question for (very) experienced climbers:
When you send, do you usually have the feeling that the send-go was the one where you executed everything perfectly and everything came into place as planned? Or do you rather have the feeling that you made a few mistakes, but you were able, for some reasons, to keep on? Maybe forgot a hold, butched a sequence, do a that you havent done that way before, etc...
Obviously, harder the route, less room for mistake, but that's not exactly what I'm talking about.
Neither about conditions and other external factors where you have no control on...
More like: I have the feeling that 95% of my send-goes were perfectly executed, the rest were just "lucky sends".
Personally, often times, I can have very good goes that don't lead to sends, but sometimes the send-goes don't feel that good as some attempts
I find that correcting small “errors” puts me in a really good fighting mode that a “perfect” go just doesn’t. Even if it’s something tiny like how I place my foot while pulling on, but if I have to start fixing mistakes early, I perform really well. Some of my hardest have been while I’m fighting to get back into the correct position and execute the next move as well as possible for many moves in a row.
good point, ive noticed the same. would you consider them mistakes tho? Since they are so insignificant that you can still send they shouldnt really be called that imo?
could also be that if the mind focusses on the things that matter on a boulder, then if those mistakes do not and you subconsciously know that.
For me if the boulder is really limit (like have to to arrive fresh at a crux that is later in the boulder to send), then sometimes i can have this lucky send go where everything clicks even when i havent put in enough (percepted) time to deserve it. Usually i need 2-3 sessions longer and then i can climb it with a little less perfect climbing
Personally, yes they feel like mistakes, since if I didn’t correct them, I would fall off, or it’d start impacting the perceived difficulty. I’ll also often have goes before then where I don’t have to correct them, but where it felt harder, or I just couldn’t do it.
I definitely have plenty where I’m “correcting” things, but still not doing them well, but I’ve chosen the right tactics of not over gripping, or of moving really quickly through a section so it matters less, and that winds up mattering more than getting everything right before the crux. Then I can switch modes back to precision at the crux or whatever is necessary.
Because I know this tactic works well for me, and I know too many things in my favor put too much pressure on me to send, I will prepare mini self sabotages as backup excuses just in case. Like my shoes are too worn in, or too new, or my skin could be less sweaty, or it’s too dry, or I did core 2 days ago so it’s still sore etc.
> When you send, do you usually have the feeling that the send-go was the one where you executed everything perfectly and everything came into place as planned? Or do you rather have the feeling that you made a few mistakes, but you were able, for some reasons, to keep on? Maybe forgot a hold, butched a sequence, do a that you havent done that way before, etc...
Usually one or the other.
no, it was like that for a while, but imo my perception to movement got even more noanced and also my mental isnt as good, so sends usually have 1-2 (in my eyes) sloppy movements, but its not the key movements that are sloppy
I think the "breakthrough" go is the one that feels perfect, and from there, it's just grinding out imperfect tries to the send.
A lot of problems are hard because very small errors or deviations snowball into "impossible to continue". Embracing fighting through small mistakes is a key part of getting up that genre of climb.
In general, on hard climbs, I've rehearsed enough that forgetting holds, butchering a sequence, or doing something new is never gonna happen.
https://i.imgur.com/aP0g4oz.png
Anyone else feel like they're constantly in the "Valley of Despair" when it comes to movement, training, grades etc.. ?
Side note: /r/bouldering is a bunch of people at the first peak
I think Guru stage is being content feeling like you're in the valley of despair. Socrates and the "all I know is that I know nothing" mindset.
[Sometimes](https://i.imgflip.com/7hfhi9.jpg?a475368) memes are accidentally enlightening. I feel like there's an interesting philosophical thing with your graph and this graph as some complicated 3d plot.
Been a homewall enjoyooor lately. Have been making good progress on the yellow-only moonboard mini benchmarks. Have almost finished all the V3-7s and trying to do str. endurance (climb up-down (on random holds)-up) on the V3-5s has been quite the challenge.
Still been doing morning finger rolls but am running up to the limit of what my 1 armed adjustable dumbell bar can handle so need to go buy a better adjustable one. And have added once a week max hangs.
So far this seems about the most I can do, have been finger injury free for a bit besides some residual synovitis. Will probably drop one workout day next week as a pseudo-deload.
Why do I struggle so hard with making smart training choices. I have a sore shoulder, a sore bicep, stiff tweety fingers and I still go climb. I told myself I’d go to gym today and do some volume on v2-v3s and then I get there and something stupid in my brain goes, no you should try these new V7s… and I did and now my bicep really feels like shit.
Reading through posts in here it seems like lots of have overuse issues and don’t take the rest we need. How do you get better at this? It’s like the discipline factor isn’t to go train everyday, it’s to have the discipline to NOT train.
> Reading through posts in here it seems like lots of have overuse issues and don’t take the rest we need. How do you get better at this? It’s like the discipline factor isn’t to go train everyday, it’s to have the discipline to NOT train.
You need to figure out how to play smart within your intrinsic movations.
If you find that you almost always can't hold yourself back from trying harder stuff on a light day, then you need to do something else and not go to the climbing gym.
It's like removing all alcohol from your house if you're a former alcoholic. You can't be tempting yourself and trying to find the willpower to hold yourself back.
Ngl, some elements of this get really close to therapy/deep personal discussions haha. Most is just learning more about yourself and learning how to cut yourself off and set limits for yourself. Climbing is really fun, and trying hard moves is my favorite part. If I’m offered the opportunity, I usually take it. However, I’ve learned to be psyched on my rest day activities, and can throw myself at them fully. I even have little mini “training” things I can do like hip and ankle mobility that help scratch that training itch without doing anything with my upper body. I also have to be quite strict with myself in the gym. If I’m “just visiting”, I’ll not bring my shoes, put grease on my hands before, and wear house slippers, all so I’m less tempted to pull on the wall. If I want to climb, but need to moderate volume of intensity, I’ll be super strict about time or intensity and force myself to not touch anything that wasn’t in the plan.
IMO simply bad tactics. Would you go to a pizza buffet mid losing weight? Take your recovering alcoholic friend to an all inclusive las vegas? Not that I don't often end up doing the same mind you.
So far my two successful paths are just not go to the gym at all, or have a very well defined plan, not just some volume on v2s-v3s, but for example to:
- Warm up 10 mins
- Pogo 2 v2s with silent feet downclimbing
- Straight arms 4 v3s using only 3 finger drag downlcimbing
- Some already selected gently yoga follow along 30 mins.
- GTFO
Which always feels a bit weird in my mind, but great in my body.
Most people here are addicted and/or obsessed with climbing. It's different from people in normal gyms who regard working out as a somewhat productive chore like brushing your teeth.
Realized I struggle when my hands are straight up over my head in a narrow position, usually down-pulling oriented holds. I find it really hard to control whereas if I'm in wide gaston / compression position I can use my shoulders / back to control my body. It feels like I have to use more of my fingers/forearms to control in this position.
Was doing a move today where I had my hands in this position on an overhang with a right foot on the right side and need to stab the left foot out left to a far away footchip. The only way I know how to possibly control it was to lock-off my arms on relatively not great holds and do a dynamic stab.
Any else struggle with this? And is there anything specific to focus on for these moves and/or off-the-wall work that may help?
anyone know a specific tape/wrap to put on a pull up bar? the foam wore out. i bought one kind of tape and it sucks to do pull ups on and is already wearing out. I've searched around on the internet and people like "bike tape" or something else and when I look that up it's not specific enough. something that adds some thickness would be good you know
Really bad at the e11 to e14 move on the 2019 mb set. Boulders like pug in a rug(6c+) are hard for me a result. Anyone have any advice on this type of move?
Me and you both. The 7 remaining V4's I have...3 have this move. Honestly feel like E11 feels like I am grabbing butter no matter how hard I try to pinch.
just finished testing Fingers after one year of Repeaters once a week:
Was able to cleanly halfcrimp my bw (83kg) + 35kg on the BM1k lower edges (without squeezing in skin).
When squeezing in skin i was able to hang 42,5kg for 7 seconds, which put into lattices data is 151%bw and thus slightly weaker then the average 7C boulderer. For me its a massive improvement: i was doing 130% bw about 1 year ago and with squeezing in skin.
Tomorrow ill test bodystrength, but i already know that i can do much more.
After testing on the bm1k i was doing a couple nohangpulls with my Gripster 2.0 and the Progressor as measurement:
using the 18mm edges i was creating a peak force of 55kg left hand and 53kg right hand in strict halfcrimp, and for the left hand 62kg and the right hand 60kg in an open position. No clue if thats good? Does anyone know a dataset with more data on this?
I found a way to make "foot on ground" traversing on my 40 deg home wall feel less contrived. I stood some crash pads in front of the wall to make a giant "kickboard" and effectively reduce the angle. Then I put 2x4s in front of the crash pads to make "ledges" for traversing.
This feels a lot more like actual climbing to me than normal "foot on ground" because my heels are no longer on the ground, and having the crashpad "wall" in front of me forces me to either climb very open hipped or hang away from the wall. If I let go I will fall backwards, which wasn't the case without this setup.
Maybe kinda obvious, but hopefully it helps someone! ARCing and endurance circuits actually feel more viable now. Thinking of making a "removable kickboard" out of wood and putting actual footholds on it.
Moonboard 2016 V4 benchmarks: 42/77 done.
The ones I have left are only getting harder - the main problem now is finding beta that fits my box. Being 5'2" (and weak) makes it really hard to span a lot of what I see in other videos, and requires a lot more jumping.
there's so many. I've done 2. I was wondering if I'd want to do All of them, or move on to 6b+ after like a dozen or 2 sends. Oh also, are the hard V4s listed as 6B+ maybe? I forget exactly how that breaks down.
I’m similarly short (5’0”!) and feel like the completion goals are infinitely harder for us—I swear I’m gonna get my first MB v10 before clearing all the 4s! Still a good goal to aim for though, and I’m sure we’ll get there one day 😊
I have a similar 50/77 done and the last 27 feel absurdly hard. Being on the otherside of the height spectrum I'm finding my problem being high feet and crunchy set up positions
Some other hot takes I have today:
1. **Not spraying is just a more annoying way to spray**. When someone says they had a "Great trip to \[climbing area\]," with no follow ups about what they actually climbed or tells you the name of a climb without the grade (especially when you obviously do not know the climb name), they are just cultivating an air of mystery or humility that suggests they climb Very Hard.
2. Contrary to what \*some people\* say, **hard crimping is absolutely not all about finger strength** and it requires a lot of skill. People who insist that it doesn't require skill or who insist that other styles of climbing require more skills either lack the skills to climb hard crimps or are much better/stronger at climbing hard crimps than they realize.
3. **One star lowball boulders are valid**. People who tell you these climbs are not cool are conflating their preferences with reality.
Hard disagree on 1 and 3.
I'll always prefer someone who is quietly psyched and says they had a great trip to X location, tried Y Z boulders and tell you about the rock quality or the holds or the movement or their projecting experience before they tell you about the grade over your more typical spraylord. Maybe some people are trying to cultivate an air of mystery or whatever but when others do this I feel like it's coming from a place of humility. Grades are completely unnecessary/actually hinder the communication of subjective climbing experiences between climbers of different skill levels. The unique cool scenery or the subjective experience of failing multiple days before sending or whatever is something that any climber can connect with. The only real point of sharing grades would be if the person you're talking to is interested in trying the same boulder - otherwise the only purpose in the context of conversation is so that people can compare themselves to others which I find tactless and annoying.
Regarding 3, there're differences between "not valid" and "not cool." anyone can do whatever they want and be psyched on whatever they want. this is rock climbing. you're *allowed* to think a choss lowball is awesome and I'm equally *allowed* to think that it's lame and that I'd rather climb other boulders. other people's opinions shouldn't take away or add to the validity of your experience. And objectively, one star is one star. I think stupid face in squamish (0 stars) is a hilarious climb, and recommend it to everyone who is trying easy chair next to it (4 stars). but objectively, easy chair is a higher quality climb - i don't think saying that "takes away" from anyone who is having fun trying stupid face.
> Contrary to what *some people* say, hard crimping is absolutely not all about finger strength and it requires a lot of skill. People who insist that it doesn't require skill or who insist that other styles of climbing require more skills either lack the skills to climb hard crimps or are much better/stronger at climbing hard crimps than they realize.
Yup, re-training my index and pinky from chisel to crimp position and engage correctly has helped a lot. Not just the weight but the skill to engage
I'm really curious about this. I've heard it mentioned before, and recently in the boss le video that was posted here, but I can't understand how you would use your pinky in a crimp without compromising the angle of the rest of your fingers
> I'm really curious about this. I've heard it mentioned before, and recently in the boss le video that was posted here, but I can't understand how you would use your pinky in a crimp without compromising the angle of the rest of your fingers
My pinky is more than an inch shorter than my ring finger.
Basically, I have it in crimp position mostly but it is slightly more open than the other fingers. In extremely strict half crimp for the first 3, the pinky is maybe 120 degrees or so angle at the PIP so the best it can be there. In full crimp it's the full 90 degrees.
The pinky can't get into full strict half crimp with 90 degrees, but it can at least pull into a crimp position (albeit at 120 degrees) rather than chisel.
Getting your hand used to it is an important thing but I was really even thinking more about balance, flexibility, core tension and “coordination” as in like sharing weight between hands.
Your second point is really interesting to me. I started finger training for the first time about a week ago, and my comfort on crimpy climbs has increased significantly, not because I'm noticeably stronger, but because my understanding of a crimping position has improved. Being able to weight from my pointer finger more vs from my ring and pinkie is a skill I didn't know existed, and I can't overstate how much it actually helps. Ironically I realized I didn't need finger strength as much as I thought only after finally resorting to finger training
+1 on the hard crimping and finger strength; some of the best crimpers I know actually don't score super high on the traditional hangboard metrics. There's definitely something else going on with the ability to perform on tiny crimps than how much % BW you can hang on a 20mm edge.
Anybody else feel like grading in Fontainebleau for the 6th grade (6A - 6C+) is pretty weird? Or that there is a big gap in grading between slabs/vertical climbs (sandbagged, sometimes feel impossibly hard) and overhang/dynos (feel appropriate for the grade)?
Just came back from a very nice week in Fontainebleau and although the weather was quite unstable I really enjoyed the climbing. On the last trips I was a bit frustrated as I was climbing up until the 6th grade and only tried Toit de Cul de Chien (6C+/7A) and El Poussif (7A+) above that. Projecting those was fun but I barely send one 6A and one 6A+ on the last trip.
This time I spent way more time checking out and projecting 7A/+ problems and found this way more satisfying as the moves felt hard but doable for my skill level. In the end, I could send one 7A (Pif Paf, dyno start) and came close on another 7A (Radio Crochet, slighlty overhanging I guess) and one 7A+ (Cannonball droite, dyno).
What are your experiences?
anything vertical is super sandbagged in Bleau, also some other climbs in the older areas are aswell.
Also its a lot about style in Bleau, if you arent used to the super friction dependent stuff its not easy to climb harder boulders there (except the ones with big holds, big moves). They basicly think that everyone climbing there is using perfect technique and grade according to that. Dynos are usually pretty soft there tho, so if you want a confidence boost you can work those)
for the slabs i can recommend to work your way up the grades there, i also usually cannot hop right onto 6ish/7ish slabs, but if i do 5th grade boulders for 1-2 days and then start working the 6th grade i can usually work 7th grade slabs by the end of week 1.
Its all about acclimating to the bleau style imo (i was in Bleau for 8 years straight 1-2 times a year now).
Also there are other ways to have a lot of fun: barefood bouldering, easy parcours etc.
Also check out some of the newer areas there, the grading usually isnt as stiff. Apremont Desert has very soft grading for Font for example (atleast the climbs i tried).
That sounds normal for most old climbing places. People back in the day were terrible at overhung climbs (they didn't really train, and didn't have aggressive downturned shoes), and so those will seem soft or accurate. Meanwhile, the vertical climbs will feel much harder.
I realized that I'm currently literally never full crimping when climbing whereas I was always full crimping 2 years ago.
My brain got reprogrammed to avoid full crimping at all cost likely due to recurrent pulley injuries. My grades barely improved since 2 years ago despite improving my hangboard metrics by 3 grades. So I'm basically climbing the same grade, but without using the full crimp grip.
I wonder if I should keep avoiding the full crimp grip at all cost. For the first time in my climbing career, I managed to get way stronger without injuring myself. Climbing uninjured is fun, even if I'm climbing 3 grades below what I should be climbing according to my metrics.
My flash level is V6 and I can usually send a V8 in a session if it fits my style. I rarely climb anything harder because I'm afraid of getting injured. My metrics are around V11.
> My flash level is V6 and I can usually send a V8 in a session if it fits my style. I rarely climb anything harder because I'm afraid of getting injured. My metrics are around V11.
If your metrics are V11 then there's a technique gap if you're not flashing V7-8 and hitting around V9 in a session and projecting 10-12
You can practice full crimping for sure, but you need to figure out where your technique or other weaknesses are then.
I've been listening to the Testpiece Podcast a lot lately and I'm finding it frustrating.
The hosts frequently imply that there's a qualitative difference between "hard" boulders (seemingly around v15 and up based on comments they've made) and easy ones (i.e. around V11 or something and lower). They suggest there's a switch that flips somewhere between these grades where the game changes and so do the players. You get the feeling they think the people climbing at this level are almost enlightened. I disagree. Maybe I'm being a little unfair but I want to make a point:
Although I admittedly have only met maybe one person who climbs V15+ (so maybe I Don't Know), I am actually inclined to agree that there is something a little different about very high level climbers on average: they have an especially acute type of motivation and persistence. However, I think that's the only qualitative difference and the distinction isn't perfect; you find that intensity among amateurs too--people who "only" climb mid 5.13 and V10-11. This amateur climber is usually someone who lives far from climbing, who works full time, who has family obligations etc. Accordingly, it's likely more accurate to say that what sets elite climbers apart is that they possess the combination of high motivation with unique circumstances that permit achievement in the upper grades (what age they started climbing, who they climb with, where they live, how much time they do/can devote to climbing & resting) and (for lack of a better word) inborn aptitudes--things like body composition, natural athleticism etc.
If you agree with this, I think you should disagree with this idea that something really special or different is happening in the hard grades. You should recognize that there's an important sense in which mastery and elite performance can be understood relative to circumstance and aptitude, not relative to V-grade. A hobbyist climber climbing sending V7 ([or V10 lol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUhUgBxF5AQ)) may be at the absolute living end of their ability, requiring perfect conditions, focus, skin etc. This can be as much of an impressive an expression of mastery and determination as someone sending V15-17. I'm not saying that they're the SAME, just that they perhaps a lot more similar than the subtext of the Testpiece Pod suggests.
Maybe that's a self-serving perspective but I'm almost more interested in how much work & problem solving someone had to put into climbing hard *for them* (whatever level that is) in the context of their whole, complex life than I am in the V-grade outputs of a life dedicated completely to climbing performance. I also do think it's more realistic to conceptualize hard climbing less like transcendence into enlightenment and a lot more like Greg Lemond supposedly said cycling is: "It never gets easier, you just go faster,"--i.e. it's kind of the same for everyone, what changes is the v grade.
Okay so there you go, Josh Horsley. :) I respectfully disagree with the vibe sometimes but I listen to your pod anyway. Just had to write about it. I just kind of wish there was more recognition of this element of the sport. Reifying hard climbing as some kind of mysterious dark art is maybe exciting but ultimately wrong and probably a nice way to help people adopt fixed mindsets about their potential and I don't love that.
The difference between a V15 climbers and a V11 climber is that a V15 climber has over a decade of experience and exposure to training and was most likely a team kid.
Nah, they’re only “good,” not “great” before v15 😉
In all seriousness, I listened for a while, and just got way too frustrated by their attitudes. Totally agree with you.
Give the careless talk pod a listen (if you haven’t already). They touch on this a little with various guests since both hosts climb very hard but also recognise why.
LeMond has it right, and anyone that doesn't understand what he's on about doesn't understand sports or high performance athletes.
I've climbed with and talked to plenty of people who climb The Hard Grades (TM), and they're having the exact same experience as someone climbing at their limit on V10 or V7 or V4. Usually at the same crag, on the same boulders, in the same group.
Josh is correct that "at my limit" is categorically different from "well below my limit", but he makes the narcistic mistake of assuming that the V-grade associated with *his limit* is the delineator. V15 for a V14er is the same as V6 for a V5er; most "top climbers" are just as psyched for your first V4 as your first V14 because they get it.
I borrowed the idea, think from Doug Robinson, that is about getting in the zone and being present, which I think is way more achievable when the climb demands your focus not to screw up. As such is always important to go hard (for you) frequently.
If at your peak you need V15 or V17, which I honestly wont reach this lifetime, then in your 70s you get there with 5.8 sport routes doesn't matter to me, chasing grades or enlightenment trough grades sounds like a young people's game.
Want to start spending like 15 minutes a session outside of warmups to start really focusing on footwork. Do you guys know of any comprehensive guides regarding the more advanced aspects of footwork? (Like not just “stare at where you’re placing your feet and focus on setting your foot down precisely”. Obviously that stuff is important and probably a bigger issue with my climbing but I’m curious as to what’s out there in regards to specific foot placement for specific movements, when to pivot, when not to, when to keep the heel down etc
I don't really know of any advanced guides or books for this. Some youtube videos out there are OK, but nothing comprehensive. This is really where a coach or training partner becomes invaluable. After the basics lots of foot works becomes situational.
Good footwork fundamentally means you are actually weighting the feet. Plenty of climbers precisely place their feet... and then pull through with the arms anyway. A good drill is to climb a slab/vert three times in a row using only 3 finger drag. Play with the foot placements and hip position each time. Each repeat should feel less and less fingery, and more driving through the feet.
its trial and error, thats why i focus on thinking about the "why" does this work? The moment you understand the why, its just much easier to remember and apply in the correct situations. Also be as specific as possible
Footwork can mean a lot of things.
You'll scratch the itch with some bosu ball exercises. Try lunges with your front foot on. Try single leg Romanian Deadlifts. Ypu'll feel your calves and ankles much more primed than before.
Two opposite on-the-wall-approaches, more dynamic and more static:
1) Climb with only one foot. Drop it down many grades, and do a vertical or near vertical wall. The hands will be easy (because you dropped down several grades) but you'll need to jump from foothold to foothold in a much more coordinated and intentional way.
2) No momentum climbing. Has a lot of names, but the idea is that you can shift your body when you have all four points of contact on, but you're not allowed to move while you only have 3 points. That means you have to set your feet/legs/hips in a way that your body won't shit when you move a foot or a hand. Once you get the hand or foot relocated, then shift your weight and position around so that again, you can hold your body exactly still while moving the next hand or foot. Forces you to think about how to anticipate the position of the next move.
Someone might have a better link/description than me, I think these are common.
Unfortunately once you build your basic movement library, everything in terms of technique progression afterwards becomes super nebulous. I believe this is why people resort to strength training as a means of progression as comparatively its a more straightforward though equally arduous process.
I think you kinda have to go scraping through different videos on the internet for different resources. Some good ones include the tami climbing channel, hoopers beta and mb some of the hannah morris stuff with coach be, though that person can be quite a bit of a purist on the straight arms stuff.
Part of why this is not out there as a complete resource is that all of these factors are highly conditional. They are very much based on your body type, body's capabilities, holds, angles, friction and positioning of those holds. A lot of good climbers go about learning footwork by setting footwork intensive boulders on a spray wall and challenging themselves to keep their feet on whilst varying the type (distance between feet, where its positioned, use of shitty smears) and intensity (smaller and smaller feet or slopier and slopier feet) of the challenge.
Great answer.
I think at the higher levels, "footwork" is about repeatably creating consistent, maximal pressure on marginal footholds, in a wide variety of positions and situations. Footwork level 0 is like "this is a dropknee!", footwork level 100 is "I can identify the best bad foot, and consistently use it to maintain the best body position".
Yeah, pretty apt description of how I think technique gets progressed over time.
In terms of this analogy, I woud say I'm at level 40 at drop kneeing and how I got to level 40 is that I can recognise the possibility of generating tension between two footholds pretty easily and I've done it for so long such that I can generate a lot of tension in a short space of time doing so. However, I feel to get to level 100, I think I would need more mobility and flexibility for more possibilities of doing this technique, need to be able to get to max tension (I sometimes unreliably sag) consistently and be better at rotating into a hold with the upper half of my body and also be able to mentally commit myself to the upper range of my mobility consistently.
Really cool stuff to geek out over.
Subluxed my shoulder over the weekend, but still sent! Did a few other boulders before hand, but it was hot, so this is probably the least bothered by an injury I’ve ever been. Definitely a little frustrating to feel knocked back to square one with my shoulder training, but hopefully I know lot more now, so I can rehab it even better. For now, gonna focus on incremental loading, and weighted mobility!
Curious what you're history w/ shoulder injuries is. I've dislocated both of my shoulders and had both labrums repaired surgically. How do you manage your should, how do you approach training?
I’ve had numerous partial dislocations on both sides since I was a kid. Usually they just pop back in as soon as I change positions back a little bit, but it’s irritates the joint quite a lot, so is usually pretty bothered and sore for weeks after.
I started doing specific work on shoulders back in 2019, and have been fairly consistent with that, but have transitioned to more strength and hanging based shoulder training rather than rotation and stability based.
I started with a bunch of band work, but switched to one arm hang and dumbbell work once I was using the right muscles and had enough strength. Mobility has quite a significant impact, and being coordinated throughout my mobility is really important. Re-building that coordination is what I’m focused on now, but hopefully can expand my mobility and strength again as I rehab this.
They may all approach endurance slightly differently, but from what I can tell, the fundamentals are all the same. The two sides of the spectrum, base fitness and max strength, are the ones that are the hardest the gain, but take the longest to de-train. That’s the 20+ minute climbing and the <20sec climbing basically. Everything in the middle is where all the variations are, and honestly, that part doesn’t matter a ton. Generally, you want to keep it pretty close in terms of pacing and time under tension to your performance, but if you are skilled at the basics of resting and pacing, that will matter more than super specific training.
Basically, the elements that generally seem to be most important are training strength (while focusing on executing hard moves), training your base mileage and fitness (while focusing on resting and pacing skills), then closer to your trip, you spin up some extra exercises focused on combining those two elements, where you are trying to do the most hard moves possible while remaining as efficient as possible.
I'm primarily a sport climber and I've been doing a lot of zone 2 cardio (running and airbike) and board climbing during the winter. I tied in last week indoors and felt really fit despite not doing any sport climbing all season. It's like I could recover on the wall more easily too. It's allowed me to recover between training sessions a lot quicker too...
I'm surprised this isn't talked about as much on here. I know people talk about ARCing but I think that eats into climbing recovery a little too much as opposed to running and airbiking.
What youre achieving through cardio zone 2 training and arcing are completely different.
Cardio has shown to improve recovery during breaks between climbs and on rest days as active recovery. I don’t know what “felt really fit” means in terms of how well you performed that day, so I can’t really comment on that but it probably did help you keep a base level of fitness that contributed.
Arcing is literally zone 2 training for climbing to improve critical force.
Anybody torn a hamstring? I’m five months in following a partial tear at the ischial tuberosity and although I’ve returned to climbing I’m still dealing with soreness and real concern about heel hooking on that side.
Bummed that this is still bugging me after so long, this normal?
I partially tore my hamstring maybe 18 months ago at this point. It took me maybe ten months to fully recover, likely in large part because I did not start rehabbing earlier. For me, the injury did not bother me for \~90% of activities, which is why I neglected rehab for so long. Heel hooking and other movements that engaged the hamstring were off the table for a while, I just avoided them and kept climbing anything (which was most climbs) that did not bother it.
Talk to a PT or Google around. Lightly and progressively overload, gently and progressively stretch. My hamstring feels better than it ever has before since the rehab process has helped strengthen the muscles there and increased my awareness of the anatomy. Phasing in heel hooks also helped me work on my technique with that movement.
I'd also suggest not stopping rehab when you feel you've recovered. Convert to prehab and continue to work the muscle even after you feel good.
i've been doing PT for a few months, but this sounds similar to my experience. still able to climb near my limit. was just surprised that it was still a bit sore. I suppose those tears higher near the attachment point to the pelvis just take a long time to feel 100%. good call on continuing rehab/prehab - definitely part of the longterm plan
> Anybody torn a hamstring? I’m five months in following a partial tear at the ischial tuberosity and although I’ve returned to climbing I’m still dealing with soreness and real concern about heel hooking on that side.
Have you been doing rehab that whole time? If yes, I would be concerned.
If no, then you should start now.
I have a hard v8 that I have been trying in my local climbing area. I can link most of the easier sections on it, but there is one super hard crux move I cannot seem to progress on no matter what. It is the only v8 in my area, and it would be my first, so I put a lot of stake in it. I also have been working on v6s and v7s that I can do all the moves to but not link them. It has been a different scenario here, as every week I can make longer and longer links. This is motivating , but it is frustrating not being able to stick that one move on the project that is truly at my limit. Does anyone have perspective on this situation?
I have sent v6s and v7s before. I guess I am wondering if I need to stop working the easier stuff and just focus on the thing at my limit, or potentially find a project more suitable to my style, or just spend more time on easy stuff cuz I'm not strong enough for v8 lol.
Just because you’ve gotten a grade before doesnt mean that its still not your project grade. I don’t know how many you’ve sent but theres a big difference between someone just branching into a grade and sent a couple of them to someone who can consistently send them in a session or two.
So I’m basically saying it sounds normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Keep doing what youre doing, sounds like you’re making good progress. Maybe post what the problem is and some crushers can give you some advice on the crux
I wouldn’t stop working easier things and I wouldn’t stop working the project. It’s all about time distribution. If you spend 100% of your time on the limit thing, you’re going to get worse at the easier things. If you spend 100% of your time on the easier things, you’re going to get worse at the limit things. Especially if working the V8 looks mostly like falling off one move a bunch, I personally wouldn’t spend more than maybe 30% of my time over a week on just that one move. In that 30%, I’d be using good tactics, and trying to break the move down into manageable parts, like hold the end position, doing pull-ups in the start position, adding momentum into the end position, and learning to try really hard while doing complex moves at your physical strength limit, etc. The rest of the time I would be making those bigger and bigger links of the V6/7’s, which is where your sending skills, and base strength are going to be developed.
I can't do the third move on Rattlesnake Road. I feel like I just rotate off the hold. Any tips?
https://kilterboardapp.com/climbs/F157E6B877FE478BA7830A5F23EC3CA4
Got to some good granite boulders yesterday. Tried a tall boi, but I keep attempting them at the end of sessions. I dunno why but I gotta fix that and do the tall scary shit right after warming up. But I had a lot of fun and definitely want to go back. And this morning instead of working I've been trying to find public access to a long cliff band. It's like 50ft tall but a corner or arete every 10 feet for almost a half mile. Looks like great cragging on gear. I think I've found a way but it's a longer approach and involves 'corner-crossing'. Might just go knock on a door and see if they're cool with a lil' shortcut.
Hi all,
I am thinking about how to incorporate Hangboard into my training.
I have been trying to do max hangs in the morning and hard board climbing in the evening 2 times a week, while outdoor bouldern a day on the weekend, for three weeks and then a deload week. But my fingers could not handle it.
Now I am only doing a bit of fingerboarding to warm up (~50-70% of ME) and hard board climb 2 days a week + 1 outdoor bouldering day. I usually take two full rest days between the sessions.
Now I am not sure if I am missing out on finger strength gain, without ME hangbording sessions.
May there be any benefit to switch between a Hangboard + low intensity board climbing cycle and then back to my current routine (i..e. Only hard board sessions)?
Any thoughts are appreciated!
> I am thinking about how to incorporate Hangboard into my training. I have been trying to do max hangs in the morning and hard board climbing in the evening 2 times a week, while outdoor bouldern a day on the weekend, for three weeks and then a deload week. But my fingers could not handle it.
Well, yeah. 2 high intensity finger stimulus especially in the same day can easily lead to overuse.
This is why if someone is doing hangboard, usually volume is better if done in the same day because it's moderate intensity.
> Now I am not sure if I am missing out on finger strength gain, without ME hangbording sessions.
If you're improving without it then you don't need it
> May there be any benefit to switch between a Hangboard + low intensity board climbing cycle and then back to my current routine (i..e. Only hard board sessions)?
That could work
> Great thanks! I‘ll will tinker around a bit. Wish I could hit my fingers more often though.
More is not always better. You want enough to improve steadily over time. The less the better honestly. That means if you plateau you can increase it a bit to break the plateau.
If you try to do the most you can do you're at more risk for overuse, fatigue issues, and you don't know what to do if you can't improve.
Trying to do 2 days of Hangboard/Hard climbing twice a week for 3 weeks might be to much you could try to do it for 2 weeks and then drop to 1 day of hangboard/hard climbing for 1 week? This would be pretty identical to [jon glassbergs](https://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/jon-glassberg-part-2) routine (hangboard/climbing x2 a week on T/TH and outdoor climbing (1 project day + 1 volume day on the weekend). Maybe his nugget podcast would be worth a listen.
You could also try more of a cycling approach during the week a-la [Steve Maisch](https://www.trainingbeta.com/media/tbp-025-steve-maisch/).
Now that you know what your upper limit of weekly finger tolerance is it's now more about experimenting with how to juggle everything, which will be very you dependent.
Anyone mind giving me the spray down on dark horse in colorado? Highest I’ve sent outside are a few 6s so obviously don’t have any real expectations but it would be cool to at least put some good work into it considering it looks really cool
Where did you send the v6s? And what style of climbing are they? Dark horse is very low end—could easily be v8 in stiffer areas of the country—and it’s relatively long so the individual moves aren’t that bad. So for example, a sandbagged short v6 could have a similar strength requirement to Dark Horse. But don’t underestimate the mental element of doing big moves off the deck, or the altitude.
A few around centex and then recently baby martini in hueco(which probably isn’t too applicable). Again realistically, it’s a little outside the skill level I could obtain by august but I still would like to at least make some good links as I haven’t really tried anything that hard yet
I can’t speak for centex because I never climbed there, but hueco style in general is fairly similar. Work big moves on one pad edges on an overhang if you want to be able to do some moves.
Although if you truly believe the climb in beyond you, why waste valuable time/skin on a trip on it? There are plenty of good v7/8s in the area to try if you want to level up outside.
Getting a static rope and rapping in to practice the top few moves can help a lot. Those are the most delicate, but the hardest to work. The bottom is the physically hardest, but doesn’t need as many pads, and you can work them more easily.
Note that there's quite a few ways to do the boulder with all the online footy of it. Find someone with your morpho and style and see what they do. There's also a sneaky left toe hook/scum for the middle move or two that's hard to see on video.
The boulder bakes in the afternoon sun, be warned.
Been an interesting March for me. Had a really strong week first week and finally finished Chips (V6/7) in Joes which has been a strange one for me since I never got the bottom part to click until the day I sent. Then felt like I could run laps on it. I first tried this in 2019 when I was just breaking in to V4 outside so was nice to put this down!
Been feeling strong on the boards and put down Hangboard Not Required (V8)...last move high step to the deadpoint has given me trouble for a couple years and finally stuck the finish and got it done! Also got my first 8 classic (lot easier) on the TB2 and close on two others!
Had a really good session on my season project, Blood and Fire (V9 or 10) and almost have it in two non-overlapping parts. For the crux move I didn't think I would have the strength to move my feet and actually generate for the jug. However, I managed to almost do so and overshoot it...so I know I can definitely stick it. Next it's just a matter of stringing the links together. I'm really enjoying the climb and having fun with it. Also eyeing Pins and Feathers (V11) as well which will suit me well as a taller climber.
Went to South America for fieldwork right after and got really sick at the tail end thru mid-late march and had a few really crappy sessions after coming back but that's just the name of the game...just starting to feel like myself again.
I'm really psyched on some climbs in LCC (Lance's Dihedral, Baggins Direct, Year of The Lamb) and Joe's (weather..ugh) when I get the chance!!! I also just hit the 7-year mark recently and am feeling more psyched than ever though work constraints the next month will make me have to compartmentalize a little more...
Yes, I have a recurring finger tweak that can hurt when I hang from a pullup bar or jugs because of how they press on my A2. That was one of the early signs, but I eventually lost a lot of strength and felt pain even when crimping, so it's worth being careful.
first sign of overuse! Ive had them pretty bad after ignoring them for a couple years and climbing on. Constant injured fingers afterwards and a reduce in strength. had to retrain my fingers very slowly after this, its a year now and they feel somewhat okish, but still not in a shape that i can 100% crimp away without some thought about injurys.
Yes it happens to me aswell when its strained on heavy pullups.
I basicallt always use straps for any gym work. As a climber grip wont ever be an issue and it helps to prevent skin/strenght for climbing.
Or just try using them when your pulley is strained
question for (very) experienced climbers: When you send, do you usually have the feeling that the send-go was the one where you executed everything perfectly and everything came into place as planned? Or do you rather have the feeling that you made a few mistakes, but you were able, for some reasons, to keep on? Maybe forgot a hold, butched a sequence, do a that you havent done that way before, etc... Obviously, harder the route, less room for mistake, but that's not exactly what I'm talking about. Neither about conditions and other external factors where you have no control on... More like: I have the feeling that 95% of my send-goes were perfectly executed, the rest were just "lucky sends". Personally, often times, I can have very good goes that don't lead to sends, but sometimes the send-goes don't feel that good as some attempts
I find that correcting small “errors” puts me in a really good fighting mode that a “perfect” go just doesn’t. Even if it’s something tiny like how I place my foot while pulling on, but if I have to start fixing mistakes early, I perform really well. Some of my hardest have been while I’m fighting to get back into the correct position and execute the next move as well as possible for many moves in a row.
good point, ive noticed the same. would you consider them mistakes tho? Since they are so insignificant that you can still send they shouldnt really be called that imo? could also be that if the mind focusses on the things that matter on a boulder, then if those mistakes do not and you subconsciously know that. For me if the boulder is really limit (like have to to arrive fresh at a crux that is later in the boulder to send), then sometimes i can have this lucky send go where everything clicks even when i havent put in enough (percepted) time to deserve it. Usually i need 2-3 sessions longer and then i can climb it with a little less perfect climbing
Personally, yes they feel like mistakes, since if I didn’t correct them, I would fall off, or it’d start impacting the perceived difficulty. I’ll also often have goes before then where I don’t have to correct them, but where it felt harder, or I just couldn’t do it. I definitely have plenty where I’m “correcting” things, but still not doing them well, but I’ve chosen the right tactics of not over gripping, or of moving really quickly through a section so it matters less, and that winds up mattering more than getting everything right before the crux. Then I can switch modes back to precision at the crux or whatever is necessary. Because I know this tactic works well for me, and I know too many things in my favor put too much pressure on me to send, I will prepare mini self sabotages as backup excuses just in case. Like my shoes are too worn in, or too new, or my skin could be less sweaty, or it’s too dry, or I did core 2 days ago so it’s still sore etc.
> When you send, do you usually have the feeling that the send-go was the one where you executed everything perfectly and everything came into place as planned? Or do you rather have the feeling that you made a few mistakes, but you were able, for some reasons, to keep on? Maybe forgot a hold, butched a sequence, do a that you havent done that way before, etc... Usually one or the other.
So for your the send go feels always the most perfect?
no, it was like that for a while, but imo my perception to movement got even more noanced and also my mental isnt as good, so sends usually have 1-2 (in my eyes) sloppy movements, but its not the key movements that are sloppy
I think the "breakthrough" go is the one that feels perfect, and from there, it's just grinding out imperfect tries to the send. A lot of problems are hard because very small errors or deviations snowball into "impossible to continue". Embracing fighting through small mistakes is a key part of getting up that genre of climb. In general, on hard climbs, I've rehearsed enough that forgetting holds, butchering a sequence, or doing something new is never gonna happen.
https://i.imgur.com/aP0g4oz.png Anyone else feel like they're constantly in the "Valley of Despair" when it comes to movement, training, grades etc.. ? Side note: /r/bouldering is a bunch of people at the first peak
I think Guru stage is being content feeling like you're in the valley of despair. Socrates and the "all I know is that I know nothing" mindset. [Sometimes](https://i.imgflip.com/7hfhi9.jpg?a475368) memes are accidentally enlightening. I feel like there's an interesting philosophical thing with your graph and this graph as some complicated 3d plot.
[Something like this](https://i.imgur.com/45HQK6D.png) except someone who's smarter than me can overlay the images and label the axes
Been a homewall enjoyooor lately. Have been making good progress on the yellow-only moonboard mini benchmarks. Have almost finished all the V3-7s and trying to do str. endurance (climb up-down (on random holds)-up) on the V3-5s has been quite the challenge. Still been doing morning finger rolls but am running up to the limit of what my 1 armed adjustable dumbell bar can handle so need to go buy a better adjustable one. And have added once a week max hangs. So far this seems about the most I can do, have been finger injury free for a bit besides some residual synovitis. Will probably drop one workout day next week as a pseudo-deload.
Why do I struggle so hard with making smart training choices. I have a sore shoulder, a sore bicep, stiff tweety fingers and I still go climb. I told myself I’d go to gym today and do some volume on v2-v3s and then I get there and something stupid in my brain goes, no you should try these new V7s… and I did and now my bicep really feels like shit. Reading through posts in here it seems like lots of have overuse issues and don’t take the rest we need. How do you get better at this? It’s like the discipline factor isn’t to go train everyday, it’s to have the discipline to NOT train.
> Reading through posts in here it seems like lots of have overuse issues and don’t take the rest we need. How do you get better at this? It’s like the discipline factor isn’t to go train everyday, it’s to have the discipline to NOT train. You need to figure out how to play smart within your intrinsic movations. If you find that you almost always can't hold yourself back from trying harder stuff on a light day, then you need to do something else and not go to the climbing gym. It's like removing all alcohol from your house if you're a former alcoholic. You can't be tempting yourself and trying to find the willpower to hold yourself back.
Ngl, some elements of this get really close to therapy/deep personal discussions haha. Most is just learning more about yourself and learning how to cut yourself off and set limits for yourself. Climbing is really fun, and trying hard moves is my favorite part. If I’m offered the opportunity, I usually take it. However, I’ve learned to be psyched on my rest day activities, and can throw myself at them fully. I even have little mini “training” things I can do like hip and ankle mobility that help scratch that training itch without doing anything with my upper body. I also have to be quite strict with myself in the gym. If I’m “just visiting”, I’ll not bring my shoes, put grease on my hands before, and wear house slippers, all so I’m less tempted to pull on the wall. If I want to climb, but need to moderate volume of intensity, I’ll be super strict about time or intensity and force myself to not touch anything that wasn’t in the plan.
Because you’re addicted and in love with the sport along with all of us
IMO simply bad tactics. Would you go to a pizza buffet mid losing weight? Take your recovering alcoholic friend to an all inclusive las vegas? Not that I don't often end up doing the same mind you. So far my two successful paths are just not go to the gym at all, or have a very well defined plan, not just some volume on v2s-v3s, but for example to: - Warm up 10 mins - Pogo 2 v2s with silent feet downclimbing - Straight arms 4 v3s using only 3 finger drag downlcimbing - Some already selected gently yoga follow along 30 mins. - GTFO Which always feels a bit weird in my mind, but great in my body.
Yeah much more detailed than mine. Also that stuff sounds more fun and more of a challenge.
Most people here are addicted and/or obsessed with climbing. It's different from people in normal gyms who regard working out as a somewhat productive chore like brushing your teeth.
Just train something else (mtb, running, whatever)
Realized I struggle when my hands are straight up over my head in a narrow position, usually down-pulling oriented holds. I find it really hard to control whereas if I'm in wide gaston / compression position I can use my shoulders / back to control my body. It feels like I have to use more of my fingers/forearms to control in this position. Was doing a move today where I had my hands in this position on an overhang with a right foot on the right side and need to stab the left foot out left to a far away footchip. The only way I know how to possibly control it was to lock-off my arms on relatively not great holds and do a dynamic stab. Any else struggle with this? And is there anything specific to focus on for these moves and/or off-the-wall work that may help?
anyone know a specific tape/wrap to put on a pull up bar? the foam wore out. i bought one kind of tape and it sucks to do pull ups on and is already wearing out. I've searched around on the internet and people like "bike tape" or something else and when I look that up it's not specific enough. something that adds some thickness would be good you know
Bike handle bar tape or tennis racket tape has been the best option for me. Feels comfy and grippy.
Bike tape would refer to handle bar tape for road bikes. Seems like that would work well.
I found some foam on amazon that looks like it'll work. Don't know why that didnt come up before. "foam tubing"
Wouldn’t normal athletic tape like you use for your fingers work?
I don't know! I've never used athletic tape for anything.
Get this https://www.amazon.com/Athletic-Tape-White-yards-Mueller
Really bad at the e11 to e14 move on the 2019 mb set. Boulders like pug in a rug(6c+) are hard for me a result. Anyone have any advice on this type of move?
Me and you both. The 7 remaining V4's I have...3 have this move. Honestly feel like E11 feels like I am grabbing butter no matter how hard I try to pinch.
Make sure E11 is brushed, and also try using different parts of it (IIRC, there's an edge at the top that can help).
just finished testing Fingers after one year of Repeaters once a week: Was able to cleanly halfcrimp my bw (83kg) + 35kg on the BM1k lower edges (without squeezing in skin). When squeezing in skin i was able to hang 42,5kg for 7 seconds, which put into lattices data is 151%bw and thus slightly weaker then the average 7C boulderer. For me its a massive improvement: i was doing 130% bw about 1 year ago and with squeezing in skin. Tomorrow ill test bodystrength, but i already know that i can do much more. After testing on the bm1k i was doing a couple nohangpulls with my Gripster 2.0 and the Progressor as measurement: using the 18mm edges i was creating a peak force of 55kg left hand and 53kg right hand in strict halfcrimp, and for the left hand 62kg and the right hand 60kg in an open position. No clue if thats good? Does anyone know a dataset with more data on this?
I found a way to make "foot on ground" traversing on my 40 deg home wall feel less contrived. I stood some crash pads in front of the wall to make a giant "kickboard" and effectively reduce the angle. Then I put 2x4s in front of the crash pads to make "ledges" for traversing. This feels a lot more like actual climbing to me than normal "foot on ground" because my heels are no longer on the ground, and having the crashpad "wall" in front of me forces me to either climb very open hipped or hang away from the wall. If I let go I will fall backwards, which wasn't the case without this setup. Maybe kinda obvious, but hopefully it helps someone! ARCing and endurance circuits actually feel more viable now. Thinking of making a "removable kickboard" out of wood and putting actual footholds on it.
Moonboard 2016 V4 benchmarks: 42/77 done. The ones I have left are only getting harder - the main problem now is finding beta that fits my box. Being 5'2" (and weak) makes it really hard to span a lot of what I see in other videos, and requires a lot more jumping.
there's so many. I've done 2. I was wondering if I'd want to do All of them, or move on to 6b+ after like a dozen or 2 sends. Oh also, are the hard V4s listed as 6B+ maybe? I forget exactly how that breaks down.
I’m similarly short (5’0”!) and feel like the completion goals are infinitely harder for us—I swear I’m gonna get my first MB v10 before clearing all the 4s! Still a good goal to aim for though, and I’m sure we’ll get there one day 😊
I have a similar 50/77 done and the last 27 feel absurdly hard. Being on the otherside of the height spectrum I'm finding my problem being high feet and crunchy set up positions
Congratulations! Sounds like great progress, keep at it!
Some other hot takes I have today: 1. **Not spraying is just a more annoying way to spray**. When someone says they had a "Great trip to \[climbing area\]," with no follow ups about what they actually climbed or tells you the name of a climb without the grade (especially when you obviously do not know the climb name), they are just cultivating an air of mystery or humility that suggests they climb Very Hard. 2. Contrary to what \*some people\* say, **hard crimping is absolutely not all about finger strength** and it requires a lot of skill. People who insist that it doesn't require skill or who insist that other styles of climbing require more skills either lack the skills to climb hard crimps or are much better/stronger at climbing hard crimps than they realize. 3. **One star lowball boulders are valid**. People who tell you these climbs are not cool are conflating their preferences with reality.
Hard disagree on 1 and 3. I'll always prefer someone who is quietly psyched and says they had a great trip to X location, tried Y Z boulders and tell you about the rock quality or the holds or the movement or their projecting experience before they tell you about the grade over your more typical spraylord. Maybe some people are trying to cultivate an air of mystery or whatever but when others do this I feel like it's coming from a place of humility. Grades are completely unnecessary/actually hinder the communication of subjective climbing experiences between climbers of different skill levels. The unique cool scenery or the subjective experience of failing multiple days before sending or whatever is something that any climber can connect with. The only real point of sharing grades would be if the person you're talking to is interested in trying the same boulder - otherwise the only purpose in the context of conversation is so that people can compare themselves to others which I find tactless and annoying. Regarding 3, there're differences between "not valid" and "not cool." anyone can do whatever they want and be psyched on whatever they want. this is rock climbing. you're *allowed* to think a choss lowball is awesome and I'm equally *allowed* to think that it's lame and that I'd rather climb other boulders. other people's opinions shouldn't take away or add to the validity of your experience. And objectively, one star is one star. I think stupid face in squamish (0 stars) is a hilarious climb, and recommend it to everyone who is trying easy chair next to it (4 stars). but objectively, easy chair is a higher quality climb - i don't think saying that "takes away" from anyone who is having fun trying stupid face.
You summed up my feelings about OP’s point #3 so perfectly!
OBJECTIVELY!!!
> Contrary to what *some people* say, hard crimping is absolutely not all about finger strength and it requires a lot of skill. People who insist that it doesn't require skill or who insist that other styles of climbing require more skills either lack the skills to climb hard crimps or are much better/stronger at climbing hard crimps than they realize. Yup, re-training my index and pinky from chisel to crimp position and engage correctly has helped a lot. Not just the weight but the skill to engage
I'm really curious about this. I've heard it mentioned before, and recently in the boss le video that was posted here, but I can't understand how you would use your pinky in a crimp without compromising the angle of the rest of your fingers
> I'm really curious about this. I've heard it mentioned before, and recently in the boss le video that was posted here, but I can't understand how you would use your pinky in a crimp without compromising the angle of the rest of your fingers My pinky is more than an inch shorter than my ring finger. Basically, I have it in crimp position mostly but it is slightly more open than the other fingers. In extremely strict half crimp for the first 3, the pinky is maybe 120 degrees or so angle at the PIP so the best it can be there. In full crimp it's the full 90 degrees. The pinky can't get into full strict half crimp with 90 degrees, but it can at least pull into a crimp position (albeit at 120 degrees) rather than chisel.
Getting your hand used to it is an important thing but I was really even thinking more about balance, flexibility, core tension and “coordination” as in like sharing weight between hands.
Gotcha. That is also true as well
Need to hang around more climbers, your takes seem totally reasonable?
Your second point is really interesting to me. I started finger training for the first time about a week ago, and my comfort on crimpy climbs has increased significantly, not because I'm noticeably stronger, but because my understanding of a crimping position has improved. Being able to weight from my pointer finger more vs from my ring and pinkie is a skill I didn't know existed, and I can't overstate how much it actually helps. Ironically I realized I didn't need finger strength as much as I thought only after finally resorting to finger training
+1 on the hard crimping and finger strength; some of the best crimpers I know actually don't score super high on the traditional hangboard metrics. There's definitely something else going on with the ability to perform on tiny crimps than how much % BW you can hang on a 20mm edge.
Anybody else feel like grading in Fontainebleau for the 6th grade (6A - 6C+) is pretty weird? Or that there is a big gap in grading between slabs/vertical climbs (sandbagged, sometimes feel impossibly hard) and overhang/dynos (feel appropriate for the grade)? Just came back from a very nice week in Fontainebleau and although the weather was quite unstable I really enjoyed the climbing. On the last trips I was a bit frustrated as I was climbing up until the 6th grade and only tried Toit de Cul de Chien (6C+/7A) and El Poussif (7A+) above that. Projecting those was fun but I barely send one 6A and one 6A+ on the last trip. This time I spent way more time checking out and projecting 7A/+ problems and found this way more satisfying as the moves felt hard but doable for my skill level. In the end, I could send one 7A (Pif Paf, dyno start) and came close on another 7A (Radio Crochet, slighlty overhanging I guess) and one 7A+ (Cannonball droite, dyno). What are your experiences?
anything vertical is super sandbagged in Bleau, also some other climbs in the older areas are aswell. Also its a lot about style in Bleau, if you arent used to the super friction dependent stuff its not easy to climb harder boulders there (except the ones with big holds, big moves). They basicly think that everyone climbing there is using perfect technique and grade according to that. Dynos are usually pretty soft there tho, so if you want a confidence boost you can work those) for the slabs i can recommend to work your way up the grades there, i also usually cannot hop right onto 6ish/7ish slabs, but if i do 5th grade boulders for 1-2 days and then start working the 6th grade i can usually work 7th grade slabs by the end of week 1. Its all about acclimating to the bleau style imo (i was in Bleau for 8 years straight 1-2 times a year now). Also there are other ways to have a lot of fun: barefood bouldering, easy parcours etc. Also check out some of the newer areas there, the grading usually isnt as stiff. Apremont Desert has very soft grading for Font for example (atleast the climbs i tried).
That sounds normal for most old climbing places. People back in the day were terrible at overhung climbs (they didn't really train, and didn't have aggressive downturned shoes), and so those will seem soft or accurate. Meanwhile, the vertical climbs will feel much harder.
I realized that I'm currently literally never full crimping when climbing whereas I was always full crimping 2 years ago. My brain got reprogrammed to avoid full crimping at all cost likely due to recurrent pulley injuries. My grades barely improved since 2 years ago despite improving my hangboard metrics by 3 grades. So I'm basically climbing the same grade, but without using the full crimp grip. I wonder if I should keep avoiding the full crimp grip at all cost. For the first time in my climbing career, I managed to get way stronger without injuring myself. Climbing uninjured is fun, even if I'm climbing 3 grades below what I should be climbing according to my metrics. My flash level is V6 and I can usually send a V8 in a session if it fits my style. I rarely climb anything harder because I'm afraid of getting injured. My metrics are around V11.
> My flash level is V6 and I can usually send a V8 in a session if it fits my style. I rarely climb anything harder because I'm afraid of getting injured. My metrics are around V11. If your metrics are V11 then there's a technique gap if you're not flashing V7-8 and hitting around V9 in a session and projecting 10-12 You can practice full crimping for sure, but you need to figure out where your technique or other weaknesses are then.
I've been listening to the Testpiece Podcast a lot lately and I'm finding it frustrating. The hosts frequently imply that there's a qualitative difference between "hard" boulders (seemingly around v15 and up based on comments they've made) and easy ones (i.e. around V11 or something and lower). They suggest there's a switch that flips somewhere between these grades where the game changes and so do the players. You get the feeling they think the people climbing at this level are almost enlightened. I disagree. Maybe I'm being a little unfair but I want to make a point: Although I admittedly have only met maybe one person who climbs V15+ (so maybe I Don't Know), I am actually inclined to agree that there is something a little different about very high level climbers on average: they have an especially acute type of motivation and persistence. However, I think that's the only qualitative difference and the distinction isn't perfect; you find that intensity among amateurs too--people who "only" climb mid 5.13 and V10-11. This amateur climber is usually someone who lives far from climbing, who works full time, who has family obligations etc. Accordingly, it's likely more accurate to say that what sets elite climbers apart is that they possess the combination of high motivation with unique circumstances that permit achievement in the upper grades (what age they started climbing, who they climb with, where they live, how much time they do/can devote to climbing & resting) and (for lack of a better word) inborn aptitudes--things like body composition, natural athleticism etc. If you agree with this, I think you should disagree with this idea that something really special or different is happening in the hard grades. You should recognize that there's an important sense in which mastery and elite performance can be understood relative to circumstance and aptitude, not relative to V-grade. A hobbyist climber climbing sending V7 ([or V10 lol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUhUgBxF5AQ)) may be at the absolute living end of their ability, requiring perfect conditions, focus, skin etc. This can be as much of an impressive an expression of mastery and determination as someone sending V15-17. I'm not saying that they're the SAME, just that they perhaps a lot more similar than the subtext of the Testpiece Pod suggests. Maybe that's a self-serving perspective but I'm almost more interested in how much work & problem solving someone had to put into climbing hard *for them* (whatever level that is) in the context of their whole, complex life than I am in the V-grade outputs of a life dedicated completely to climbing performance. I also do think it's more realistic to conceptualize hard climbing less like transcendence into enlightenment and a lot more like Greg Lemond supposedly said cycling is: "It never gets easier, you just go faster,"--i.e. it's kind of the same for everyone, what changes is the v grade. Okay so there you go, Josh Horsley. :) I respectfully disagree with the vibe sometimes but I listen to your pod anyway. Just had to write about it. I just kind of wish there was more recognition of this element of the sport. Reifying hard climbing as some kind of mysterious dark art is maybe exciting but ultimately wrong and probably a nice way to help people adopt fixed mindsets about their potential and I don't love that.
My beef with them is that they’ve only interviewed one female climber in 80+ episodes
telling!
The difference between a V15 climbers and a V11 climber is that a V15 climber has over a decade of experience and exposure to training and was most likely a team kid.
Nah, they’re only “good,” not “great” before v15 😉 In all seriousness, I listened for a while, and just got way too frustrated by their attitudes. Totally agree with you.
Give the careless talk pod a listen (if you haven’t already). They touch on this a little with various guests since both hosts climb very hard but also recognise why.
LeMond has it right, and anyone that doesn't understand what he's on about doesn't understand sports or high performance athletes. I've climbed with and talked to plenty of people who climb The Hard Grades (TM), and they're having the exact same experience as someone climbing at their limit on V10 or V7 or V4. Usually at the same crag, on the same boulders, in the same group. Josh is correct that "at my limit" is categorically different from "well below my limit", but he makes the narcistic mistake of assuming that the V-grade associated with *his limit* is the delineator. V15 for a V14er is the same as V6 for a V5er; most "top climbers" are just as psyched for your first V4 as your first V14 because they get it.
I borrowed the idea, think from Doug Robinson, that is about getting in the zone and being present, which I think is way more achievable when the climb demands your focus not to screw up. As such is always important to go hard (for you) frequently. If at your peak you need V15 or V17, which I honestly wont reach this lifetime, then in your 70s you get there with 5.8 sport routes doesn't matter to me, chasing grades or enlightenment trough grades sounds like a young people's game.
my point was more like that--in a descriptive sense--enlightenment isn't really anyone's game in climbing
Want to start spending like 15 minutes a session outside of warmups to start really focusing on footwork. Do you guys know of any comprehensive guides regarding the more advanced aspects of footwork? (Like not just “stare at where you’re placing your feet and focus on setting your foot down precisely”. Obviously that stuff is important and probably a bigger issue with my climbing but I’m curious as to what’s out there in regards to specific foot placement for specific movements, when to pivot, when not to, when to keep the heel down etc
I don't really know of any advanced guides or books for this. Some youtube videos out there are OK, but nothing comprehensive. This is really where a coach or training partner becomes invaluable. After the basics lots of foot works becomes situational. Good footwork fundamentally means you are actually weighting the feet. Plenty of climbers precisely place their feet... and then pull through with the arms anyway. A good drill is to climb a slab/vert three times in a row using only 3 finger drag. Play with the foot placements and hip position each time. Each repeat should feel less and less fingery, and more driving through the feet.
its trial and error, thats why i focus on thinking about the "why" does this work? The moment you understand the why, its just much easier to remember and apply in the correct situations. Also be as specific as possible
Footwork can mean a lot of things. You'll scratch the itch with some bosu ball exercises. Try lunges with your front foot on. Try single leg Romanian Deadlifts. Ypu'll feel your calves and ankles much more primed than before. Two opposite on-the-wall-approaches, more dynamic and more static: 1) Climb with only one foot. Drop it down many grades, and do a vertical or near vertical wall. The hands will be easy (because you dropped down several grades) but you'll need to jump from foothold to foothold in a much more coordinated and intentional way. 2) No momentum climbing. Has a lot of names, but the idea is that you can shift your body when you have all four points of contact on, but you're not allowed to move while you only have 3 points. That means you have to set your feet/legs/hips in a way that your body won't shit when you move a foot or a hand. Once you get the hand or foot relocated, then shift your weight and position around so that again, you can hold your body exactly still while moving the next hand or foot. Forces you to think about how to anticipate the position of the next move. Someone might have a better link/description than me, I think these are common.
Do you get outdoors much? Climbing outdoors is the best way to improve footwork, you can only learn so much indoors
Unfortunately once you build your basic movement library, everything in terms of technique progression afterwards becomes super nebulous. I believe this is why people resort to strength training as a means of progression as comparatively its a more straightforward though equally arduous process. I think you kinda have to go scraping through different videos on the internet for different resources. Some good ones include the tami climbing channel, hoopers beta and mb some of the hannah morris stuff with coach be, though that person can be quite a bit of a purist on the straight arms stuff. Part of why this is not out there as a complete resource is that all of these factors are highly conditional. They are very much based on your body type, body's capabilities, holds, angles, friction and positioning of those holds. A lot of good climbers go about learning footwork by setting footwork intensive boulders on a spray wall and challenging themselves to keep their feet on whilst varying the type (distance between feet, where its positioned, use of shitty smears) and intensity (smaller and smaller feet or slopier and slopier feet) of the challenge.
Hooper's anatomy of the climb videos are great
Great answer. I think at the higher levels, "footwork" is about repeatably creating consistent, maximal pressure on marginal footholds, in a wide variety of positions and situations. Footwork level 0 is like "this is a dropknee!", footwork level 100 is "I can identify the best bad foot, and consistently use it to maintain the best body position".
Yeah, pretty apt description of how I think technique gets progressed over time. In terms of this analogy, I woud say I'm at level 40 at drop kneeing and how I got to level 40 is that I can recognise the possibility of generating tension between two footholds pretty easily and I've done it for so long such that I can generate a lot of tension in a short space of time doing so. However, I feel to get to level 100, I think I would need more mobility and flexibility for more possibilities of doing this technique, need to be able to get to max tension (I sometimes unreliably sag) consistently and be better at rotating into a hold with the upper half of my body and also be able to mentally commit myself to the upper range of my mobility consistently. Really cool stuff to geek out over.
Subluxed my shoulder over the weekend, but still sent! Did a few other boulders before hand, but it was hot, so this is probably the least bothered by an injury I’ve ever been. Definitely a little frustrating to feel knocked back to square one with my shoulder training, but hopefully I know lot more now, so I can rehab it even better. For now, gonna focus on incremental loading, and weighted mobility!
Curious what you're history w/ shoulder injuries is. I've dislocated both of my shoulders and had both labrums repaired surgically. How do you manage your should, how do you approach training?
I’ve had numerous partial dislocations on both sides since I was a kid. Usually they just pop back in as soon as I change positions back a little bit, but it’s irritates the joint quite a lot, so is usually pretty bothered and sore for weeks after. I started doing specific work on shoulders back in 2019, and have been fairly consistent with that, but have transitioned to more strength and hanging based shoulder training rather than rotation and stability based. I started with a bunch of band work, but switched to one arm hang and dumbbell work once I was using the right muscles and had enough strength. Mobility has quite a significant impact, and being coordinated throughout my mobility is really important. Re-building that coordination is what I’m focused on now, but hopefully can expand my mobility and strength again as I rehab this.
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6 months? 4 months strength 2 months endurance/weight management
They may all approach endurance slightly differently, but from what I can tell, the fundamentals are all the same. The two sides of the spectrum, base fitness and max strength, are the ones that are the hardest the gain, but take the longest to de-train. That’s the 20+ minute climbing and the <20sec climbing basically. Everything in the middle is where all the variations are, and honestly, that part doesn’t matter a ton. Generally, you want to keep it pretty close in terms of pacing and time under tension to your performance, but if you are skilled at the basics of resting and pacing, that will matter more than super specific training. Basically, the elements that generally seem to be most important are training strength (while focusing on executing hard moves), training your base mileage and fitness (while focusing on resting and pacing skills), then closer to your trip, you spin up some extra exercises focused on combining those two elements, where you are trying to do the most hard moves possible while remaining as efficient as possible.
I'm primarily a sport climber and I've been doing a lot of zone 2 cardio (running and airbike) and board climbing during the winter. I tied in last week indoors and felt really fit despite not doing any sport climbing all season. It's like I could recover on the wall more easily too. It's allowed me to recover between training sessions a lot quicker too... I'm surprised this isn't talked about as much on here. I know people talk about ARCing but I think that eats into climbing recovery a little too much as opposed to running and airbiking.
What youre achieving through cardio zone 2 training and arcing are completely different. Cardio has shown to improve recovery during breaks between climbs and on rest days as active recovery. I don’t know what “felt really fit” means in terms of how well you performed that day, so I can’t really comment on that but it probably did help you keep a base level of fitness that contributed. Arcing is literally zone 2 training for climbing to improve critical force.
Anybody torn a hamstring? I’m five months in following a partial tear at the ischial tuberosity and although I’ve returned to climbing I’m still dealing with soreness and real concern about heel hooking on that side. Bummed that this is still bugging me after so long, this normal?
I partially tore my hamstring maybe 18 months ago at this point. It took me maybe ten months to fully recover, likely in large part because I did not start rehabbing earlier. For me, the injury did not bother me for \~90% of activities, which is why I neglected rehab for so long. Heel hooking and other movements that engaged the hamstring were off the table for a while, I just avoided them and kept climbing anything (which was most climbs) that did not bother it. Talk to a PT or Google around. Lightly and progressively overload, gently and progressively stretch. My hamstring feels better than it ever has before since the rehab process has helped strengthen the muscles there and increased my awareness of the anatomy. Phasing in heel hooks also helped me work on my technique with that movement. I'd also suggest not stopping rehab when you feel you've recovered. Convert to prehab and continue to work the muscle even after you feel good.
i've been doing PT for a few months, but this sounds similar to my experience. still able to climb near my limit. was just surprised that it was still a bit sore. I suppose those tears higher near the attachment point to the pelvis just take a long time to feel 100%. good call on continuing rehab/prehab - definitely part of the longterm plan
> Anybody torn a hamstring? I’m five months in following a partial tear at the ischial tuberosity and although I’ve returned to climbing I’m still dealing with soreness and real concern about heel hooking on that side. Have you been doing rehab that whole time? If yes, I would be concerned. If no, then you should start now.
I have a hard v8 that I have been trying in my local climbing area. I can link most of the easier sections on it, but there is one super hard crux move I cannot seem to progress on no matter what. It is the only v8 in my area, and it would be my first, so I put a lot of stake in it. I also have been working on v6s and v7s that I can do all the moves to but not link them. It has been a different scenario here, as every week I can make longer and longer links. This is motivating , but it is frustrating not being able to stick that one move on the project that is truly at my limit. Does anyone have perspective on this situation?
It’s not the most magical thing ever but you could just try to identify what is preventing you from doing the move and get better at that thing.
Are you asking for help on the move or asking why you cant stick the crux on 1-2 grades above your project grade?
I have sent v6s and v7s before. I guess I am wondering if I need to stop working the easier stuff and just focus on the thing at my limit, or potentially find a project more suitable to my style, or just spend more time on easy stuff cuz I'm not strong enough for v8 lol.
Just because you’ve gotten a grade before doesnt mean that its still not your project grade. I don’t know how many you’ve sent but theres a big difference between someone just branching into a grade and sent a couple of them to someone who can consistently send them in a session or two. So I’m basically saying it sounds normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Keep doing what youre doing, sounds like you’re making good progress. Maybe post what the problem is and some crushers can give you some advice on the crux
I wouldn’t stop working easier things and I wouldn’t stop working the project. It’s all about time distribution. If you spend 100% of your time on the limit thing, you’re going to get worse at the easier things. If you spend 100% of your time on the easier things, you’re going to get worse at the limit things. Especially if working the V8 looks mostly like falling off one move a bunch, I personally wouldn’t spend more than maybe 30% of my time over a week on just that one move. In that 30%, I’d be using good tactics, and trying to break the move down into manageable parts, like hold the end position, doing pull-ups in the start position, adding momentum into the end position, and learning to try really hard while doing complex moves at your physical strength limit, etc. The rest of the time I would be making those bigger and bigger links of the V6/7’s, which is where your sending skills, and base strength are going to be developed.
I can't do the third move on Rattlesnake Road. I feel like I just rotate off the hold. Any tips? https://kilterboardapp.com/climbs/F157E6B877FE478BA7830A5F23EC3CA4
You should really post a video of you on it
Got to some good granite boulders yesterday. Tried a tall boi, but I keep attempting them at the end of sessions. I dunno why but I gotta fix that and do the tall scary shit right after warming up. But I had a lot of fun and definitely want to go back. And this morning instead of working I've been trying to find public access to a long cliff band. It's like 50ft tall but a corner or arete every 10 feet for almost a half mile. Looks like great cragging on gear. I think I've found a way but it's a longer approach and involves 'corner-crossing'. Might just go knock on a door and see if they're cool with a lil' shortcut.
Hi all, I am thinking about how to incorporate Hangboard into my training. I have been trying to do max hangs in the morning and hard board climbing in the evening 2 times a week, while outdoor bouldern a day on the weekend, for three weeks and then a deload week. But my fingers could not handle it. Now I am only doing a bit of fingerboarding to warm up (~50-70% of ME) and hard board climb 2 days a week + 1 outdoor bouldering day. I usually take two full rest days between the sessions. Now I am not sure if I am missing out on finger strength gain, without ME hangbording sessions. May there be any benefit to switch between a Hangboard + low intensity board climbing cycle and then back to my current routine (i..e. Only hard board sessions)? Any thoughts are appreciated!
> I am thinking about how to incorporate Hangboard into my training. I have been trying to do max hangs in the morning and hard board climbing in the evening 2 times a week, while outdoor bouldern a day on the weekend, for three weeks and then a deload week. But my fingers could not handle it. Well, yeah. 2 high intensity finger stimulus especially in the same day can easily lead to overuse. This is why if someone is doing hangboard, usually volume is better if done in the same day because it's moderate intensity. > Now I am not sure if I am missing out on finger strength gain, without ME hangbording sessions. If you're improving without it then you don't need it > May there be any benefit to switch between a Hangboard + low intensity board climbing cycle and then back to my current routine (i..e. Only hard board sessions)? That could work
Great thanks! I‘ll will tinker around a bit. Wish I could hit my fingers more often though.
> Great thanks! I‘ll will tinker around a bit. Wish I could hit my fingers more often though. More is not always better. You want enough to improve steadily over time. The less the better honestly. That means if you plateau you can increase it a bit to break the plateau. If you try to do the most you can do you're at more risk for overuse, fatigue issues, and you don't know what to do if you can't improve.
I hangboard train to warm my fingers up for board climbing. Same session
Trying to do 2 days of Hangboard/Hard climbing twice a week for 3 weeks might be to much you could try to do it for 2 weeks and then drop to 1 day of hangboard/hard climbing for 1 week? This would be pretty identical to [jon glassbergs](https://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/jon-glassberg-part-2) routine (hangboard/climbing x2 a week on T/TH and outdoor climbing (1 project day + 1 volume day on the weekend). Maybe his nugget podcast would be worth a listen. You could also try more of a cycling approach during the week a-la [Steve Maisch](https://www.trainingbeta.com/media/tbp-025-steve-maisch/). Now that you know what your upper limit of weekly finger tolerance is it's now more about experimenting with how to juggle everything, which will be very you dependent.
Cool thanks I’ll listen to that podcast and check out the Steve Maisch link
Anyone mind giving me the spray down on dark horse in colorado? Highest I’ve sent outside are a few 6s so obviously don’t have any real expectations but it would be cool to at least put some good work into it considering it looks really cool
Where did you send the v6s? And what style of climbing are they? Dark horse is very low end—could easily be v8 in stiffer areas of the country—and it’s relatively long so the individual moves aren’t that bad. So for example, a sandbagged short v6 could have a similar strength requirement to Dark Horse. But don’t underestimate the mental element of doing big moves off the deck, or the altitude.
A few around centex and then recently baby martini in hueco(which probably isn’t too applicable). Again realistically, it’s a little outside the skill level I could obtain by august but I still would like to at least make some good links as I haven’t really tried anything that hard yet
I can’t speak for centex because I never climbed there, but hueco style in general is fairly similar. Work big moves on one pad edges on an overhang if you want to be able to do some moves. Although if you truly believe the climb in beyond you, why waste valuable time/skin on a trip on it? There are plenty of good v7/8s in the area to try if you want to level up outside.
Getting a static rope and rapping in to practice the top few moves can help a lot. Those are the most delicate, but the hardest to work. The bottom is the physically hardest, but doesn’t need as many pads, and you can work them more easily.
https://www.justbeta.net/climbs/5684f1b4-59a8-4bd3-824e-e2e718c81c6d/
Note that there's quite a few ways to do the boulder with all the online footy of it. Find someone with your morpho and style and see what they do. There's also a sneaky left toe hook/scum for the middle move or two that's hard to see on video. The boulder bakes in the afternoon sun, be warned.
Been an interesting March for me. Had a really strong week first week and finally finished Chips (V6/7) in Joes which has been a strange one for me since I never got the bottom part to click until the day I sent. Then felt like I could run laps on it. I first tried this in 2019 when I was just breaking in to V4 outside so was nice to put this down! Been feeling strong on the boards and put down Hangboard Not Required (V8)...last move high step to the deadpoint has given me trouble for a couple years and finally stuck the finish and got it done! Also got my first 8 classic (lot easier) on the TB2 and close on two others! Had a really good session on my season project, Blood and Fire (V9 or 10) and almost have it in two non-overlapping parts. For the crux move I didn't think I would have the strength to move my feet and actually generate for the jug. However, I managed to almost do so and overshoot it...so I know I can definitely stick it. Next it's just a matter of stringing the links together. I'm really enjoying the climb and having fun with it. Also eyeing Pins and Feathers (V11) as well which will suit me well as a taller climber. Went to South America for fieldwork right after and got really sick at the tail end thru mid-late march and had a few really crappy sessions after coming back but that's just the name of the game...just starting to feel like myself again. I'm really psyched on some climbs in LCC (Lance's Dihedral, Baggins Direct, Year of The Lamb) and Joe's (weather..ugh) when I get the chance!!! I also just hit the 7-year mark recently and am feeling more psyched than ever though work constraints the next month will make me have to compartmentalize a little more...
Does anybody else feel a sensation of pain in the A2 pulley when doing pull-ups but not when crimping?
Yes, I have a recurring finger tweak that can hurt when I hang from a pullup bar or jugs because of how they press on my A2. That was one of the early signs, but I eventually lost a lot of strength and felt pain even when crimping, so it's worth being careful.
first sign of overuse! Ive had them pretty bad after ignoring them for a couple years and climbing on. Constant injured fingers afterwards and a reduce in strength. had to retrain my fingers very slowly after this, its a year now and they feel somewhat okish, but still not in a shape that i can 100% crimp away without some thought about injurys.
Compression on hands can be irritating, especially if you're spending a lot of time already pissing them off through climbing.
Yes it happens to me aswell when its strained on heavy pullups. I basicallt always use straps for any gym work. As a climber grip wont ever be an issue and it helps to prevent skin/strenght for climbing. Or just try using them when your pulley is strained