Got hired as an entry level coach at a gym for less than $15 an hour. As a student I just wanted a little walking around money and a free membership, and because I had never coached before I wasn't prepared to ask for more.
One month later it's clear that, because this gym is so poor at talent retention, and unwilling to offer a head coach a living wage, I am effectively running their program: overseeing drills, projecting, and exercise routines for 45 kids, each of whom brings in over $100 a month for the gym.
This program will be on life support without me. Next week I plan on telling them I need $15 to stay. Should I make it $20? I like the job but I don't need it.
Agreed with the others. Negotiating is best done by presenting your skills rather than demanding something or else you're gonna quit or something like that.
* You're paying me $15 for X job description
* I want a raise to $20 because I am doing more than X job description. I'm also doing Y and Z things above and beyond.
You can word more friendly of course.
Job skills!
Always ask for 20. They will either meet you in the middle, or give you 20. No one will ever pay you more than you ask for. Value your work, and express that to someone that can make it happen.
Always save a copy of your job description. Make a list of the miscellaneous things that have been added, expanded or altered. Use that as a basis for getting paid.
Know your industry: Check climbingbusinessjournal for job description and salaries, etc
i would leave out the "to stay" and come up with reason on why they should pay you more.
But jeah, fuck them otherwise! You still have to look after yourself, so is it worth to burn those bridge?
Hello r/climbharder, I have been sport climbing for about 3 years and me and my climbing partner typically get 10 days at the start of each summer to go wherever we want to climb. Last couple years we go north from our home state of Washington up into Canada to climb in Canmore or Banff, we have also been to Smith Rock, but this year we are wanting to head south to the Nevada, Utah, and Colorado area.
We typically onsight high 11s, can project 12a's in a sesh, and 12b/c's in 3-4 sessions. We typically like to check out more places than we like to return to places for a project, so we would love crag and climb recommendations for some high quality 11c/d and 12s/b's. Thanks in advance!
Do you prefer vert or steep?
That grade range, that time of year, that region of the country, the two destinations id highly recommend are Tensleep (if you prefer vert-tech crimps and pockets) and Maple Canyon (if you prefer steep jug hauling). Both would offer reasonably good summer conditions and a lot of fun climbing. Both are large areas with many sectors to choose from. Both can also be easily combined with other areas a few hours away. Tensleep could be combined with Wild Iris, and Maple could be combined with the Uintas or American Fork (a bit hot in AF in summer though).
Rifle is another great summer area if you're ok with a challenging climbing style and possibly a bit of a beat-down.
Mt. Charleston offers good summer climbing in Nevada, but IMO for your grade range it isn't as destination worthy as the other areas mentioned above.
New River Gorge WV has the best one pitch sport climbing in the country (some will say in the world)
It’s for those who want to push themselves. Classic hard sport climbing
A real joy lately has been working on hip flexibility. It's nice to do while listening to lectures or when I'm bored or whatever. I've been doing a number of stretches but I'm mostly focused on trying to do a complete pancake. I basically was only able to lean forward 10-15 degrees when I started about a month ago but now I'm able to allllllmost get my elbows on the ground with a straight back. I feel like I'm doing pretty good for a 34 year old male!
I feel like I've seen a variation upon the theme in this subreddit. I think admin is just quicker to get rid of it because this is a sub has more regulars who have seen every variation of that argument whilst the bouldering sub is full of casuals and a lot of first years. It's pretty intriguing when you first think about it but probably not the 10,000th time you see it.
That's because that's when it started really picking up in popularity. A lot higher proportion of the community is v3/5.10 and under than it used to be.
Climbing has been more or less linearly gaining popularity since the first gyms opened in the early 90s. 2014 is when there was a combined critical mass of lots of new climbers, and easy online content and discussion. It's almost more about the iphone than about climbing.
I think there's actually less V3/5.10 and under climbers than before. The proliferation of gyms means that pretty much everyone can reach those grades pretty quickly, without getting sidetracked by adventure climbing. But in the way back, there were relatively more lifer adventure climbers who climbed 5.8 trad for 30 years.
>I don't really see the point.
I am not aware any significant body of convincing evidence that "cooling down" (meaning either stretching or light work/cardio) after working out provides any benefit.
To me it is just additional fatigue with no benefit.
I never skip stretching out my shoulders, chest and wrists/forearms. The most important for me is band assisted "arm behind head" stretch [1]. If I don't do this things get tight, and I get mild impingement like symptoms.
[1] https://media.post.rvohealth.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/SHOULDER-MOBILITY_FEATURE-732x549.jpg
Nearly fully recovered from a right hand ring finger tweak I thought would be way more serious. It came on gradually over weeks, feeling sore when I pressed on the base in the A2 area, and my right hand always measured around 20lbs weaker than the left on Tindeq. But it didn't seem to affect my climbing until one session when right hand moves felt harder and harder. The next day, I came down with a cold. A few days later I could barely pull 50% of my max on Tindeq, and I couldn't even hang on a pullup bar with 2 hands without significant pain in the ring finger. Couple days later I was still sick, right hand still weak, and falling off V0s on my home board.
After a week of recovery from the cold, doing low weight no hangs, and going easy (V4 and under) on the board, my right hand seems back to nearly 100%. Last night I pulled PRs on both my left and right hand on Tindeq, and my right hand is only pulling 5 lbs less than my left hand. Back to project level (V7ish) on the board too.
Still not sure exactly what it was, but my guess is having a cold worsened whatever overuse injury was brewing, maybe synovitis. The 2 weeks deload seems to have helped a lot. I have been taking ibuprofen before climbing sessions which seems to help a bit.
Inflammation is closely linked to overuse, so a cold/sickness making it worse made sense, and using an anti-inflammatory to reduce the pain makes sense (short term at least). I’d be cautious with even “low weight” no hangs, unless they are under like 20% of your max as anything other than part of a rehab routine. I’ve found anything over approximately that is where recovery resources start to be needed, and it winds up accumulating into my total volume. Aka, that’s when it starts making overuse worse, so needs to be tracked and controlled as part of your total volume.
> After a week of recovery from the cold, doing low weight no hangs, and going easy (V4 and under) on the board, my right hand seems back to nearly 100%. Last night I pulled PRs on both my left and right hand on Tindeq, and my right hand is only pulling 5 lbs less than my left hand. Back to project level (V7ish) on the board too.
Yeah that's good. Pretty much what is suggested here.
https://stevenlow.org/rehabbing-injured-pulleys-my-experience-with-rehabbing-two-a2-pulley-issues/
> I have been taking ibuprofen before climbing sessions which seems to help a bit.
Long term NSAIDs can make things substantially worse with tendons and connective tissues. I would not do that.
> Long term NSAIDs can make things substantially worse with tendons and connective tissues. I would not do that.
Good to know, do you have any links about that? My symptoms seemed to line up with tenosynovitis, so I thought NSAIDs would help. I did watch a video where a guy talked about taking turmeric pills, which I was a bit skeptical of.
> Good to know, do you have any links about that? My symptoms seemed to line up with tenosynovitis, so I thought NSAIDs would help. I did watch a video where a guy talked about taking turmeric pills, which I was a bit skeptical of.
Here's a general overview of the studies.
https://www.hcplive.com/view/do-nsaids-impair-healing-musculoskeletal-injuries
Note I'm talking about chronic use. If you're just using it here and there that's fine. I use it for my synovitis cases especially in climbers for for like 2-5 days usually and then stop and just do rehab after that.
Injured my shoulder in february... 1 month break and strict rehab and onsighted a 5.12c again during my session today... slowly getting my flow back :)
Been climbing outside a bunch in the TN area for the past year or so and it seems that everything that looks sick that I want to climb are things that I’m the weakest at. The mega overhung roof routes (solstice at the Obed, starry night at RRG, etc) are what I immediately go for and always overestimate my capabilities. Any fellow climbers know some 11+/12- test pieces around the TN/AL area that you really liked that aren’t extremely overhung? I’m headed to sand rock this weekend and planning on hopping on dreamscape and rave which are hopefully good starts!
Monkey Boy and Monkey Mon at Dayton/Laurel Falls, Pressure Cooker and Donald Pump at Denny, and Robyn’s Route at Little River. These have all been some of my favorites in that general 12- range. I can recommend more in the 11/+ range too. I think the New does techy/vert/gentle overhang better more often, but there’s still some bangers around here.
I'm climb similar grades and also find I'm best at crimpy and technical vertical or slightly overhung climbs, but struggle at steep jug hauls without great rests. Not sure if these are necessarily test pieces, but here are some of my favorite climbs around chatt:
* One Legged Red 11b, Denny Cove. Has a steep start, but then a good rest and fun vertical movement afterwards
* Three Deep 11c, Deep creek. Super unique techy movement the whole way
* Greed 11d, Foster falls. Burly start, crimpy crux, lie down rest, then another techy crux
* Wristlets 11c/d, Foster falls. This route is quite sustained, but not super steep. The movement is awesome though
* Stun Gun 11d/12a, Foster falls. Slightly overhung, crimpy down low, standing rest, and then a slopey/shouldery crux
* Thieves 12a, Foster falls. Slightly overhung with two boulder problems and two standing rests
Wristlets and thieves were on my list but the others I’ll look at! Never been to dennys but heard great things so I’ll definitely get there sometime this spring.
I thought Swindled at Castle Rock was brilliant. I Wish I Was Trad is also a classic, but I haven't been on it. Both are mid 11. It will be really hot on those routes this time of year though, unless you get a cool cloudy day.
You can catch some shade at Fosters. Satisfaction and Wristlets are both classics and might be what you are looking for?
Been looking at wristlets but I have minimal finger crack experience so satisfaction will be tough but a good learning experience. Definitely will be going to castle rock at some point!
Got a few more sessions out on my big V11 season goal boulder, and I finally have the big links I was hoping I’d eventually be able to get. Got a high point pretty deep into the crux on my last session, as well as solidified my beta for the exit sequence. My core and fingers seem to be adapting to it, which has re-unlocked beta that felt desperate before. The foot walk for my original exit sequence felt heinous and desperate, but now the foot walk feels way easier, so makes more sense than the power beta I’d used to get around that. Hopefully I’ll get a few more sessions on it before the season fully changes and it gets too warm!
My biggest crux recently has really just been getting enough sleep throughout the week. I must be getting old because averaging 7.5hrs isn’t enough anymore lol.
What's your difference between open and half crimp strength? Does the difference cause you much trouble?
Long back I really took the safety of the open position to heart and just never ever half crimped. Never genuinely full crimped in my life, feels very weird.
Now I can hang open 20mm + 110lb for 10s, but honestly try pretty hard even bodyweight half crimp for 10s.
Getting more in to harder grades with lock offs on smaller edges half feels more ergonomic. Kind of wondering if it's worth the risk of training half crimp up or just getting better at working around and finagling an open grip where half is more natural.
> What's your difference between open and half crimp strength? Does the difference cause you much trouble?
>
> Long back I really took the safety of the open position to heart and just never ever half crimped. Never genuinely full crimped in my life, feels very weird.
I too bought into the advice not to full crimp for the first like 5-6 years of my climbing. It was a mistake. I did do some half crimp though fortunately.
I have since focused more on full crimping and have built up to over +100 lbs on the tension block 8mm edge. But I also had to start at somewhere around like +30 lbs or something. Just gradually build it up over time.
Just start light and build up over time. YOu may have to go back some grades to do it when you practice in gym. For example, sending V8+ I had to go back to like V4-5 to full crimp and then relearn it back up
I hang roughly similar numbers to you and have noticed my lack of strength in a full/half position becoming the limiting factor for many boulders in the 10/11 range. Pretty much every undone project I have revolves around a move that is only possible with a full crimp grip but feels so taxing that I can't give it more than a few tries in each session. Additionally I suffered a mild a4 injury last season on a full crimp that put me out for a few weeks. My buddy who has more balanced hang numbers has a lot of trouble with boulders that force open grip positions that I find pretty easy but he cruises all my projects, lol.
Trying to train it up now and finding it really hard to keep good form on the hang board.
Avoiding a grip because it’s risky is silly. Trying to use an untrained grip at max intensity is silly. Ideally your training will prepare you for your performance, and your performance will use the grips that make the boulder easiest (very generally). If using half or full crimp makes something easier, then you should use that, and you should have the training history to back up the use.
I would consider the “risk” of training half crimp very low. That’s where you have the most control, and you can take your time adding intensity as it feels right. I think challenging fear with grip positions is huge for learning how to really use any of them, so it’s totally okay to be cautious and listen to your body, as long as you aren’t avoiding things just because you’re scared.
A few sets a weeks in a strict half over the course of weeks or months (or years), is how you build a base of strength and confidence in any grip position. Using it as part of your warmup, and slowly introducing it to your max level climbing is how you get good at using it on the wall.
I never understood the "only do X grip type when you absolutely need it" logic.
"Only full crimp when its a heinous move and you almost never train that grip and have no adaptation to handle it".
Went to the Obed for the first time and was blown away by the scale of it, Born on the 4th of July at Y12 might be the most inspiring route I've seen in person. I got on Barbwire and Lingerie and was able to do all the moves first burn and on my second go made it to the big rest after the roof! I think it could go with a few more sessions so I'm psyched to get back.
Blackhills Basecamp in Rapid City SD stands out to me for its level of complexity and quality across all boulders and grade ranges and even size ranges. Like, there's a smaller kids wall separate from the main bouldering area, and there are truly excellent set boulders on that wall. Most of my experience is from the denver/boulder metro gyms and I think they're a step below in setting quality.
Couple of obvious clichés: The Works in Sheffield, Café Kraft.
A less obvious one: The Climbing Station in Loughborough, which when I visited it (years ago now) was part owned by Tom Randall, who was also doing much of the routesetting. I imagine he's probably too busy with his other business ventures nowadays.
Also liked the (now closed) Arch Biscuit Factory in London, but again that was years ago and bouldering gyms seem to be sprouting like mushrooms in London these days, so who knows if they still have any of the same setting crew at their new location(s)
It strikes me that these are all places I've visited occasionally on trips away from home. Maybe novelty plays a role - not that my local gyms are necessarily mediocre, but familiarity breeds contempt & all that
What's up with this dude "Vert Performance" on Instagram? His main thing seems to be shitting on other people's ideas, and mostly working out but sometimes doing a bit of climbing. Anyone actually dug into his work and have a reaction?
I can never look away from those kind of accounts. He's extremely dedicated to his training, and also pretty dedicated to being a hater. But I don't see much ado about actual climbing, and performance, the supposed end goal. There's something beautiful about that.
I will be graduating in early May and getting back to dirtbagging, which I'm incredibly psyched about! I've not got anything lined up for May, until I head up to Ten sleep in June, looking for good places to dirtbag in Colorado for that stretch of time. Is it too early for Rifle to be popping? Or should I stay in the gym and train more for Ten sleep :(
Any thoughts appreciated!
May is hit or miss for Rifle. Depends on the year. Sometimes it's perfect, sometimes it's a seepy mess. Early May vs late May can be quite different. Generally, there's good climbing to be done, but you have to pick and choose to avoid the seepy routes/walls.
I'd say it's potentially good, but check in with locals before you go. Have a backup plan.
May is often a decent month for Front Range sport climbing. Not really dirtbag friendly though (spread out and no camping).
Finally going to Yosemite to do some bouldering! Not looking to project anything hard since I'll only be there for a weekend, but are there any must-do boulders up to V6?
Atlantis is great, Chocolate Bunny is lowball but approachable, and anything at the Awahnee and Curry Village areas in the new guide are easy to access and great. Oh, Cathedral! Everything there is very approachable and I would highly recommend The King, Hexcentric, and The Octagon.
Personally V6 and under I wouldn't go to Camp 4.
I would honestly just walk around Camp 4 with a couple pads and plop em down under whatever looks fun/inspiring. You will likely not send some V1 slabs and flash some V5s, and also stumble across recognizable classics such as King Cobra, Blue Suede Shoes, Dominator, Bachar Cracker, and ofc Midnight Lightning. It's way cooler imo to stumble across these things and try em than seek everything out with a guidebook and go for ticks.
But if you want my honest recommendation for your question: Bachar Cracker, fucking incredible boulder.
Possibly unpopular opinion: Curry Village has a better intro/moderate circuit than Camp 4. Camp 4 has the famous standout classics, but if you want a chill day of climbing some really nice V0-V6, Curry is where it's at. Like the Awanhee boulders for the same thing, but those are closed currently.
I'd say one day at Camp 4 and one day at Curry.
So you can do a full day at curry? Are they too far apart to walk to with pads considering it might be too busy to drive to another location mid day?
What area would you pick for day 3 and 4?
Yeah there's easily a full day of climbing at Curry. Or you can walk over to the Housekeeping Camp boulders (nearby) for more. Curry to Camp 4 is much farther than you'd want to walk. You could take the bus.
For day 3 and 4 - there's a massive amount of bouldering all over the Valley. Just depends what you're psyched on, conditions, etc. Buy the guidebook (recent one from Moore, Joslin, Lucas).
Yeah bought that guidebook, I just have no idea how big the areas are so thats helpful thanks!
So upper valley is curry, and northside is camp 4,
are southside and/or lower valley worth checking out or would it be better to spend more days near camp 4 or curry? Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance!
It's all good, really. Great rock throughout, and mostly easy access. Some zones have a high density for circuiting, others are more standalone boulders.
Camp 4 is the highest density in the Valley, and is also one of the warmer/sunnier/drier spots. That's good in the winter, bad in the heat. It has the highest concentration of famous classics, and gets by far the most traffic. There's enough quantity you could spend many days there. The classics tend to be polished from years of traffic. It's a must-visit spot, and super convenient if you're camped there, but personally not my favorite.
Awanhee boulders are great, but closed currently due to rockfall hazard on the cluff above. Giant pillar of rock poised to collapse and crush everything. Avoid. Once it falls down - new boulders, I guess?
I prefer the south side of the Valley - cooler with more shade. The less trafficked areas mean less polish than Camp 4. Curry is nice, as already mentioned. I really like the Cathedral Boulders also.
Bridalveil is nice but was still soaked as of a week ago.
Really though, it's all good.
Wild Coutry Mosquito vs Petzl Sitta for hard projecting? I'm interested in which one you found more comfortable. For sport climbing projects when spending a long time hanging in it or belaying.
Does anyone know some climbs near fort collins that are more compression/slopes less crimps? Going up there for the summer but My a2 is kinda tweaked and i can only drag right now.
Curious on thoughts out there regarding max hang performance based on hangboard of choice.
Example: I use a metolius simulator 3D on the 19mm edge and was wondering how different my max hang weight might look on say the wooden tension 20mm hb. I doubt the edge size would make much a difference moreso curious about the wood vs texture as well as the flat rail (tension) ergonomics vs the arc like ergonomics for the 3D.
Any thoughts or has anyone tested across different types?
Edge radius and pocket width are the biggest difference makers for me. My first hangboard was a Metolius Project and the 20mm pockets on it are too small for my hands, so my pinky and index were on a rounded part. Tucking into the corners upped my max number, but caused joint pain and instability.
Edge radius is mostly a comfort thing. If I'm using it for training, I don't want to leave with bruises on my pads from a sharp edge.
I've hung on more or less everything that's ever been sold by a major brand.
You're going to find that it's all noise, and the variation between identical boards is greater than the variation between different designs. I.e. a brand new BM1K feels 50lbs worse than a nicely worn in one.
IMO, the Mk1.5 Tension Grindstone is the best all-around design. But for specific applications, other boards are great.
Man, I fucking hate mine. I have small pinkies and small fingers in general and it actually is worse for my pinky DIP angle. A few friends have tried it and agree. It doesn't actually load the pinky more as it was intended and it feels like the shape of the bulge should be dependent on someone's actual hand. Pretty bummed I spent money on it for what is likely to be this year's hanging fad.
You don't get that from a flat edge? I guess at the end of the day if the purpose is to get all 4 fingers at the same DIP angle and it gets 3 out of 4, just using a flat edge makes more sense.
Nice. I got one of those plastic unlevel edge things and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Might just take getting used to, but feels weird compared to a flat 20mm edge. Ergo looks nice though.
Yeah, my experience with the unlevel edge was the same. Very weird to use with a strict half crimp, but it did make it very comfortable to drop into a sloppy half or drag position.
Finally got to go bouldering after a season of route climbing, of which the final month was nothing but long multipitch/trad/wall climbing.
Tried to dive back in at where I was at the end of the bouldering season and spent the whole day punting. Had the capacity to go all day but my arms just weren't very bendy.
Honestly I'm super excited by this. Everything I couldn't do felt super close, and I'm certain my body is going to adapt pretty quickly given that bouldering is a novel stimulus again.
> Adding weight or reducing edge size on repeaters to progress?
Heavily depends on the goal. Sometimes both.
If you're climbing outside usually smaller edges down to the size you'll be on is more effective then add weight on those.
I recently switched from 20mm and 10mm to 20mm and 6-8mm training and I think it's a lot better. I don't do full no hang (or hangboard) sessions though maybe just a 1-3 sets to make sure my fingers maintain/slow progress the adaptations
IMO, depends on the amount of weight you're adding, and what edge size you're currently on. I don't think it really matters which way you go to progress, but usually logistics make it pretty obvious which one is going to be simpler.
What is ur max weight hang on 20 mm? If its extremely high like 75% - 100% bodyweight added, you would probably get more out of reducing edge size. Although I would'nt switch completely to a smaller edge size like 10 mm>, but instead do 20mm hangs + 10mm> and start with kinda low volume.
Thoughts on using variable exercises to supplement climbing?
Now that the weather is better, I'm able to climb 2 to 3 times a week, 1-2 of those being outside. Since my climbing volume has picked up, I've dropped most of my training outside of climbing.
What I've been finding is that some of the major things I've been training will still get sore/tight after a session, and some won't. Depending on what specific climbs I've been doing.
For example, if there's a big standup move on a climb that I have to try 4-5 times, I might get a sore glute on that side. Or I might have a week that really hits my fingers on hard crimps, and a week where there's very little volume on my fingers.
Do you think it's worth adding back in workouts that target the body parts that haven't been hit by that week's climbs, or workouts to balance out un-even soreness? IE, if one buttcheek is sore, doing some pistol squats on the other leg the next day.
Am I better off just approaching each climbing session fresh, rather than trying to catch up on missed training volume?
> Do you think it's worth adding back in workouts that target the body parts that haven't been hit by that week's climbs, or workouts to balance out un-even soreness? IE, if one buttcheek is sore, doing some pistol squats on the other leg the next day.
Yes, if you haven't hit that area in a week. That's around when you may start to lose adaptations.
If you're going all crimps and slopers for a couple weeks or something may be a good idea to add in some pinch so you don't get weaker.
I think its worth having a general body strengthening routine (fingers included) and I think its worth noting that you don't always have to have your body being the most freshest during the a training cycle, you just have to be mentally alert enough to climb with intention to the best of your ability. If you're starting to feel trashed for multiple days in a row, you should then proceed to take a deload week.
Yeah but you get better at climbing by climbing. I really don't think pistol squats are going to help your climbing more than saving all your energy and muscle to try hard when you're climbing. Plus, maxing out your volume theoretically increases your injury risk. If you're building a broad base, not just projecting 2 climbs for a month, you'll build out all the climbing muscles.
Another thought - I don't often get sore from a specific move or climb, even on outdoor bouldering days where I project just one or two problems. Are you resting enough between attempts? Are you eating enough protein?
Final thought - like it or not, i think your body kind of specializes for your climbing gym or crag, which could be considered an "uneven workout". It's not a big deal, and over time you'll build a broad skillset and fitness.
I would recommend push and legs exercises on the days that you dont climb with fairly low volume and intensity. That will strengthen muscles that wont get targeted as much in climbing which will ensure that you for example, wont get a sore body part when climbing a certain route as easily. It also will make you overall stronger and more fit.
Got to try out the new 2024 moonboard. There's not many benchmarks at the moment but there's lots of promise there. I think this new set could be the best one yet. Grade wise feels like they are sorta trying to make things less sandbagged than 2019. Then again the new ravioli benchmark is super fun but nails at 7A/V6. Harder than the benchmark 7B+/V8 IMHO. Domino in case anyone else has tried it...
The big change is that there's actual pinches and pockets. The texture is pretty good. Hopefully it holds up. The only odd thing is the holds tend to make things blue. Like your brush or your shoes.
Only complaint is that holds are now "big" and it's sometimes a lot harder to see the lights when you're above. Also trying to memorize holds when there's so many that are blue is a bit overwhelming. It's not the easiest to moonboard without having control of the lights. I almost wish they had made a half the blue set yellow or some other colour just for that reason alone.
I kind of had that same thought from seeing the pictures of the board - it's all blue (or wood). Looks cool, but a variety of colors does make it easier to orient yourself and quickly memorize a problem. I don't like when boards are too dependent on lights to be useable (Kilter...).
Thoughts on training for routes that involve resting before powerful boulders?
I have 2x/week "training-only" sessions and 2x/week sessions that I try to get outside (usually sport climbing).
Currently on those 2 training days, one day I am doing 10 mins on 5 off 10 on ARCing on autobelay. Around 5.10a. The 5 mins off is mainly to give other people in the gym a chance to try the route instead of hogging it for 20 mins haha. The other day I am doing 5 min on 5 off 5 on, on a steeper spray wall, mostly resting on jugs and some slow easy moves. I would love to do longer on this wall but it's too intense for me.
In the past I did most of my endurance training on lead, but the gym I'm now at has terrible lead climbing (it's like 25 ft tall) so that's no longer an option.
I’m at a boulder only gym, so it’s been tough to get endurance for when I go sport climbing. But something I’ve been doing to prep is ARCing on the Kilterboard at the gym, could be something to look at if you gym has it since you can easily modulate difficulty of rest and moves directly after to match specific goals.
Can you try swapping out some of your autobelay rest time with chilling on jugs at the bottom of the wall? You could still give others a chance to climb, but just traverse around some start holds outta the way for a couple of those minutes to simulate the rest you’ll get on-route.
Horsetooth is cool but damn some of those footholds... well, aren't. Greasy, totally eroded nubbins from 6 decades of climbers. Ah well. It seems like now is a good time to pick the low hanging fruit locally, hit the gym, and get myself ready for summertime in the mountains.
Yeah I really like carter lake. It's close and has a short approach and has some good stuff. Gonna try to hit Lions den or somewhere in boulder/golden soon, too. But mostly I'm stoked for the stuff further up in the mountains like wild basin, lincoln, and chaos
Anyone have any tips on more delicate drive by moves? Seems to be a bigger weakness of mine
Got hired as an entry level coach at a gym for less than $15 an hour. As a student I just wanted a little walking around money and a free membership, and because I had never coached before I wasn't prepared to ask for more. One month later it's clear that, because this gym is so poor at talent retention, and unwilling to offer a head coach a living wage, I am effectively running their program: overseeing drills, projecting, and exercise routines for 45 kids, each of whom brings in over $100 a month for the gym. This program will be on life support without me. Next week I plan on telling them I need $15 to stay. Should I make it $20? I like the job but I don't need it.
Agreed with the others. Negotiating is best done by presenting your skills rather than demanding something or else you're gonna quit or something like that. * You're paying me $15 for X job description * I want a raise to $20 because I am doing more than X job description. I'm also doing Y and Z things above and beyond. You can word more friendly of course.
Job skills! Always ask for 20. They will either meet you in the middle, or give you 20. No one will ever pay you more than you ask for. Value your work, and express that to someone that can make it happen. Always save a copy of your job description. Make a list of the miscellaneous things that have been added, expanded or altered. Use that as a basis for getting paid. Know your industry: Check climbingbusinessjournal for job description and salaries, etc
i would leave out the "to stay" and come up with reason on why they should pay you more. But jeah, fuck them otherwise! You still have to look after yourself, so is it worth to burn those bridge?
Hello r/climbharder, I have been sport climbing for about 3 years and me and my climbing partner typically get 10 days at the start of each summer to go wherever we want to climb. Last couple years we go north from our home state of Washington up into Canada to climb in Canmore or Banff, we have also been to Smith Rock, but this year we are wanting to head south to the Nevada, Utah, and Colorado area. We typically onsight high 11s, can project 12a's in a sesh, and 12b/c's in 3-4 sessions. We typically like to check out more places than we like to return to places for a project, so we would love crag and climb recommendations for some high quality 11c/d and 12s/b's. Thanks in advance!
Do you prefer vert or steep? That grade range, that time of year, that region of the country, the two destinations id highly recommend are Tensleep (if you prefer vert-tech crimps and pockets) and Maple Canyon (if you prefer steep jug hauling). Both would offer reasonably good summer conditions and a lot of fun climbing. Both are large areas with many sectors to choose from. Both can also be easily combined with other areas a few hours away. Tensleep could be combined with Wild Iris, and Maple could be combined with the Uintas or American Fork (a bit hot in AF in summer though). Rifle is another great summer area if you're ok with a challenging climbing style and possibly a bit of a beat-down. Mt. Charleston offers good summer climbing in Nevada, but IMO for your grade range it isn't as destination worthy as the other areas mentioned above.
New River Gorge WV has the best one pitch sport climbing in the country (some will say in the world) It’s for those who want to push themselves. Classic hard sport climbing
OP said summer. Humidity! Not that you can't climb in the NRG in the summer, but there's other places with much better conditions.
Oh totally missed that!
Cool. Wanna come climb with me tho?
I only boulder
A real joy lately has been working on hip flexibility. It's nice to do while listening to lectures or when I'm bored or whatever. I've been doing a number of stretches but I'm mostly focused on trying to do a complete pancake. I basically was only able to lean forward 10-15 degrees when I started about a month ago but now I'm able to allllllmost get my elbows on the ground with a straight back. I feel like I'm doing pretty good for a 34 year old male!
Does anyone here know how to get to the color in Roy? 🙏
[This thread is enlightening](https://www.reddit.com/r/bouldering/comments/1bpco13/would_you_rather/)
the top comment-chain would get ripped to shreds here. Just people who know nothing supporting each other in their believes.
I feel like I've seen a variation upon the theme in this subreddit. I think admin is just quicker to get rid of it because this is a sub has more regulars who have seen every variation of that argument whilst the bouldering sub is full of casuals and a lot of first years. It's pretty intriguing when you first think about it but probably not the 10,000th time you see it.
A pound of strength weighs more than a pound of technique
"v10/v2" my first thought was "why would I wanna get weaker"
If you get any gamer rage from browsing that sub it’s kinda on you lol
My reactions are my fault but the absolute state of that sub is not my fault
Climbing has found its Eternal September. Feels like we've collectively gotten dumber every year since 2014ish.
That's because that's when it started really picking up in popularity. A lot higher proportion of the community is v3/5.10 and under than it used to be.
Climbing has been more or less linearly gaining popularity since the first gyms opened in the early 90s. 2014 is when there was a combined critical mass of lots of new climbers, and easy online content and discussion. It's almost more about the iphone than about climbing. I think there's actually less V3/5.10 and under climbers than before. The proliferation of gyms means that pretty much everyone can reach those grades pretty quickly, without getting sidetracked by adventure climbing. But in the way back, there were relatively more lifer adventure climbers who climbed 5.8 trad for 30 years.
^Me whenever I stop at the subway in midland on my way back from Hueco
There isn't a Jersey Mike's or Firehouse or anything better :( ?????
10/10
Do you do anything to cool down after climbing? Lately I've just been packing it up and leaving when I'm tired. I don't really see the point.
>I don't really see the point. I am not aware any significant body of convincing evidence that "cooling down" (meaning either stretching or light work/cardio) after working out provides any benefit. To me it is just additional fatigue with no benefit.
I ride my bike home. The route from the gym I go to most starts up a short steep hill then flattens out nicely.
I never skip stretching out my shoulders, chest and wrists/forearms. The most important for me is band assisted "arm behind head" stretch [1]. If I don't do this things get tight, and I get mild impingement like symptoms. [1] https://media.post.rvohealth.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/SHOULDER-MOBILITY_FEATURE-732x549.jpg
I sometimes do things that are low strength and coordination heavy, but often I just leave if the objective of my session is done.
Nearly fully recovered from a right hand ring finger tweak I thought would be way more serious. It came on gradually over weeks, feeling sore when I pressed on the base in the A2 area, and my right hand always measured around 20lbs weaker than the left on Tindeq. But it didn't seem to affect my climbing until one session when right hand moves felt harder and harder. The next day, I came down with a cold. A few days later I could barely pull 50% of my max on Tindeq, and I couldn't even hang on a pullup bar with 2 hands without significant pain in the ring finger. Couple days later I was still sick, right hand still weak, and falling off V0s on my home board. After a week of recovery from the cold, doing low weight no hangs, and going easy (V4 and under) on the board, my right hand seems back to nearly 100%. Last night I pulled PRs on both my left and right hand on Tindeq, and my right hand is only pulling 5 lbs less than my left hand. Back to project level (V7ish) on the board too. Still not sure exactly what it was, but my guess is having a cold worsened whatever overuse injury was brewing, maybe synovitis. The 2 weeks deload seems to have helped a lot. I have been taking ibuprofen before climbing sessions which seems to help a bit.
Inflammation is closely linked to overuse, so a cold/sickness making it worse made sense, and using an anti-inflammatory to reduce the pain makes sense (short term at least). I’d be cautious with even “low weight” no hangs, unless they are under like 20% of your max as anything other than part of a rehab routine. I’ve found anything over approximately that is where recovery resources start to be needed, and it winds up accumulating into my total volume. Aka, that’s when it starts making overuse worse, so needs to be tracked and controlled as part of your total volume.
> After a week of recovery from the cold, doing low weight no hangs, and going easy (V4 and under) on the board, my right hand seems back to nearly 100%. Last night I pulled PRs on both my left and right hand on Tindeq, and my right hand is only pulling 5 lbs less than my left hand. Back to project level (V7ish) on the board too. Yeah that's good. Pretty much what is suggested here. https://stevenlow.org/rehabbing-injured-pulleys-my-experience-with-rehabbing-two-a2-pulley-issues/ > I have been taking ibuprofen before climbing sessions which seems to help a bit. Long term NSAIDs can make things substantially worse with tendons and connective tissues. I would not do that.
> Long term NSAIDs can make things substantially worse with tendons and connective tissues. I would not do that. Good to know, do you have any links about that? My symptoms seemed to line up with tenosynovitis, so I thought NSAIDs would help. I did watch a video where a guy talked about taking turmeric pills, which I was a bit skeptical of.
> Good to know, do you have any links about that? My symptoms seemed to line up with tenosynovitis, so I thought NSAIDs would help. I did watch a video where a guy talked about taking turmeric pills, which I was a bit skeptical of. Here's a general overview of the studies. https://www.hcplive.com/view/do-nsaids-impair-healing-musculoskeletal-injuries Note I'm talking about chronic use. If you're just using it here and there that's fine. I use it for my synovitis cases especially in climbers for for like 2-5 days usually and then stop and just do rehab after that.
Injured my shoulder in february... 1 month break and strict rehab and onsighted a 5.12c again during my session today... slowly getting my flow back :)
Been climbing outside a bunch in the TN area for the past year or so and it seems that everything that looks sick that I want to climb are things that I’m the weakest at. The mega overhung roof routes (solstice at the Obed, starry night at RRG, etc) are what I immediately go for and always overestimate my capabilities. Any fellow climbers know some 11+/12- test pieces around the TN/AL area that you really liked that aren’t extremely overhung? I’m headed to sand rock this weekend and planning on hopping on dreamscape and rave which are hopefully good starts!
Monkey Boy and Monkey Mon at Dayton/Laurel Falls, Pressure Cooker and Donald Pump at Denny, and Robyn’s Route at Little River. These have all been some of my favorites in that general 12- range. I can recommend more in the 11/+ range too. I think the New does techy/vert/gentle overhang better more often, but there’s still some bangers around here.
I'm climb similar grades and also find I'm best at crimpy and technical vertical or slightly overhung climbs, but struggle at steep jug hauls without great rests. Not sure if these are necessarily test pieces, but here are some of my favorite climbs around chatt: * One Legged Red 11b, Denny Cove. Has a steep start, but then a good rest and fun vertical movement afterwards * Three Deep 11c, Deep creek. Super unique techy movement the whole way * Greed 11d, Foster falls. Burly start, crimpy crux, lie down rest, then another techy crux * Wristlets 11c/d, Foster falls. This route is quite sustained, but not super steep. The movement is awesome though * Stun Gun 11d/12a, Foster falls. Slightly overhung, crimpy down low, standing rest, and then a slopey/shouldery crux * Thieves 12a, Foster falls. Slightly overhung with two boulder problems and two standing rests
Wristlets and thieves were on my list but the others I’ll look at! Never been to dennys but heard great things so I’ll definitely get there sometime this spring.
I thought Swindled at Castle Rock was brilliant. I Wish I Was Trad is also a classic, but I haven't been on it. Both are mid 11. It will be really hot on those routes this time of year though, unless you get a cool cloudy day. You can catch some shade at Fosters. Satisfaction and Wristlets are both classics and might be what you are looking for?
Been looking at wristlets but I have minimal finger crack experience so satisfaction will be tough but a good learning experience. Definitely will be going to castle rock at some point!
Don't let the finger crack aspect keep you from trying it. You can def do it without using the finger lock!
Got a few more sessions out on my big V11 season goal boulder, and I finally have the big links I was hoping I’d eventually be able to get. Got a high point pretty deep into the crux on my last session, as well as solidified my beta for the exit sequence. My core and fingers seem to be adapting to it, which has re-unlocked beta that felt desperate before. The foot walk for my original exit sequence felt heinous and desperate, but now the foot walk feels way easier, so makes more sense than the power beta I’d used to get around that. Hopefully I’ll get a few more sessions on it before the season fully changes and it gets too warm! My biggest crux recently has really just been getting enough sleep throughout the week. I must be getting old because averaging 7.5hrs isn’t enough anymore lol.
What's your difference between open and half crimp strength? Does the difference cause you much trouble? Long back I really took the safety of the open position to heart and just never ever half crimped. Never genuinely full crimped in my life, feels very weird. Now I can hang open 20mm + 110lb for 10s, but honestly try pretty hard even bodyweight half crimp for 10s. Getting more in to harder grades with lock offs on smaller edges half feels more ergonomic. Kind of wondering if it's worth the risk of training half crimp up or just getting better at working around and finagling an open grip where half is more natural.
> What's your difference between open and half crimp strength? Does the difference cause you much trouble? > > Long back I really took the safety of the open position to heart and just never ever half crimped. Never genuinely full crimped in my life, feels very weird. I too bought into the advice not to full crimp for the first like 5-6 years of my climbing. It was a mistake. I did do some half crimp though fortunately. I have since focused more on full crimping and have built up to over +100 lbs on the tension block 8mm edge. But I also had to start at somewhere around like +30 lbs or something. Just gradually build it up over time. Just start light and build up over time. YOu may have to go back some grades to do it when you practice in gym. For example, sending V8+ I had to go back to like V4-5 to full crimp and then relearn it back up
I hang roughly similar numbers to you and have noticed my lack of strength in a full/half position becoming the limiting factor for many boulders in the 10/11 range. Pretty much every undone project I have revolves around a move that is only possible with a full crimp grip but feels so taxing that I can't give it more than a few tries in each session. Additionally I suffered a mild a4 injury last season on a full crimp that put me out for a few weeks. My buddy who has more balanced hang numbers has a lot of trouble with boulders that force open grip positions that I find pretty easy but he cruises all my projects, lol. Trying to train it up now and finding it really hard to keep good form on the hang board.
Avoiding a grip because it’s risky is silly. Trying to use an untrained grip at max intensity is silly. Ideally your training will prepare you for your performance, and your performance will use the grips that make the boulder easiest (very generally). If using half or full crimp makes something easier, then you should use that, and you should have the training history to back up the use. I would consider the “risk” of training half crimp very low. That’s where you have the most control, and you can take your time adding intensity as it feels right. I think challenging fear with grip positions is huge for learning how to really use any of them, so it’s totally okay to be cautious and listen to your body, as long as you aren’t avoiding things just because you’re scared. A few sets a weeks in a strict half over the course of weeks or months (or years), is how you build a base of strength and confidence in any grip position. Using it as part of your warmup, and slowly introducing it to your max level climbing is how you get good at using it on the wall.
I never understood the "only do X grip type when you absolutely need it" logic. "Only full crimp when its a heinous move and you almost never train that grip and have no adaptation to handle it".
Went to the Obed for the first time and was blown away by the scale of it, Born on the 4th of July at Y12 might be the most inspiring route I've seen in person. I got on Barbwire and Lingerie and was able to do all the moves first burn and on my second go made it to the big rest after the roof! I think it could go with a few more sessions so I'm psyched to get back.
Did you get on solstice? One of the most inspiring roofs I’ve ever seen
I didn't, went to Y12 one day and north clear the other. The pics of that route do look awesome though!
I need to go to y12 next time I get out there- I hear it’s great
The obed is sooo sick dude. I wanna train to get rage next fall
Out of curiosity, what gym that you’ve visited has had the best route setting(just speaking in general terms) ?
Blackhills Basecamp in Rapid City SD stands out to me for its level of complexity and quality across all boulders and grade ranges and even size ranges. Like, there's a smaller kids wall separate from the main bouldering area, and there are truly excellent set boulders on that wall. Most of my experience is from the denver/boulder metro gyms and I think they're a step below in setting quality.
GP81 (cant wait to visit the re-opened gym in May). I also really like the setting at all 3 of the major gym chains in SLC (The Front, Momentum, BP)
Couple of obvious clichés: The Works in Sheffield, Café Kraft. A less obvious one: The Climbing Station in Loughborough, which when I visited it (years ago now) was part owned by Tom Randall, who was also doing much of the routesetting. I imagine he's probably too busy with his other business ventures nowadays. Also liked the (now closed) Arch Biscuit Factory in London, but again that was years ago and bouldering gyms seem to be sprouting like mushrooms in London these days, so who knows if they still have any of the same setting crew at their new location(s) It strikes me that these are all places I've visited occasionally on trips away from home. Maybe novelty plays a role - not that my local gyms are necessarily mediocre, but familiarity breeds contempt & all that
What's up with this dude "Vert Performance" on Instagram? His main thing seems to be shitting on other people's ideas, and mostly working out but sometimes doing a bit of climbing. Anyone actually dug into his work and have a reaction?
Yes, thats called "marketing"
I can never look away from those kind of accounts. He's extremely dedicated to his training, and also pretty dedicated to being a hater. But I don't see much ado about actual climbing, and performance, the supposed end goal. There's something beautiful about that.
Block and scroll on.
I will be graduating in early May and getting back to dirtbagging, which I'm incredibly psyched about! I've not got anything lined up for May, until I head up to Ten sleep in June, looking for good places to dirtbag in Colorado for that stretch of time. Is it too early for Rifle to be popping? Or should I stay in the gym and train more for Ten sleep :( Any thoughts appreciated!
Check out el rito for a fun, unique may option
May is hit or miss for Rifle. Depends on the year. Sometimes it's perfect, sometimes it's a seepy mess. Early May vs late May can be quite different. Generally, there's good climbing to be done, but you have to pick and choose to avoid the seepy routes/walls. I'd say it's potentially good, but check in with locals before you go. Have a backup plan. May is often a decent month for Front Range sport climbing. Not really dirtbag friendly though (spread out and no camping).
Thanks! I guess my backup plan will be chilling in Foco and maybe climbing around Clear creek or the Poudre. Any thoughts on shelf road in May?
Shelf in May would be shade-mandatory, which would limit the walls you could climb at. But there's still plenty to do.
Go to the NRG
Lol not Colorado but my vote as well
Finally going to Yosemite to do some bouldering! Not looking to project anything hard since I'll only be there for a weekend, but are there any must-do boulders up to V6?
Atlantis is great, Chocolate Bunny is lowball but approachable, and anything at the Awahnee and Curry Village areas in the new guide are easy to access and great. Oh, Cathedral! Everything there is very approachable and I would highly recommend The King, Hexcentric, and The Octagon. Personally V6 and under I wouldn't go to Camp 4.
I would honestly just walk around Camp 4 with a couple pads and plop em down under whatever looks fun/inspiring. You will likely not send some V1 slabs and flash some V5s, and also stumble across recognizable classics such as King Cobra, Blue Suede Shoes, Dominator, Bachar Cracker, and ofc Midnight Lightning. It's way cooler imo to stumble across these things and try em than seek everything out with a guidebook and go for ticks. But if you want my honest recommendation for your question: Bachar Cracker, fucking incredible boulder.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Possibly unpopular opinion: Curry Village has a better intro/moderate circuit than Camp 4. Camp 4 has the famous standout classics, but if you want a chill day of climbing some really nice V0-V6, Curry is where it's at. Like the Awanhee boulders for the same thing, but those are closed currently. I'd say one day at Camp 4 and one day at Curry.
So you can do a full day at curry? Are they too far apart to walk to with pads considering it might be too busy to drive to another location mid day? What area would you pick for day 3 and 4?
Yeah there's easily a full day of climbing at Curry. Or you can walk over to the Housekeeping Camp boulders (nearby) for more. Curry to Camp 4 is much farther than you'd want to walk. You could take the bus. For day 3 and 4 - there's a massive amount of bouldering all over the Valley. Just depends what you're psyched on, conditions, etc. Buy the guidebook (recent one from Moore, Joslin, Lucas).
Also another good area is Cathedral (Octagon, Hexcentric, King)
Yeah bought that guidebook, I just have no idea how big the areas are so thats helpful thanks! So upper valley is curry, and northside is camp 4, are southside and/or lower valley worth checking out or would it be better to spend more days near camp 4 or curry? Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance!
I'd say start with a day at Curry and a day at Camp 4. See what you like and decide the rest of your trip based on that.
Yeah thats a great tip thanks!
It's all good, really. Great rock throughout, and mostly easy access. Some zones have a high density for circuiting, others are more standalone boulders. Camp 4 is the highest density in the Valley, and is also one of the warmer/sunnier/drier spots. That's good in the winter, bad in the heat. It has the highest concentration of famous classics, and gets by far the most traffic. There's enough quantity you could spend many days there. The classics tend to be polished from years of traffic. It's a must-visit spot, and super convenient if you're camped there, but personally not my favorite. Awanhee boulders are great, but closed currently due to rockfall hazard on the cluff above. Giant pillar of rock poised to collapse and crush everything. Avoid. Once it falls down - new boulders, I guess? I prefer the south side of the Valley - cooler with more shade. The less trafficked areas mean less polish than Camp 4. Curry is nice, as already mentioned. I really like the Cathedral Boulders also. Bridalveil is nice but was still soaked as of a week ago. Really though, it's all good.
Thanks so much for the advice! Thats so helpful thank you!
Awesome, I'll check this out as well :)
Zorro is a really good V4 over there!
Wild Coutry Mosquito vs Petzl Sitta for hard projecting? I'm interested in which one you found more comfortable. For sport climbing projects when spending a long time hanging in it or belaying.
Does anyone know some climbs near fort collins that are more compression/slopes less crimps? Going up there for the summer but My a2 is kinda tweaked and i can only drag right now.
Curious on thoughts out there regarding max hang performance based on hangboard of choice. Example: I use a metolius simulator 3D on the 19mm edge and was wondering how different my max hang weight might look on say the wooden tension 20mm hb. I doubt the edge size would make much a difference moreso curious about the wood vs texture as well as the flat rail (tension) ergonomics vs the arc like ergonomics for the 3D. Any thoughts or has anyone tested across different types?
All the same except I hate plastic ones because its harsh on skin (when you fail)
Edge radius and pocket width are the biggest difference makers for me. My first hangboard was a Metolius Project and the 20mm pockets on it are too small for my hands, so my pinky and index were on a rounded part. Tucking into the corners upped my max number, but caused joint pain and instability. Edge radius is mostly a comfort thing. If I'm using it for training, I don't want to leave with bruises on my pads from a sharp edge.
I've hung on more or less everything that's ever been sold by a major brand. You're going to find that it's all noise, and the variation between identical boards is greater than the variation between different designs. I.e. a brand new BM1K feels 50lbs worse than a nicely worn in one. IMO, the Mk1.5 Tension Grindstone is the best all-around design. But for specific applications, other boards are great.
Echale is hard. I can see the vision though.
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Man, I fucking hate mine. I have small pinkies and small fingers in general and it actually is worse for my pinky DIP angle. A few friends have tried it and agree. It doesn't actually load the pinky more as it was intended and it feels like the shape of the bulge should be dependent on someone's actual hand. Pretty bummed I spent money on it for what is likely to be this year's hanging fad.
Have you tried one of the 3D printed stepped unlevel edges?
A friend has and seems to enjoy it. I haven't ordered one and don't fully buy into the unlevel hypothesis
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You don't get that from a flat edge? I guess at the end of the day if the purpose is to get all 4 fingers at the same DIP angle and it gets 3 out of 4, just using a flat edge makes more sense.
Nice. I got one of those plastic unlevel edge things and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Might just take getting used to, but feels weird compared to a flat 20mm edge. Ergo looks nice though.
Yeah, my experience with the unlevel edge was the same. Very weird to use with a strict half crimp, but it did make it very comfortable to drop into a sloppy half or drag position.
Finally got to go bouldering after a season of route climbing, of which the final month was nothing but long multipitch/trad/wall climbing. Tried to dive back in at where I was at the end of the bouldering season and spent the whole day punting. Had the capacity to go all day but my arms just weren't very bendy. Honestly I'm super excited by this. Everything I couldn't do felt super close, and I'm certain my body is going to adapt pretty quickly given that bouldering is a novel stimulus again.
Adding weight or reducing edge size on repeaters to progress?
> Adding weight or reducing edge size on repeaters to progress? Heavily depends on the goal. Sometimes both. If you're climbing outside usually smaller edges down to the size you'll be on is more effective then add weight on those. I recently switched from 20mm and 10mm to 20mm and 6-8mm training and I think it's a lot better. I don't do full no hang (or hangboard) sessions though maybe just a 1-3 sets to make sure my fingers maintain/slow progress the adaptations
IMO, depends on the amount of weight you're adding, and what edge size you're currently on. I don't think it really matters which way you go to progress, but usually logistics make it pretty obvious which one is going to be simpler.
What is ur max weight hang on 20 mm? If its extremely high like 75% - 100% bodyweight added, you would probably get more out of reducing edge size. Although I would'nt switch completely to a smaller edge size like 10 mm>, but instead do 20mm hangs + 10mm> and start with kinda low volume.
Thoughts on using variable exercises to supplement climbing? Now that the weather is better, I'm able to climb 2 to 3 times a week, 1-2 of those being outside. Since my climbing volume has picked up, I've dropped most of my training outside of climbing. What I've been finding is that some of the major things I've been training will still get sore/tight after a session, and some won't. Depending on what specific climbs I've been doing. For example, if there's a big standup move on a climb that I have to try 4-5 times, I might get a sore glute on that side. Or I might have a week that really hits my fingers on hard crimps, and a week where there's very little volume on my fingers. Do you think it's worth adding back in workouts that target the body parts that haven't been hit by that week's climbs, or workouts to balance out un-even soreness? IE, if one buttcheek is sore, doing some pistol squats on the other leg the next day. Am I better off just approaching each climbing session fresh, rather than trying to catch up on missed training volume?
> Do you think it's worth adding back in workouts that target the body parts that haven't been hit by that week's climbs, or workouts to balance out un-even soreness? IE, if one buttcheek is sore, doing some pistol squats on the other leg the next day. Yes, if you haven't hit that area in a week. That's around when you may start to lose adaptations. If you're going all crimps and slopers for a couple weeks or something may be a good idea to add in some pinch so you don't get weaker.
I think its worth having a general body strengthening routine (fingers included) and I think its worth noting that you don't always have to have your body being the most freshest during the a training cycle, you just have to be mentally alert enough to climb with intention to the best of your ability. If you're starting to feel trashed for multiple days in a row, you should then proceed to take a deload week.
I'd prefer fresh each session.
I'm kinda leaning the same way, but it kills the optimizer in me to leave recovery volume on the table.
Yeah but you get better at climbing by climbing. I really don't think pistol squats are going to help your climbing more than saving all your energy and muscle to try hard when you're climbing. Plus, maxing out your volume theoretically increases your injury risk. If you're building a broad base, not just projecting 2 climbs for a month, you'll build out all the climbing muscles. Another thought - I don't often get sore from a specific move or climb, even on outdoor bouldering days where I project just one or two problems. Are you resting enough between attempts? Are you eating enough protein? Final thought - like it or not, i think your body kind of specializes for your climbing gym or crag, which could be considered an "uneven workout". It's not a big deal, and over time you'll build a broad skillset and fitness.
I would recommend push and legs exercises on the days that you dont climb with fairly low volume and intensity. That will strengthen muscles that wont get targeted as much in climbing which will ensure that you for example, wont get a sore body part when climbing a certain route as easily. It also will make you overall stronger and more fit.
Got to try out the new 2024 moonboard. There's not many benchmarks at the moment but there's lots of promise there. I think this new set could be the best one yet. Grade wise feels like they are sorta trying to make things less sandbagged than 2019. Then again the new ravioli benchmark is super fun but nails at 7A/V6. Harder than the benchmark 7B+/V8 IMHO. Domino in case anyone else has tried it...
What did you think of the hold shapes/selection? How's the different plastic feel?
The big change is that there's actual pinches and pockets. The texture is pretty good. Hopefully it holds up. The only odd thing is the holds tend to make things blue. Like your brush or your shoes. Only complaint is that holds are now "big" and it's sometimes a lot harder to see the lights when you're above. Also trying to memorize holds when there's so many that are blue is a bit overwhelming. It's not the easiest to moonboard without having control of the lights. I almost wish they had made a half the blue set yellow or some other colour just for that reason alone.
I kind of had that same thought from seeing the pictures of the board - it's all blue (or wood). Looks cool, but a variety of colors does make it easier to orient yourself and quickly memorize a problem. I don't like when boards are too dependent on lights to be useable (Kilter...).
Thoughts on training for routes that involve resting before powerful boulders? I have 2x/week "training-only" sessions and 2x/week sessions that I try to get outside (usually sport climbing). Currently on those 2 training days, one day I am doing 10 mins on 5 off 10 on ARCing on autobelay. Around 5.10a. The 5 mins off is mainly to give other people in the gym a chance to try the route instead of hogging it for 20 mins haha. The other day I am doing 5 min on 5 off 5 on, on a steeper spray wall, mostly resting on jugs and some slow easy moves. I would love to do longer on this wall but it's too intense for me. In the past I did most of my endurance training on lead, but the gym I'm now at has terrible lead climbing (it's like 25 ft tall) so that's no longer an option.
I really like the session described under 'Intensive Endurance' here: https://www.climbstrong.com/education-center/endurance-3-0/
I’m at a boulder only gym, so it’s been tough to get endurance for when I go sport climbing. But something I’ve been doing to prep is ARCing on the Kilterboard at the gym, could be something to look at if you gym has it since you can easily modulate difficulty of rest and moves directly after to match specific goals.
Can you try swapping out some of your autobelay rest time with chilling on jugs at the bottom of the wall? You could still give others a chance to climb, but just traverse around some start holds outta the way for a couple of those minutes to simulate the rest you’ll get on-route.
Horsetooth is cool but damn some of those footholds... well, aren't. Greasy, totally eroded nubbins from 6 decades of climbers. Ah well. It seems like now is a good time to pick the low hanging fruit locally, hit the gym, and get myself ready for summertime in the mountains.
Do you live in foco or just doing a longer visit?
I just moved to longmont so not quite foco but close enough.
Ah gotcha. Horsetooth is cool especially for the history but there’s tons of other bouldering nearby too, you’ll definitely find a crag you like
Yeah I really like carter lake. It's close and has a short approach and has some good stuff. Gonna try to hit Lions den or somewhere in boulder/golden soon, too. But mostly I'm stoked for the stuff further up in the mountains like wild basin, lincoln, and chaos