What to do?

I have the great privilege of talking training with a lot of really talented climbers and some amazing coaches. I get to do it so much, in fact, that I sometimes whine to my wife about how many emails/calls/Skypes I have to do, but it is decidedly better than doing casing inspections in the gas field...which is always an option if I do badly in these conversations. Most climbers know why to train (to not fall off as often), where to train (on anything that you can barely hold on to), when to train (at any time you're not committed to doing something else), and even how to train (hold on to small things, fall off, repeat). What to do, and I mean what kind of training to do to see improvements in climbing, is the big mystery to most of us.



The usual path is to simply add volume. "I did x, and y, and z last year. Next year, I will do the same stuff, but harder/more." This works for about 3 weeks, and then the elbow/finger/shoulder thing starts bugging you again and you put tape on it and pretend that somehow whatever you did the last three weeks wasn't a mistake. You do it for another week and get hurt badly and call Esther Smith and whine about how you swear you were being smart in your training and can she give you an exercise to do this week to get you back on track...



A brilliant idea might be to take a look at the whole picture and see where you really need to be spending your time. This is tough to do on your own - it's hard to see our own weaknesses. Short of Lee Brown's simple test - "What do you like to do in the gym? Do the opposite." - you should build yourself an assessment and place it in your training schedule every 2-3 months.



I like assessments to address not only climbing-specific parameters, but general mobility, health, and the things that you're neurotic about, such as how big your legs are. I also like the assessment to fit in one session. Your assessment should address where you are, but also where you want to be: if your endurance sucks, you don't necessarily need to train it if your goal this year is a 3-move boulder. And on a related note, you might consider limiting your improvement goals to 1 or 2 qualities. Trying to get better at everything is almost guaranteed to land you right where you started. An assessment will give you a picture of a dozen ways you could be better. Getting better at one thing and not losing ground in the others over the next 3 months is, well, really good.



A good personal assessment has four main factors: General health

Mobility

General Strength

Sport-Specific Conditioning

The first thing climbers like to assess is sport-specific stuff - am I sending or not? This is backward from where you should start, as the basics of health can bolster (or erode) everything you do in the sport. How is your cardiorespioratory system? I bash on climbers who run to get better at climbing, but I hold that you should have the basic fitness to hike a couple of hours or go on an easy 30 minute run. I also feel you should be strong enough to fistfight an aid climber if necessary, but don't think it should be a regular part of your training. Is your bodyfat percentage in the healthy zone? Are you eating well? Are you sleeping enough? All of these "easys" are the foundation for doing the hard stuff.



A good assessment starts with measurements:

Forearm Girth left and right - are you losing mass there? If so, fix it.

Waist Circumference at the navel - if this trends upward more than 1" in a year, your training goals just changed.

Bodyweight - Getting heavier offseason is OK, but you should have a "line in the sand." Again, cross this line and your priority has to be to get back south of it. Unexplained weight gain is a real health concern, and is worth a trip to the doctor.

Other Measurements - We test quad circumference in athletes that fear leg bulk, shoulder girth in some, etc.



Mobility is very individual, but a basic set of three measures is great for 90% of us.

The FMS Shoulder Mobility Test will screen you for general mobility and left/right imbalance. If you are close to hand-length on both sides, maintenance here is fine. If you are much beyond that, a focused mobility program might be in order. (see video for details)

Overhead Squat with a PVC or Dowel. This test will tell you a lot about hip mobility and balance. If you can't keep you heels on the ground, your hips are too tight, which also means your turnout probably sucks. The fix? More squatting.

Splits. I like splits because you can tell everything about lower-limb flexibility by watching them. If you get as far into the splits as you can and could still swing a kettlebell, it might be worth improving them. If you just love doing the splits at every opportunity and your default Instagram pose is the natarajasana, you should deadlift more and toss the flexibility training.



Strength should not be looked at as absolutes as much as relationships between the basic movements. A huge discrepancy between your pulling and pushing muscles can mean injury, but it can also mean inhibition of gains in the stronger group. I get a lot of resistance from some climbers (get it!?) when it comes to weight training, but it's like investing in your retirement account...when you finally realize you need it you wish you'd started years before. Our tests:



90 Second Plank - If you can't do this, you need to squat and hinge. We only do the standard plank as a test, never as training.



2 Rep Pull-Up - You can lie on one, but two reveals all. Men should be able to do BW + .5, women BW + .33. Most of us can do this easily...which leads us to the obvious: maybe more pulling is not what you need. Also, if you can't rest your Adam's Apple on the bar at the top, it's not a pull-up.



Vertical Jump - Test this one whenever you like. If it drops off from baseline, you might be overtraining. If it goes up after a particular phase of training, remember to do that training phase again soon!



1 Minute Push-Up Test - This is a general upper body endurance test that tells us a lot. Over 30 is pretty good.



1 Minute Inverted Row - We do this on a TRX or rings, and start with the body horizontal. Count only reps where the wrists touch the sides of the ribs.



Grip Strength left and right. Look for slow steady improvements over time. This number traditionally doesn't correlate with higher grades on the rock, but it correlates well with general fitness and strength. Males should aim to hit above .75 BW, females above .66.



Ankles to Bar. Do them slowly, with no lame-ass kip. If you can't do 10, add 5 sets of however many you can do perfectly, 3 times per week.



Front Lever. You can't do it. You should be able to. Aim for five good ones.



Pistol Squat. Start with the weak leg. Test reps holding a 12-16kg kettlebell. Over five is pretty good. If you can do more than five, look for a different training priority.



20mm edge deadhang for time. This is the Zlagboard contest edge. Most climbers should be able to at least hang this edge for 10-15 seconds. If you can't, start your training here. Aim to improve this every cycle.



18-20mm edge max hang. Weight it up. Test your max for 5-10 seconds. If this doesn't improve after a strength cycle, your program sucks.



Skilled Tests. These should only be tested if you know how to do the lifts.



1-Arm Overhead Press. Start with your weaker side. Most strong males should be able to press close to half-bodyweight. If you are way off, but your pull-ups are good, you may be at risk for shoulder issues.



Deadlift. For some reason 2x bodyweight is the big goal with climbers these days...which is reasonably strong if you weigh 400 pounds. If you can do 5 front levers, don't worry about what you can DL. Look for improvement over the long haul, and consider testing your 3RM instead of your single.



Turkish Get-Up. Over 1/3 Bodyweight on both sides is pretty good.



Bench Press. If you can't bench your bodyweight for 3 reps, you are holding back your pulling strength.



Your assessments should go hand in hand with your training plan and training log. Don't have one of those? Well, don't complain about not getting anywhere if you don't have a map.



Naturally, your assessments will differ. The big take-away is to assess at all and look for the problems. Big, obvious things are easier and more important to fix than worrying about whether to train 5-second hangs or 7-second hangs in the half-crimp. The assessment log becomes a fascinating look at your career over time. Pair it with a list of the problems or routes you sent in that cycle, and all kinds of interesting things start popping up.



The most important take away is not what the assessments alone tell you. When you see really good performances on the rock, there are clues as to why that happened in your logs and tests. A 2x bodyweight deadlift means very little unless it is tied to better performance.

Hold fast,



Steve “This was a thorough coaching seminar that touched on all necessary topics for coaches starting out. I was impressed with the quality of presentations as well as the topics covered. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about the aspects of being a climbing trainer and coach.”



Our next Performance Climbing Coach seminar will be held in Columbia, MD. We'll be teaming up with Earth Treks to hold the event on April 6,7, and 8. Early registration (by Feb 23rd) saves you $100. I'll be joined by Charlie Manganiello, Kris Hampton, Neely Quinn, Kelly Drager, and Tyler Nelson. A few things to see this month: Want to recover better? Check out the cutting edge of recovery science here.



We get lots of questions about support gear for strength training. Here is Charlie's answer... hint: you should save your money.



Our best recommendations for pressing exercises are the overhead press and the single-arm push-up. The overhead press is easy enough to progress, but what about the single-arm push-up?



Need more power? Maybe the Campus Board isn't your best choice...

