Calling all multi-sport ladies

[samuelpautu]

Ok, so I do a lot of different sports, and then I do all the sub categories of sports within the sports. I really like moving. But I’ve always been in a bit of a conundrum on how to schedule training, so I thought I’d ask y’all. What does a weekly training schedule look like for you? I’m especially interested in hearing from folks that do 2 or 3 or more sports. Granted, a lot of what I do changes depending on the season, but in a good month :
Road and mountain biking
Running
Climbing - all sub categories within that (sport, trad, boulder)
And I’m trying to add in more swimming, both pool and open water.

Of course I stretch and strength train, but I consider that more necessary to keep my body functional than anything I’m actively trying to improve on. I know there are crazy folks out there like me that love doing all the things and do them at a much higher level than I do, so I’d be super curious to hear the how. I heard about a woman who climbed 5.14 and raced a 100mi race just weeks before. I’m not gonna reach that point, but I’d like to reach similar levels of insanity lol.

 

[rxqueen]

@samuelpautu I'm a multi-sport athlete in that I do triathlons. I am the type of person who needs to have a very rigid plan. I found one that I love through Training Peaks - I'm about to finish my first week! Hoping to integrate some lifting next week, since I took a couple of weeks off to make sure I'm fresh for this plan.

 

[tate]

@samuelpautu I combine some very different sports/activities with my weekly lifting schedule. It varies quite a bit winter to summer. I ride, train and show horses, so there's a lot more of that in the summer. I work at a Ski Resort, so I am fortunate to have breaks where I can go ski, hike, or mountain bike. In the summer, I play on a coed softball team. I have really active dogs, so getting them tired is a sport in and of itself.

Sunday: Full body lift, Hike or Ruck 3-8 miles, ride a horse

Monday: Ski/Snowboard (winter), Hike/Mountain Bike (summer) and walk the dog. Softball game (summer)

Tuesday: Full Body lift, ride a horse

Wednesday: Ski/Snowboard (winter), Hike/Mountain Bike (summer), walk the dog . Softball game (summer)

Thursday: Ski/Snowboard (winter), Hike/Mountain Bike (summer), walk the dog

Friday: Full Body lift. Hike/Walk/ruck with dogs, ride a horse

Saturday: Ride a horse, Longer ruck/hike

 

[smileagain]

@samuelpautu I run, hike/backpack, climb (usually top rope and leading but sometimes bouldering), and powerlift.

My ideal schedule is:

Sunday: long run

Monday: climbing

Tuesday: rest day

Wednesday: upper body lifts, maybe a short run

Thursday: climbing, maybe a short run

Friday: leg day lifts or a hike

Saturday: either climbing, hiking, or a backpacking trip (in which case I skip the Sunday long run)

In reality, sometimes the days have to get flip flopped when life gets in the way. Right now, Sunday works better for my climbing group then Monday, so I'm running Mondays and climbing Sundays. In the days leading up to my period I tend to be more fatigued and more likely to skip the short runs and lifting, so I'd say most weeks I do ~80% of this stuff.

 

[valtan1]

@samuelpautu My main right now is running. In between I make sure to lift and stretch; all the things to help strengthen my posture and form, and prevent injuries.

I basically run everyday with a rest day on Sunday (I do absolutely nothing on Sundays). The runs could be anything from a long run to intervals for a speed run session. On recovery run days, I typically hit the gym to train upper and lower body along with my core and proper running techniques.

I also bike sometimes as well- very leisurely when I’m too exhausted to run or do anything else
I’m a senior in college so I have no clue how I find the time in between studying, working, and spending time with my fiancé, but here we are!
Early mornings is all I have to say to that lol.

 

[munyaku]

@samuelpautu Tennis and beach volleyball for me! I like hiking too

 

[byzantine]

@samuelpautu This is such a fun thread, I love seeing all these athletic ladies!! I think it depends on your age and life stage. I am 40 yrs old, have 4 busy school-age kids, and had a hip replacement 6 months ago.

My main sports are tennis, softball and skiing. Tennis is year round, softball all seasons but winter (I live in Southern California), and skiing Dec-April if I’m lucky.

I try to strength train at least 1x/week (usually a dedicated strength day in F45).

Hot yoga 2x/month or more if possible.

Tennis 2-4x/week for 1.5-2 hours each.

Softball 1x/week when in season.

Skiing is always 2-5 days at a time, a few times a year.

I also do pickleball, bike riding, swimming occasionally for fun.

At my age, injury prevention is HUGE. I do a lot of icing, stretching, foam rolling, and I now ideally spend 15-20 minutes in active prep before any match or game.

 

[charize]

@samuelpautu My main sport is pool swimming with an emphasis on the 400 IM, because I am insane.

I crosstrain with running, biking, strength training and yoga.

My weekly schedule looks like:

M: Swim AM (threshold), lift PM

T: Run or bike

W: Swim AM (aerobic), lift PM

Th: Yoga (typically hatha/recovery type to make it more of a rest day)

F: Swim AM (anaerobic/speedwork)

Sat: Swim AM (stroke), lift PM

Sun: Long bike or run

I swim with a masters team and hate to swim when I'm supersore from lifting the night before, so that's why I double up with lifting in the afternoon on the days I'm not swimming next. My yoga day is usually the one day I go into the office and get superstressed. I mainly run or bike for the cardio component, but I also love to take a two hour ride when I can on Sundays because we have a gloriously long paved multiuse path here. I also try to get on the walking pad in 10 minute bursts throughout the day to keep my sedentary time low while I'm working from home.

All of this is also up for skipping if my HRV drops too low or I feel crappy. I had four viruses over the last 6 months and am really prioritizing not getting sick again any time soon.

 

[thekla]

@samuelpautu I choose more of a season approach than a weekly training schedule.

Hiking - summer/fall/winter, but pretty intense in summer when I plan 3-day hikes once a month plus additional hiking in off-weeks to stay conditioned. Fall is a bit of mix and winter is strictly day-hiking.

Running - year round, but focus on it in the spring for a race just before hiking season starts up again

Road cycling - mostly spring, somewhat in summer

Winter sports - winter, duh!

And strength train year round to stay healthy.

 

[nuni]

@samuelpautu I do almost the same combination of sports as you - mountain bike, climb, plus some skiing in the winter and hiking/mountaineering. The biggest thing I’ve learnt is that I can’t be actively improving in more than one sport at any one time. I try to have a ‘focus’ on a certain sport. This year I’m really focusing on climbing and just training to maintain everything else.

The closest thing to a cheat code I’ve found is strength training. Strength was holding me back in all sports - climbing was upper body, biking and skiing was core and legs, mountaineering needed specific accessory exercises to prevent knee pain and to move better going downhill.

I currently (aim) to train something like this:
- Strength (with lower body focus) 1 or 2 times a week.
- Indoor boulder 1x a week, indoor lead climb 1x a week. I try to cycle to the climbing gym once a week which is 20km (although I have to admit I didn’t do this over the winter).
- Short run or rest day 1x a week.
- Daily I do hang-boarding and pull up training for climbing (if not fatigued), stretching and physio exercises.
- At the weekend I try to be active both days. Ideally I’ll get in full day bike rides or climb outdoors, if not I gym/climb indoors/run.

I find climbing the biggest time sap - to see more improvement I think I would need to go 3x a week indoors, but sessions take about 2-2.5 hours. And then climbing days on the weekend can be up to 2 hours travelling and a long day with a lot of waiting around (which is unavoidable in outdoor climbing).

Adding another sport in would be too much for me. I think I’d just stall progressing across everything. You might have a different experience though - my partner (m) can go weeks without training a specific sport and does no additional strength/accessory type training and still progresses.

 

[samuelpautu]

@nuni Yeah I totally get the importance of strength training now. I was training for a marathon and put in a 20mi long run the day before a long day bouldering outside and I sent a V5. It blew my mind I could do that the day after a long run, but I honestly think it was all the strength training I’d been doing. And yeah, climbing is, by far, a huge time suck, especially outdoors. I can easily spend all day outside and only get in 4-5 routes. And with climbing, especially if you do boulder and ropes, it can be hard to train both systems, max power and endurance.

 

[skovc]

@samuelpautu So, my primary sport is pole, but pole is so diverse, that it should count as more than one sport and then I also weightlift.

For a while I did boulder too, even took a 5 week course to upskill.

Anyways, I always go by feel. I have a set routine that I try to follow, but tweak it according to my needs/appointments/energy/mood/goals

Right now my week looks like

• Monday - hamstring/glute focus in gym + stretching
• Tuesday - back/triceps in gym + pole heels class in the evening
• Wednesday - rest
• Thursday - chest/biceps in gym + open training (so refining tricks for pole or stretching) + pole heels class afterwards
• Friday - quadriceps/glutes in gym + stretching
• Saturday - 2 hours pole training with friends, which includes strength tricks, combos and a choreo and stretching
• Sunday - either rest day or another pole class with focus on strength based tricks

I'm also going for walks on my lunchbreak to get my steps in, but also to do a bit of lazy cardio in a way, since I don't see where in all of this I might be able to put in some cardio training.

It doesn't seem like a lot when written up, but it all includes going from one place to another + work full time in between, so I really rely on planning everything to a t

 

[meteorstorm]

@samuelpautu I do pole dance, aerial hammock, Muay Thai and lifting. Prior to pole dance and hammock I was just doing Muay Thai and lifting. To make thing easier for us(my husband also lifts) we own a home gym and I actually have a home pole as well for practice. Right now lifting weights is mainly for maintenance and keeping my strength so I can engage in those sports.

Here’s my schedule for now. It switches depending on the classes I take:

Monday: lift weights 1.5 hours

Tuesday: Pole practice with stretching 1.5 hours

Wednesday: Pole dance class 1 hour, hammock practice 1 hour.

Thursday: Lift weights 1.5 hours

Fri: Muay Thai 1 hour

Sat: Aerial hammock class 1 hour followed by 1 hour of flexibility class

Sunday: Muay Thai in the morning 1 hour and night I will do pole practice 1.5 hour.

It looks like I have no rest days but lifting and Muay Thai do come fairly easy for me since with lifting I do for maintenance and am not too concerned about hitting PRs. So I lift in ranges of 6-8 reps instead. For Muay Thai, it’s for endurance purposes and over time my body has pretty much become accustomed to it.

I make sure I sleep and eat enough because it really affects how I function. I’m generally a fidgety person and find it hard to stay still for long.

 

[clolou]

@samuelpautu What a fun question!

I run, lift, play soccer, softball, rock climbing, and cycling.

I organise them based on season.

Year long: Yoga and lifting

Summer: soccer, softball, and cycling

Fall: cycling and running

Winter: rock-climbing

Spring: rock-climbing, running.

I also indulge in some favourite activities when I travel, which is usually 2-3×/year in fall/winter seasons. I like to stay active when I travel and it's a great way to enjoy a new place. I look for rock-climbing, cycling, hiking, swimming, and kayaking.

The strength training and yoga really helps me stay fit enough to do all of these activities. Great maintenance!

 

[dukedudez]

@clolou Curious how you fit in yoga and lifting during the summer with your other sports? What does your week look like?

 

[clolou]

@dukedudez The cycling is my way of transportation all week long. Sometimes I take the scenic route if I've had a particularly stressful day at work.

Yoga is part of my nighttime routine, so I do min. 15mins before bed sometimes longer depending on what's sore.
I also do 15mins. Of mobility yoga before my lifting to prime the muscle I'm working.

I lift 3x/week, saturday/Sunday and usually tuesday. But all 3 sessions are full body rotating between the main 5 lifts: deadlift, bench press, squat, glute thrusts and shoulder press. I sometimes incorporate abs, walking lunges or rear delt work (I use the computer a lot so I need to do this to counteract the forward shoulder). Each gym session is max 45mins.

Friday night is soccer.

Thursday night is softball.

Mondays and Wednesdays are like active rest days, or I'll lift if I had a very social weekend.

 

[voicecho]

@samuelpautu Sports: CrossFit, mountain biking, snowboarding. Paddle boarding, hiking.

I used to have more of a structure but after a few years of injuries (none from sports, just bad joints and luck) I do whatever one I feel like any day or weather dependent. Some weeks I lift 3 times, get two bike rides in and a SUP and other weeks I do only two things. I follow all the subs and have friends that are dedicated to just one of the sports and just don’t compare myself to them. I’m happy being mediocre at all of them to allow for them all to stay.

 

[jamie2014]

@samuelpautu I am a climber and also do strength training, I do basically PPL (push/pull/legs) but climbing counts as my pull. I also prioritize legs because climbing hits the upper body hard and I want a good balance of muscle on my upper / lower body. So it looks like:

M: Climb
T: Legs
W: Push
T: Climb
F: Legs
S: Climb
S: Rest

Here are some rules to go by:

• Skill work first, then strength work: climbing is skill work so it's better to climb and then weight lift the next day than the other way around. Similarly if you stack 2 workouts in a day then do the more skill based one first.
• Have your priorities straight: it's very hard to progress in multiple things at once as you probably know. You need to have clear priorities
• If you want to prioritize multiple things (bouldering / lead) then best to do concentrated programs like 6 weeks focus on bouldering then 6 weeks focus on lead

A lot of this comes from the book "how to climb 5.12" it's a really good resource on climbing specific training

 

[samuelpautu]

@jamie2014 I have that book, It’s great!

 

[christseekingstudent]

@samuelpautu I love hearing how other people manage this. Outside of people I do these activities with, I am always the most active person in the room so never get to hear how other people manage these challenges. My sports are: martial arts, weights, swimming. Plus I maintain a little bit of running because it was so hard to get it back after an injury years ago.

My schedule looks like this:

M - weights (am)

T - weights (am)

W - swim (am) martial arts (pm)

Th - rest (am) martial arts (pm)

F - weights (am) martial arts (pm)

S - martial arts (am) run (pm)

Sun - group weights & martial arts (am) rest (pm)

I know it looks like I don't have a rest day, but my Thursday martial arts class is fairly easy on my body due to the nature of that class and so I get the same energy improvement the next day I get from a full rest day. If I need a full rest, I swap the morning schedule of Tuesday with Thursday but this only happens when I'm approaching a grading and the martial arts sessions are longer and harder including Thursday. I keep finding myself wishing I could do more or other things, like swim more to aim for a big long distance ocean swim next year, but right now I do not have the energy available. It will have to wait.

(Edited for formatting - apologies am on mobile).