“Two Simple Rules:
- You get better at what you practice.
- Everything is practice.” - James Clear
Sometimes, in the throes of working out, I forget that training actually works. And what I mean here is that a workout can be part of training but is not necessarily training in and of itself. I can work out AND train at the same time, but unless I plan it well, it doesn’t just happen.
Let me give you an example: I walk into the gym, do some movement prep, chalk up and do 15-20 random boulders, and then walk into the weight room. In the weight room, I get my notebook out, look at what I previously did in my offset pull-up exercise, and load up slightly more weight for today’s workout. I do the planned sets and reps at this new load, and then I note how I felt, what I think the next workout should look like, and when I’ll do it.
You might think the whole session was “training,” but in reality, unless it is planned and progressed and assessed, it’s only going to help me get better by chance. The weight training described can be considered training, where just going in and mindlessly bouldering is probably not.
It’s a long and winding road, however. There are many obstacles in the path. There are sirens at every turn, hoping to pull you away from the mission.
It’s easy to slip from training into “working out”—doing whatever it takes to feel really tired. We do this by adding in too many exercises. We do it by chasing multiple sports. By trying to gain strength and endurance at the same time. I do it because I want to get better at all the things at all times, and even 40 years into climbing still think that this might be my big year.
Last month at the CWA, I taught a 4-hour intensive program design seminar. It was attended by coaches, gym owners, athletes, and self-coached climbers. Importantly, every single one of the participants was a climber who wanted to get better. We started out with participants making a list of all the things that they needed to improve upon. We then looked at the approximate number of hours per week they might need to spend on each category to see a significant improvement. As you might guess, a person with ten things to improve upon that each take two hours to complete every week is going to have a big challenge. Add to this trying to develop certain facets of fitness that compete with each other for resources from the body.
Athletes that have developed any of these qualities in the past will have a harder time making additional improvements. With each step up the ladder, the next step is both less effective (we make fewer gains) and more time consuming. Thus, if a climber is new to, say, finger strength training, they can see huge gains in just an hour a week. A veteran professional might need to dedicate four or more hours a week for any substantial gain. This professional still needs to maintain their sport skill, general fitness, and more. They also are even more likely to run into interference with competing adaptations.
What we learned is that in order to handle training, we need to be explicit in what we are asking from the body. And the better we get—the more advanced we are in learning to climb—the more specific our training needs to be.
I learn this lesson over and over in my day to day life:
- If I have ten work projects and focus on each for a couple of minutes; I have ten projects to work on again tomorrow.
- If I have five books on the nightstand that I keep switching between; I can’t even remember which book it was I read something interesting in.
- If I have fifteen exercises in my strength session; I end up very tired each day, but come back to the next session without being noticeably stronger.
Over the last year or so, I stopped spending much time working on finger strength. Basically, when I had time for any training, I did some general strength or some bouldering, both of which are big-bang-for-the-minute practices. In January, though, we were doing some testing with the Tindeq for a video and I found that my peak load pull was down by about 20 pounds over my historic average. A bit of a shock, but to be expected…I’d been skiing, working, and hunting a bunch and climbing very little.
I decided to just see what was up. Without stopping all of my other general activity, I reduced the volume of general strength slightly and added two finger strength exercises to the end of each weight training or bouldering session: edge hangs on a board, and mono block pulls. The volume was super low, but I added load as tolerated. With the edge hangs, I worked my way down from 20mm to 15mm to 12mm to 10mm at bodyweight as my fingers felt capable. I then went back up to 15mm and added load really conservatively. With the monos, it was the same. If the exercise felt uselessly easy, I’d make a note to add 1.25 pounds the next session. If it felt at all risky, I’d drop by 2.5 pounds and work my way back up over the next sessions.
The clear reminder that stays with me is this: I am interested in having stronger fingers, not in being able to lift really heavy loads. Conservative loading is the friend of the serious strength athlete. Having spent too much time at 90% or more of my max in training has taught me this, and maybe I am old enough to listen now.
The strength went up and up. The temptation to add even more hand positions, a lock off, or some power was high, but I just didn’t have the time. This saved me. Two exercises to address. One systemic adaptation to chase. Not a lot of decision-making.
It’s not enough to read something like this, take it into consideration, and just hold the course you’re on. For so many of us, the things that led us to this level of performance are not the things that will lead us to the next. Climbers want so badly to be assessed and told where they compare to others and what they should work on next, but few truly do it. Our habits and prejudices are just too strong.
I urge you to make your own list of all the areas where you want to improve. Give yourself ten minutes. Time it, it will feel like an eternity—but think about each time you came up against a limit that bothered you. It can be movement, fitness, planning, life schedule, whatever. Each time I do it, I can hit a dozen or more items that seem like high value targets in the first 2 minutes.
Next, you start slashing off things that are not essential or addressable right now. This is followed by deciding between the last few items. You can keep two of them, but they can’t compete for resources or time.
Finally, for the next month or two, you address this thing slowly and progressively. You can do other stuff, but you should not chase it. Let it simmer. If you’re going after pull-ups, it makes sense to do a whole workout, but every other thing should be done without the mindset of massive progress.
As driven athletes, we look to improve by first asking ourselves, “What can I do to get better?” The more useful question is to ask “What can I do better in order to get better?” Often, it’s giving enough attention to something to improve it, and doing it long enough to let it happen. More is not usually the answer.