Q&A 12.30.23

by Mintra Mattison

QUESTION

I’m trying to determine which program would be best suited for me and my goals. I love Olympic lifting, it’s the best. I enjoy hiking mountains and it’s important to me to have someone cardio so I’m not dying walking up a mountain. I don’t need a fat loss plan, I’m really good about eating what my body needs and not eating just anything.
I just have a hard time creating a plan for myself. I want to get stronger but not look like a bodybuilder. Thoughts?

ANSWER

Our TLU Strength Training Plan is a great place to start. It’s strength-focused but still includes work capacity and endurance work to make sure you’re good to walk up those mountains.

QUESTION

Just bought your BIG 24 v4 program and had a question regarding rest periods.
Do you have a prescribed rest period or is it based on personal “feel”?
I saw in the 2mile improvement plan (five stars by the way) that on strength days there was only “as fast as possible”, but if the goal with BIG24 is strength without size or building lower body muscular endurance then my first thought is 3-5min rest?
As I always command my subordinates, if you dont know: ask.

What is your recommendation?

ANSWER

Yes … rest as needed to make the weight/reps for each round.
When we start this cycle, the first progression took about 50 minutes/session.
However, by the end, we were pushing 75 min/session … we just needed more rest between rounds.
– Rob

QUESTION

I have a bit of a challenging question and I totally understand if it’s not possible to really answer. But I am looking for some guidance on plans to help me enjoy everything I would want to do in the mountains. For the last decade, I’ve focused on triathlons and other heavy endurance pursuits and I do want to maintain a moderate level of endurance training. However I also want to scale back my dedication to swim/bike/run and get out and enjoy other stuff like climbing/hiking/skiing. I also would want to try and gain some strength and size as I’ve always been the stereotypical scrawny endurance athlete.
This coming year I have plans to do some trail running races, an OCR, a mtb marathon race, as well as other random trips to Moab/National parks. With any of these events, I’m not looking for ultimate performance so much as just knowing that I’m in decent shape to enjoy whatever it is that I choose to do. I know this is a big ask but any ideas on plan(s) to follow at varying times of the year would be great. Thank you!

ANSWER

The best bet is our Daily General Fitness programming. This is well-rounded, base fitness that will certainly work on developing a better base of strength while maintaining the aerobic base you’ve built over the years. When you’re approaching one of your events, cancel the subscription and jump into our event-specific programming to make sure you’re primed for those events. After the event, go back to the Daily General Fitness programming.

If you’re able to provide details on the OCR and MTB marathon race, I’d be happy to direct you to the best plan.
If you want all access so you don’t have to jump between plans, the Athlete Subscription will give you access to all of our planning, including the Daily General Fitness training.

QUESTION

I am looking for advice on which program to work on/select based on my goals and I am hoping you guys can give me some sound advice on the direction to go.

 I am 39 years old and I recently stepped away from being on a full time tactical for the last 9 years. I moved with my family out to Colorado Springs, where I still work for federal law enforcement as a regular investigator now. I am a huge outdoor enthusiast, which is why I am in CO. I ski, mtn bike, hike, big game hunt etc.. I am looking for a program long term that is going to make me improve as an athlete, a dad, and someone that is into all of these fun things that the mountain west has to offer.

I have a full gym at home in my basement. Full squat rack, kettlebells, dumbbells, barbell with 400lbs of weight, flat bench, treadmill, assault bike, reverse hyper, pull up bar, various bands.
I get about 60-90 mins in the mornings to get my workouts in. Between work and kids activities, my mornings are the best time to get it in. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

ANSWER

The best option for a multi-sport mountain focus at the moment is our Greek Heroine packet. This is 28-weeks of base fitness, that will work on strength and consistent conditionining for uphill movements. We’re in the process of building out a year-round, daily programming subscription specific for multi-sport mountain athletes, but we’re not quite ready yet. You’ll notice the programming has some climbing work built into it, but that’s optional and could be skipped (unless you’re also climbing and have access to climbing walls).

When you’re approaching a sport season (Ex: spring for MTB, summer for backcountry hunting), drop into our sport-specific pre-season plans. Happy to direct you to the appropriate plan as those seasons approach.
Or, you can use the Athlete Subscription and get access to it all.

 

 

 

Subscribe to MTI's Newsletter - BETA