Training
Execution Vol 2: Developing Responsibility for Yourself
Tags: climbing training, execution, Goal Setting, Jacob Carr, Planning, Scheduling, Strength
by Jacob Carr The next step in execution will refer to your tactics around redpoint climbing. How do you spend your time at the crag? You can handle an undirected crag day by learning how to take responsibility for yourself and what you accomplish on a given climbing day. This means, deciding what your intentions…
Execution Vol 1: Better People Make Better Climbers
Tags: climbing training, execution, Goal Setting, Jacob Carr, Planning, Scheduling, Strength
by Jacob Carr I get the hunch that most climbers, if they were asked, would rather not train for climbing. Ever. If they could, they would be the best version of themselves on the rock by just climbing, no hangboarding-only redpointing flawlessly. If you’ve read anything by Steve Bechtel you’ve probably heard him say, “If…
Rachel’s Momentum Drills
Tags: drills, Movement, Rachel Speer, Skills, tension
By Rachel Speer I’ll be the very first one to admit it: I hate dynos. I would much prefer to figure out a way to do a move statically, even if it takes ten times the energy and strength than it would to just… for lack of a better word… yeet myself up the wall….
Optimizing First Gear: Training The Alactic Energy System
Tags: aerobic endurance, alactic, alactic intervals, alactic power, Planning, Power Endurance, Steve Bechtel
By Steve Bechtel Anyone who has been in sports for very long has probably heard of the energy systems, or the ways in which our bodies supply energy. When we run down a road for an hour, we are producing energy from a different source than when we pick up a heavy barbell. And when…
New Year, Different Resolution
Tags: climbing training, Goal Setting, Jacob Carr, Planning, Strength
by Jacob Carr Welcome to the new year! Congratulations on setting your new resolution, it is no small task to think about resolutions, goals, etc. let alone setting and executing them. One of the things I love about setting aside time for these types of actions is that it provides us time to reflect and…
Some Specifics about Specificity
Tags: climbing, Fitness, Practice, Specificity, Tactics, Ty Mack
By Ty Mack A Cautionary Tale My good friend and longtime climbing partner Kirk Billings used to spend his winters bouldering in Hueco Tanks and cooking at Todd Skinner’s training compound. He got to climb with many of the top climbers of the era and witness all manner of novel approaches to climbing and training….
The Rapture of Performance
Tags: climbing, Micah Elconin, Performance, Practice, Tactics
By Micah Elconin The season is changing. As temps drop and days shorten, I feel a sense of urgency ignite inside me. It’s performance season. For better or worse, cool dry air tends to make rock a bit stickier. So most of us count on the Fall for creating conditions that support big goals. Yet,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…