Notes on 'The Rock Climber's Training Manual'

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0989515613

Training:

• Systematic - planned, organized, measured, specific goal
• Disciplined - actually follow plan and measure results
• Science based - draw from existing knowledge, experiment

Why train?

• Continuous improvement - can’t break plateau without data/feedback
• Injury prevention - systematic controlled overload vs climbing randomly
• Rehab - similarly
• Efficiency - maximize improvement per hour spent
• Motivation - much easier to push hard if you can see results

Goal-setting:

• Well-defined, inspiring long-term goals
• Intermediate goals to provide progress feedback
• Short-term goal for each day of training to provide focus
• Use training plan as coach to provide both motivation and restraint

Skill development:

• Deliberate practice - pay attention, seek feedback
• Keep moving - aim for mileage, be actually climbing >50% of shoes-on time
• Practice new skills in stress-free environment
• Pick projects that can be redpointed in at most a few days
• Repeat projects until they are perfect
• Target weaknesses
• Progressive practice - practice moves under increasingly stressful situations

Footwork

• Plan foot sequences as well as hand sequences
• Practice on tiny footholds eg bolt holes
• Don’t practice in old floppy shoes
• Make many foot movements, ~3:1 foot:hand
• Watch foot placement
• Apply consistent pressure as you move - variation leads to slipping
• Seek out technical face and slab routes

Rests:

• Practice weighting feet and relaxing hands
• Foot-squat
• Hand-foot stem

Climbing drills:

• Straight arms
• Rest practice
• Speed climbing
• Finding calm
• Movement perfection
• Momentum climbing

Leg drills:

• Stutter step - 3:1 foot:hand
• Thumbs only
• Downclimb - avoid large foot movements
• Toe hard - make long reaches, maximize foot force
• Pull feet - toe in on steep routes

Footwork drills:

• Precision feet - pick a bullseye and hit it first time
• Foot stab
• Blinking - close eyes just before feet land and check feel
• Jibs only - avoid large holds
• Glue feet - flex ankle instead of rotating

Dynamic drills:

• Two points of contact - one leg off before hand move
• One-arm traverse
• Blind dynos
• Pocket dynos
• Target campusing
• Deadpoints

Training principles:

• Specificity
• Overload - much easier with quantifiable training
• Recovery -> super-compensation -> detraining
• Regularity
• Progression - regular overload leads to increasing baseline
• Variation - at seasonal level switching styles of climbing does the job
• Individualization
• Transfer eg if training for competition, try to train at same time of day, intensity, temperature etc

Training process:

• Quantification
• Documentation
• Intensity
• Duration
• Volume = intensity * duration, or area under curve
• Isolation - so much variation in demand between routes that isolated training makes more sense than complex movement training for strength
• Hard work / discomfort
• Focus
  • Eliminate distractions
  • Use music to set mental state
  • Place inspiring photos/messages/goals nearby
  • Start controlled breathing before training and continue throughout
  • Consistent routine to prepare
  • Keep eyes focused on training
• Train to failure
• Split training - cycle targeted systems to allow recovery

Focus on finger strength, because it’s always a limiting factor eventually and it takes a long time to increase.

Physiology:

• (Repeats basics from Self-Coached Climber)
• Low-frequency fatigue - low-intensity workloads can be sustained for longer but take longer to recover from - up to multiple days.
• Different fatigue mechanisms => different training methods for different climbing goals
• Blood-flow occlusion - muscle contraction reduces blood-flow - exacerbated by raising arms above head
• Muscles need ATP to relax as well as to contract, so they can get stuck
• Pump = blood-flow occlusion + stuck muscle fibers
• Fight pump with strength (less effort per move), grip control (less wasted effort) and arcing (better blood flow)

Base fitness:

• Ramp up from rest period
• Mileage
• ARCing
  • Climb 20+ minutes
  • Aim for moderate but sustainable pump
  • Start with harder route and then reduce difficulty to maintain pump
  • Expect progress to be gradual
  • If you can find a partner try ARC-leading
  • Focus on calm, relaxed movement
  • Listen to soothing music
• Why ARC?
  • Improve capillarization
  • Improve mitochondria
  • Practice grip control
  • Speed recovery by flushing muscles
  • Practice movement technique
• Can safely schedule ARCing on days after more intense training days

Strength:

• Gains come from:
  • Hypertrophy (but also increased weight)
  • Neurological adaptations (more recruitment, less inhibition, better coordination of firing)
• Neurological gains peak plateau after a few weeks
• Hypertrophy takes much longer, but continues after strength training phase
• Isometric strength training
  • More effective for increasing strength at specific joint angles
  • Specificity is +/- ~15 degrees
  • Use for finger strength and lock-offs
  • Multiple brief reps better than one long rep
  • High-freq fatigue sets in ~6-7s
  • Recovery in ~2s
  • 3-10s, 15-20 reps
• Isotonic strength training
  • More effective at increasing strength across all joint angles
  • Use for upper-body training, pinches (because width varies), latching dynos, crimp rollups and improving power
  • Much debate over sets and reps
  • For power - 1-3 sets, 3-5 reps, 3-5m rest
  • For strength-endurance - 2-4 sets, 12-20 reps, 30-60s rest
• Hangboard
  • Dead-hang, with elbows/shoulders engaged but not pulling up
  • Smoothly transfer weight to avoid injury
  • Use pulley to remove weight, or harness to add weight
  • Take current body weight into account when adding weight
  • Choose <10 grips to work for the season and train same grips each session
  • Use a fan to keep the board dry
  • 2+ days of rest between sessions
• Other exercises
  • Explosive pullups on free-hanging rings
  • One-arm inverted row
  • Lock-off laps - juggy overhang, lockoff each move one-handed for 2 breaths, downclimb same way
  • Pushups
  • Shoulder press
  • Dips
  • Hanging leg raises - alternate forwards vs 30 degrees to side
  • Lateral-to-front raise
  • Bicep curl

Power:

• = strength * speed
• Gains come from:
  • Recruitment - more muscle fibers at once
  • More fast-twitch muscles
  • Faster slow-twitch muscles
• Plyometric training
  • Eccentric -> concentric contraction
  • Triggers defensive recruitment to protect against stretching
  • Has to be fast - <0.2s in transition
• Limit bouldering
  • 1-2 almost-impossible moves
  • Days to send, not minutes
• Campusing
  • Non-stop movement, no pausing or adjusting
  • Very high injury risk - don’t train if at all damaged
  • Requires long rest period, up to 2 days
  • 1 work : 20 rest
  • Ladders
    • Matching
    • Alternating
    • Max reach
    • Typewriters
    • Bumps - max move then continue bumping with reaching hand
    • Touches - try to descend slowly
    • Double dyno
    • Down-and-up
• Power training should be explosive, max effort/focus/intensity
• As soon as fatigued, stop training and go home

Power-endurance:

• Sustained power - bouts of 30-180s of near-maximal exertion
• Gains come from improving aerobic pathways (eg more, bigger, better mitochondria)
• Endurance training is specific:
  • Specific to grip type
  • Low-intensity endurance training (eg arcing) only trains slow-twitch, also need high-intensity training to train fast-switch
  • Tradeoff between intensity and duration/repetition to match climbing goals for the season
• Start at 2 rest : 1 work and aim for 1 rest : 1 work
• Linked bouldering circuit
  • 1-4 mins / ~20 hand movements
  • Powerful, dynamic moves - training commitment under pump
  • Aim for pump to start around 3-4 reps
• Route intervals
  • Include poor rests to allow fatigue past 1-4 min PE limit
  • Ideally on lead - training clipping under pump
  • Aim one letter grade above onsight level
  • Practice route until it’s an automatic send when fresh
  • Typically 3-6 reps
• Beware that indoor climbing is faster because easier to read
  • Aim for same pace as goal route
  • Look for tricky feet or technical moves
  • Put time gates at key holds
• Traverses are easy to find at the gym, but prefer up/down climbing
• Cooldown is important for recovery - ARC after 20 mins rest
• Can be partially replaced by redpoint attempts on project

Rest:

• Improvement is stimulated by exercise but occurs while resting
• Sleep
  • Don’t incur sleep debt
  • Sleep extra (up to 10 hours) during leadup to projects
• Rest days
  • Don’t tax muscles used in climbing
  • Aerobic exercise is ok - volume low enough so it doesn’t require it’s own rest days
  • Skin care, stretching, massage, icing
• Rest phase
  • Don’t extend the performance phase or skip the rest phase
  • Reminiscence effect - regularization for the motor system?
  • Active rest - do non-climbing things
• End the season immediately on injury
• Skin care
  • Sand calluses down and apply lotion to avoid flappers
  • Keep skin dry in the hours before climbing
  • Quit early rather than risk ruining the trip
  • Use extra chalk on hotspots

Training plans:

• Resting
  • 1 climbing day => 1 rest day
  • 2 climbing days => 2 rest days
  • 1 high-intensity training => 2 rest days
• Within each day, order exercises intense -> endurance
• Within weekend trips, order projects intense -> endurance

Weight management:

• Periodic training => periodic dieting - only need to cut weight in performance phase
• Aim for <10% fat generally and as low as 5% during performance phase
• Glycemic response
  • Low blood sugar -> lethargy + ketosis - breaking down fat for energy
  • High blood sugar -> release insulin -> convert blood glucose into glycogen (in muscle and liver) or fat
  • Overcompensates - blood sugar spike -> insulin response -> blood sugar crash -> craving for sugar -> …
  • Goal is to keep blood sugar levels relatively constant to avoid this cycle
• Glycemic index - how quickly food breaks down into sugar
  • Small amounts of high GI foods after training help replenish glycogen
  • High GI foods on empty stomach are particularly bad
  • Doesn’t take portion size into account
• Glycemic load = (GI / 100) * (carbs - dietary fiber)
  • Still only accounts for carbs eg steak has low GI/GL
• Eat food, mostly vegetables
• Find replacements for the worst parts of your diet, especially comfort foods
• Snack constantly on low-calorie foods - mostly salad
• Don’t drink calories
• Take vitamin and omega-3 supplements
• Hang a picture of your project on the fridge door

Preparation:

• Pay attention to temperature, moisture, shade etc
• Route learning
  • Hangdog and stick-clip to figure out the beta
  • Practice rests too - don’t rely on the rope
  • If a clip is also the crux, consider skipping it
• Beta
  • Film the beta and/or draw a map on a photo
  • Regularly review and mentally rehearse
  • Include struggle and positive self-talk in mental rehearsals
• Confidence is built on pyramids
• Warmup - 30-45 mins of climbing time, on lead - followed by 30-60 mins rest
• Pre-climb
  • Start breathing rhythm
  • Pick consistent order of preparation
  • Last round of mental rehearsal
• Post-climb
  • Review performance, ideally with video
  • Notice triggers for mistakes eg holding breath after a dyno
  • Especially triggers for negative attitude or broken focus
• Nibble throughout the day
• Warm-down on fun, rewarding routes at the end of the day

Redpoint and onsight:

• Maximize quality over quantity eg climb Sat morning and Sun evening
• Begin each burn as a redpoint attempt, only switch to learning after a fall
• Work harder moves earlier
• Work higher cruxes earlier - more likely to ruin a good attempt
• Use easy sections for warmup / cooldown
• For onsights train endurance, lock-offs, down-climbing, moving recovery
• Onsight pyramids should be flatter and all outdoors

Trad and big-wall - skipped

Training for bouldering:

• Less endurance training, more strength and power
• Add exercises for arm, shoulder and core strength
• Maximum arousal - get amped up
• Fight for it - no need to ration energy like on longer routes
• Use power spots to calibrate limit moves
• Rest at least 5 minutes between attempts
• Avoid working one problem more than one hour - too much stress on same moves