Off Season Training Regimen

[Tanglefoot]

It might not qualify as proper exercise, but I love the slackline for improving balance and coordination.

[big mario]

Wendlers 531, mountain biking, and laps around the pump track on a dirt jumper. Just try to avoid crashing, something that seems to be imbedded in my dna

mario

[Corey]

Hey Mario, I just switched to Wendler 5-3-1 a couple of months ago. 5x5 was kicking my butt! 

[big mario]

23 hours ago, corey_dyck said:

Hey Mario, I just switched to Wendler 5-3-1 a couple of months ago. 5x5 was kicking my butt! 

How 'bout those amrap sets, I have experienced quite a few heinous squat and deadlift sets through the years

[Corey]

1 hour ago, big mario said:

How 'bout those amrap sets, I have experienced quite a few heinous squat and deadlift sets through the years

For those reading; AMRAP = As Many Reps As Possible. When you're feeling good, you blast past the target number. On some days, you hit the target and stop. 

It's quite odd when you lift a heavy weight and think, "I can't possibly lift this one more time", and then you do 5 more reps. Neat! 

Deadlifts still scare me into respecting them a lot. I've had a number of back issues so I'm hyper-aware of form while doing it. 

[lordmetroland]

2 hours ago, corey_dyck said:

For those reading; AMRAP = As Many Reps As Possible.

Thanks for the translation. I was wondering what my trainer meant when he put me on AFRAP. I'm holding steady at 0, but it's a challenge. Evidently this is known as the "Kate Moss" workout. Smack and cigs are optional. I've never felt weaker!

[TLN]

<= Not a racer. Went from 280lbs to 205. Was ~240 on average.

I've bought road bike this summer as well. Pretty cool thing I should say. 50-60 miles rides works great for me. I'm not participating in group rides,riding mostly alone.

Gym: squats, deadlift and everything else is a good idea also. You need to have strong core and legs. I'm not doing anything specific for alpine, but I will include more different exercises in the gym this fall.

Personally I see two problems:

1. leg veins. I have problems with em. All the sports I do (snowboard, bike, basketball) require stronger legs what leads to vein problems.

2. I'm stil debating what to do during winter season: on one hard I want to be stonger, and people usually gaining weight during the winter. On the other hand I want to be lighter. That's a biggest debate to be honest. I can get to something about 240-250 but that's no fun for snoboarding.  I can get below 200 but that's no fun for anything else  :)

[Erik J]

On 9/4/2016 at 5:42 PM, big mario said:

Wendlers 531

I was looking for a new program to start when I saw you post this, so I read a lot and just finished my first month on it. Loving 531 so far. I will be with this program for a while. Thank you!

[Corey]

531 is working for me too, and I've switched to the 'boring but big' accessory sets.  But my shoulders can't take 50 overhead dumbell presses in a day!  I had to drop that set and do some other shoulder stability work instead.  Interestingly, it's not the shoulder that I tweaked at SES/ATC a couple of years ago that's giving me trouble...  Weird.  

Don't laugh, but I also just failed a 5-squat set at a little over body weight.   I've dropped the weight and will work up again.  My upper-body lifts are progressing way faster than lower body, which I never would have expected.  

I'm now eating more in the hopes that I gain muscle faster, rather than my previous hope that I'll just trade fat for muscle while eating less.  I've definitely plateaued with the light-eating plan, so it's time to change something for a month or two and see what happens!  Still eating mostly Paleo, but just more of everything now.  

Whenever I get discouraged, I recall Wendler's statment that this is a marathon, not a sprint.  That's a big help on the mental side of the battle!  

[breeseomatic]

3 hours ago, corey_dyck said:

531 is working for me too, and I've switched to the 'boring but big' accessory sets.  But my shoulders can't take 50 overhead dumbell presses in a day!  I had to drop that set and do some other shoulder stability work instead.  Interestingly, it's not the shoulder that I tweaked at SES/ATC a couple of years ago that's giving me trouble...  Weird.  

Don't laugh, but I also just failed a 5-squat set at a little over body weight.   I've dropped the weight and will work up again.  My upper-body lifts are progressing way faster than lower body, which I never would have expected.  

I'm now eating more in the hopes that I gain muscle faster, rather than my previous hope that I'll just trade fat for muscle while eating less.  I've definitely plateaued with the light-eating plan, so it's time to change something for a month or two and see what happens!  Still eating mostly Paleo, but just more of everything now.  

Whenever I get discouraged, I recall Wendler's statment that this is a marathon, not a sprint.  That's a big help on the mental side of the battle!  

Eating more is definitely going to help your progression.  10 lb jumps each cycle is no joke for the lower body especially if you are over 5 cycles.  I've had a similar experience as you have with 531, my upper body was able to sustain the progression a few cycles longer then my lower body, however I am guilty of not doing just Wendler for lower body work.  I was also incorporating plyo-metrics and a lot of cycling, so legs and back were getting a decent workout.  I found, through experimentation, that any cycling I do must be at least 3 days before a lifting day and for optimal performance I should delay the ride until after my squat day.

Cheers to starting a marathon of lifting and being introspective on your gains & methods!

 

 

[wesleywarren]

Rollerblade coyotes.

[b0ardski]

always wanted a pair of those off road skates

[Corey]

I found a shortcut:

My training: My body really didn't like the 531 with Boring But Big sets on the same days.  i.e. Squats and then 50 lighter squats right after.  I got sick every 4 weeks, right at the start of the deload week.  Lame.  Besides being sick, I was just beat up no matter how much I ate.  

So I changed it up to a variation where you do the opposite BBB from your main lift.  On overhead press days, I do bench press BBB.  On deadlift days, I do squat BBB.  Etc.  I also cut my training weight back so my AMRAP sets are in the 6-12 rep range instead of 1-5.  A possible advantage is that you do each core exercise twice a week; once heavy, once lighter but more reps.  Much more manageable so far.  I fit the Full Contact Twist in there on squat days - hoping for a stronger core/back for the 2018 snow season!  

So, after more than a year of lifting, my numbers are still in the 'beginner' range, but they're slowly climbing.  I've never felt better in my life.  I wish I knew about this stuff when I was 21, not 41. 

[st_lupo]

Hey if this thread is still a thing I'll now add karate (as a year round thing).  I started up together with my oldest daughter and it is helping to improve my overall agility and balance,  which have obvious applications to snowboarding.  

[breeseomatic]

3 hours ago, corey_dyck said:

I found a shortcut:

My training: My body really didn't like the 531 with Boring But Big sets on the same days.  i.e. Squats and then 50 lighter squats right after.  I got sick every 4 weeks, right at the start of the deload week.  Lame.  Besides being sick, I was just beat up no matter how much I ate.  

So I changed it up to a variation where you do the opposite BBB from your main lift.  On overhead press days, I do bench press BBB.  On deadlift days, I do squat BBB.  Etc.  I also cut my training weight back so my AMRAP sets are in the 6-12 rep range instead of 1-5.  A possible advantage is that you do each core exercise twice a week; once heavy, once lighter but more reps.  Much more manageable so far.  I fit the Full Contact Twist in there on squat days - hoping for a stronger core/back for the 2018 snow season!  

So, after more than a year of lifting, my numbers are still in the 'beginner' range, but they're slowly climbing.  I've never felt better in my life.  I wish I knew about this stuff when I was 21, not 41. 

Corey,

Understanding your body and making modifications to your training is probably the most important aspect of training.  It's good to see that you are taking an analytical approach to this and not just saying that XYZ program doesn't work.  I've suffered from the boring but big routine myself, mainly because it's boring and I don't really want to get big as I have tailored dress shirts and pants for work and I would be throwing thousands of dollars away if I got much larger.  My accessory work typically consists of dynamic lifts (snatch and C&J) at much lower weight, and less volume.  This has worked for me, however I still embrace the maximal effort on the plus lifts.  For me, the plus 3-5 at the end lets me know I am lifting the proper weight during the core of the 531 program.  On a lot of my lifting days, I call it a day after the main lifts and just go inside to drink a beer.

 

 

[barryj]

Road biking., lots of road biking 200-400 miles a week. I do 10+ centuries over the spring/summer fall.

Also with all the snow we have had and are still getting here in Tahoe (another 3ft. tonight/tomorrow!) I can't get out on the road consistantly so I bought a smart trainer - Tacx Buschido and am using Zwift

Zwift is pretty cool, really pushes me to keep up the pace to stay with the pack or beat a PR.  Really good workouts

Also still hitting the weight room 3x week 

Really should do some Yoga!

[SunSurfer]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/06/secrets-two-hour-marathon-men-alter-running

Five useful ideas at the end of the piece for your off-season endurance training.

[Freezer]

Interesting article I ran across earlier this season about eccentric training vs. concentric training.  I tried out the workout and can attest that it is brutal, but in my subjective opinion, really helped out for carving conditioning.

https://www.backcountry.com/explore/train-eccentric-leg-strength-for-alpine-skiing

 

 

[alpinegirl]

I did a lot of research leading into last season and arrived at incorporating eccentric training. I am not stating to do just eccentric lifting, but to simply include it.

I have done a lot of different things over the years (have a physically demanding job, have lifted for about a decade with various approaches, done plyo, ran a lot, biked a lot......) and after years of being frustrated that nothing that I did seemed to prepare me for the season, I had my best season yet. Hit at full speed. Endured less fatigue. Rode harder longer. Fully worth the pain in the rear workouts.

[Freezer]

12 hours ago, alpinegirl said:

I did a lot of research leading into last season and arrived at incorporating eccentric training. I am not stating to do just eccentric lifting, but to simply include it.

I have done a lot of different things over the years (have a physically demanding job, have lifted for about a decade with various approaches, done plyo, ran a lot, biked a lot......) and after years of being frustrated that nothing that I did seemed to prepare me for the season, I had my best season yet. Hit at full speed. Endured less fatigue. Rode harder longer. Fully worth the pain in the rear workouts.

Agree about incorporating eccentric lifting.  My plan for the off season is to mountain bike, skateboard, concentric lift legs in the gym to build muscle mass, and eccentric training for boarding-specific training.  Then a couple of months before the season starts, ramp up the eccentric training.

A number of years ago I lifted legs really hard in the off season and mountain biked a lot, and that season absolutely crushed it carving, so my takeaway is that the benefits of basic leg strength can't be overstated!

[FrankNBeans]

3. Cobblestone cart paths — Belgian the F—k up, golfers!
Read more at http://www.velonews.com/2016/08/news/road/heres-why-cycling-is-not-and-never-will-be-the-new-golf_419009#V1PjIdf2hHOwYRyr.99

 

 

 

 

[st_lupo]

On 5/16/2017 at 7:39 PM, FrankNBeans said:

3. Cobblestone cart paths — Belgian the F—k up, golfers!
Read more at http://www.velonews.com/2016/08/news/road/heres-why-cycling-is-not-and-never-will-be-the-new-golf_419009#V1PjIdf2hHOwYRyr.99

Wait...wuh?  Are the helmet straps supposed to go inside the sunglasses?

[Dan]

1 hour ago, st_lupo said:

Wait...wuh?  Are the helmet straps supposed to go inside the sunglasses?

I do sunglasses inside the helmet straps too! I just looked this up, and apparently the helmet straps are supposed to be so tight that it would be too uncomfortable to have the sunglasses inside the straps. Guess I need to tighten my helmet straps!

[queequeg]

On 5/19/2017 at 2:40 PM, Dan said:

I do sunglasses inside the helmet straps too! I just looked this up, and apparently the helmet straps are supposed to be so tight that it would be too uncomfortable to have the sunglasses inside the straps. Guess I need to tighten my helmet straps!

Yerp. If your helmet is loose on your head it will do little good in a crash.

[davekempmeister]

5 hours ago, queequeg said:

Yerp. If your helmet is loose on your head it will do little good in a crash.

So many times this past season, I saw people on the mountain with the chinstrap on their helmet unbuckeled.   Probably not happening any more frequently than before but for some reason I am just noticing.  A lot of people with unbuckeled helmets