About a month ago we were asked by two climbers in Salt Lake if, since we’d be there anyway for the official release of Redpoint at the Outdoor Retailer show, we’d be willing to sit down and provide some climbing improvement guidance. Apparently our travel schedules are becoming known. Anyway Brendan and Brendan (no, we haven’t changed the names to protect the innocent) were willing to work around our hectic show schedules and a date was set. Read the rest of this entry »
Every year I take the month of December off from climbing, but a hectic holiday schedule (why does everyone wait until December to throw a party?) is not the only reason to break. Overtraining can take a toll both physically and mentally – you might need an extended break if you’re experiencing some or all of these signs: Read the rest of this entry »
by Douglas Hunter
Efficiency can be thought of as addressing the question of what is the minimum amount of work an athlete needs to do in order to achieve the desired performance goals. Efficiency also means how well structured your climbing / training time is, in the short, medium and long term. Read the rest of this entry »
By Douglas Hunter
The 4 X 4 has been the staple form of interval training for about seventeen years now but its popularity does not mean it can’t be manipulated. Here are five suggestions for making interval training more challenging. Read the rest of this entry »
The goal of our last working session was to piece together a training plan for X. Before launching into our plan, let’s summarize what we discovered the two previous days. First, X’s strengths are
On our first day together, Climber X and I went over his 2011 route pyramid, reviewed his likes and dislikes, and evaluated his performance for key physical attributes. X’s homework assignment was to find an inspiring 13a near his home to use as a long term goal and pick a number of low end 12s to be added to a progressive pyramid for 2012. On our second day together I took a look at X’s roped climbing skills with special emphasis on the process he uses to learn and then send a redpoint project. In fact, I wanted to evaluate several things including X’s ability to sustain work over a period of time (stamina) and a number of movement skills.
We began by warming up slowing doing double laps Read the rest of this entry »
I received an email recently from a Canadian who wanted a hands-on assessment and assistance creating an improvement plan. We arranged a visit to my humble facility in central Virginia, and he arrived yesterday. I thought it might be instructive for many of us if I blogged about this real world example of how you might go about assessing your abilities, conjuring a goal, and then putting an improvement plan together. Climber X is here for the week so follow along as I dig into his abilities and desires and then help him plot a course for success. Read the rest of this entry »
Additional Thoughts on Getting Better Without “Training”
In my previous post on improving without training I included the idea that intensity needs to be controlled, not necessarily increased, but controlled in a way that helps the climber meet his or her goals. The other night I had the pleasure of working with an enthusiastic young boulderer who is a good case in point for this idea. Read the rest of this entry »
Thanks to our friends at The Climbing Lab for their kind review of Redpoint. You can read what they thought HERE. And while you’re there be sure to check out the rest of their blog.
by Douglas Hunter
Many climbers want to improve their performance level. 5.9 climbers desire the prestige of reaching double digits. Young sport climbers know that climbing 5.14 is the new status quo. Boulderers want to join the race for V12, V13, and beyond. Nonetheless, launching into a full training program with cycles and long term planning can be daunting and sounds like a lot of work, even to highly motivated climbers. Short of creating a full training program, what can climbers do to keep improving? Read the rest of this entry »
A Tale of Two Brendans
01/27/12 UPDATE:
We settled on a training plan of alternating stamina and anaerobic workouts wi...
A Break From Climbing?
DanR,
Yes some pushing exercises will help especially those emphasizing the shoulders rather t...
A Break From Climbing?
I'm keen on using the winter to catch up in all around fitness, especially in areas that might he...
Program Design for climbing Part 4
Recently I came across an interesting series of training article on ukclimbing.com about training...
Case Study: Climber X
It's true, one of X's areas for improvement is maximum strength. He knows it, and he'll be spendi...
Case Study: Climber X
Wow, that's better than I was expecting. He's really concentrated on routes outside up until this...
Case Study: Climber X
Geoff,
Yes, the pyramid is redpoints. The average number of attempts per send is something li...