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Hi Eric, I mostly climb outside, but I have been hitting the gym when I’m not ice-climbing. Regardless, I’ve had this nagging pain and tightness in my left forearm/elbow/wrist/middle-finger. I want to keep training and climbing, but realize rehab and time off are needed. This injury has been bad enough at times that I can’t climb or workout for weeks, but well enough for me to lead up to 5.11s. I’m 51, but in good shape and want to improve my climbing. Any suggestions on rehab, prevention, and training moving forward? –Mike (Colorado)
Hey Mike, Sorry to hear about your injury—I’m honestly not sure what’s going on…it’s an odd assortment of pain running down your arm. I wonder if there might be a pinched nerve in your shoulder? If you sense any weakness in that hand, perhaps ask for a nerve conduction test. If time off doesn’t resolve the pain, then I strongly suggest you see a doctor. BTW, you and I are about the same age and I’m happy to share that we 50-somethings can definitely get stronger and climb harder! The big thing, of course, is staying motivated and uninjured. With your future climbing achievements in mind, I suggest you get to the bottom of this arm pain—please drop me a note with what you find out. Good luck!
I am a full-time college student, and I am having trouble with coming up and sticking to a training regimen for climbing due to my lack of access to climbing. Our college has an excellent gym with lots of workout machines, but no climbing wall. There is a climbing gym about 45 minutes away (Earth Treks), but I can’t afford to go there more than once a week. I currently climb ~V7/5.12–what can I do to improve my climbing? –Cole (Maryland)
Hello Cole, I’ve been in your position in the past–stay motivated and try to do something physical at least five days per week. Climb at Earth Treks whenever you can–once a week is good, if that’s all you can manage at this time. During the week I suggest you do to strength-oriented workouts–weighted pull-ups (or heavy lat pulldown), lock-offs and one-arm exercises, some fingerboard hangs (brief near maximal), and lots of core. I’d also do two short sessions per week of antagonist training, including a few exercises for the rotator cuff. Most important, make sure you have a full rest day the day before going to ET–you want to be fresh and strong to make the most of your gym session.
Hey Eric, I’ve been reading some of your books and have come to the conclusion I need to increase my max grip strength in order to achieve my bouldering goals of getting into the double digit grades. Specifically, I am a traveling climber who rarely has access to gyms with fingerboards and campus rungs. My RV is too old to hold my weight on a fingerboard so I can’t mount my Moonboard anywhere. Your books seem to imply that adding weight on specific holds is the best way to increase max grip strength. I’ve dabbled in weighted campusing on rungs in my gym years (used to go 1-3-5-7-9 with 40 pounds back then, but didn’t have the technique to really use all that strength). I have a large background in strength training since I swam competitively for 8 years before climbing, so I also feel that adding weight is the most effective way to achieve my goals. But, I’ve heard from a lot of people that you should never add weight on real rock so I haven’t. But I also feel that hopping on a v10 that I can only pull a few moves on isn’t a very effective way to train either. I do some weighted pull ups on tree branches now and then with a 20 pound belt, but have noticed that only helps with lock-offs on good holds. I need more power on tiny holds. How can I increase max grip strength without adding weight? Or is it possible to add weight on lowball moderates that I have dialed? The dirtbagging lifestyle is a blessing, but can be a curse in terms of structured training. If you made it this far into the read, I appreciate it. Any input is welcomed, thanks! –Jon (Utah)
Hey Jon, Yeah, I don’t like the idea of adding weight when bouldering outside. The best way to improve grip strength is weighted hangs on a fingerboard–can you rig a way to hang your Moonboard from a tree, so that you can do some weighted hangs while on the road? Doing this once or twice per week could be a real difference-maker. Campusing is a good way to train rate of force development, however, getting stronger requires high load training (or training on small holds at bodyweight–small pockets, small crimps). Being on a constant climbing trip makes getting way stronger difficult (in fact, for many people absolute grip strength decreases on long road trips). That’s why some of the best climbers (like Alex Megos) will train indoors for a month or two, then do just a two or three week trip to send; then repeat the process. A cycle like this is optimal for pushing your limits higher. Then again, being on the road long-term is a heck of way to live too! Good luck, and let me know how it goes.
Dear Eric, We are planning to build a new campus board and we are undecided about the angle (our old one was almost 12 degrees). So, I would like to get your advice about board angle. Most of the companies and blogs recommend angles between 13 to 20 degrees and climbers mostly use 15 degrees. Few days ago, I heard that 17.5 is a new standard in some climbing communities. Do you have any specific recommendation about the board angle? Which angle do you use? Thank you very much for your time. –Arif
Hello Arif, Yes, my campus board is about 15 degrees, but going a couple degrees steeper is fine. I agree that 12 degrees is not ideal, although that’s the common angle of many older campus board. The new trend is indeed toward steeper angles, even as much as 20 to 25 degrees—this allows you to do lapper laps without your knees contacting the board. Good luck, and get strong!
Hello Mr. Horst, I’ve been following your 5.12 book religiously during my first 10-week training cycle. I do have a couple of specific questions regarding training if you wouldn’t mind taking a minute to consider them:
1. I believe I have a middle finger collateral ligament strain. I’ve seen 2 doctors and one said to stop climbing completely and the other said I could climb as long as there is no pain. I did take about 2 months off completely before starting to climb easy routes on top rope. I can now climb close to my limit without pain, but severe bouldering or any type of fingerboard training causes pain. I’m interested in developing finger strength, but obviously do not want to make the injury worse. The injury happened 6 months ago and I thought it would heal by now. Is finger strengthening a lost cause for me or do I just need to wait longer for it to heal? I did get a Metolius grip saver ball for therapy and have been using it daily. I’m willing to take tons of time off to stop permanent damage, but I’ve already taken a lot of time off and it didn’t seem to heal.
2. Assuming I can return to full strength, I would like to do the HIT System workout. My question: Is there any other type of climbing you are supposed to do during phase 2 other than HIT? I do not want to lose my endurance during the 3 week period, so I have been bouldering and adding in easy days on rope to supplement. –George
George, I’m not sure what’s going on with your finger. Collateral ligament strain should heal in a few weeks to a month or two (max). Therefore, I wonder if it might actually be a tendon pathology? Anyway, it would wise to not do any climbing or training that hurts, and perhaps see another doctor if the fingers get worse. Hopefully this injury is something you’ll be able to work through by simply giving it a little more time and by avoiding maximum training and climbing until you feel you are healed up. Therefore, avoid max bouldering and specific finger training for the time being.
As for Phase 2 training–this is all about max strength and power training. Your exercise choices are hard bouldering, HIT system, campus training, and various weighted climbing exercises such as hangboard (on various finger grips) and weighted pull-ups. Unfortunately, because of your finger these are not things you should be doing now. The exception is weighted pull-ups on a pull-up bar–you can do these with enough weight added to keep your reps between 3 and 8 per set.