Go Medium: Training in the 70% to 80% Work Load Range

When you go to the gym do you spend your entire session trying routes or problems right at your limit?  Steve Bechtel of Climb Strong and author of our Strength Training Guide posted an article that describes how with elite athletes in most sports the majority of their training work load is done between 70% and 80% of their max.

“Among the many take-aways from the weekend was the fact that at the very top-end of athletics, performers spend the majority of their training time working at loads of 70-80%. The actual distribution of loads in weightlifters, gleaned from several researchers and coaches is remarkably similar. Over the course of several years, in many countries, and in multiple sports, a normal distribution of loading appears.” – Steve Bechtel

Steve goes on to describe how keeping the majority of the work load in this middle range is an important feature of training for high end athletes that has implications for climbing training as well.

“The climbing implications are there, too. Yes, it’s harder to quantify where 75% of your maximum is, but the zone is no less valid. Through trial and error and a lot of conversations, we start to see that somewhere around your onsight limit is probably about right. This doesn’t mean that you should actually be onsighting, but rather climbing a lot in that grade range for the most overall benefit. The pathway is the same as it is in weight training: you are able to do more high quality volume at a level that still challenges you.” – Steve Bechtel

As Steve points out, by not always training at the highest possible intensity, you are able to do more quality training volume at a level that is both still challenging and will produce gains.  However, as Steve illustrates with the above table, this prioritizing of the middle does not mean that you should only train in this 70% to 80% range and never above or below it.  As the table illustrates, it is still important to do both really low intensity training like warming up as well as high intensity training where you are reaching your one rep max.

Click through to read Steve’s whole article and maybe consider spending some time training around your onsite level.

Click Here: Go Medium – Training in the 70% to 80% Work Load Range

(photo courtesy of climbstrong.com)

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