've received feedback from my climbers also that they feel "stronger" and more confident on the rock and
attribute it to the hard, non-climbing specific stuff we hammer in the gym.
Not only does this training enhance your climbing, but it also balances out your weaknesses and simply makes you more
durable and mentally tough.
Also, you can do this type of stuff in the rock gym - we've been doing it here. Look back through the workouts for some
of the rock-gym training sessions. By adding weight, decreasing rest periods (classic interval training), time in the rock
gym can shift from a social experience to serious "training." It can become super intense grip, core and pull training.
We've also done full body metabolic and power endurance workouts in the rock gym using the auto belay. Here's an example
of a 3 person team workout. All three wearing 25# packs.
5 Rounds
P1 Up and Down Climb a moderate (5.7/5.8) route on the auto belay (2 min approx)
P2 Run up a set of stairs, jog down until P1 done
P3 3x Burpees then 5x squats, (still wearing pack) until P1 done
Rotate through.....
We've done similar workouts using sandbags, kettlebells, and other equipment as well as the climbing wall and auto belay.
Use your imagination and make it hard.
- Rob
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