1. Focusing on mechanics of well-learned skills. Skills and climbing moves that you possess high competence in (autonomous learning stage) should be turned over to the preconscious mind. Focusing on execution of well-learned movements often results in mechanical, lower-efficiency movement and diverts concentration from other task-relevant targets.

2. Dwelling on internal feelings and sensations of fatigue. While you must monitor internal conditions by occasionally turning your focus inward, dwelling on such internal feelings will rob external focus and inhibit performance. A common trait of hardman (and -woman) climbers is the ability to dissociate from the fatigue and pain of an exhaustive workout or climb. It’s a fact that in focusing on the strain and deepening fatigue during a hard climb, you magnify these feelings and open the door to powerful stopping thoughts. Dissociating from such non-injury-producing “good pain” and dismissing phantom stopping thoughts empowers you to transcend previous limitations and achieve the uncommon.

3. Entertaining nonproductive self-talk. Vocal and subvocal self-talk is an inherent and almost ever-present feature of our conscious mind; however the nature and quality of this self-talk is not always in our favor. Negative self-talk is a powerful concentration and performance killer, because it directs attention inward to fretful or fearful thoughts. Therefore, it’s essential that you direct positive, productive self-talk that helps maintain focus, aids execution, and sustains motivation. Strive to direct positive self-talk in all you do, and it will become a powerful ally in your toughest times.

4. Focusing on the past. The essence of effective concentration in sport is being fully engaged in the action of the moment. If you look into the rearview mirror and engage in thoughts of past failures, or other irrelevant events, it will quickly diminish or derail your performance. So in engaging the vertical extreme, it’s essential that you remain in the present and only reflect on past experiences as is briefly necessary in strategic planning and managing risk.

5. Focusing on the future. Projecting into the future and pondering a possible performance outcome will thwart task-relevant concentration and impede your performance. Worse yet, in entertaining future-oriented thoughts of failure you generate pressure and anxiety that makes this unwanted outcome more likely! Controlling concentration and climbing your best therefore demands that you detach from outcome-oriented thinking and engage the moment completely.

6. Visual and auditory distractions. We live in an era of ubiquitous distractions, rampant ADD (attention deficit disorder), and almost unlimited potential for electronic and social engagement. Possessing a quiet, in-the-moment mental state can be exceedingly difficult to attain and maintain if you allow all this interference to reach your brain. The first step to developing better concentrative skills, then, is to endeavor to systematically eliminate distractions in all aspects of your life. In climbing, strive to eliminate possible distractions before you engage the route, and aspire to become a master at blocking out distracting people and sounds as you climb. As a final note, I want to stress that your mental state can benefit greatly by eliminating some of the things that hinder concentration in your nonclimbing hours. What electronics can you turn off (or discard) and what other actions could you take to reduce non-task-relevant stimuli and other distractions? The payoff is the gift of improved mental clarity, concentration, and self-awareness.

 What Are Your Concentration Killers?

List the things that commonly disrupt your concentration on everyday activities and in climbing. If necessary, close your eyes and visualize yourself in a recent climbing situation in which you struggled to remain focused and in the moment. What thoughts, sensory stimuli, people, or other environmental conditions made it hard for you to maintain focus?

Strive to eliminate or decrease the influence of these concentration “disrupters”–improved concentration will reward you  richly! Check back next month for addition tips for improving concentration and climbing performance.

Dear Megun, Wow, I love your enthusiasm and I wish I could train as hard as you! Seriously, be careful that you don’t overtrain and get injured–common among people who “live at a gym” and newbie who go at it too hard the first year or two. If you ever have a session that feels “off” (weak), it’s a sign you aren’t recovered and you need to take another rest day. Sometimes less is more—train too much and get injured and you’ll really hit a plateau! (Sorry, I hope I don’t sound preachy, but I feel strongly about this.) Anyway, your situation is VERY common. Outdoor climbing is way more technical than pulling plastic–not only are the finger holds different, but the footwork and body positioning is much more subtle. Consequently, it’s only a matter of time until your outdoor skills make the next grade jump–you simply need to get outside more often so your body learns to flow through the unique positions of outdoor rock sequences. Your gym strength will transfer nicely and I’m sure you’ll break into V7s this spring–which is really amazing for someone who has only been climbing a year! Sounds like you are a natural, but recognize that progress will slow with each new grade you achieve. Strive to become a complete climber–do some roped climbing–and expand your skill sets. You could learn a lot from my books Training for Climbing and Maximum Climbing–check them out sometime! Good luck, and let me know when you send V7…and V8!

Hey Eric, We just started a training schedule according to your book ’training for climbing’. The idea is to have 4 weeks of running laps on easy routes in the gym (grades 5-6a) or climbing a lot of boulders (60x 5-6a). My first question is regarding rests: for the routes we usually climb 4-5 routes after each other, downclimbing every other route, this gives about 15 minutes of climbing. Is this too little consecutive climbing time? In the bouldering gym I climb 30 boulders then rest and do another 30. After these 4 weeks, we’ll have 3 weeks of strength training. Here I wanted to work hard boulders in the gym and hard routes when going outdoors. When I say hard, I was thinking 7b+/7c routes and 7a/7b boulders where I have a hard time doing the single moves. Does that make sense or should we stick with things that are difficult but still doable? Thanks a lot in advance. Love your books, they have been a big help! –Tom (Limburg, Belguim)

Hi Tom, I think your training program design sounds good (and fun–which is important). During the endurance phase try to avoid failure, whereas make the strength phase maximal and pursue your physical limit (and failure). Sure, you can work some limit problems with difficult single moves, but you also want to do some hard routes that are just below your limit (that you can just barely get through). If you are bouldering indoors, you might want to wear a weight belt and do some submaximal crimp, pinch, and pocket routes to build max grip strength. I’m sure you are aware of this training strategy from the books.

Hi Eric, I am not sure if this is climber’s elbow. After climbing, the lower part of my biceps, right above the elbow feels sore/ somewhat painful. When I was first climbing, this would hurt a lot more, compared to now. This bicep discomfort usually goes away in a couple days or so. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated. –Omar (New York)

Hi Omar, You injury is not likely the common climber’s elbow–it sounds more like mild biceps tendinitis. Two suggestions: stop doing pull-up training for a few months (if you are currently doing any)–just go climbing. Also, put ice on the sore spot after every workout. If the condition gets worse, take a few weeks off from climbing. Good luck!

Hi Eric, I’m really stuck on overhanging routes–I can boulder a really steep overhang, but when it comes to leading one, even a really easy climb I get super pumped really quickly. I was wondering if you knew any strengthening exercises/techniques I can practice that I can do at home because I can only get to a wall 1-2 times a week? Thanks! –Kate (UK)

Hi Kate, I think your problem on leading overhanging routes is both physical and technical. On steep routes you need to be far more efficient than in bouldering–you need to climb smooth and fast in order to avoid a fatal pump. So you can improve in these ways by simply logging more time climbing steep roped routes at the gym (or outside). As for at-home training…that’s a bit tougher. Obviously you want to also improve forearm endurance so that your grip lasts longer on steep lead climbs. You could set up a pull-up bar or finger board and do a series of hangs on them. For example, hang for 15 seconds, rest 15 sec, hang 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds, hang 45 seconds, rest 45 seconds, and then hang 1 minute. This is one “set.” Now rest a few minutes, and do this same sequence again. Doing several sets like this will train the forearms in a favorable way. Still, actual climbing time is more effective, so try to climb for your workouts whenever possible.

Hi Eric, I just set up a small HIT wall (50 deg) at home and I am in the process of putting up a small 11 (wide) x 9 bouldering wall. For the HIT wall, I have installed the first strip a bit too high so I am not able to grasp the first hold while sitting before I start, is that important enough that I should move it? Also, I am a female, short, 5’5” with a negative ape index of about 6 inches, should I be spacing the strips at 18” or should they be closer together, I am finding it a bit far but then I usually find steep and dynamic routes hard. I cannot move off the pinky team and pinches at all so I have just been hanging with feet on for those 2 grips for as long as I could, is that a good way to work towards it? I have had 4 short sessions on it so far, and am surprised that I could manage less now than my 2nd session, maybe I need more rest but I felt like I didn’t do that that much on it since I didn’t manage that much. I am also still climbing routes at the gym 2x a week. –Chui

Hi Chui, You could lower the HIT strips (and put them slightly closer), but as a shorter climber it’s good to train reach and lock off, so I’d advise not putting them closer. Regarding recovery: The first few HIT strip workouts hit the neuromuscular system in a new way, and so it takes longer than you might think to recover. I advise doing HIT strips only twice a week on average, although you can do other climbing in addition (up to a total of 3 or 4 climbing/training days per week). Also, try to use the same foot sequence and body position with each lap (and session) on the strips, since this affects the difficulty. I guarantee you’ll get much strong in a few more sessions! Many people struggle with pinch and 3rd team 2F pockets–hanging on these with your feet on is a good way to develop the strength, although it’s better to grip hard for 5 seconds, then let go and rest 5 seconds, then grip hard again for 5 seconds, etc. Do this 5 to 10 times for one set on each pinch and 3rd 2F. Hope this info helps. Good luck!

This innovative product uses sensors to determine if a climber is on the wall climbing and has forgotten to “clip in”. In the event this occurs, an audible alarm will sound and a light will change color alerting the climber as well as facility staff that an unsafe condition may be present. This ability to provide an advance warning to climbers and staff is crucial in helping to reduce accidents and can also be used as a proximity device for climbing walls that are closed to users.

Nicros has been on the forefront of climbing wall innovation for many years, receiving patents including Extreme Hold Technology™ (Patent Number 7,524,269) and FrameFree™ Technology (Patent Number 7,572,207 B2). These patents along with several other innovations since the start of business in 1992, such as Diff-Tex™ holds, Versa-Center™ sleeves, and A.R.T. Wall™ makes it clear that Nicros is an important leader in the sport climbing industry.

For additional information and specifications on the Auto Belay Safety System™ (A.B.S.S. ™), please contact a Nicros sales representative at 800-699-1975.

Nicros, Inc.
845 Phalen Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55106
(651) 778-1975

Contact:
Michael Moore, Sales
Michael@nicros.com

Great question, Javier. While you don’t want to do anything really stressful, you should stay somewhat active. I suggest you do something athletic at least a few days over the “rest week.” You could do a few casual runs, an antagonist workout; heck, you can even do some light climbing if you do only easy traversing and some big hold jug pulling that doesn’t pump you–this is actually a good thing to do after you take your initial day or two of rest. But don’t get sucked into a major workout that will wreck your week of recovery! You want to arrive at the HP at 100%! Wishing you a great trip!

I hope you have a second to give me some insight here. I’ve been reading up a bit on your HIT system, I’ve recently moved from California to North Carolina, and my new gym has a set up. I was wondering if, in your opinion, using it would be of any benefit to my training. I’ll start by saying that I’m predominantly a boulderer. I’ve gone through several cycles of hangboard work, focusing on repeaters with added weight, and had very good luck however the texture of the Metolius boards I’ve been using thrash my skin to a point that I feel it’s almost a hindrance to other training and climbing in general. I’ve made constant use of the campus board over the last few months, working up to being what I would consider to be a semi-advanced level, but now I find the campus board at my new gym to be slightly less challenging (shorter spacing, less severe angle), and what once previously quite difficult is now somewhat easy. So I’m looking for a new direction, as I feel like I’ve hit something of a plateau. My current project-to-send grade is roughly V8, with a few V9’s to my credit, and I feel as though I need some more specific, targeted training stimuli to help ratchet my contact strength to the next level. The HIT system seems as though this could help provide me with a novel training stimulus to help force muscle adaptation. Your thoughts?  –Adam (Bunger)

Adam, I suggest you use a Complex Training strategy–that is, couple a HIT workout with some campusing. These combined, will provide you with a new, valuable stimulus (as described in my Training For Climbing book). After a good warm-up, do a lap on HIT pockets (add weight until it feels hard), then immediately do a set of campus laddering (NO add weight). Rest a few minutes and do another set of HIT (say, crimp), then immediately follow this with another set on the campus board. Start with 5 sets and build up to 10 sets over time. Do this towards the end of your session after you are done with your max bouldering…just make sure you are NOT fully exhausted before you begin the Complex Training. Ideally, boulder for about an hour, then move on the complex training. Let me know how it goes!

Dear Eric, I am new to the sport of climbing and bouldering (and I’m only 15), but I was wondering if you had any advice as to how I can train until I get my driver’s license and can get myself to the gym more often. Also I am hoping to eventually become a sponsored climber and I would like to know how to set up a climbing resume. Thank you for your time! –Alex (Arizona)

Hi Alex, Climbing is a skill sport, so climbing as often as possible is priority one (up to 4 days per week). If you can’t get to the gym that often, then doing some general condition would be beneficial (such as pull-ups, push-ups, core exercises, and perhaps some running). As a new climber it’s smart to avoid anything super-specific (like campus training), although you could by a finger board to do some basic finger and pull-up exercises. Long term, you build your resume by climbing hard outside and doing well in competitions. But most important–have fun climbing!

Hey Eric, I’d like to start with saying I enjoy your books. I own Training for Climbing and Maximum Climbing and feel I have gained so much from both of them. However, I have hit the physical brick wall for myself, after climbing about one year (5.11a/V3). I’m 6’4 and weigh in about 140+. I am always building better technique but I don’t feel that I’m progressing anymore because my technique is at a skill level my physical strength cannot match. I have also tried for years to gain muscle mass, which I can only gain hitting the gym for months and if I miss a week I lose it all. I try to eat as healthy as possible and watch everything that goes into or on my body. What would you suggest I do in order to gain that physical strength I so desperately need to progress in the sport? I have access to both a climbing gym and a weight gym and have the desire to train all day if my body would let me. I look forward to hearing what you have to say or what you might suggest. Thanks for taking the time to scope this out! –Jason (Kentucky)

Hey Jason, As a relatively new climber you are doing pretty good, so don’t be too hard on yourself! There’s a long learning curve to climbing (many years), but it’s not a steady gain—it comes in spurts with also periods of plateau. Anyway, gaining some strength will certainly help, but you must continue to also climb a lot to groove the neurological skills (which will make you strong in climbing ways!) So, I wouldn’t give up climbing days to strength train, but instead do some exercises at the end of your climbing sessions. For example, so 5 sets of pull-ups (add a weight belt around your waist if you can do more than 8 to 10 pull-ups per set). General pushing exercises to strengthen your chest and shoulders are also important–dips, push-ups, dumbbell shoulder press, etc. You could do these a couple days per week at a weight gym (on your rest days away from climbing). Of course, some core work would be wise, too; you can do this at the end of climbing days. Keep in mind that your genetics dictate why you are built the way you are, so you are unlikely to every put on a large amount of muscle. But that’s not bad…you will be able to get stronger while only adding on, say, maybe 5 to 10 pounds of muscle over the next year or two of training. By then, I bet you’ll be climbing 5.12s!

Adventure climbing at Cochise Stronghold, AZ. Hörst photo.

The Key to Long-term Improvement: Challenging Yourself in New and Different Ways!

Climbing is an extraordinarily complex activity with motor and cognitive skills that take a decade or more to learn. So while you may progress to the verge of elite-level bouldering or sport climbing in just a few years, applying your abilities to wider range of climbing pursuits will take many more years. Becoming a true master of rock requires a sustained love of the sport and a dedication to learning that lasts a lifetime.

The key to sustaining an upward trajectory over the long term is to challenge yourself regularly and avoid settling into one form of climbing for too long. Mastery demands the ability to perceive and distinguish subtle differences in the rock, hold configuration, and techniques and tactics needed, among many other very fine distinctions. Being able to digest a vast amount of information, figure novel sequences and strategies on the fly, and ascend confidently and economically in completely unique situations is a capability born of diverse experience and many hours of laboring in the steep. This rare capacity is ultimately about challenging both brain and body, which is exactly what master climbers like Chris Sharma, Adam Ondra, Peter Croft, Lynn Hill, and others regularly do.

The bottom line: If you wish to pursue your genetic potential and maximize climbing experience, then it’s essential that you avoid repeating familiar patterns of climbing and instead forge a new and exciting path. While climbing the same routes at the same local crags can be great fun, elevating your abilities demands new, challenging experiences and the willingness to subject yourself to the frustration and failure common to exploring the unknown. One good way to keep things changing is to vary your climbing preference every season—that is, gym climbing in winter, bouldering in spring, adventure or traditional climbing in summer, and sport climbing in fall (or some variation on this theme). Ultimately, you will need to determine your own path into the mountains and discover what great adventures the future holds.

Copyright 2013 Eric J. Hörst. All rights reserved.

Young German rock star, Alex Megos, crushing at the Dark Side, Red River Gorge. Hörst photo.

The pursuit of maximum climbing—whether you define it as realizing your climbing potential or maximizing your climbing experience—requires a long-term, disciplined effort to train optimally. While some climbers confuse optimal training with maximum training, you surely understand that the narrow-minded train-till-you-drop approach will not lead you to the promised land of your goals.

Optimal training is rarely about doing more training, but instead a matter of doing more of the right kinds of training. For a beginning climber, the right kind of training is usually to simply climb on a regular basis in order to maximize learning of climbing skills, both technical and mental. For an intermediate climber, however, right training must integrate frequent climbing of a challenging variety with supplemental physical- and mental-training exercises. At the elite level, optimal training becomes a most complex endeavor of identify and eliminating subtle performance defects and constraints in each area of the performance triad (mental, technical, and physical). Ultimately, then, this final stage of the many-year maximum climbing journey is mostly about stripping away the things that are holding you back, by eliminating technical inefficiencies, disengaging from distractions, overcoming fears, breaking counterproductive habits, eliminating the pressure to perform, reducing time wasted on low-value activities, and constantly refining your training to get the most out of every minute you spend in the gym.

If it’s beginning to sound as if I’m promoting intense pragmatism as a virtue, then you are reading me correctly. What you think and do, each day of your life, changes both who you are in the present and who you will become in the future. To not live each day in a very pragmatic way would be a form of self-sabotage.

You must assume the mind-set of a sculptor whose work of art is never completed. From your first day to your last, you are refining skills, increasing efficiencies, and defining your form as an individual. This is a mindful process, but also a sort of secret journey within that both plumbs the depths of your being and explores beyond the margin of what is known. Doing so can be a wonderful lifelong endeavor, if you choose to become a climber for life. One of the many beauties of climbing is that with advancing age come wisdom, efficiency, and a more thoughtful approach to climbing that all make the process even more sacred, gratifying, and profound.

Your journey toward maximum climbing is ultimately self-directed, yet you can accelerate the progress by leveraging the wisdom learned from this web site, other high-quality resources, and sage partners alike. To learn more about my maximum climbing program visit www.MaximumClimbing.com.

Hi Abby, Sounds like you have a good training program, and I have no doubt you’ll continue to improve! I’d avoid any serious fingerboard training ahead of your climbing session, since you want to have a fresh grip when you are gym climbing (bouldering or roped routes). Developing good technique and proprioceptive feel of quality movement is paramount. What you could do, however, is to do your running and antagonist muscle training in the morning, then do the hangboard training at the end of your climbing session. (Perhaps this won’t work, if you need to be at the gym to do the antagonist training?) Another option is to do all three things in the same session: that is, do your climbing (1 to 2 hours), then do a brief hangboard session (10 – 15 minutes), then do your antagonist training (10 – 15 minutes). Remember, you don’t need to do crazy amount of hangboard training–doing a few sets of hangs on different grips, a couple sets of weighted pull-ups, and perhaps even a couple of sets of campus laddering–that’s about all you need to do at this stage of the game. Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.

I started climbing three years ago, and have been stuck in the same place it seems. Breaking into 10s at Devils Lake on TR seems like some magical number I can’t touch, and 11s inside at the gym. I’m 34 and stand 6’1 205 (I know 185 would be better). I can do about 14 pull-ups and try to get to the gym twice a week. What do you feel would get me the next level. My goal for next year would be to toprope an 11 outside and possibly shoot for a 12 in the gym. –Mike (Illinois)

Hey Mike, Sure, dropping some body weight would help, but it’s not everything. With just 3 year’s experience you have tons of room to improve technically–footwork, body positioning, and improving “feel” for efficient movement (important), etc. Climbing is a skill sport, so you can expect slow improvement for many years to come. Sometimes you’ll plateau for a season, then make a jump up the next–it’s not a linear progression. Anyway, make it a goal to drop 10 or 20 pounds for the next season. Also, get on a good mix of gym routes doing thin, technical vertical routes (like you find outside at DL) early in the session followed by some pumpier steep routes (on better holds) later in the session. Always strive to learn the best way to do a sequence and route–climb difficult routes several times, striving to perfect the route and unlock the most efficient way to do it. This is one of the “secrets” to climbing harder! Good luck, and let me know how it goes.

I have a sore ring finger in the area atypical with A2. I have had no swelling at any point and after some original pain and debilitation. Should a continue climbing, rest, or just tape it and take it easy for a few weeks? – Laurent (UK)

Hi Laurent, Sure sounds like you have a minor tweak, since there’s just some minor pain but no swelling or sharp pain. You should tape it as you work back into climbing–this will provide a bit of support and more important help keep you mindful of it while you climb. I suggest taking a week off, however you do not need, nor want, to take a long break from climbing for a minor tweak. You want to keep that finger moving–so do finger flexions, massage it, gentle stretching, etc. All of these will aid healing. Of course, you do want to avoid maximum weighting of the finger and anything that really strains it (monos, hard crimping, fingerboard, campusing, etc) for at least a few weeks.

Eric, I have been applying the lessons in your book, Training for Climbing, with some fantastic gains this season! I have been applying the 4-3-2-1 macro cycle for training and am currently on the 1 week of rest cycle, prior to a (hopefully) peaking trip to Horse Pens 40. My question: during this “1 week rest” phase, is it best to just take it easy and relax all week or should I maintain some kind of routine? I have a sedentary lifestyle when I’m not climbing or training for climbing, and would really like your opinion on whether it’s okay to do some running, easy climbing, stretching, and such during this rest week? Many thanks in advance! –Javier (Louisiana)

Great question, Javier. While you don’t want to do anything too stressful, you should stay somewhat active during this recovery week. I suggest you do something athletic at least a few days over the week. You could do a few casual runs, an antagonist workout; heck, you can even do some light climbing if you do only easy traversing and some big hold jug pulling that doesn’t generate anything more than a light pump (this is actually a good thing to do after you take your initial day or two of rest). But don’t get sucked into a major workout that will wreck your week of recovery! Wishing you a great trip!

Hi Armand, Many climbers/athletes have the same experience–decreased incidence of DOMS as they improve conditioning. This is not necessarily a sign that your workouts aren’t effective, just that they aren’t doing as much cellular damage. If correctly designed, your workouts can trigger the favorable adaptations in the neuromuscular system without doing the damage that causes significant DOMS—this is actually a good thing, because you can do your next workout sooner (perhaps up to 4 days per week). DOMS is most common when adding a new exercise, in particular, an exercise with strenuous eccentric movements (for example, weighted pull-ups, weighted bouldering, or HIT). It may also develop the day after a high-volume anaerobic endurance workout (or long day of climbing). The bottom line: don’t worry so much about triggering a lot of DOMS with your workouts–instead keep focused on  properly targeting your workouts (on limiting constrains) and being sure not to overtrain or get injured (avoid training to complete failure). It is important to keep your workouts progressive, so find ways to make them harder without completely destorying yourself. In the end, consider that training for climbing is an art form…and with knowledge and self-awareness, each workout, season, and year, you’ll become a better painter!

Hi Eric, I just moved to Salem, Oregon and there are no climbing gyms here, however, I have a 16’ by 24’ garage to build my own. So far I have areas planned out for an H.I.T./campus board, a full roof, arête, and mostly vertical traverse. Do you have any pointers for home wall? My main question is giving that I am in the Cascades I want to get into Alpine climbing. What training do you suggest for this style of climbing? My family is getting a home exercise system so I have that to my disposal and I run and mountain bike for cardio (I know I need to do A LOT more of it to condition for Alpine routes). Do you know anyone else that could help me with Alpine training regiments? Thank you for all of your help and knowledge. –Bryce (Oregon)

Hey Bryce, Good to hear about your home wall—an excellent training investment! Considering reducing your square footage of vertical wall or make it slightly overhang (10 degrees past vert), so that traversing it is more pumpy on the arms. Hopefully you’ll have a good section of 45 degree overhanging, since this is the best training angle. As for Alpine training….obviously the cardio is important. You can also benefit from full body exercises that strength your posterior chain–like squats, deadlifts, and other Olympic style lifts. CrossFit style training is also useful for developing full-body conditions for rigorous Alpine ascents. Hope this helps!

Eric, Love all of your articles, books, etc. I recently moved and went from a 50 degree HIT wall to a 40 degree wall. The HIT strips were already getting to be a bit juggy on the 50 degree for serious training for hard bouldering, but now it is ridiculous. Will you ever be shaping a smaller set of hit strips (advanced strips) or one for a 40-45 degree angle? –Calen (California)

Yeah, 40 degrees isn’t steep enough for HIT. I shaped them for walls 45 – 55 degrees past vert, and I wanted them positive enough that you can add weight without risk of slipping off. Anyway, I don’t have plans to make a set for a lesser angle wall. However, you can probably gather/buy a bunch of crimp, pocket, and pinch holds that will work on your new wall angle and arrange them so that you can ladder up and down HIT style. Adding weight is key to getting stronger, so stay with the program!

I have been climbing four years and I’ve been stuck at the same level for a while now. I’m desperate to push to the next level, but I’m struggling with finding new and effective training methods. I’ve been finding weaknesses in my climbing and then training to make them into strengths—this has enabled me to progress up until now. I feel I have solid foot work (5.12slab,5.13roofs), one-arm strength(several one-arms per arm), decent finger strength(door frame full open hangs), but I know there’s something missing. I’m by no means over weight at 5’11, I weigh 165 and have 4-5% body fat. I can train till I puke, I put in the time, but I get stagnant results. I appreciate any suggestions that you may have. –Branden (California)

Hey Branden, Sounds like you are doing great for only 4 years of climbing. Remember, that improvement is not linear; it comes in spells, sometimes separated by lengthy periods of apparently little/no gains.  Anyway, from your comments it sounds like anaerobic endurance might be a limiting constraint, especially if you are attempting steep, sustained routes. Do more interval training (both bouldering and steep roped climbing) –dedicate to a couple weeks of targeted anaerobic endurance training. I must also point out that as a climber of just 4 year, your technical and mental skills may very well be lagging your physical strength. “Energy leaks” by way of flawed technique and mental skills are likely shortchanging you…and costing you a couple of grades. So remain open-minded and strive to improve in all areas. Good luck!

Precisely execute the five-phase training program detailed below, and I guarantee you’ll become a fitter, more capable climber in 2013! (Note: If you are beginning this program in-season, then skip ahead to Phase 2.)

Phase 1 – Seasonal Transition

Duration: 3 – 6 weeks

Overview: This phase is all about taking a mental and physical break for performance climbing and serious training. If you have any nagging injuries from the past season, this is your opportunity to rest and rehab so that you can return to training healthy and pain free. Healthy/uninjured climbers should limit the total break from climbing to just two or three weeks so as not to lose too much climbing-specific fitness. For northern hemisphere climbers, the end-of-year holiday season (and onset of winter weather) is the perfect time to begin this phase. You can also use this seasonal transition to dabble in other sports and to engage in generalized strength training.

Training Intensity and Volume: Low to medium intensity and volume.

Frequency: 2 to 4 days per week with workout duration of 30 minute to 90 minutes.

Workout details: After a two-week break from climbing (longer, if rehabbing an injury), you can return to the climbing gym for twice-per-week recreational climbing. Keep the sessions fun, social, and relaxed—avoid being drawn into working maximum boulder problems or routes. This is a great time to engage in a generalized strength-training program or even try out a few CrossFit workouts. In addition to a focus on developing more strength in the pull muscles, you should do several exercises to strengthen your pushing muscles, rotator cuff, and posterior chain (yes, you can do some squats and/or Olympic lifts). The goal here is to build base strength that will help stabilize your joints, increase full-body power, and lower injury risk going forward.

Coach Hörst’s Tip: Take enough time off from climbing to get healthy and renew motivation.

Phase 2 – Local Endurance, Technique, and Movement

Duration: 4 – 6 weeks

Overview: This phase marks your return to a climbing-specific program. Unfortunately, this endurance phase is the most overlooked among climbers, and therefore it’s commonly a rich area to trigger physiological adaptations that will make a big difference on the rock. The goal is to train your climbing muscles—the forearm flexors, biceps, lats, core, and such—at the right intensity level to improve the aerobic energy system rather than the anaerobic (lactic) system. While the term “aerobic energy system” might conjure up thoughts of long-distance running, the aerobic energy pathway is in fact the primary source of energy for any sustained climbing that lasts longer than two or three minutes. Explaining the science of local endurance is beyond the scope of this article, so you’ll just have to trust me that training the aerobic energy pathway of your climbing muscles will empower you on steep, pumpy climbs. This base phase is also an excellent time to refine movement skills and improve climbing economy—the real secret to climbing your best. While it’s difficult to train movement and economy while thrashing up a max boulder problem, this high-volume endurance phase is the perfect time to also focus on improving technique. Training Intensity and Volume: High-volume climbing at a relatively moderate intensity. Getting any more than a light pump is a sign your climbing has become too intense (anaerobic). On a perceived exertion scale of 1 to 10, your endurance climbing intensity should be between 4 and 7. Frequency: 3 to 5 days per week of medium-intensity climbing.

Workout details: Your goal is an aggregate climbing time of 20 to 60 minutes. You can achieve this a few different ways: Do two to four 10- to 15-minute traverses or find a partner and do six to twelve top rope climbs lasting approximately 3 to 5 minutes each. Select routes a few number grades below your limit, either smallish-hold vertical routes with good feet or gently overhanging routes with larger holds. Remember: NO projecting, NO max climbing, and NO deep pump—do any of these and you lose the desire training effect.

Coach Hörst’s Tip: If you are concerned about losing strength and power during this phase, you can replace one of your endurance workouts with a bouldering/power workout (see below).

Phase 3 – Maximum Strength and Power

Duration: 3 weeks

Overview: If you enjoy indoor bouldering, then this phase is in your wheelhouse. The goal here is to increase maximum strength/power and your hard-move capability.

Training Intensity and Volume: Climbing volume is low, but intensity is high/maximal (i.e. perceived exertion of 9 or 10 out of 10). Out of a two-hour bouldering session you may only climb a total of 8 to 12 minutes.

Frequency: 2 or 3 sessions per week, with an optional low-intensity “recovery” workout (i.e. an easy endurance workout, per above).

Workout details: Begin with a gradual warm up via large-hold boulder problems that eventually lead you into near-maximal bouldering about 45 minutes into the session. Spend the next 45 to 60 minutes engaging in near-limit bouldering. Rest enough between attempts/sends so that you feel near 100% for each climb. As a guide, rest for 3 to 5 minutes between each successful send. Brief attempts, lasting only a few moves, require just 1 to 3 minutes rest in between. You may conclude these workouts with a few exercises that target climbing-specific strength and power. A few sets of campus laddering, weighted fingerboard hangs, and weighted pull-ups (add enough weight to limit repetitions to around 5) will serve as a perfect complement. Initially, perform two sets of each, and build up to four or five sets of each over the course of three weeks. Do no more than five sets—there will be little added benefit, while digging a deeper hole to recover from.

Coach Hörst’s Tip: Make these workouts about quality bouldering and strength training—rest between sets more than you think you need to and end your session long before reaching complete exhaustion.

Phase 4 – Anaerobic Endurance

Duration: 2 weeks

Overview: If you frequently climb routes to the point of a deep pump and forearm muscle failure, then you are familiar with the anaerobic energy pathway. Since massively pumped forearms often seem to be the cause of failure on steep roped climbs, many climbers make training the anaerobic system the primary focus of their training program. Interestingly, research has shown that muscle cells have a limited tolerance for this type of training—do too much of it and your climbing power-endurance will actually get worse! (Sound familiar?) These are the most physically and mentally grueling workouts, and you will get the best results by way of only a brief phase of anaerobic endurance training every couple months.

Training Intensity and Volume: Climbing intensity is moderately high with a perceived exertion of 7 to 9 (out of 10). Training volume is medium–a two-hour climbing session will involve about 20 to 30 minutes of actual climbing time with a work-to-rest ratio of between 1:3 and 1:5

Frequency: Two or three workouts evenly spaced throughout the week is ideal, although an optional “recovery” workout (i.e. an easy endurance workout, per above) is beneficial as long as the intensity is mild.

Workout details: Use an interval training strategy, with 90 seconds to 3 minutes of pumpy climbing followed by 5 to 10 minutes of rest. Each climbing interval should elicit a significant forearm pump, while each recovery interval should allow about 50 percent recovery. Execute between 5 and 10 of these intervals–doing any more may have a negative training effect.

Coach Hörst’s Tip: Bookend your interval session with some easy warm-up and cool-down climbing.

Phase 5 – Rest & Active Recovery

Duration: 4 – 7 days

Overview: This phase is simply a multiday break from serious training. Ideally you’ll have a roadtrip to cast off on or a project route to complete. After three or four days of rest, you should be fully recovered and ready to climb your best! If you want to resume training, you can return to phase 2 and repeat the cycle.

Coach Hörst’s Tip: Do no climbing-specific training for at least four days. You can engage in “active recovery” by way of light aerobic activities, yoga, hiking and such.