Multisport Mania

— Brad Gantt, Los Angeles, California

Part of the key is your perspective. If you are trying to achieve a high level of performance in all of your outdoor pursuits, that could be tough without using up most of your day. We are pretty specific when it comes to adapting to exercise, which explains why good climbers are not necessarily Tour de France winners. But, if you’re willing to settle for a little mediocrity in your fitness, then a training plan is well within your reach.

A good place to start is with the basics. Three of your weekly workouts should be aerobic in nature and at least two should be strength based. If your primary aerobic workouts revolve around running and cycling, try an alternate week schedule, where one week you run twice and ride once and the next week you ride twice and run once. Road and mountain bike riding are similar enough that one can substitute for the other. If you’ve got more time, then add a third run or ride, depending on the week - this will add enough training stress to slowly improve your fitness. You may also elect to spend one weekend day doing everything in a true multisport bonanza. Ride part way to a good climbing area, run the rest of the way, climb for a while, then retrace your steps.

Beat the limited time factor by changing the intensity of your workouts as your fitness improves. Early in the season, most of your aerobic exercise should be at a conversation pace, nice and easy with a focus on good technique. Gradually, add higher intensity (80 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate) efforts into one of your weekly sessions. Eventually two of your sessions can be higher intensity while the others remain in cruise mode.

If you find that your level of enthusiasm wanes in a particular sport, let it go for a while and focus on the things that feel right. For your climbing and strength training, spend the early part of the season in the gym and later use the rock as your outdoor strength playground.

Here's a sample week, with an emphasis on cycling: