Training for Bouldering
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 Bouldering Warm-Up, In-Depth
Tags: Bouldering, Power, Warm-Ups
The key to climbing hard comes down to two things, really – holding on to small holds and doing hard moves. We can break these components down into discrete exercises, or we can package them together into the best climbing exercise there is: bouldering. Bouldering, for most of us, should be about going into the…
Logical Progression for Bouldering
Tags: Bouldering Training, logical progression, nonlinear bouldering
The Logical Progression book details a surprisingly effective program of nonlinear training for rock climbers. The program is simple, flexible, and enjoyable…and follows a simple series of workouts. In general, athletes are asked to do an Integrated Strength workout, followed by a hard bouldering session, followed by a session designed to increase their endurance. Although…
Training Programs for Bouldering – Intermediate
Tags: Accumulation, Alternating Linear, Bouldering, Cycling Training, Intermediate Training
by Steve Bechtel This is the second article in this series. The first, on training for novice boulderers, should be read before this one, training programs for bouldering-intermediate. As I wrote in the last article, we often like to think of ourselves as being more advanced that we are. I tend to do this…
Revisiting Bouldering Training for Novices
Tags: Accumulation, Bouldering, Cycling Training, Linear Planning, Novice Training, Recovery Weeks
by Steve Bechtel One of the most powerful tools we can acquire for getting better is to figure out how much getting better there is to be done. I first wrote the Novice Bouldering Program in 2010, re-released it a couple of years back, and am revisiting it again now. Why? Because it is one…
Quantifying Bouldering Sessions
Tags: Average V, Bouldering, Progress, Session Density, Tracking Training, V-Sum
by Steve Bechtel One of the greatest things about climbing, and I think one of the things that attracts many of us to the sport, is that no two moves are ever the same. Even the very same climbs can be executed differently each time you do them. This is endlessly entertaining for the mind,…
Volume-Driven Bouldering Plan
Tags: Bouldering, Intensity, Planning, Power Training, Volume
By Steve Bechtel Here is what a bouldering session looks like for probably 90% of all climbers everywhere. Show up when friends suggest showing up. Warm-Up by doing some “easy” problems. Start working some “hard” problems, rest as needed. Finish up with some more “easy” problems. As silly as this looks when you see it…
Sessions For Any Climbing Gym
Tags: 4x4s, Boulder Links, Bouldering, Circuits, Linked Problems, Power Endurance, Power Training, Strength Endurance
By Steve Bechtel One of the biggest barriers to effective progress as a rock climber, ironically, can be training sessions in a commercial climbing gym. Oh, sure, there are good gyms around, but they’re rare and many lack certain very useful things. These things can range from lacking a good hangboard, to limited hours, to…
Training Programs for Bouldering – Advanced
Tags: Accumulation, Advanced Training, Block Planning, Bouldering, Cycling Training, Recovery Weeks
By Steve Bechtel I was reluctant to release this training plan, and here’s why: I don’t think more than a handful of the climbers that will read this plan really need this plan. I have released training plans for novices and intermediate level climbers and I believe these plans are better plans for almost every…
Superpower
Tags: Bouldering, Explosiveness, Finger Power, Finger Strength, Power, Rate of Force Production
By Steve Bechtel We like to talk about power in climbing, and we like to think of ourselves as training “power” when we boulder, but is that really what we’re doing? The most powerful athletes in the world compete in activities lasting fewer than ten seconds. The athletes I am talking about are Olympic lifters…
Introduction to Training for Bouldering
Tags: Bouldering, Campus Board, Circuits, Explosiveness, Hangboard, Power, System Board, Weight Training
By Steve Bechtel Bouldering is exactly the same as rock climbing, except that it’s way harder. In an attempt to do this way harder sport, we often employ rock climbing training programs, yet they don’t quite work. This article is intended to highlight these differences, provide an introduction to bouldering training, and suggest an alternative…
Strength and Power Sessions for Bouldering
Tags: Bouldering, Campus Board, Circuits, CNS, Hangboard, Movement Preparation, Power, System Board, Weight Training
By Steve Bechtel Training for bouldering is a little bit different than just bouldering. I submit that just bouldering itself is great for getting good at the sport, just as going running is a good way to get ready for a 5k. As you know, though, top runners don’t “just run.” In order to develop…