Training for Climbing, 2nd: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Performance (How To Climb Series)

nontweaky medium- to large-size handholds, one in front of your face and the other about 2 feet above that.
    Climb onto the wall and balance your weight evenly on the two footholds (on a steeper wall it’s best to simply stand on the floor, as shown in the photos). Grip the higher of the two handholds with one hand, then let go with the other hand and hold it behind your back. Now drop down, catch the lower handhold, and immediately lunge back up to the higher starting handhold. Continue lunging up and down for eight to twelve total hand movements, then step down off the wall.
    After a brief rest, step back up on the wall and perform a set of One-Arm Lunges with the other hand. Perform two or three total sets with each hand. One cautionary note: This exercise dynamically loads all components of the fingers and arms. Proceed with caution, and cease using this exercise if you experience any joint or tendon pain.
     
    One-Arm Lunging

     
    1. Grip the higher handhold.
     

     
    2. Drop down to the lower.
     

     
    3. Lunge back to the higher.
     

CAMPUS LADDERING
     
    As the name implies, this exercise involves climbing in a hand-over-hand, ladderlike motion up the campus board with no aid from the feet. Unlike Double Dynos (described later), this laddering exercise uses controlled dynamic movements that are less likely to result in injury. Consequently, this is a better staple exercise for regular use, and it is the perfect icebreaker exercise for climbers new to campus training.
    Hang with nearly straight arms from the bottom rung of the campus board. Your hands should be about shoulder width or slightly less apart. Striving for brisk, fluid motion, climb hand-over-hand up the campus board using alternating rungs for your left and right hands. Your goal is to ascend the board as fast as possible. Match hands on the top rung, and then descend carefully by dropping hand-underhand down alternating rungs to the bottom position.
    Overview of Campus Board Training
     
    Campus board training is an invaluable exercise for advanced climbers specializing in bouldering or sport climbing. No matter how naturally strong you are or how hard or often you climb, I speculate that you can quickly add another 10 percent (or more) to your contact strength and power with just a few weeks of campus training. Unfortunately, the dynamic nature of campus training exposes the tendons and joints to potentially dangerous force loads—your fingers, elbows, and shoulders are all at risk. Engage in too much campus training, or experiment with this technique before you are ready, and you will get injured. Here are some important guidelines that will help reduce your risk.
    • Engage in campus training only if you are an advanced intermediate to elite climber (leading 5.11 or bouldering V5) with at least three years of climbing experience and no recent history of finger or arm injury. The most stressful Double Dynos exercise must be reserved for only highly conditioned, elite climbers (leading solid 5.12 or bouldering V8).
    • Warm up thoroughly. Spend at least an hour performing various warm-up activities and bouldering on increasingly more difficult problems before beginning your campus training.
    • Reinforce your finger tendons with a few tight turns of athletic tape. See page 228 for instructions.
    • Emphasize speed over volume. Three high-speed, explosive sets are far more beneficial than six sloppy, poorly executed sets with frequent pauses between hand moves.
    • Do not campus train while in a state of high fatigue or if you have any doubts about the health of your fingers, arms, or shoulders.
    • Immediately terminate your campus training at the first sensation of pain in your joint or tendons.
    • Rest a minimum of two days after a campus training workout. Limit yourself to two modest-length sessions per week, and cycle two weeks on and two weeks off.
     
    You will need to build a campus board separate from your home climbing wall, or talk the owner of your local gym into building a campus board if there isn’t one already. At home you’ll likely be able to only build a modest-size board if you have standard-height ceilings. Since the bottom of the board needs to be around 4 feet off the floor, you’ll be limited in the number of rungs you can mount. The plywood board onto which you mount the rungs should be angled at precisely fifteen degrees past vertical. Make or purchase rungs that range in depth from 0.75 inch to 1.5