[gaz]

Hello!

Currently training and aspiring to attend SFAS in the next year. I find myself in the strange situation of working on a cargo ship for the merchant marine, and as such have a lot of distraction free time to train and am confined to the ship for weeks at a time. After reading through your articles on building an adequate aerobic base, I’ve taken to doing just that by a combination of slowly ramping up running while staying in the correct HR range (using a Polar H10 HRM) and the cursory talk test. I am currently doing three 90-min sessions alternating between running (no pack, just running) and ruckmarching with 55lbs.

Now I understand that modality specificity is the name of the game, but I have the ability to do an additional 3 to 4 hours of zone 2 the other 3 days of the week using an elliptical or assault bike to minimize impact. Would any of the Z2 adaptations from these other modalities cross over to my running and rucking performance?

 

[Scott Johnston]

Gaz:

Great question.  More aerobic volume is always going to help even if it’s not super specific.  Especially if these activities help you avoid injury.  We have coached some ship-bound athletes in the past and one thing we had them do was use the stairs/ladders on the ship to accumulate more aerobic vertical.  On your rucking day, you might want to include some vertical under load.

Good luck,
Scott

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