Posts
Planning For The Off-Season
Tags: limiters, Periodization, Planning, Steve Bechtel, weaknesses
By Steve Bechtel It seems weird to start looking at time off from outdoor climbing right in the middle of the outdoor season, but I think it is more and more essential to come into each season-even the off-season or training season-with a solid plan to help you get the most out of it. When…
Watch: Specific Trip Prep
Tags: climbing, climbing trip, in-depth video, Planning, preparation, Steve Bechtel, Tactics
All too often we train extensively for a climbing trip to a new area, have big plans for performing at a high level, and then fall short of our goals. Where do we go wrong in our preparation for these trips? In this video Steve lays out a framework to train in a way that…
Rachel’s Body Tension Drills
Tags: drills, Movement, Rachel Speer, Skills, tension
By Rachel Speer Imagine this: you’re climbing on an overhang, gather up your strength and lob for the next hold that puts you in just a bit of a stretched position. You successfully grab the hold, but before you can even begin to move on, your hips sag away from the wall and you find…
Watch: Tension Techniques
Tags: Body Tension, Charlie Manganiello, climbing, in-depth video, Planning, Strength, Tactics, tension
Tension is King. In climbing or strength training the ability to generate tension is critical to perform hard movements or lifts, and avoid injury. Everyone generates tension naturally to some degree while performing difficult movements, but many fail to correctly engage all of the muscles they could through intentional practice. In this video Charlie will…
No Bad Foods
Tags: diet, Nutrition, Performance, Taylor Carr
By Taylor Carr, MS, ISSN-SNS, PN1 There are no bad foods. You may be thinking what do you mean there are no bad foods?? Can I really eat candy bars for dinner and still send my project? This statement is one that can bring strong emotion and certainly a lot of questions. The good…
Watch: Integrated Strength
Tags: climbing, in-depth video, Planning, Program Design, Programming, Recovery, Recovery Weeks, Steve Bechtel, Strength, Tactics
Everything about training for climbing is complicated. It is an exercise in compromise – focus on power and you lose endurance, too much time getting your fingers strong, and your redpoint grade drops. Over the years, there have been many creative solutions proposed to solve this problem. Many programs are more or less stolen from…
Partnership
Tags: climbing, Fitness, Micah Elconin, Practice, Tactics
By Micah Elconin Whether you like it or not, climbing is generally a social activity. Someone has to hold the other end of the rope for those redpoint attempts and my guess is you’d rather have a few extra pads and a spot when topping out that high boulder problem. Finding a climbing partner can…
Watch: Goal Setting Part 2
Tags: climbing, in-depth video, Planning, Program Design, Programming, Recovery, Recovery Weeks, Steve Bechtel, Strength, Tactics
The majority of climbers have goals, but not many have a framework that will lay out a path to succeed at ambitious, long-term objectives – even though almost all of us have them! In this video Alex discusses how to structure your goal setting so you have have a clear pathway to your short term,…
Maybe We’re Approaching Power Wrong
Tags: Bouldering, Campus Board, Power, Steve Bechtel, Strength
By Steve Bechtel It might be semantics, but it might also be a trap. When we throw around the terms we use in training for climbing, the word “power” gets used a lot. The problem is that although power is a performance metric, we struggle to build training that directly addresses it. Thus, when we…
Watch: Goal Setting Part 1
Tags: climbing, in-depth video, Planning, Program Design, Programming, Recovery, Recovery Weeks, Steve Bechtel, Strength, Tactics
The majority of climbers have goals, but not many have a framework that will lay out a path to succeed at ambitious, long-term objectives – even though almost all of us have them! In this video Alex discusses how to structure your goal setting so you have have a clear pathway to your short term,…
Watch: Foundational Mental Skills Part 2
Tags: climbing, in-depth video, Planning, Program Design, Programming, Recovery, Recovery Weeks, Steve Bechtel, Strength, Tactics
Training of mental skills is often overlooked by climbers but they are incredibly important to unlock an athletes full potential, along with cultivating a healthy relationship with your climbing. In this video Alex discusses the final two principles of Foundational Mental Skills: Productive Thinking and Self Confidence. Click here to watch Part 1. Want To…
Build Big Endurance With 3:2 Intervals
Tags: aerobic endurance, aerobic power, capacity, Circuits, climbing, Power Endurance, Steve Bechtel, Strength
By Steve Bechtel If you have been training for climbing very long, you’ve probably come across the idea of doing some kind of interval in order to help improve your endurance. Even a person that is totally focused on bouldering is going to need to tap into their ability to endure longer durations of power…