[David Thompson]

David Thompson on June 30, 2020 at 9:29 am · in reply to: Benefits of indoor rock climbing gym #43171

Hi there,

In general, the more closely your training matches the requirements of your goal climbs and objectives, the better chance you will have of completing these climbs. The movements of the Killer Core Routine are intended to augment other technical training, they are not a substitute for climbing movement. So it would be ill-advised to completely drop the indoor climbing because climbing is a skill that must be practiced. If you are a beginner, it is a good idea that you continue visiting your local climbing gym. Practicing climbing movement a minimum of 2-3 days/week for an hour or so each of these days will give you a good base.
Uphill Athlete offers 8-week Custom Plans that are tailored to an individual’s personal goals using the resources they have available. One of these custom plans would integrate your time in the climbing gym with other training modalities specific to you.

Hope this helps.

[David Thompson]

David Thompson on June 3, 2020 at 5:40 pm · in reply to: Recovery while Climbing #42364

The pull-up progression in TFTNA exemplifies that with greater strength, comes greater endurance.
Generally, while on a climb, the key to recovery is to find the optimal position or sequence using the minimal amount of energy. Rests are places that are less strenuous than other sections.
Recovery time, both during, and in-between, climbing efforts is more or less dependent on the extent the climbing movement performed is above your aerobic threshold. So if you are making a near-maximum effort, it will take longer to recover in order to make the same effort the next time.
So, jointly training strength, as in the pull-up progression you alluded to in TFTNA, and aerobic capacity, also known as aerobic threshold training (or zone 2 in TFTNA and Training for the Uphill Athlete), work in symbiosis to make rests more “restful” and more difficult sections of climbing less strenuous.

Hope this helps.

[David Thompson]

David Thompson on May 19, 2020 at 10:33 am · in reply to: treadwall questions #41888

Treadwalls are a fantastic tool that have many different applications. While they are not as complex as the movement on volumes you will often find in a climbing gym, nor as what you would find necessary on rock, they are great for developing and maintaining the basics of climbing movement. From these basics, specific skills can more easily be developed.

In particular, drilling specific movement patterns and interval work are where it shines. Specific movement patterns lie at the core of all skill development.

From my personal experience, a Treadwall is probably the single best piece of training equipment one could have for climbing. The versatility is really only limited by your imagination.

[David Thompson]

David Thompson on February 27, 2020 at 9:28 am · in reply to: training for yosemite-style climbing #38815

Hi Vik,

There are many exercises, drills, and other activities you can do in a climbing gym, standard gym, or at home during the week that will augment your weekend practice. If you are already getting a good volume of exposure to the demands of real rock on the weekends, it would be most advantageous and time efficient to work on identifying and targeting your weaknesses during the weekdays. They are the low hanging fruit that, when identified, produce the most durable gains in ability.

[David Thompson]

David Thompson on February 25, 2020 at 1:29 pm · in reply to: training for yosemite-style climbing #38750

Hi there,

While the workouts and exercises given in Josh’s intermediate plan can be tailored to the physical demands of your goal climbs, it would be difficult to become proficient in the technical demands that crack climbing requires without at least weekly exposure to a variety of cracks during the period between now and then. If you can somehow find a crag or two near home to practice with a curious partner your efforts will go a long way.

Hope this helps.

[David Thompson]

David Thompson on October 3, 2019 at 9:26 am · in reply to: Weighted Pull-Up Training #29363

Hi there,

It is generally not a good idea to try to work so close to your 1 rep max consistently. Testing your max every 6-8 weeks is a good rule of thumb. Here are a some things you could try:

You may want to add band assistance to your low rep ranges.

Perform eccentric-only (i.e. the lowering phase of the pull-up) with greater than 1 RM loads.

Do 3-7 sets of 2 with your 3 RM.

Do a 3 rep pyramid.

Find a weight where you could perform 3 sets of 6-7 reps and add that to your program on days when you’re not doing higher intensity.

The nervous system thrives on variety.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have questions.

[David Thompson]

David Thompson on September 29, 2019 at 11:38 am · in reply to: Deployment #29198

Hi Jo,

I believe I fixed the link above.

To answer your question, Steve wrote an excellent article on endurance hang boarding. Keep in mind that the protocol he suggests builds strength and endurance but doesn’t entirely isolate either. You could certainly try a similar protocol on your portable hang board.

To circle back around to Sean’s original question about training endurance and power specifically, keep in mind that power is the product of force x velocity, so in aiming to train power means erring on the side of quick, dynamic movements. Proper form is imperative for dynamic movements and that form is built by strengthening a given movement by doing it slowly and consciously first, then adding speed to it.

An element of speed can be added to any of the above exercises contained in the links, but with hang boarding it is trickier because finger power is essentially what we call “contact strength” and that is generally not trained on a hang board. One way you could train contact strength on a hang board is to jump from some distance to the hang board and latch its holds at speed, hang them for a couple seconds and release; three to five times per set, with at least three minutes of rest in between sets; work toward latching smaller and smaller holds, and/or jumping from greater distances to the hang board.

[David Thompson]

David Thompson on September 28, 2019 at 9:53 am · in reply to: Deployment #29166

Sean, one of our custom plans would be a great way to get you started.

But, to make this a bit more concrete you will want to focus on the Big Three:
Fingers; Pulling; Core
This can be done with a few basic pieces of equipment: Hang board; Pull up bar; Suspension trainer (TRX for example)

Fingers: It can be difficult to train endurance on a hang board, you will likely have more performance gains by using the hang board to train strength.

There are a number of workouts that you should consider cycling through.

Here is an article that outlines how to perform pulls that are climbing-specific:
Here

Core:
A great climbing-specific core exercise is the hanging leg raise.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

[David Thompson]

David Thompson on July 11, 2019 at 10:24 am · in reply to: Footwear for high volume auto-belay ARC / base training #24903

@Scott Semple: So glad you should ask! Footwork is always a priority. But drilling effective footwork is a conscious intention, and no particular piece of footwear is a substitute for this intention. Also, effective footwork is context-dependent. One would be hard-pressed to replicate delicate granite features, such as those common in Squamish, in a commercial gym on an autobelay. An effective practice to experiment with in the gym is to avoid moving your heels laterally once you’ve made contact with your chosen foothold. I watch people get away with this in the gym all the time, but rock is much less forgiving. There are too many other footwork best practices to mention — the important thing is to learn them and drill them. The key is that it’s not so much about the equipment used for practice, but the intention one brings to the practice. Which is to say that one can drill proper footwork with unorthodox footwear, or, even perhaps, with no footwear at all. I hope this was clearer. Cheers!

[David Thompson]

David Thompson on July 7, 2019 at 7:37 pm · in reply to: Footwear for high volume auto-belay ARC / base training #24656

Michael.
In addition to the metabolic benefits, ARCing is a great opportunity to check in with our body awareness. Having loose, comfortable, yet sensitive shoes provides a way to feel what you are standing on and ultimately strengthens your feet and their relationship to the rest of your body while climbing. After some trial and error, I have come to prefer a simple pair of lamb’s wool moccasins for my high volume Treadwall sessions similar to these. They are sensitive enough for overhangs, the sole is sticky enough, and they are plush-lined so your feet get warm, but don’t hold sweat. Climbing in something like these also strengthens your feet.

Using stiff approach shoes will compromise sensitivity, but will lessen foot fatigue. So if you foresee that your feet will become too tired to complete your prescribed ARCing sessions then err on the side of stiffer shoes.

If your plan is to mostly go sport climbing, then your bouldering volume choice seems sufficient.