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Hi Eric! I want to start by saying thank you for your thorough response to a previous question of mine. Your training advice was a great help and it definitely contributed to having one of my best trips yet. So, I have a trip planned to RMNP and Mt. Evans in September and have been training harder than ever. I’m currently in the third week of the strength phase of my 3-2-1, and I have some questions about the anaerobic phase that I was hoping you could help me out with. In Training for Climbing, you recommend some higher end climbers to do two days on with two days off (rest). I was wondering how you might structure those two workouts? My second question has to do with the Gimme Kraft training book, which I ordered it a few months back per your advice–I have definitely noticed an increase in power! I have been doing several of the unique Gimme Kraft exercises, and I was wondering if you would suggest changing the workouts up or keeping them the same? –William (Louisiana)
Hi William, Glad you like the Gimme Kraft book—there’s lots of great stuff in there to play with, but if your current program is still yielding results then you may want to wait until your winter training season to change things up. As for your RMNP preparations: doing two days back-to-back is a good thing, since you’ll likely be climbing this way. Rather than doing two hard bouldering/power workouts, I’d suggest doing a bouldering and power session one day and more of anaerobic endurance on the day 2. So on day one all problems and exercises should terminate in 20 seconds or less—power! Then on day two work longer problems and exercises than yield deeper fatigue in 30 to 60 seconds. I wouldn’t really do anything much longer than this, since you are not likely to be on any problem at RMNP for over 1 minute (right?).
Something else: Coming from sea-level and climbing hard at high elevation is a major issue—even for boulderers. Doing a couple longish runs (~20 minutes) per week is a good idea to get your boy’s aerobic system primed. Of course, you’re going to want to get to CO and sleep at elevation for as many days as possible—making red blood cells in critical the first week you are there, so sleep a lot and consider taking an iron supplement with a meal each day. In climbing there, focus on really short problems the first few days…and save the longer problems for the end of your trip (when you have more red blood cells to help you endure!). Good luck, and let me know how the trip goes!
Hi Eric, I have a 45-degree wall with H.I.T strips, and various other holds and I been doing some 3-2-1 training cycles because I found that it is hard to not fall into a pump while trying to do the forearm endurance phase of the 4-3-2-1 cycle. Any suggestions on what I can do for the 4 week phase of the 4-3-2-1 cycle? –Zack (Illinois)
Hi Zack! It’s true that 4-3-2-1 is tough to do on a steep home wall (like mine or yours), since the 4 weeks of aerobic endurance climbing is difficult to execute properly (without going into the pumpy anaerobic endurance zone). Thus, the 3-2-1 is indeed a better fit, as you have already determined. If you are mainly into bouldering and steep sport climbing, then the 3-2-1 can be very effective. Of course, an aerobic endurance (ARC) 4-week phase could be beneficial, especially as an off-season mission to build your base. Perhaps during the winter season you can schedule 2 days per week at a commercial gym and spend more time climbing for endurance? Good luck, and climb strong!
I haven’t been able to climb in the last two years, but I’ve recently moved back to the West Coast and I’m essentially living in Yosemite’s backyard. I’m looking to free a big wall in October. After two years without any climbing or training I hopped back into the gym last week and my technique is still largely intact, but obviously my strength and endurance are poor (I used to boulder V5 – V8). My question: what can I do to maximize my returns on getting conditioned to climb again, and seeing as how my goal is event related, should I work a periodization routine to try and peak for the bigwall, or would another method of training give me faster, better results? –Phillip (California)
Hi Phillip, I’m psyched for you being in CA near Yosemite—lucky you! Of course, getting ready for a big wall free climb is serious business in terms of conditioning. Going bouldering alone will do you very little good. You really need to condition your body and brain for TONS of climbing packed into a day—this starts with logging as many single days of climbing in the Valley as possible, striving to climbing 10-plus pitches in a day. This is essential to get fast and efficient on the rock—critical for free big wall attempt. Of course, in the gym you want to build both strength and endurance—I’d suggest alternative 2 weeks focused on strength and power endurance (short, hard climbs less than 2 minutes in length) and other strength exercises with 2 weeks of less-pumpy aerobic endurance climbing, in which you go to the gym and try to climb as many feet of moderate wall as possible. Of course, you need to build the intensity and volume gradually so that you don’t get injured—a real concern coming off a layoff from climbing. Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
Eric, I want to step up my weekend climbing by training during the week. I train in the gym 3x per week but want to do more climbing specific training so I’m going to build a small woody in the garage. I’m going to buy one of your books but wasn’t sure which one to start with–I was thinking How to climb 5.12 since it seems to have a bit of everything. Also, I’m wondering what angle you suggest for a woody. I was going to make it a “45” and just start with bigger holds? –Derek (Canada)
Hi Derek, A 45- or 50-degree (past vert) home woody is a great investment. Place a bunch of big holds to move around on for pump (endurance), but also a selection of smaller crimps, pinches, and pockets to boulder on for strength and power. Regarding the best book to buy, Training for Climbing is the most complete, detailed book…so I’d recommend that as a training guide. How to Climb 5.12 has some training info, but it’s more focused on helping you develop climbing strategy and the crag skills to push into the higher grades (important stuff, but not as usable for a home training guide).
Hello Eric. I have a question about campus board training. I have been climbing for 5 months, and my bouldering level is V3. Lately, I started trying to climb up the campus board in my gym, after a few days, I have managed to go all the way up, one by one. I feel that I’m really improving in it, and also improving my finger strength and forearm muscle. The thing is, I have read numerous articles saying that campus board is only for people who are more advanced/experienced climbers (to avoid injuries). I’ve been campusing for two weeks and I feel fine. Is it okay if I do 3 campus sets at every end of climbing workout? –Yuval (Israel)
Hi Yuval, You need to be very careful campusing at this time. You might be able to “ladder” up the board a few times and not get injured, but to do anything more dynamic (like doubles) is very very risky, since your tendons will need several years to become stronger. Many climbers get injured using the campus board in year 1 or year 2 of climbing, thus it’s safest to stay off the campus board and instead focus on actual climbing activities to learn skills and develop technique and economy. If you decide to campus “ladder” a bit, do it earlier in your session (after a good warm up) and not at the end when you are tired (and more likely to get injured). Proceed with caution. Good luck and have fun, my friend!