Hi all, first time posting here. Looking for some advice from stronger climbers than myself on my current training program.

My goals are too push my sport climbing grades. I don't have much interest in pushing my bouldering grades. However, I only have access to a bouldering gym for training purposes.

I currently climb around around the upper limit of 5.10 while projecting easier 5.11s. A specific goal I would say I have is to consistently climb 5.11s. I believe I would be satisfied with my climbing abilities if I were capable of doing this.

Training:

I work 3 days a week in healthcare, so this leaves me 4 days a week to train.

Day 1:

Upper body strength training - 4x10 of different bodyweight pulling exercises like pull ups and rows on rings

Bouldering 1 hour and finish with a 4x4 workout on easier boulders

1 hour zone 2 cardio

Day 2:

Lock off workout (4 sets of 4 exercises)

Bouldering 1 hour and focusing on lock offs to finish (hovering over my next hold 3-5 seconds)

1 hours zone 2 cardio

Day 3:

Leg strength training (4 sets of 4 workouts such as squat and deadlift)

Bouldering 1 hour - finishing on the kilter board working on climbs within my range

1 hour zone 2 cardio

Day 4:

Bouldering 1:30-2 hours

Core strengthening (20-30 minutes)

Day 5-7:

Complete rest (although I do walk a good amount everyday for my job)

Any advice from experienced climbers would be greatly appreciated. If you would like any additional information to help me out please say so. Thanks!

I thought I'd ask on here, there is sometimes too much information on the internet and it can be a bit overwhelming but I have picked up a crimp block that has 20mm, 15mm, 10mm and 6mm edges, I can use the sides to train pinch (something my left arm is severely lacking in, my right arm is 4x stronger than my left in terms of pinch strength). I am limited in terms of weight, I use water bottles in different sizes and put them in a bag to use for training. For pinch this is perfect because I can't pinch grip that high a weight just yet but for crimp pulling, if I'm on 20 or 15mm edge it is way too easy as the weight is too low, should I use the 10mm edge to train on seeing as weight is limited so I will get more of a workout from that, what is the difference between lower weight and smaller edge and higher weight larger edge? Ideally also I want to equalise my arms and hands, I know one is always going to be stronger than the other and it is inefficient to not train both to their max but I would rather keep the same weight for both so my left arm and hand will catch up to the right and then I can go from there.

So what would be a good workout I could use twice a week inbetween climbing 2-3 times a week?

This is a thread for simple, or common training questions that don't merit their own individual threads as well as a place to ask Injury related questions. It also serves as a less intimidating way for new climbers to ask questions without worrying how it comes across.

The /r/climbharder Master Sticky. Read this and be familiar with it before asking questions.

Commonly asked about topics regarding injuries:

Tendonitis: http://stevenlow.org/overcoming-tendonitis/

Pulley rehab:

• https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/stories/experience-story-esther-smith-nagging-finger-injuries/
• https://stevenlow.org/rehabbing-injured-pulleys-my-experience-with-rehabbing-two-a2-pulley-issues/
• Note: See an orthopedic doctor for a diagnostic ultrasound before potentially using these. Pulley protection splints for moderate to severe pulley injury.

Synovitis / PIP synovitis:

https://stevenlow.org/beating-climbing-injuries-pip-synovitis/

General treatment of climbing injuries:

https://stevenlow.org/treatment-of-climber-hand-and-finger-injuries/

[EDIT] Thanks for all the answers!
Based on ideas here, I asked gyms 1 & 2 if they could add some weights. Gym 1 straight said no, gym 2 told me they actually have them already but were keeping them hidden because of theft! So that's a big plus.
I've settled for picking a yearly gym 1 membership, and a 3month one at 2 for the winter months at least :)
In addition, I'll look at getting a crane scale and do a cycle of no-hangs at home to see how well I do with it.

Hey team

I've just moved to a new city, new life, new psyche, I've decided to set up myself nicely for training hard!
There are a few options I can pick from, and I'm struggling to decide.
I'm mostly focused on sport climbing, have about 10y climbing experience, but have always struggled with building strength (max +35% bw for 2 arms 10s 20mm hangs, climbing max 8a+ / 7B+ , my strength is a big limiting factor to my progression).

I can now pick between a few options:

GYM 1 is a 5min walk from my flat, is a fairly small commercial bouldering gym BUT has a kilterboard. I'd also be able to go for midday sessions there.
However, although it has a campus board and hangboards, it doesn't have any weights for max hangs, nor small edges if I were to try an eva lopez style protocol.

GYM 2 is 20min cycle away. It has 2 moonboards, a larger bouldering area, and some small 10m-ish routes. It also has a bit more gym facilities, but no weights. However, it's a bit too far to be able to go for lunch time sessions.

GYM 3 is a 15min bus trip in theory (probably more 45min during traffic hours though), 20min drive or 45min cycle away. It's got a huge commercial bouldering area, a kilterboard, a moonboard, weights ... On paper it's great, but it's far from the city.

PS: There are also cheap "fitness" gyms accessible near me. I've actually never been to such a gym in my life, so don't know how much it can compensate for what's lacking in the other gyms.

The gyms are all very expensive (16€/session if no membership, and 550€/year subscriptions), I tend to go 3-5 times a week depending on the season, so I'd definitely be looking at taking one (or maybe two, if really it seems unavoidable) memberships.
The city also has infinite access to sport climbing crags in a 30min-1hour cycling radius in the summer so after work climbing will be possible, but in the winter there is virtually no sport climbing, so I'd like to try maintain some fitness indoors too.

So here comes my dilemma: which gym, or combination, to pick?
My focus is mostly sport climbing, but I find it hard to build strength and traditionally have followed max hang protocols.
GYM 1 would probably be a no brainer for me because of the proximity + kilterboard but I'm concerned about the limited "gym" equipment. Maybe a combination of GYM1 + a "fitness" gym?

GYM 2 seems good, but I'm wondering if having a gym that far won't get in the way of regular training.

If you have opinions to help me decide, please share!

apologies in advance, this post is kind of a mess. posted here because i figured you guys more than anyone else would understand a love for taking this sport seriously, but if it’s the wrong place please LMK and i’ll take it down

TLDR: in a funk, looking for feedback/ideas from those w/ similar experiences

i’m just going through the motions. i know at one point i enjoyed this sport, enjoyed the grind, the sense of progression and knowledge i was good at something unique. even simpler, i had fun. i had fun climbing with friends, fun training hard, fun trying the ungraded problems and falling on climbs i had no business starting. i don’t anymore. i’m better now, at least that’s what my grade and benchmarks tell me, but i certainly don’t feel it.

while i’m improved in the sense of sending harder climbs, it’s hard to attribute that to anything other than increasingly soft grading - i’ve done nothing right to warrant the recent ‘jump’ i’ve made from v8 -> 9, almost 10. i don’t hangboard anymore, don’t lift, don’t stretch, don’t train boards, hell i don’t even really climb anymore. i show up, erg for a few minutes and half ass my projecting before calling it quits. i don’t look forward to trying hard anymore; by and large if i can’t send something with at most 40% effort, i lose interest and move on. that feeling probably left me a while ago, but i haven’t noticed until now.

the peer comparisons certainly don’t help. since i got serious about climbing back in 2021, i’ve watched most of my former teammates and friends (yes, unfortunately was a team kid) surpass me, some starting as recently as a year ago. one went on to compete in MYA nationals. more than anything else, it’s incredibly depressing to consider the time i’ve wasted not taking this sport seriously; doing the bare minimum to maintain what little strength/skill i’ve still got.

while i’ve had some short periods of growth in the past year and whatever since i’ve slipped into this funk, they’ve never lasted more than a few weeks, and have always ended with me worse off than i was before. had a 10 i was working a few months ago - first time in forever spending more than a few sessions on a climb, and i wanted it so bad i started getting myself back into my training routine. started caring about what i ate and how i recovered and started stretching after sessions. i started looking forward to going in again. and so naturally, earth treks said ‘fuck you!’ and pulled the rug out from under, resetting it on a weekend i was out of town. i’ve since them slipped back into my crappy climbing, going from three times to twice to once a week, if that. there’s a real sense of dread i feel on the drive over, nothing i’ve felt before. maybe it’s the fact i simply don’t give a shit about any of the setting, the knowledge i’m wasting time i could be spending on school or work on what’s going to be a mediocre session, or the truth that i’m only still here because of the fear of losing what i’ve got right now and knowing i’ll never pick it up again, that any break will be permanent- i’ll never have the energy to get back to where i am now from nothing. it’s a sunk cost, and right now i’m riding it down to the bottom

I find that I don't give a lot of send burns during my sessions. My favorite way to climb is to day project, I'll give an example:

Warm up, try a boulder from the start and fail at the crux in the middle. Finish the climb from after the crux in a couple tries. Then I'll work the crux as a single move, maybe optimize some of the other moves if I think I had mediocre beta.

Notably, I don't end up doing a lot of links. If I'm trying to optimize a move, I won't take the climb to the top after to save energy. I almost never try crux moves from the ground even if they are near the bottom, again to save energy. By the time I'm happy with my beta, I usually send in just a couple tries from the ground. This leaves me having done very few medium or long burns, most of the session is doing 1-2 moves at a time.

This strategy has worked for me in terms of sending and enjoyment, but ultimately the goal is improving not just sending another gym boulder.

I've been back at climbing for a year and a half (~3.5 years total experience) and climb around V6/7. I climb three days a week, usually 1 session is actual volume (climb everything I can from the new set) then the other 2 are working the harder climbs. I don't do any off the wall finger training.

Is this a valid way to train? It's definitely the way I prefer to train but I'm willing to change if it's slowing my progress. In general I'm happy with my progress but I wonder if I could end up lacking in some area as a result.

My goal is to be the best all around boulderer I can be.

This is a thread for topics or questions which don't warrant their own thread, as well as general spray.

Come on in and hang out!

Most of the training information I come across is related to gym climbing, relies on access to boards/lots of boulders in close proximity/training devices. I do not have access to any of these things, but do have a ton of local climbing available, from granite slabs, to overhanging/roofy gneiss + a huge amount of limestone vert. These is some bouldering around, but a lot of the good/clustered stuff is multi-day project level for me right now.

Thus far in my climbing career I've just been climbing a lot, without much of a meaningful schedule (3-6 days a week). The higher volume weeks tend to come in chunks, if a partner is camping in the area for example. I can generally keep recovery up for a couple of weeks of that by eating/sleeping lots. I've just been going where the passion takes me, sometimes moderate trad, sometimes sport onsighting or projecting, lately a little bouldering. Very rarely an intentional volume day. I feel like progress is starting to slow down, and it has me considering organizing my climbing to gain advantage. There are a couple of routes I'd really like to do that feel close

I'm 6', 175lbs, and have been climbing for 19 months, managed to tick a 12a a couple of months ago, am currently 1 hanging a couple of other 12s. I don't boulder often, but suspect my single day limit is v4 or v5. I think I am stronger onsighting than redpointing (some 11b and 11c onsights), whatever that tells you. Somewhere in the last few months the limiting factor for me has changed from not being about to pull on a small hold to not being able to link everything up on limit climbs.

I've given a little thought to a buying a hangboard, but don't want to climb less to make space for that, so I don't know if it's the best idea.

What do the experts here think? Should I try and introduce some structure to my climbing? Maybe some volume days mixed in here and there? Rest days at specific times? Some sport replaced with bouldering? Alternating rock type/climbing style? Light hangboarding? All thoughts I've had, but not tried implementing. How do you guys figure any of this should look, with an eye towards sustained long term progress, rather than creating short performance periods?

For the last two years, I’ve been working on an outdoor project that, grade-wise, should be within my reach. I’ve done a few routes at this grade pretty quickly in the past, and this one even plays to my strengths overall. But it’s a very endurance-based climb with a slopey, reachy V6 boulder problem at the top, and it’s been a mental and physical grind.

Year one, I took things a bit casually, struggling to link the lower sections while juggling some injuries and life changes (my wife and I had our first child). Eventually, I broke through the initial boulders but fell at the redpoint crux, convinced it would go next season.

Now, fast-forward to this fall—I’m eight sessions in and have fallen at the top boulder 15-20 times. I’m making micro-progress, like moving a little better each time or reaching a tiny bit higher, but only improving by a couple of holds over those sessions. I’m just one move from the easier section and the send, but I’m hitting a wall with anxiety and self-doubt each time I go out.

So, after all that backstory, I’d love to hear what’s worked for you on projects that are as mentally taxing as they are physical. How do you manage the pressure when you’re so close but so far? And if you have any endurance training advice that’s helped you squeeze out those last bits of margin, I’d love to hear it!

Hi everyone, I just got diagnosed with multiple injuries in my wrist from overuse (ECU tendinosis, TFCC sprain, SL sprain), and will need a period of time to rest and brace the wrist, as it hurts with just normal daily activity. Despite what the injuries suggest, I'm not an overzealous climber and leading up to this injury only bouldered twice a week, each session maybe lasting 1.5hours. But I could've listened to my wrist when it started having nagging discomfort initially and stopped instead of taping it up haha.

Easy climbing is out of the question at this point in time, and I'm ok with that. Apart from maybe running/hiking for general health, wanted to get some ideas on what other things could potentially be done that may help with climbing.

Some ideas I have include lower body training, cardio, flexibility, maybe even doing a bit of no hang fingerboarding on the right hand (good hand) just to keep it fresh? Doing no hangs with the injured side feels abit unstable for the wrist.

I already have a PT and a specialist to follow up for the injuries, so this is more just to see what else I can do while chilling.

Thanks for the ideas in advance, and some positive psyche!

The quiet eye is a concept defined by its originator Joan Vickers as "the final fixation or tracking gaze that is located on a specific location or object in the task space within 3° of visual angle (or less) for a minimum of 100 ms." This (https://ciss-journal.org/article/view/7519/10521) article explains it better and more in-depth than I ever could, but I'll try to summarize the important bits. The concept was developed from eye tracking data of elite performers in multiple sports. When compared to near-elite or average competitors elite athletes tend to spend significantly more time with their eyes static on one position before performing a motion. This is consistent through many different sports and types of motions. As I understand it the theory is it increases the task relevant information that is gathered, which helps prime more specific movement patterns, as well as increasing focus. There is no consensus on exactly what's happening though. Whatever the reason, it is clearly related to being consistently accurate in movements. Better yet, research seems to indicate that training the quiet eye can increase performance in non-elite athletes. This meta-analysis (https://idus.us.es/bitstream/handle/11441/53483/Quiet%20eye%20(Versi%F3n%20aceptada).pdf;jsessionid=9356C25E8CAAD0E375BE0D79D1BF656B?sequence=1&isAllowed=y) goes more in-depth on the topic.

I learned about this idea a few months ago and have been trying to integrate it into my climbing. I focus primarily on competition climbing, so my training includes a lot of dynamic practice.

What I started doing was first trying to maximize the information I have before I start the dyno by finding the angle of holds and statically reaching to the goal to gauge the distance I will need to jump. Then I spend specific time fixing my gaze on my feet, then hands, and finally the goal hold or goal position before maintaining that gaze as I actually move.

I think to some degree most of us already do this, but by making it a conscious decision I have noticed massive improvement in my ability. I am able to do more complicated movements than I could before and am much faster at learning new movements. I also feel more comfortable repeating difficult dynos, and the time it takes to reach the point where I can nail them every time has decreased noticeably.

I'd love to hear other's experience with this concept and opinions on how well it applies to climbing.

Hey, I'm looking for general advice and experience around protein intake for my diet.

I'm finding it hard to calculate my typical protein intake but I eat lsrgely vegetarian diet without the usual high protein foods such pulses, seeds, nuts, tofu etc. So I know my protein is a little low but it's never concerned me.

However, I've wondered whether my low protein intake means my tendon and ligament recovery is a little slow, especially around my fingers and elbows. Obviously, strengthening these areas is more about doing the right exercises, warm up routine etc but protein intake does also have an impact.

I've started supplementing my diet with whey protein and creatine but I'm unsure on the right intake schedule.

I'm 75kg/166lbs.

I definitely plan to take an all-in-one shake with protein and creatine together after every session/workout. This is about 25-30g of protein.

But I'm not sure whether it's worth have a just-protein (ie no creatine) shake before my session, or to just have those just protein shakes on my rest days.

Any thoughts and experiences?

I'm entering an endurance bouldering competition, and I could use some help on my competition strategy. My training for the comp "is what it is" at this point b/c the competition is two weeks away.

The overall format is a community endurance competition with ~30 boulders. The goal is to climb as many as possible within 3 hours. There are no extra points for climbing easier or harder boulders.

My goal here is to develop a strategy to climb as many as possible AND refine my strategy for future endurance bouldering competitions. There isn't a "winning" in terms of "getting on a podium" or qualifying for something big. It's like entering a fun run while recognizing a fun run is an opportunity to test a strategy.

For reference, when I entered a previous 2-hour endurance competition, here was my strategy:

• 10 min. warm up on easy climbs (larger body warm-up before starting)
• 10 min. survey break (get a sense of everything, do some quick reads, climb nothing)
• 30 min. climbing to set a baseline. If something is easy, go up about two. If I fail on a good attempt, go down and try something else. Goal is to get "points on the board"
• 10 min. rest (this is about an hour in)
• 20 min. max points. This is about surveying problems for flash goes OR second/third attempts at something where I was "close."
• 10 min. rest
• 30 min. push climbing. Go for the hardest things, even if they aren't "in my range" or "in my style."

I'm looking for modifications to competition day strategy rather than training plans or areas of climbing weakness/strength building.

I am a sport rock climber looking for sports nutrition advice.

tldr; id like to know how to plan a year wrt when to cut weight, when to up to maintenance calories and when to be in surplus

apologies for a wordy post

Requirements of the sport:

you want to be lean and light but still powerful for when you want to perform.

Strength to weight ration is a major consideration.

performance for me will generally be a 3-4 week trip somewhere abroad with some world class climbing.

for other parts of the year, performance is a lower priority, gaining strength and preparing for upcoming goals becomes the priority.

there is never a bulking phase, this isn't something you want in climbing, but permanently staying lean and at a deficit hobbles your ability to respond to base training periods.

It is difficult to get clear answers about dieting in climbing training circles because Red-s and problematic weight loss being periodically widespread.

conversations questioning whether one actually needs to be in a deficit or if losing weight is the best way to manipulate the strength to weight ratio are important, but not what I am asking about here.

My experience with dieting:

I'm very used to structuring a diet to manipulate bodyweight. I have done this many times before, in a number of different modalities.

I can eat at a calorific deficit, pay attention to protein, fat and carbohydrate requirements and eat a nutritionally complete diet. (lean meats, loads of fruit and vegetables, whole foods, very little processed foods, no booze etc etc) I really enjoy what I eat, its not a sacrifice.

I am mentioning that here because I don't want this conversation to be derailed on the factors such as adherence, macro split, timing etc etc.

a mistake I have made previously is not having a defined end point. this means I lose weight and feel obligated to stay at the deficit of calories, I don't really know how to increase out of the deficit. this has hobbled my training response and diet fatigue eventually cause an uncontrolled bounceback in weight.

the diet I am currently in has a dedicated maintenance period at the end.

I have been following the strategy by Dr Mike Israetel. I really like his tone and clarity, ultimately its sober advice I trust.

(im not looking for input and opinions on mike. im very aware that food in general, strategies, what someone considers a good take on nutrition or not, who is and isn't respected amongst circles, the aesthetic of the person delivering the info, all is uniquely sensitive and prone to shitstorms and agro, im not really interested in that here, respectfully)

Question:

What I am unclear on is how one structures a diet over a wider timescale.

when does one switch between deficit, maintenance and surplus?

this would be my current best guess:

month 1 - small surplus (post trip recovery)

month 2 - decrease to maintenance kcal

month 3 - Deficit kcal

month 4 - Deficit kcal

month 5 - increase to maintenance kcal

month 6 - 1 month trip

my specific strategy that I am currently committed to looks like this (I will stick to this, not looking for evaluation on this, just might be relevant):

started very heavy for me, a non performance based climbing trip that was a little too indulgent

I had 9 weeks to train and diet for my trip

week 1-4 I went to a deficit, 2100 kcal

week 5-7 1900 kcal (at this stage now)

week 8 2200 kcal - increasing to find maintenance

week 9 2200-2600? kcal - increasing to find maintenance

trip starts, 3 weeks in Kentucky - aiming to be at maintenance

(psyched out of my box for the red)

any help is appreciated.

One component of climbing harder is about climbing faster. And I'm not talking about being like adam ondra and spending less than 1.2 seconds per hold so I'm not running up the pump clock. I'm talking about keeping the pace moving on long multi-pitch routes.

Usually when I climb I'm meticulous and careful, I'm spending time picking the best footholds, puzzling out the best/most secure way to do the next move or sequence. I do this even if it's moderate, because the consequences of a fall are bad; and if it's harder then I do it because I need to. On a harder route, I will milk a rest hold or stance as long as possible because I don't know what's coming next and going into it with anything less than full recovery is "risky."

I feel like I move slowly, but I have no way to objectively measure that. I guess I could start timing my pitch leads vs. my partners pitch leads and see if I'm consistently slower on average?

I definitely climb a LOT faster when seconding compared to leading but this probably applies to everyone. That suggests its a mental thing; I'm able to figure out the moves and am just spending time convincing myself to do them when leading. Or, I'm allowing myself to take "riskier" moves on TR (maybe I use a less-secure smear instead of spending time hunting for that slightly more positive nub)

A big piece of it is definitely mental. And maybe there are also technical skills of moving faster I could work on. But what are they and how?

I don't think the problem is gear placement or belay transitions or anything like that. Of course there's always room for improvement there, but I have lots of experience and the places I notice are in the movement.

what has your experience been with this or did it just come naturally? I have many years of climbing experience and this has been a weakness of mine for a long time.

i guess per the bot, if it matters, my climbing stats here are, climbing for 12ish years, more off than on the past 2-3 years though and coming back to climbing more. I mostly climb trad but take trips to the sport crag now and then, and my preference is long alpine routes. I've climbed a handful of trad 11 pitches and feel pretty solid in the 5.9-10b range. Weekend climber.

This is a thread for simple, or common training questions that don't merit their own individual threads as well as a place to ask Injury related questions. It also serves as a less intimidating way for new climbers to ask questions without worrying how it comes across.

The /r/climbharder Master Sticky. Read this and be familiar with it before asking questions.

Commonly asked about topics regarding injuries:

Tendonitis: http://stevenlow.org/overcoming-tendonitis/

Pulley rehab:

• https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/stories/experience-story-esther-smith-nagging-finger-injuries/
• https://stevenlow.org/rehabbing-injured-pulleys-my-experience-with-rehabbing-two-a2-pulley-issues/
• Note: See an orthopedic doctor for a diagnostic ultrasound before potentially using these. Pulley protection splints for moderate to severe pulley injury.

Synovitis / PIP synovitis:

https://stevenlow.org/beating-climbing-injuries-pip-synovitis/

General treatment of climbing injuries:

https://stevenlow.org/treatment-of-climber-hand-and-finger-injuries/

Two months back, over the summer, I would climb on the kilter board a lot, sometimes in the gym and sometimes on the moonboard too. I would project v8s on the kilter, and v9s always felt like a cut above, and the moves were out of my skill range. Recently, I cut down on the climbing I've been doing because of upcoming exams, so up until this week I hadn't kiltered or been to a commercial gym in around 2 months.

That being said, I have been weight training in the gym, as well as climbing at my school gym. I picked up a pulley injury and TPCC injury these past couple months anyways, so I have not been training or climbing that hard.

However, coming back to the kilter this week, I've noticed a drastic improvement. Not just that but a lot of my old projects are going down. I am flasshing 8s and sent a couple 9s. Most 9s are well within my capability now, it's just a matter of linking. Comparative to my friends (with whom I climb very regularly) who used to be the same level or better than me, I am now properly a cut above them.

I am really confused as to why I improved. The only noticeable changes I could possibly think of was letting my fingers heal, doing weight training (I pushed my weighted pull up to 35kg at 58kg bw), and also I began taking creatine and protein powder a few months back.

I want to understand better how my body works, so I can improve in the future. My improvement has been far from linear since I only started climbing 1.5 years ago, so I am still very foreign to what sort of training actually works best for me. Any similar experiences or advice?

This is a thread for topics or questions which don't warrant their own thread, as well as general spray.

Come on in and hang out!

Warning - long post. May not be relevant for everyone.

As a preface, I am by no means an elite climber. I have climbed up to V8 on a board, with the moonboard and TB2 being my favourite out of all of them. I do not get outdoors much because there is no rock in my country. I have been climbing for 10 years with many (months - years) breaks in between due to various life circumstances.

I recently finished Jared Diamond's "upheaval", a book on how various nations have overcome crises and the factors behind why they were able to do so. He came up with a framework to analyze these factors and uses it to make some predictions on the outcome of current world crises. Interestingly, I think this framework can be quite applicable to many climbers, including myself, who undergo a "crisis" in our performance. This is my attempt at applying this framework to my own climbing, and a note on how it has helped me. It may or may not be useful for some people, and it may be utter rubbish, but I thought I would share it anyway. Everyone knows how to train, but I think we all could learn a thing or two about overcoming adversity.

These are the 12 factors:

1. Acknowledgement one is in crisis

• I think you can replace the word "crisis" with "having an injury", or "being in a plateau", or "not hitting performance goals" etc.

• For me, some "crises" which I have acknowledged about my climbing this year are:

• I have had dealt with two pulley injuries and two separate bouts of terrible elbow tendinopathy. I am currently injury-free.
• I am not climbing as well as I think I should be, and i am not making as much progress as I would like given my training age.

2. Accept responsibility

• This is pretty easy in the context of climbing because... no one else is responsible for your training and your performance except yourself. Unless you are a professional climber, but even so.

• Injured? It's either the result of poor training practices, or too much volume, or lack of recovery, or too much too soon etc etc.. or a combination of all of it. No matter what, you are responsible for it and identifying what went wrong.

3. Delineating problems

• This refers to delineating between things that require change and those that are better being preserved. Just because one is in a crisis, it doesn't mean that your entire training needs to be overhauled.

• For example, I am good with things that supplement my recovery, such as sleep and nutrition.

• One example of something I changed, was that I do way too much strength/supplemental training and I was unknowingly impacting my recovery burden (despite having good recovery practices). I now do much less, and I continue to make gains and more importantly remain injury free.

• I also now am quite selective of what sort of climbing I choose to do. Unfortunately, where I live, the style of setting indoors is quite compy, with big slopey holds that require a lot of overall body strength and compression etc, not many crimps, and importantly, put a heinous amount of stress on the elbow and shoulder joints which my body does not agree with at my current conditioning level. Which is a problem for me, and also something within my control.

• I now shift my intense training sessions to the board because while they are more taxing on the fingers, they do not stress my elbows and shoulders the way that the gym sets do. I reserve the gym sets for easier days. To be honest this has been beneficial because I have been weak in the fingers (or perhaps uncoordinated) for a long time anyway due to them being under-trained on the gym sets. A downside is that I am not good in a compy style and would definitely benefit from doing them more. But there is also a limit to how much I am willing to risk injury to become more proficient in this style.

4. Getting help from others

• Pretty self explanatory. For climbing I suppose most people could benefit from a good coach, but not everybody wants one. Myself included.

5. Using others as models

• Again, also pretty self explanatory. Look for people who have faced similar circumstances. How have they dealt with or overcome it?

• I think this is also important because climbing is a sport that seems to be growing younger by the year. 10 years ago I would be one of the youngest in the gym, climbing with people much older than myself. Now when I enter a climbing gym, I'm one of the oldest (and I'm not even that old!!).

• I acknowledge that a lot of the young people are stronger than me and can climb harder than me, but it would be foolish to take training advice from them most of the time. On the other hand, I feel no shame asking them for technical advice when I need it. There is this one kid who is an incredibly intuitive climber and I look up to his style and technical ability, but he also told me that rubbing his fingers under running water helps to heal his pulley injuries so.. go figure.

6. Importance of Identity

• Not super relevant, but perhaps one thing to say about this particular point is that for a lot of us, it may not be simply enough to identify as a climber but also to identify as an athlete.

7. Honest self-appraisal

• To be honest, out of ALL the points, THIS. THIS is the most important one. I think goal setting also falls under this point because we need to be honest about our goal setting as well. They need to be realistic and achievable, and how we go about attaining those goals also requires honest self appraisal. For me personally, I want to climb V9 both on a board and outdoors next year, which I think is a realistic goal. I know i am strong enough, it's just a matter of polishing up current weaknesses in my technique. I'm not good at toe hooks. I used to be bad at heel hooks but i can say now i'm fairly strong in them. My hips could be more flexible. I could be better at generating power with my legs. I have a bad habit of re-adjusting on holds. I could be better at keeping my hips into the wall when generating movement (I am a lanky fella).

These are some honest self appraisals that I have applied to my own climbing:

• Due to previous sporting background, I really don't need to do that much supplemental strength and conditioning and I should spend less time on it.
• What feels like a plateau is really just a result of inconsistent climbing.
• I'm not as strong as I used to be and cannot tolerate the same training volume that I used to when I was younger. But this does not mean i cannot improve, it just means i need to be smarter about my programming.
• I do not need any supplemental finger training if i am board climbing 2-3 times a week. It has only resulted in tweaks for me.
• I need to learn to say no and stick to my own training plans when friends ask me to climb together, or try a new set etc.
• I need to stop avoiding climbs that I do not find "fun" and not my style if I wish to push my climbing further and become a better climber. I can be better at embracing discomfort.
• I'm way, way less technically proficient than I thought I was and I give up too easily on moves that I can actually do if i just try it more and learn the movement.

8. Past experience

• Drawing on past experiences can give you confidence that you can overcome adversity again. I have rehabbed injuries multiple times earlier on in my climbing journey, and so even though injuries are incredibly inconvenient, they will happen, and I know that I can get back to previous levels and even go beyond.

9. Patience with failure

• Issues with climbing performance, injury etc are invariably complex. One modification may work for one climber and not the next. It's important to try different solutions and be tolerant of failure.

• Climbing is a long game

10. Organisational Flexibility

• I feel like this is a straightforward but very important point that frequently comes up in coaching advice.

• We need to be able to modify the training plan of a given day if for some reason the original plan is no longer feasible.

• E.g, your usual warm up feels like an RPE 8/10 when it should feel much much easier. You're fatigued. You were supposed to do a power endurance session. Instead of pushing through and embarking on a session which you are ill-prepared for, you should have the flexibility to do something else and alter the training load and intensity etc.

• I do think your training intuition takes time to develop. I feel like this is one of those times where having a coach could conceivably be really beneficial.

• I think this ties in with the point above as well, because there are some days where you just feel like ass and you'll have to wait and come back another day to try your proj.

11. Values

• I don't think this really matters in this context. just don't be a dick at the crag I guess.

12. Freedom from external factors

• In the book, Jared Diamond is referring to how countries experience varying degrees of limitations on their ability to overcome crises based on geographical, political and financial constraints etc.

• In terms of climbing, I feel like these limitations also exist in varying degrees. For example - my country has literally zero outdoor climbing. This is a HUGE constraint for outdoor performance. It's incredibly humid and conditions are terrible year round, even for climbing indoors. Neither of these are in my control.

• One should be able to delineate what external factors are avoidable, and what are not

• For example, I am in total control of what I want my sessions to look like, my nutrition, how much sleep I get, saying no to friends and saying no to the new fun set etc.

Conclusion

Most of this is just my own personal blabbering and self appraisal of my own climbing but to be honest, it's really helped me put my current climbing performance into perspective and ground me in my current climbing ability. It's also helped me to structure my training practices in a way that aligns with my own performance goals. It's also helped me reflect on what I have been doing that has led me to this point and reinforce good practices that I have discovered over time, because I am at a place in my climbing where I am happy with my performance, I feel strong, and i feel well equipped to become a better climber.

Here's another home climbing wall post. I have a pretty big space where I'd like to build one ~45 degree board, one ~20 degree board, plus leave some room for a pull up bar and a hangboard.

5.4m equals 17.7'

4.8m equals 15.7'

Ceilings are super high, it's not worth worrying about.

https://preview.redd.it/t6ktshba4rvd1.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=1624268d04ba0a0e12b8c266b040357da724bca5

My original idea was to have two boards side by side on W2. One would be around 45 degrees for regular bouldering training and the other around 20 degrees for circuits and my girlfriend. Having them side by side would allow me to connect them and have some interesting compression potential. However, I think W2 being only 5.40m wide makes it short for two climbing walls side by side.

Another option would be to have one board on each wall. I don't see myself connecting the corner though as I think that would make for some pretty uninteresting climbing if I was ever doing a circuit between boards.

I also thought about having a bigger adjustable board, but that would make it impossible for me to share a session with my girlfriend without it being a bit of a pain in the ass. Hold selection also becomes more complex as what works in one angle might not work on another.

What would you make of the space? What do you think, given the ample room, should be the minimum width of each board?

I'm seeking advice from those of you with experience in climbing to maximize the progress and avoid hitting any plateaus.

I started climbing in June and currently climb 3-4 times a week. Can complete most V4 problems within one session and manage to send a V5 about every other session. However, I've feeling that I might hit a small plateau. I can do around 13 pull-ups, so I likely have more strength than my current climbing level demands, which might be causing my technique to suffer. I understand that improving technique is key for long-term progression, so I’m wondering what I should focus on for effective and maximal progression.

Sessions are currently 90 minutes long and before/after I do 10 minutes of easy running. My weekly schedule looks like:

M: Toprope/sport climbing

T: Rest

W: Bouldering (hard session)

T: Rest

F: Bouldering (pyramid session)

S: Toprope/sport climbing

S: Rest

Planning to incorporate yoga and bodyweight exercises - core, back, antagonists, calf raises, and single-leg squats on rest days.

I've thought about hangboard next year, but it may be more appropriate once you're climbing around V6+ and have more experience. The same goes for campus board training...

I apologize if the post is a bit scattered ( my first one). Really appreciate any input!

/ 24M, 5'11", 168 lbs.

This version should be more organized and easier to follow while keeping the original content and questions intact.

I may need to get chest surgery at some point next year. I've been climbing for about a year and a half and I'm obsessed with it-- I've also only recently gotten into going outdoor bouldering and learning lead outside, which is incredible. I'm broken up about the surgeon saying it'll be three months (most likely) before I can climb hard again. (He laughed when I said I'm a climber and told me "unfortunately that's probably the worst sport to be into for this".) Especially since the surgery being to my chest means when I'm recovering, I can't train any pulling or pushing cause I'll stretch the scarring, no hangboarding either since it's my understanding that arms overhead is the most strenuous position. But I really don't want to lose all my strength and be struggling on stuff I could do easily before, especially because I struggle with getting pissed off at myself for not being able to send. Is there anything I can do? How long would it take to get back to where I was? Is my ascent of silence doomed?

So there's a neat little place on the sidebar here called the Hall of Fame (aka Master Sticky). Unfortunately, it's almost a decade old now! It's time we update it with the "most interesting and helpful discussions had on this site."

I have a personal collection of posts/discussions saved from here I'd like to add as contenders, but I’d love for y'all to pitch in with your favorite discussions and posts as well. Anything from training deep dives to philosophical rants to retrospectives to spicy disagreements and such.

I think we could also do with having a few broad categories to keep it from being a single, largely unorganized list like the last one (no offense /u/straightCrimpin).

How can you help?

• Share your favorites: Drop any posts or threads you think should be in the Hall of Fame in the comments.

• Categories?: Should we break this down by topic—training, mental game, injuries, technique, community moments etc? Or just stick with a single, big list?

• Comprehensive or concise?: Should this list be exhaustive, or would a more curated "best of the best" approach make it both more readable and valuable?

Anyhow, in no particular order (and in addition to what's already in the HoF)...

Technique/Movement

• Technique improvement for more advanced climbers.
• Why do we tell people that climbing is 'all in your feet', when the vast majority of movements require at least some level of upper body?
• Is good technique just superior finger strength in disguise?
• Conceptualizing deadpoints
• /u/dubgrips on "The Box"
• /u/golf_ST with a banger on technical processes
• Mindset for try-hard

General Philosophy

• The fastest way to become good (Hint: there is none)
• "The study of the sport is not the sport. " - Bechtel
• /u/FreackInAMagnum on Dave Graham thinking beyond
• V10 isn't that hard
• /u/AFunnyName on self-assessment
• The 7-try rule
• /u/straightCrimpin with a /subreddit ending comment 7 years ago
• What are setbacks really?
• META This sub is trending to super low quality content
• META discussion on the sub from 2021/22, aka /u/milyoo resurrects
• META discussions and the difficulty of conveying climbing over text
• META thoughts on the sub from years ago by /u/calnick0

Summaries and Retrospectives

• The hard truths - retrospective of 8 years trying hard
• Takeaways from Coaching: A Milyoo Post
• Breaking a 10 year plateau
• A 5 year Restrospective
• Things I Learned as A "New" Climber
• Things I've learned about climbing over 13 years that have nothing to do with
• Just broke through a 5 year plateau, figured I'd post what I learned
• Lessons Learned From My Hardest Projects - https://i.redd.it/obvqaa0lhn841.jpg

Training

• Dan Beall summarizes 'body tension' and relevant training
• Hangboarding rant from /u/golf_ST
• Is Triple Flexion Training the answer for everything?
• Clearing up Confusion on Emils New Twice a Day Hangboard Routine

Deep Discussions

• Absolute banger thread from /u/milyoo on "what is technique"
• /u/justcrimp on self-assessment
• Preparing for V10+ on rock
• What "just climb" actually means
• Somewhat tired discussions on genetics but good stuff
• Examples of incredible movement (or not?)

I'm realizing now I'm definitely missing some discussions I never saved. Oh well.

To the advanced climbers out there: how do you train push while climbing?

In the past few months, I've seen a lot of climbing and posterior chain strength gains. I'm able to pull fairly explosively and have even had some success with the OAP (can do it, but not from a deadhang) despite not training specifically for it. However, my push strength (and muscle definition) have certainly taken a hit. I've barely done any strength training as I've been trying to focus my efforts toward climbing.

I want to correct for these imbalances by bringing back some calisthenics/weight training in addition to climbing. My primary focus, however, will remain climbing. Any programming, tips, etc. that others could share would be very helpful! How can I continue to climb hard while preventing my push muscles from lagging and developing a well-rounded body? Is there a way for me to incorporate weight training in a way that could benefit my body and my climbing?

Stats, for reference:

• I'm 1.78m, with a bodyweight of 142-145 lbs.
• I have about 6 months of climbing experience (3 months last year, 3 months this year with a 12 month gap in between due to a meniscus tear I suffered from a fall while climbing).
• I'm a pretty passionate climber, and I climb 3-4x a week for 2-3 hours.
• I'd consider myself to be a v5 climber -- I recently got my first v6 and v7 (1 each!) and can now almost always send a v5, sometimes 2, in a session unless it's a high-gravity day or I'm recovering from fatigue.
• My goals for the end of the year are to send v6s more consistently and send another v7.

When I first started training, I had a million different things I wanted to work on:

I wanted to be stronger, more flexible, have better technique, better body tension, so many different things. And while yes, I could stand to work on all of them, my biggest issue at the time was my technique. However, I didn’t really know what my weaknesses were, or what I should work on first, or how to address them. So, here are some tips to help you find out what those are and improve on your own by using video to your advantage.

Disclaimer: There are many ways to diagnose issues, and this is just the method I’ve found that works for me. Ultimately, you should find what works best for you.

1. Record yourself. As you’re recording, start making notes of things that look less than polished. If you’re stumped or confused, ask a friend who’s better than you or ask a coach for feedback. If you’re recording yourself on a board climb or outdoor climb, compare your beta videos to your own attempts to see what could be improved upon.
2. Identify your top weaknesses. After you’ve come up with a list, rank the top 3-6 things you want to work on the most. For example, if it’s heel hooks, body tension, or body position, go online and find drills or exercises (from reputable sources) to improve those areas.
3. Test your weaknesses. If you have a board or outdoor climb that doesn’t change, record yourself on 3-6 climbs that test these weaknesses, just under your limit. Make sure you remember the name and angle of the climb. Record yourself and take notes, because in 8, 12, or 16 weeks, you’ll go back and climb these same climbs again to track progress. If you don’t have access to a board or outdoor climbing, try to pick climbs on the gym floor, but keep in mind these will get reset, so do your best to pick similar ones since climbing has so many variables when we test we want to remove as many as possible, since climbing is so subjective.
4. Start training. Now that you’ve ranked your weaknesses, chosen your drills, and done your initial testing, start incorporating these drills into your warm-ups. I highly recommend keeping these as warm-ups, as most of your session should be focused on climbing itself. However, you can carve out times or even full sessions to focus on these specific areas. For example, if you need to work on body tension, focus on overhanging routes with small, far-apart footholds for an entire session.
5. Mix it up. During your warm-ups, have a few drills (1-3) that you do religiously for 3-6 weeks these do not need to be an hour long just 1-3 climbs each at an easier level, and maybe 1-2 others for variety that focus on less critical areas. Once you’ve worked through your training block, go back and re-climb the same climbs you tested yourself on at the start. Record yourself again, take notes, and compare the results.
6. Progression. as the weeks go on and you start to get better I would highly recommend progressing either difficulty, angles, or styles as a way to not become stagnant you'll have to use some critical thinking because if you are doing this as warm up but increasing the difficulty you might have to have a longer warm up or make the less critical drills go first but if your goal is to improve on a certain technique it should be a priority
7. Keep recording yourself. and do it a lot. The better you get at recording yourself the better you will be at helping yourself improve, your coach, buddy, or the strong person isn't always going to be there so the more you practice it, the better you get.

I use an app called OnForm, but it’s a paid app. If you know of any good free ones, feel free to drop them in the comments. And if you’re still not sure where you’re improving, ask a friend who’s stronger or a coach who understands movement.

Final thoughts: This is just one method—there are many others out there—but this one works quite well for me. Some might say this sounds like training just to test better, and while there’s some merit to that, overall, it’s a great way to track your technique progress. Climbing is subjective, and it’s hard to quantify how good you are at something like this. Is it perfect? No. But is it better than guessing? Hell yeah.

This is a thread for simple, or common training questions that don't merit their own individual threads as well as a place to ask Injury related questions. It also serves as a less intimidating way for new climbers to ask questions without worrying how it comes across.

The /r/climbharder Master Sticky. Read this and be familiar with it before asking questions.

Commonly asked about topics regarding injuries:

Tendonitis: http://stevenlow.org/overcoming-tendonitis/

Pulley rehab:

• https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/stories/experience-story-esther-smith-nagging-finger-injuries/
• https://stevenlow.org/rehabbing-injured-pulleys-my-experience-with-rehabbing-two-a2-pulley-issues/
• Note: See an orthopedic doctor for a diagnostic ultrasound before potentially using these. Pulley protection splints for moderate to severe pulley injury.

Synovitis / PIP synovitis:

https://stevenlow.org/beating-climbing-injuries-pip-synovitis/

General treatment of climbing injuries:

https://stevenlow.org/treatment-of-climber-hand-and-finger-injuries/

Hello,

Recently I've seen quite a lot of one arm pull up on edges on social media and I think it looks really cool. I've been climbing for 3 years and have climbed a v7 outside. As I've gotten stronger recently I am projecting some harder boulders outside (around v11/12).

As for my numbers, I can do a 193% weighted pull up (hoping to get to 200% soon!) and one arm hang 15mm. However I am weak in one arm pull ups as I can only do one on both arms.

I would love to one arm pull up on on the bm2k middle edge which is about 22mm. However I try to pull on an edge I feel I can't activate as much muscles as opposed to on a bar. I can only get to nearly 90degrees and then I'm stuck.

I think the reason might be that my bicep is too weak. That would explain why I can only do a single one arm pull up and can't get past 90 degrees on an edge. On a bar I also feel that the bottom half is super easy but the top half is always a struggle.

Does this make sense? If yes, what exercise do you recommend for the biceps? What can I do to train the edge oap? Any thoughts?