Why You Should Play with the Seasons

If you are lucky enough to call the mountains your home, you are somewhat limited to the seasons that dictate how you play outside.  Sure you can climb in the winter months on a sunny day, or find a north-facing slope to get your ski fix in July because you’re determined to ski every month out of the year - if this is you, tip of the hat.  But I don’t believe you when you say it is the same as great February conditions.  Your passion is unrivaled, however I want to argue that if you are too focused on one or two disciplines throughout the entire year, you are missing out on not only quality time in the mountains, but also opportunities to train better.

When I mention “playing with the seasons,” what I am referring to is taking frequent and strategic hiatuses from your favorite disciplines in order to accomplish the following:

-REST - which comes with your frequently-targeted muscles healing, but also your technique improving 

-Enjoying prime seasons of intentional focus on that season’s outdoor pursuit

-Avoiding “outdoor overload” - a term I use to describe how to navigate making time for all your favorite outdoor disciplines

-Prioritizing strategic times throughout the year to spend in the gym in order to excel for the next season

-Avoid burnout and boredom - give your passions a break, fall back in love with why you started getting outside

-Opportunity to expand your outdoor repertoire - try something new

Look at some of the top performers in the outdoor industry who choose this approach vs. those who solely pursue one specific discipline.  

There are, of course, exceptions.  But I want to highlight a few of my favorites:

-Jimmy Chin (skiing, mountaineering, climbing)

-Emily Harrington (skiing, sport/trad/bouldering)

-Lonnie Kauk (snowboarding, climbing)

-Killian Jornet (trail running, climbing)

If you have never heard of any of these athletes - look them up.  These are all athletes who split their calendars throughout the year between multiple disciplines, yet don’t seem to compromise skill in their off-season pursuits.  They are at the top of their game in multiple disciplines, and all share the same passion for getting outside.  They still maintain some sort of fitness climbing (indoors) during the winter, but don’t specifically train for their off-season pursuits until the season allows it.  The one-sport athlete is at the top of their game, but look at the sacrifice and mental toll it takes… not to mention, are they still having fun?  Perhaps, but I want to show how you can actually train more efficiently by playing with the seasons.

So what does this look like?  It is not a one-size-fits-all for every athlete, and will vary greatly depending on skill level and outdoor pursuit.  But let’s take your serious 5.11 climber, who competes casually in a few 5k’s throughout the year, passionately snowboards in the winter, and enjoys the grind of a few epic thru-hikes in the late summer.

The idea is to dedicate a few months to a specific outdoor pursuit, complement your training regimen to maintain fitness in your other pursuits, and ramp up training for the next season about 6-8 weeks out before you want to devote your time to the next discipline.  For the aforementioned athlete, it would look something like this:

Jan - March - snowboarding, and in early March begin training plan for an expected long-distance thru hike in June.  Supplement climbing 1-2x week on active rest days.

March - May - cardio training for thru hikes, while upping the climbing training to 2-3x week.

June - July - completing thru-hikes (with ease) while committing to climbing training 3-4x week.  

August - October - full climbing season in swing, ticking projects, and beginning snowboard training in late October.

November - December - maintain climbing and hiking fitness 2-3x week, but ramping up snowboard training.

…Repeat…

Notice how you never really have to completely stop doing all of your pursuits, but when you train for them is determined by the upcoming season.  

REST

We all know the value from resting, but I want to highlight a few studies that show how rest actually helps us progress past plateaus.  The concept, broken down perfectly by Alex Hutchinson’s formula of Stress + Rest = Growth, follows this concept of allowing adequate rest, and ramping up the training volume after that period of allowing the muscles to adapt.  

There are no obvious scientific studies that highlight how this period of adequate rest improves your technical skills, but there are studies that point to how memory (technique) is consolidated during periods of rest.  I have anecdotally seen this in my own training, particularly with climbing and snowboarding.  When I take a few months off (of training with high volume), it takes a couple weeks for my strength to build back up but my technique has considerably improved.  Perhaps this is because I have to compensate for lack of strength and rely more on technique.

PRIME SEASONS

Enjoying your athletic pursuits during their appropriate seasons fits perfectly within this train hard / rest calendar year.  I understand the need to want to travel to the southern hemisphere to ski during summer, or project that roadside boulder on a sunny winter day.  And you should still do those things if your heart desires.  However, these should not be forced - treat them as vacations or active rest days.  Those periods during the off-season should not be utilized for specific training goals because you are simply missing out on prime season for [insert activity here].  

You shouldn’t give up your other training pursuits at all, still make time for the weekly afternoon climb session or the winter cold run.  But your training focus should be on the activity that the season provides for you.  

OUTDOOR OVERLOAD

Us outside junkies are all too familiar with this outdoor overload - trying to decide what we will do this weekend playing outside.  The spring slush allows for a bluebird ski day, or an early-season wildflower hike, or should we just see how the crag looks after the snowmelt?  Too many decisions (a good problem to have - as it indicates how healthy and fit we are to be able to spread our passions out).  But this nonchalant, care-free attitude is perfect for casual fitness, and not for serious training.  

You don’t need to be overwhelmed with so many outdoor passions to pursue.  If you live with access to the mountains or pristine outdoor spaces - you should be doing as much as you can afford to do.  Afterall, you are probably paying hefty costs of living in your desirable community if you have such pristine access to the outdoors, and you pay for it - snow plowing roads, open spaces, state parks - all funded by your tax dollars.  The problem is when you look at your gear shed with all kinds of outdoor fun on the wall and can’t decide how you should spend your time - or inevitably regress or don’t progress beyond amateur skill because you’re spread so thin.  Playing with the seasons prevents this outdoor overload, both with deciding what you should do, and also how you train.

PRIORITIZING TRAINING 

With this type of approach of training with the seasons, it prevents you from wandering aimlessly in the gym.  6-8 weeks prior to your next outdoor season involves you winding down with one discipline, while ramping up training volume for the next.  After that period of 6-8 weeks, you are in prime condition for starting your new season, and allowing ample time for resting your tired muscles from the previous pursuit - with the intention of coming back stronger next season.  

This also allows you to be fine-tuned in your gym setting, not just going to the gym to “stay in shape” or target the muscles that you won’t necessarily be using all that much.  There is an intentional focus on what you are training for, seeing how it will help you in the near future, and gets you psyched for your next season’s adventure.  Which brings me to my next point…

BURNOUT AND BOREDOM

If you haven’t experienced the burnout factor yet, you may be relatively new to your outdoor passion or perhaps you should just go pro.  I see this frequently in climbing, and have experienced it myself as well.  Maybe if you only get 10 days snowboarding each year, you are just as thrilled to start the next season.  But after climbing for 10 years, I noticed that I was too set on goals of climbing specific projects, optimizing training for those specific climbs, and all I could think about was scrolling Mountain Project for my next adventure.  If that sounds fun to you, you’re missing the point.  Climbing is supposed to be fun.  That’s why you started it in the first place.  Maybe you’re a freak and you really do enjoy running multiple 5k’s every week throughout the year.  But not only is this type of training setting you up for a higher risk of injury, but also potentially losing the fire that got you excited about it in the first place.  

Training with the seasons allows you to finish on a high note, set expectations for the next season, transition into something else you force yourself to commit to, and then repeat.  There is no room for burnout or boredom as your training consistently changes.  This is great for muscle adaptation, rest, and boredom prevention.  I promise you, that flame will be fanned as the next season approaches.

EXPAND YOUR OUTDOOR PURSUITS

And finally, this type of training approach allows you to expand your outdoor repertoire.  If you are the type of athlete who dreads winter, it is because you haven’t figured out how to play in it yet.  Use this opportunity to try something new.  Better yet, get stoked on a training plan to help you improve at this new discipline.  The common thread all of us outdoor athletes share is our love for the outdoors.  The athletic pursuit is just an excuse to get fit while pursuing the enjoyment of being outside.  Fail at something hard, try to achieve a new fitness goal in something unfamiliar, and identify how all of these pursuits fulfill your need to get outside.

Don’t know where to start?  Consider choosing one of our beginner, intermediate, or advanced packages for training.

-Jack