Training theory

Welcome to this page where you will learn everything you wanted to know about bouldering and how to train to effectively strengthen your technique, strength and mental fortitude, so you can impress everyone in the gyms and in the wild!

The content is divided into 3 areas:

Mental training
Training technique and skill / tactics
Physical training

Most of the content you will find here, including the test, comes from the book "Training for Climbing: the Definitive Guide to Improving your Performance" by Eric J. Horst. If you want to dive deeper into any of these topics and learn even more, we definitely recommend reading this book.

Enjoy!

Mental training

Introduction

The sport of bouldering demands many physical skills from the climber. When we think of bouldering at a high level, we think of endurance, strength and power as qualities that a good climber must possess and strive to develop. When we think further, we can consider balance, movement efficiency and technical skill as other qualities that make a good climber. However, what we think less about is what we cannot see, and that is the mental aspect of training and performing at the top level.

We have all had the problem that our physical capacities are not an issue, but for some reason we feel held back by fear, worry or pain (maybe even all at once!). Mental training is essential to push our boundaries, learn from our mistakes and solve problems better, but how often have you seen someone training their mental determination in a bouldering gym, pulling on mental weights? All joking aside, mental training is about getting control of your fears and worries, increasing your awareness through relaxation, training your visualization skills and increasing your focus. It is the only skill you can develop for free, at any time, and it will probably give you the most return on your investment in the short term.

Dealing with fear

The way you feel has a direct effect on your mental and physical state. Therefore, experiencing negative emotions such as fear, pain or shame will inevitably affect your abilities and your actions. So how do you get rid of all your negative emotions once and for all, you ask? Not so fast -- let us remind ourselves of the purpose of emotions in the first place. In a nutshell, emotions are above all meant to keep you alive.

Although your emotions generally serve you well, this does not mean they always need to have the last word. Reasonable fears keep you alive, but irrational fears can make your time in life less enjoyable. So what do you do? A good starting point would be to see your emotions as a spouse. Like all good spouses, they mean well and care about your well-being. They want the best for you, but would also be devastated if something happened to you, so they sometimes overreact.

The first thing you should do when dealing with an overprotective spouse (or emotion) is to pause for a moment and listen to what they have to say. They probably have a good reason to be worried.

The second step is to absorb that information, evaluate it and then learn from it. What risk did you overlook, and why? Why don't you feel well enough prepared? Is that risk really a rational danger, or is it exaggerated?

The third step is, after evaluating and learning from your spouse's comments, to come up with a plan about what you are going to do with this new information. Is there a way to reduce the identified risk?

The fourth and final step is to regain his/her (and your own) confidence. After working out your adaptation plan, you execute it and do what you wanted to do, and if it works out well in the end, you actively reassure your spouse by saying "see, everything is fine, there was nothing to worry about."

Remember in general that you should face and challenge your fears, not just accept them. It is the only way to push your boundaries and expand your comfort zone.

Relaxation

According to Horst, when bouldering or climbing it is almost always better to be in a low energy, positive state of mind. This may seem counter-intuitive because bouldering can be associated with powerful movements and strong grips, but this is confirmed when we look at how elite climbers tend to make routes look easy, and always seem like they are just having fun!

Horst defines two methods to increase relaxation, called progressive and differential. Progressive relaxation consists of deliberately tensing and relaxing different muscle groups, one after another. A sequence for a progressive relaxation exercise would be:

Sit in a comfortable position in a quiet place and take 5 deep breaths (you can also close your eyes)
Tense the muscles in the lower part of one of your legs for 5 seconds
While feeling the tension, release and completely relax. Feel the difference between the tense and relaxed state
Repeat the sequence for the upper part of the same body part
Repeat the process for the other leg, each arm, your torso, and finish with the muscles of your face and neck
Open your eyes and welcome to the matrix

Horst uses a sequence before and during each ascent called ANSWER:

A - Awareness - Awareness of arising tension, fear, or negative thoughts
N - Normalize - Normalize your breathing
S - Scan - Scan for specific areas of muscle tension
W - Wave - Relaxation wave. Take a deep breath and feel a wave of relaxation wash over you
E - Erase - Erase thoughts about past events (or the possible future) and focus on the present
R - Reset - Reset your attitude and show a smile

Visualization

Visualization means creating a detailed movie in your head of yourself making the movements of the route you want to do. By doing this, you let your brain think that you have already done the movements, making the route feel more familiar and giving you more confidence in what you need to do.

According to Horst, there are two types of visualization: dissociated and associated.

Dissociated visualization is when you see yourself climbing from the perspective of an observer. This can be used to review a previous ascent and identify what may have gone wrong.

Associated visualization is seeing yourself on the route from a first-person perspective. The goal is to pre-program the movements for yourself before you actually do them.

In summary, visualization is an easy way to learn and effectively prepare for a climb without it costing you effort. Visualization is like using climbing shoes and a chalk bag. Don't leave the ground without doing it!

Training technique and skill / tactics

The basics

Foot placement for carrying your weight

An important point in climbing is that your legs should basically do most of the work, because they are much stronger than your arms. To carry as much weight as possible with your feet, it is important to use them effectively. This starts with paying a lot of attention to the footholds and your foot placement on them.

In addition to foot placement, the centering of your center of gravity above a foothold must also be practiced. Where the weight should be centered depends on the type of wall. On a slab, the hips are away from the wall and above the feet. On a vertical wall, your body should be positioned straight above your feet. On an overhanging wall, it is no longer possible to keep your weight above your feet, so other techniques are needed.

Gripping holds lightly and relaxing the arms

It can happen that out of fear, one grips the holds with much more force than necessary. This results in faster fatigue or pumped forearms. Fortunately, this can be prevented through practice. Try to grab each hold with as little force as possible, using your arms mainly for balance while pushing with your feet.

Route reading

Route reading is an attempt to understand the holds and the movements between them: how you think the route should be climbed. Correctly reading a route before climbing it will save you a lot of time and energy and increase your insight into the movements. When reading a route, look at all the holds and pay attention to: what are the start and end holds? Which holds are handholds and which are footholds? In which direction are the holds oriented? Then think about the movements you need to make to climb the boulder: your "Beta."

Efficient climbing

Improving body position on the wall

Using opposing forces -- To have maximum support and ease of movement, couple your right hand to your left foot, or vice versa.

Flagging -- Another way is to flag with your foot to increase stability. When a left hand-right foot combination is not possible using only the holds, you can flag a foot on the wall.

Twist lock + backstep / drop knee -- The twist lock and backstep are performed by rotating the hip of the back leg into the wall. This technique helps pull the body more into the wall, putting more weight on the feet and less on the arms.

Creative / advanced footwork

Heel hooks -- Placing a heel hook allows you to pull with your heel, as if it were a third arm.

Toe hook -- A toe hook is when you use the top of your toes as the friction point between the shoe and the surface to balance or pull.

Knee bars -- Placing your foot on a hold and then locking your knee against an opposing hold is a knee lock. With this move, you can let go of one hand (or even both hands!).

Dynamic and static movement

Static movement -- Static climbing is a style that mainly uses slow and controlled movements. An advantage is that it improves your strength and endurance. A disadvantage is that it requires a lot of strength.

Dynamic movement: using momentum -- Dynamic climbing uses momentum and includes powerful, explosive movements. Deadpointing is a dynamic movement, where the deadpoint is the moment when you are neither going up nor down, for a second you are weightless.

A dyno is used when the next hold is far out of reach. You explode with your entire body, letting go of both hands and feet, jumping to the next good hold.

Different holds

Jugs -- Jugs are the large and open holds, behind which you can place your entire fingers. These are usually the easiest to hold.

Crimps -- A crimp is a small edge that only fits your fingertips. There are different ways to hold a crimp:

Open hand: your fingertips are on the edge and the rest of your hand rests on the wall. This grip is less stressful on the tendons.
Half crimp: make a 90-degree angle with your fingers. This allows for more pulling force.
Full crimp: the full crimp is when the thumb is placed over the other fingers. This is the grip that can generate the most force, but puts very high stress on the tendons.

Slopers -- Slopers are large surfaces with no positive angle for your hand to hold on to. Use your entire hand for maximum friction and maintain body tension.

Pinches -- A pinch is a hold or piece of rock that you squeeze between your thumb and fingers.

Pockets -- Pockets are holds with holes in them. If only one or two fingers fit, use mainly your middle finger as it is the strongest. Be careful with pockets to avoid injury.

Physical training

Basic theory

A muscle group can have three different roles:

Agonistic: when a muscle or group of muscles work together to produce the same action or movement (prime movers)
Antagonistic: when a muscle or group of muscles provide an opposite action to the primary movement
Stabilizing: when a muscle or group of muscles work together to stabilize the body in space and produce smooth movement

A muscle can produce three types of contractions:

Concentric: causes shortening of the muscle
Eccentric: resistance through lengthening of the muscle
Isometric: contraction that does not result in shortening or lengthening of the muscle (no movement)

There are basically two types of muscle fibers: slow-twitch and fast-twitch fibers.

Slow-twitch fibers (type I) make up about 50% of total muscle mass and are primarily used for low-intensity aerobic efforts and endurance.

Fast-twitch fibers (type II) are engaged during high-intensity efforts:

Type IIa: can be engaged in both aerobic and anaerobic processes, giving them some fatigue resistance
Type IIb: have a fast contraction time but can only be engaged via the anaerobic system, requiring long recovery periods

The key takeaway is that if you want to increase your full strength (your type IIb muscle fibers), you need to train at your maximum strength limit.

Muscle function adaptations

Neural system adaptations:

Improved coordination and fluidity of movements (motor learning)
Synchronous contraction of motor units, increasing both strength and power (motor unit synchronization)
Disinhibition: reducing the sensitivity of the Golgi tendon organ, allowing significant strength gains without building additional muscle mass

Muscular system adaptations:

Long-term strength can only be further increased through an increase in muscle fiber size (hypertrophy)
Large muscles are not always beneficial for a climber, as they can be a handicap if in the wrong places (chest, legs, shoulders)

Energy systems

The ATP-CP system is the first system that delivers fast energy, but for a short time (less than 15 seconds of intense exercise).

The lactic acid system functions in anaerobic conditions for exercises of moderate to high intensity lasting 10 seconds to 3 minutes. The accumulation of lactic acid leads to pain, fatigue and ultimately muscle failure (also known as being "pumped").

The lactate threshold is the level of exertion at which lactic acid production exceeds your body's ability to clear it. The key insight is the importance of an interval approach when climbing hard boulders or routes.

Causes of fatigue

The Central Governor Model (CGM) of fatigue describes how fatigue is a message from the unconscious to the conscious brain, aimed at preventing the loss of homeostasis. This points to the importance of good mental conditioning as a climber.

Training principles

Specificity -- Make your training specific to your goals. A specific training for climbing should aim to load the muscles in a climbing-specific way.

Individualization -- Everyone is different, and optimal training looks different for everyone. Find out what works best for you.

Progressive overload -- To increase your physical capabilities, expose your body to a stress level higher than what it is used to.

Variation -- The body gets used to training stimuli that are repeatedly applied in the same way. Vary your training to avoid plateaus.

Isolation -- Not necessary for beginners, but important for breaking through plateaus after 2-3 years of climbing. Key areas: finger strength, endurance, pulling strength, and core stiffness.

Exercise order -- The ideal training sequence:

Warm-up
Actual climbing
Targeted supplementary exercises (pull ups, fingerboarding, campusing)
Stabilizer and core training
Foam rolling and stretching

Rest -- Your muscle adaptations happen after training, not during. Full recovery varies roughly between 24 and 72 hours.

Detraining -- If you stop training, you will suffer performance loss. Local endurance is lost fastest, which can happen after more than a week without climbing.

Training methods

Maximum strength training -- Many bouldering movements require maximum strength from the forearms, pulling muscles and fingers. Exercises for intermediate climbers:

(Weighted) pull ups
Fingerboard hangs, difficult to hold for 10 seconds
(Assisted) one arm lock offs
(Assisted) one arm pull ups

Contact strength and power training -- Power relates to how quickly you can use your strength in a movement. Exercises (only for intermediate and advanced climbers):

One arm lunging (feet on)
Clap pull ups
Climbing without feet
Campus ladders
Double dynos

Strength endurance -- How long muscles can sustain a high power output. Exercises:

20-20 fingerboard repetitions
Pull up intervals
1-minute climbing intervals
Bouldering 4x4s
Campus board exercises

Climbing-specific aerobic training -- Training endurance requires higher volume with shorter rest periods at sub-maximal intensity. Exercises consist mainly of re-climbing many topped routes while ensuring you never get more than a moderate pump. Stick to easier routes. This can also be done by traversing boulders for a long period, or by climbing outside.