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3:2 Diminishing Intervals

 Performance (/training-plans/?
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Peaking
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center/tag/peaking/), Power Endurance
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center/tag/power-endurance/), Training Plans
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by Steve Bechtel

Training for maximum strength endurance can throttle you and leave you a sweaty mess on the floor of the gym. If you go hard enough and
starve your body of enough rest, you can end up this tired very quickly. But is getting pumped ASAP the most effective way to top out your
fitness? One of the classic blunders in the realm of fitness is seeking out maximum fatigue in a single training session (The most famous is
never get involved in a land war in Asia…). 

I have long advocated building a lot of volume through lower-intensity efforts such as easy mileage at the crag or laps on moderate gym
routes as a way of developing capacity for endurance. In addition, I think climbers should work on building high levels of strength and power
through repeated “alactic” interval efforts. However, there comes a time to maximize strength endurance efforts in the zone in between.

There are unlimited ways to tax this system, but when it comes to training in this “middle zone,” we should keep the SAID principle in mind,
which means specific adaptations to imposed demands. If your strength-endurance work features high-load efforts that tap you out quickly,
your performances will mimic this. If your efforts are so rest-deprived that you can’t do any hard climbing at all, you’re going to be really
disappointed when you face hard moves at the crag. And although I think general endurance training is fine and general strength training is,
too, our strength endurance should be extremely specific.

In currently-popular fitness classes, intervals based on the Tabata model have become very popular. In this model, an athlete works at
maximum intensity for 20 seconds, then rests for half that time (10 seconds), and repeats the effort for 8 total rounds, or four minutes.
Tabata’s original work involved a cycle ergometer and had subjects working at close to 170% of their maximal oxygen uptake…which we can
assume is VERY HIGH INTENSITY. His team’s data showed improvement in oxygen uptake and aerobic fitness, and the workout took only
minutes…so what’s wrong with this kind of training?

 
The biggest issue goes back to the SAID principle. Even though the subjects showed improvements in some fitness markers in the lab, Tabata
himself made it clear that to perform in endurance sports (and we can assume most other sports) that the athlete needed to practice the sport

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at specific durations and intensities dictated by the needs of the sport. The work was exceedingly intense, the rests too brief, and the real-
world results limited. 

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In power-endurance training, we fall victim to seeking fatigue too quickly, and the sessions end up being frustratingly short  – yes, you’re tired,
but being able to get it done at the crag just doesn’t translate. This problem is not limited to climbing, and researchers know it. The question
becomes this: How can we spend more time in effective training zones? How can we better simulate the true demands of sport?

Enter the 3:2 Diminishing Interval

One of the major criticisms of short intervals such as the Alactic Intervals we prescribe, is that they are too short to deliver a sport-specific
adaptation to stress. Although the goal of short interval training like this is not necessarily fatigue resistance, the athlete’s experience and
feeling during the session can’t be completely discounted. What’s more, even if we know that seeking the pump in each and every session has
limited value, ramping up for a high “power-endurance” peak can and should be done a couple of times a year. 

By building a program around starting with longer intervals and shortening the work as fatigue sets in, climbers can get more effective training
time close to their physical limit. If we leave intervals fixed at a given work:rest ratio, the first intervals often under-stimulate the athlete, and
the last intervals of the set are so hard that their form breaks down. Carefully programming intervals to be shorter and shorter as fatigue
accumulates allows us to maintain the highest levels of intensity, and it turns out, get fitter faster.

The set-up is not simple. You’ll need a steep boulder wall with good, continuous circuits on it or else a series of boulder problems you can link
together. You’ll also need a system board or campus board with a foot rail. We choose these because early in the session, you’ll want to be
climbing on hard moves while relatively fresh, then transition to non-skill movement on the boards toward the end in order to push through
until you’re crushed. You’ll be working close to threshold pump levels each set, so simplicity (and not having to think) is key.

You’ll also need a good interval timer. I like Seconds Pro, but anything that has adjustable work:rest ratios in a given set of intervals will work. 

Session Details:

Activity Duration Recovery Notes

Continuous Make this somewhat technical climbing, i.e. repeating boulders, following a marked
3:00 2:00 
Climbing circuit, etc.

Continuous Make this somewhat technical climbing, i.e. repeating boulders, following a marked
2:00 1:20
Climbing circuit, etc.

Board Ladders 1:00 :40

Board Ladders :30 :20

Board Ladders :30 :20 Repeat until failure to complete 30 seconds continuous movement

At the end of the series, you’ll be pretty crushed. If you’re not, you’ll want to adjust the difficulty of the laddering portion of the circuit by making
the holds smaller or the reaches longer. This is a critical step, especially if you were able to do more than three repeats of the final ladder set.

Most climbers should start with just one of these series, done at the end of another climbing training session. Follow this with a workout a few
days later that features one series, a 15 minute rest, and then another series of the same intensity. After a couple more sessions, a psyched
and fit climber can go to three of these. 

After 2-3 weeks of this training, your peak will play out, and further burying yourself in the pain cave won’t produce any better results. Go send
your project and move on. 

 
Vaccari, F., Giovanelli, N. & Lazzer, S. High-intensity decreasing interval training (HIDIT) increases time above 90% 𝑉˙O2peak. Eur J Appl Physiol
(2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04463-w

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Tags: Peaking (https://www.climbstrong.com/education-center/tag/peaking/), Power Endurance (https://www.climbstrong.com/education-

center/tag/power-endurance/), Training Plans (https://www.climbstrong.com/education-center/tag/training-plans/)

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