We build all of our training plans to work for real people. Built on 4-week cycles, our plans can be assembled to address almost any training goal. Whether bouldering, big-wall climbing, redpointing, or just getting generally stronger, this is your starting point for getting better.
The Full Tilt Bouldering Plan
Tags: Advanced Training, Bouldering Training, full tilt, Intermediate Training, Strength Training
I wrote the Full Tilt Redpoint Plan for myself a decade ago. I had little kids, was super busy at the gym, and wanted to get the most out of my sport climbing with the limited time I had. Since then, we’ve programmed dozens of variations to this plan for climbers seeking all kinds of…
Cycled Strength/Power 20D – 8 Week Bouldering Performance Plan
Tags: 8 week plans, Bouldering Training, cycled plans, Power, Strength
This training plan is a 3-day-per-week plan that features two 4-week blocks of training. For sake of simplicity, we will call phase 1 the Strength phase and phase 2 the Power phase, although both phases feature a mixture of both. This plan differs from previous versions in both the volume of training and in the…
Five New Hangboard Sessions – Fall 2022
Tags: Finger Strength, Hangboard, programs, Strength, workouts
Five New Hangboard Workouts – Fall 2022 by Steve Bechtel Trying to decide between doing repeaters and max hangs is like living in Paris and trying to decide between eating at McDonalds or Subway. Not only are there other options out there, some of them might actually be better. Hell, I can’t blame the average…
Cycled Strength/Power 19D – 8 Week Bouldering Performance Plan
Tags: 8 week plans, Bouldering Training, cycled plans, Power, Strength
This training plan is a 3-day-per-week plan that features two 4-week blocks of training. For sake of simplicity, we will call phase 1 the Strength phase and phase 2 the Power phase, although both phases feature a mixture of both. The aim of this plan is to improve overall bouldering performance. This can then be…
Specific Endurance Training Plan 2
Tags: alactic power, Endurance, energy systems, High Low, Intervals, Power Endurance, specific endurance
This is a second option in our specific endurance plans, after, Specific Endurance 1, of course. This is not necessarily a progression from that plan, but is a slightly more intensive series of workouts. To review from SE1: The alactic energy system is primarily responsible for extremely high-power, short duration activities. Because it…
Specific Endurance Training Plan 1
Tags: alactic power, Endurance, energy systems, High Low, Intervals, Power Endurance
The alactic energy system is primarily responsible for extremely high-power, short duration activities. Because it relies on energy stored locally in the muscle, supplies dwindle immediately, and then are replenished via the aerobic system. This system is the one you use to do most strength and power training, and it is the one that kicks…
2-3-1 Finger Strength A
Tags: Finger Strength, off-season strength, volume cycling
by Steve Bechtel If you’ve been training for any amount of time, you are probably familiar with “staleness” in training – when you go flat despite trying harder, putting more weight on the bar, or upping the grades in your limit sessions. Most athletes will show a pretty standard pattern of going flat after around…
Bouldering Training – Advanced Undulating Program – 4 weeks
Tags: Bouldering, Periodization, Training Plans
The problem with getting good at bouldering is that getting even better gets even harder. An avid boulderer has a pretty steady improvement in strength and ability over the first year or two, and then often falls into a rhythm of getting in and out of shape for basically the same grades over and over….
Hangboard + Core 1
Tags: Core Strength, Finger Strength, Off Season
Getting stronger fingers requires heavy loading of the fingers. Heavy loading requires rest between sets. Resting between sets makes most of us feel like we are not working hard enough. Although the ideal rest times between hangs can be debated, the fact is that with maximum-effort hangs, more time between hangs is better. In order…
The World’s Simplest Hangboard Plan 2
Tags: Finger Strength, Hangboard, quick workouts, Simplest Hangboard Plan, Training Plans
TOOLS TIME CYCLE LENGTH 1 medium-sized edge + additional weight as needed 22 minutes after warm-up 8 sessions I released the first World’s Simplest Hangboard Plan in 2017 or so, and it became really popular right away. The reason is partially its simplicity, but also its brevity. People were just starting to carry…
Bouldering 436 Plan – Specific Power
Tags: Bouldering, Power, specific, Training Plans
4 week plan – 3 days per week – 60-120 minutes per session This is a 3x per week bouldering plan that last 4 weeks. The training involves a medium-intensity day, a high-intensity day, and a low-intensity day each week. It is best to start this cycle with a good base of finger strength and…
Finger Strength 432 Plan – 6 session cycle – Medium, High, Low Volume
Tags: Finger Strength, finger training, Grip Strength, Hangboard, Training Plans
Arguing about the merits of specific isometric finger strength protocols is a prime example of not seeing the forest for the trees. We brand a certain program as superior for this or perfect for that, but the biggest part of progress is doing it over long enough periods to see a relatively permanent change in…