Strength
Kill One Exercise, Learn One Exercise, and Pick One To Maximize
Tags: Motivation, Steve Bechtel, Strength, Training
By Steve Bechtel Routine can be comforting, but it can kill our motivation. Things get boring. We don’t push. Routine can also kill our progress physically, because the stimulus being delivered to the body isn’t novel enough (in movement type, load, speed, etc.) to make the muscles adapt any further. With this in mind,…
Velocity-Based Training is Really a Thing
Tags: Motivation, Steve Bechtel, Strength, Training
By Steve Bechtel There are a lot of ways to make yourself stronger, and part of the path of an athlete is to explore these. Most of us start out weight training in a class or with a trainer, and we spend most of our time doing basic movements to the point where the…
Slow Strength 2
Tags: Bouldering, Finger Strength, parsons, Strength
by Steve Bechtel As with all good programs, there is a part two to Slow Strength. Unlike almost every other program you read, though, I can’t say that you must do part 1 first. In fact, you might call this Slow Strength “Variation 2.” I tried to keep the training pretty much the same volume,…
Slow Strength 1
Tags: easy, limited time, Steve Bechtel, Strength
by Steve Bechtel Sometimes you just want to be climbing. I get it—it’s what we all got into it for, and the training can sometimes feel like a massive distraction. These days, I’m super busy, and when I get a chance to get outside, even for just a couple of pitches, I take it…and my…
Execution Volume 3: The Path to Being The Best Climber You Can Be
Tags: climbing training, execution, Goal Setting, Jacob Carr, Planning, Scheduling, Strength
by Jacob Carr Action. This Is The Way. Now that you have a framework on how to attack a project-level route and a way to practice execution in the gym you can now put them into practice and allow yourself to perform on the rock. You can act on what you want. You…
Hard To Kill
Tags: climbing training, execution, Strength, Ty Vineyard
by Ty Vineyard Your fitness may be the difference between failure and success, or even life and death. Many do not think about this, even athletes who consistently train. SOF Operators, mountain guides, firefighters, and many other professionals highlight the importance of being “hard to kill.” Consistently operating in high consequence environments demands an approach…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…