We recently spent a few days in Wyoming to take advantage of the last week of Kate’s maternity leave. Sinks and Wild Iris are among our favorite crags. I can’t ever recall having a bad day at Wild Iris. Even when I get bouted by a project there (which happens often enough), the warmup climbs…
My training philosophy emphasizes finger strength training above all else. For a number of mostly obvious reasons, I’m convinced that finger strength is the single most important physical factor (as opposed to mental or technical factors) in rock climbing. That said, there are other elements of physical strength that are relevant, and worth training, if…
When I built my gym in the Lazy H, I never really put much thought into the angles of the walls. I mocked it up with the joists and basically just eye-balled it. Almost immediately it became clear that my campus board wasn’t quite as steep as it should be, and this has been an…
In late 2009, my friend Ben Schmitt bolted a typical-looking Shelf Road face climb at Cactus Cliff. The line climbs a beautiful white wall of limestone, featuring a brutally hard 5-or-so-move crux right in the middle of the wall. When Ben put the hardware in, I was just finishing off the last of Shelf’s (existing)…
Yesterday afternoon I set a new personal best on the Lazy H campus board. I did a max ladder of 1-8-15 (metolius spacing; 4″ o.c.). I realize this is not a super amazing feat, and has been bettered by countless climbers, but its a landmark for me because my board (and therefore my imagination) only has…
This is part 3 in a three-part series on Campus Training. If you haven’t read Part 1 and Part 2, please do. This training is for the thoroughly healthy. If you have any nagging injuries, particularly finger, elbow or shoulder injuries, DO NOT DO THIS! There are many different ways to use a campus board;…
This is part 2 in a three-part series on Campus Training. If you haven’t read Part 1, please do. Frequency & Rest The next order of business is to discuss frequency. Of all training activities, this one has the highest Gab-to-Grab ratio of them all. That is, far more time is spent talking about Campusing than…
This is Part 1 of a 3 part mini-series on Campus Training. Check back for the rest of the story in the near future. The legend of the original Campus Board is well-known and often re-told, not unlike the Epic tales of the ancient Greeks. The incomparable Wolfgang Gullich installed the first board at a Nurnberg gym…
‘Contact Strength’, ‘Max Recruitment’ and ‘Power’ are terms used often by climbers in training, but their actual meanings and inter-relationships can be somewhat ambiguous. As the first in a mult-part series on the subjuect, this post will attempt to clarify these terms and explain precisely what they mean for Performance Climbers. Each muscle in the body is…
Intensity is simply a matter of how much effort you put into a given training activity. In other words, how “hard” you are trying. You may already be performing the perfect training activity, but if the intensity is wrong, you won’t get the proper results. After observing many climbers in their natural habitat its clear…
The Rock Climber's Training Manual 