"LITTLE BOYS PLAYING IN DIRT"

Objective: Metabolic Conditioning

Warm up: Row 500m, then
4x Kettlebell Complex

Training:

(1) 5 Rounds for Time
21x Swings (scale weight as appropriate)
21x Box jumps (24" for men, 20" for women)

Rest 5 Minutes

(2) Every 30 seconds for 10 minutes

1x 60m Suicide Sprint

Rest 5 minutes

(3) 7 Rounds
Row 250m (full sprint)
5x KTE
Rest 30 seconds

Comments

Metabolic conditioning isn't pleasant. My athletes hate it, and most would rather strength train any day.

We generally breath hard ever workout, no-matter the overall objective. Hard breathing is the goal today.

The swing/box jump circuit is a hard way to start. We use box jumps for power training also - but today they have a metabolic conditioning goal. You'll come off the swings breathing hard, with fatigued legs. You'll come off the box jumps breathing hard with fatigued legs. There's no rest here. Push as hard as possible. I finished in 9:05, using a 32kg kettlebell for the swings.

The suicide sprints are classic interval training hidded in a density training format. I finished each sprint in approx. 15 seconds, and thus had a 15 second rest, for a 1:1 interval.

Hit the row hard. Really hammer it. You'll be surprised how strong you'll feel.

The goal of metabolic conditioning is to tax the cardio vascular systems with the aim to improve cardiorespiratory capacity and stamina.

There's a delicate dance between conditioning and strength in my training approach, and its something I struggle to balance and fight to learn more about.

What fails first when you're climbing a mountain. Do you gas, or do your legs and arms cramp up and fail?

Where should we spend more time - training the lungs, or strengthening the legs?

We know that in the "artificial" training environment of the gym, strength decreases metabolic conditioning workout times. I've dropped over a minute from the swing/box jump circuit in this workout - primarily due to strength gains.

But we need to be careful as this applies to running around outside. There is a cost of diminishing returns when it comes to strength training. First if it leads to significant weight gain, which translates into more weight to haul up the mountain. Don't be bodybuilding.

Second, if time spent training strength interferes with time available to train the lungs - especially sport specifically.

My mountaineers also spend time training outside - climbing, skinning, scrambling, perfecting technical skills. Gym training lays a bigger foundation for them to build on.

We aim to increase work capacity - or jam as much strength and cardio-vascular capability (horsepower) into the same package.

- Rob Shaul

Alpinist Magazine editor Christian Beckwith suffers the sled.

Hunter, well on his way to "mutant" status.