Ladders (no matching)

The most basic of exercises, ladders are simply going from rung to rung, without skipping any rungs, and without matching on any rungs. Ladders are, for the most part, for warming up and readying yourself for the campus workout. If you cannot do 1-2-3-4-5 without matching hands on any of the rungs, then I personally wouldn't advise campusing. If you believe yourself to be the rare case who climbs 13a but still can't do it, then start with matching. If you don't progress quickly to being able to ladder without matching, then go work on dynamic bouldering and forget about the campus board for a while.

Skip 1 Ladders (no matching)

The next step up in campusing, Skip 1 Ladders (no matching) is considerably more difficult than simple laddering. You start matched on rung 1, reach to rung 3, and without matching, reach all the way through to rung 5, and then to 7, and so on. One of the girls I'm working with has climbed 5.14, but initially couldn't do 1-3-5 without matching, so obviously, 1-3-5-7-9 was out of the question. In this case, it should be done matching, as it is still essentially a warm up exercise to ready you for bigger reaches.

Max Move (matching)

A great way to learn to initiate explosive movement, or for stronger climbers to ready themselves for the next exercise, is the Max Move. You simply start matched on rung 1, explode with 1 hand to the highest rung you can reach, and match.

2 Move Max Ladders (no matching)

This is where the actual workout begins. There are several important variations of this skill, and it is nearly infinite in it's possibilities. Essentially, it looks like this: You start matched on rung 1, reach to a higher rung with 1 hand, and then with the other, without matching, explode to the furthest rung you can reach. Many people tend to do the biggest first move possible, but there are many other variations. Experiment with 1-2-Max, and 1-3-Max, as well as doing the more typical 1-4-Max and 1-5-Max. Whatever you struggle with the most, focus on that.

This is the movement where you see everyone mantle up, lock off, and reach. That's not what I want to see. I'd rather the motion be continuous and fluid, and more about making a big pull rather than a static lock and reach.

We often don't match at the end of the movement here, unless that pull seems to be something that the climber struggles with. Reason is, I'd rather see that energy put toward the next attempt. It's your choice if you match to finish it off or not. Either way, just be sure to stay consistent for accurate measurement of progress!

Touches

Begin matched on rung 1, and with one hand, explode to the highest rung you can comfortably reach. Make contact, but do not latch the rung. Instead, drop back to starting rung, and repeat with the opposite hand. At the bottom, the "catch and decelerate" phase of the movement, you should decelerate slowly, never get to quite straight arms, and immediately explode back up.

In my opinion, one should master this exercise before moving on to any sort of double-handed campusing, particularly plyometrics. The "catch and decelerate" portion of this exercise is great for readying the body for the forces that will be put on it in the down portion of plyometrics.

Doubles (Up Only)

This is the first step to using the campus board for its real brilliance: plyometrics. To really get the benefits of being an advanced campuser, you have to dial in this exercise as well as the next couple. For this exercise, you start matched on rung 1, then explode upward to rung 2 or rung 3, or to the highest rung you can latch, with both hands simultaneously. It's very important that you master Doubles (Up Only) before moving on to doing Doubles (Down Only).

Doubles (Down Only)

This is the second step toward plyometrics on the campus board. For this exercise, begin on a higher rung (3 or 4), and again with both hands simultaneously, drop to a lower rung. You should decelerate slowly rather than dropping to a straight arm. Your arms and shoulders should be engaged through 100% of the movment. Learn to drop one rung lower first, then two rungs lower. Once you've dialed in dropping to a lower rung, you're ready for the true genius of the campus board.

Plyo Doubles

This is where the campus board shines, but also where it's least understood. To do this exercise correctly, you'll start on a higher rung (3 or 4), drop to a lower rung (advanced climbers should drop 2 rungs if they have that movment dialed), and immediately explode upward. The less time that you are in contact with the lower rung, the better. It isn't pertinent that you latch a rung on the upward explosion, but again, if you want to finish it that way, no harm is done.

I often see this exercise displayed as 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-and so on. It's too much. Do a few of these single Plyo Doubles per session, while doing a couple of sessions a week during a four week phase, and you'll have done plenty.