3 Mountains 1 Day Part 1
The Unlikely Training Plan That Works
A Training Plan is Born
I'm not currently training for anything specific. If I had to summarize my current goals to a coach or trainer, I'd say that I'm preparing for fall dry-land training. I want to maintain and build my aerobic fitness. Muscular endurance for up and downhill travel is a priority. I want to retain and increase my strength in general. Oh, and I like mountain biking too.
I believe that no matter what someone is training for, they should build their training plan using proven training principles. If your "training" involves an ever-changing carousel of workouts you grab from TikTok and Instagram, you're not setting yourself up for much progress.
The good news for mountain athletes is that it's easy to train effectively for mountain sports when you figure out how to do it.
As loose as my own training is these days, I still deploy it with old-school result-driven training principles. Three beneficial training principles are Individual Differences, Progressive Overload, and Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. These training principles keep my meager training efforts on track and sharp.
The Principle of Individual Difference reminds us to consider one's unique situation to develop the best program. Genetics, current habits (good and bad), training and health history, availability to train, and ideal training load are all examples of Individual Differences.
The SAID principle suggests that our bodies adapt to the specific demands we impose during training. Champions in all disciplines match their training to the demands of their sports. Workouts don't have to look like the actual sport all the time, but they should address specific attributes needed in the sport.
The principle of progressive overload states that the body needs to experience more significant stress than average to gain strength or aerobic fitness. Your workouts must progress to continue to provide a positive training effect as you gain fitness.
To implement these training principles, figure out when you can train and how much training you need. Then develop a few simple workouts that address your sport or goal's specific strength and aerobic demands. Finally, trust that your workouts are good, then repeat and progress those workouts for at least four weeks to observe improvement.
Stay with me here. Read part two for more story time and to see how training quality is at least as important than the right training quantity.