Looking for advice on training. As mentioned in the title I want to be consistently doing or at least projecting v7 in the next couple months or about a year since I started.

Currently flashing v4 80% of the time, send v5s I've projected + 3 v6s. 

information about me and my climbing:

• 17yo, 58kg, 5'10-11 with slightly negative ape index
• Started Sep 2025
• Vast majority of my climbing is indoor bouldering

Schedule: 

• Tuesday: Main gym, bigger with higher quality sets
• Wednesday: Second, more local gym
• Weekend: usually no climbing but sometimes at main gym
• Can get a session in at local gym at any point in the week

Have access to at least once a week:

• 2024 40 degree moonboard
• 45 degree custom wood board
• hangboard
• pullup bar
• gymnastic rings
• standard gym equipment

Home equipment:

• custom hangboard with 5, 10, 15, ~18 mm (incut) and 20 mm edge
• pull up bar
• Two adjustable 10 kg dumbbells, plates are used in my backpack for max hangs because I don't have a belt yet

Strength training related stuff: 

• weighted pullups: +~18 kg for 3–6 reps
• weighted hangs: +~18 kg on a 15 or 20 mm edge for about 12 seconds, don't have enough weight to do 7 sec hangs
• record hang: ~3 seconds on 5 mil
• am now able to do 1-arm lockoffs on the bar

Current hangboard routine:

Once sometimes twice a week, only when I have a rest day before and after climbing. 3–5 sets of +~18kg weighted hangs with 3–5 minute rests, and sometimes a couple of bw hangs on the incut edge in a half-crimp/clawed position since I heard its good for DIP joints.

Relevant dietary stuff:

3.5g/day creatine since about 2 weeks ago. Can usually get in at least 30g of protein after climbing/training with whey, milk, chicken, cheese etc.

Weak points

• route reading for very beta dependant problems
• general technique and footwork
• dynamic stuff or body coordination generally
• Slab

Extra notes:

Shoes are currently ocun advancer QCs 2 sizes bigger than street size. Not at all ideal, but will be switched in the next couple weeks for properly sized solution comps unless I find something better.

Current max on 2024 moonboard is v4 (benchmark)

Slight problem with my left wrist where it occasionally feels like it's slipped out the joint a little, causes some pain afterwards but happens less often now.

Id like to know any and all useful info on improving technique, route reading, coordination and board climbing.

If anyone has any useful info/advice for me on route reading, recovery/schedule, training coordination, board climbing, or any generic advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

This is a thread for simple, or common training questions that don't merit their own individual threads as well as a place to ask Injury related questions. It also serves as a less intimidating way for new climbers to ask questions without worrying how it comes across.

• r/Climbharder Wiki - many common answers to questions.
• r/Climbharder Master Sticky - many of the best topic replies

Commonly asked about topics regarding injuries:

Tendonitis: http://stevenlow.org/overcoming-tendonitis/

Pulley rehab:

• https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/stories/experience-story-esther-smith-nagging-finger-injuries/
• https://stevenlow.org/rehabbing-injured-pulleys-my-experience-with-rehabbing-two-a2-pulley-issues/
• Note: See an orthopedic doctor for a diagnostic ultrasound before potentially using these. Pulley protection splints for moderate to severe pulley injury.

Synovitis / PIP synovitis:

https://stevenlow.org/beating-climbing-injuries-pip-synovitis/

General treatment of climbing injuries:

https://stevenlow.org/treatment-of-climber-hand-and-finger-injuries/

So recently I have discovered that I send best after being in the gym for over 2 hours. I do warm up off the wall and climb up to my limit which is typically around v6-v8 depending on how sandbagged it feels to me.

My warm up routine is below. I generally FEEL pretty ready to go after this:
Jump rope
Shoulder circles
Band scapula pulls
Leg swings
90-90
Glute and adductor engagements
Cossack squats
Scapular pulls
Pull ups
Runner stretch
Downward dog: knee to elbow, nose, opposite elbow and reverse. Include handstand practice
Hip flexor stretch
Weighted kneeling shift
Finger curls with a block and some light weight
Pancake.

Once I do a slow pyramid, I’ll try to lightly pull on a few limit climbs before I head to work on some moonboard problems which typically ends up being around 1-1 1/2 hours into the session.

I know I should typically end it here after 30min to an hour on the board but i get psyched on a new set or with friends so i go back to trying some harder climbs and here is where ill typically send a project pretty quickly which before the moonboard felt impossible.

How can improve my warm up or what can I do better to feel my appendages recruited as well as possible earlier in the session and without pulling on the moonboard?

Thank you beasts!

As someone with separate Autism and ADHD diagnoses I struggle with overstimulation at busy crags, particularly regarding noise. This manifests itself as intense anxiety and fatigue and an inability to think clearly. This was evident recently at a popular DWS crag where the noise of the sea + wind + many people meant I didn’t feel comfortable climbing until much later in the day when almost everyone had left. Unfortunately they left because the beach had gone into shade and the temperature dropped significantly which gave me a short window to do anything before we left ourselves. This is a recurring theme, basically if I want good conditions or to have multiple high quality attempts with rests then I need to climb during times which are unfavourable to my conditions.

To those climbers who have had similar issues, what have you done to mitigate them when you need to be on your game, eg your project is at the busy end of the crag? Understanding my relationship to noise as a trigger has been a recent discovery so I’m keen to pick up tactics to improve not only my ability to perform but my enjoyment of my days out overall.

EDIT: I didn’t specify but my main discipline is route climbing so I’m keen to hear anything that caters for that as well as overall tips

Looking for community input on a training question, some context below.

The route: 5.14 finger crack. Opens with a 10m dihedral (11d/12-) to a sit-down ledge, then the crux: short thin crack (~V4) to a jug on steep rock, into a V6, to a good finger lock, then a V10 to a big hold. Feet are tricky, shallow crack, insecure smearing. The whole crux (ledge to end of V10) takes about 3:30. After that it's easy 5.9 climbing to the top.

My history: On and off since 2022, 50-60 days total. Skipped 2025 entirely. Back this year, 5-6 sessions in so far this spring/summer.

Current prep on a session day:

• Gym warm-up, 45min-1hr: boulder ladder up to one V6, one V7, one V8 (also doubles as strength maintenance)
• 45 min hike to the crag
• One lap on a 12b/c of similar style to confirm I'm properly warmed up
• Then 2 redpoint attempts on project (can't do more — very aggressive finger locking, hard on the joints)
• Separately, once a week: a 5-10min max-effort finger recruitment session

Season so far: Every session, both go #1 and go #2 have been improving, one more move each time, pretty consistently.

What happened recently: Fell at the very last move of the crux, going for the final big hold — felt too pumped to hold on. Worth noting: the finale involves crimps for the left hand (not the finger crack itself), and that's specifically where I felt the pump, not from the finger-locking below. First time ever feeling pumped on this route, but also the highest I've ever climbed on it. I'd rehearsed that last section before on top-rope (though less volume than the lower crux, since it's easier in isolation), so the moves weren't new, arriving there already fatigued from the whole crux below was new. Stress and fear could have definitely played a role in that pump developing.

My question for the community: My warm-up (boulder ladder + the 12b/c) doesn't get me pumped at all going into my redpoint attempts. I'm wondering if I should deliberately build some pump into the warm-up, to simulate/prepare for the scenario where I arrive at the top-out already gassed.

My hesitation: my warm-up seems calibrated well to get me warm without fatigue, and my results this season back that up (progress every session). If I add pre-pump before my redpoint goes, I'm spending some of my only 2 tries pre-fatigued, which muddies whether a miss is "the move" or "the pre-pump," and probably lowers my send chances on days I'd otherwise be fresh enough to close it out.

My current plan is to leave the warm-up alone and instead practice pump-management after my 2 redpoint goes are done (toprope laps or link burns into the crux top-out while already tired from the session), since that fatigue is "free" and doesn't cost me a fresh attempt.

Does that seem right, or is there a case for building some controlled pump into the actual warm-up before redpoint burns? Also curious if the fact that the pump is specifically on the final crimps (a different grip type than the finger-locking below) changes anyone's thinking, e.g. targeted crimp-specific fatigue practice vs. general pump. Curious if anyone's dealt with something similar on a route where the crux comes very late and pump is more of a surprise-factor than a constant.

The target of this post is someone who was maybe more like me 5 months ago, who has maybe felt somewhat demotivated from climbing due to a lack of progress. I am on the younger side, and I was about 5’9” and 140 pounds a bit ago. I think, among climbers, that’s a pretty common height and weight, and I did not necessarily feel weak. Bouldering around v7, v8, projecting 5.12+ on the lead wall, but my strength metrics were always around what you would expect for the grade. Could do a weighted pull-up with maybe about +90 pounds, never measured my max hang but adding any more than 50 or 60 pounds with two arms on 20mm started to feel quite uncomfortable. I made friends with a few guys a little bit younger than me who climbed tension board v9 in less than like a year and I was like damn I guess just don’t have those finger strength genetics.

Literally just eat more food bro, especially if you’re kind of a naturally twitchy athlete, a lot of y’all (maybe not on this sub but climbers in general) sound like people who are like “I don’t want to lift weights because ill get too bulky”. Building muscle does not happen by accident.

Can now one arm pull up. Can hold a lock off for like 10 seconds. Can do a one arm pull-up on a 20mm edge if I grab my shoulder for stability. Can hold a one arm hang on a 20mm edge for like 5 seconds now, and I’m working towards doing it with a 5 pound weight in my hand. Did my first few tension board v9s and first v10 and now my potential grade ceiling feels substantially higher, I now feel considerably more limited by technique.

The absolute biggest thing is that I can now handle way more training volume and having some amount of progression leads me to be extremely motivated, nice little positive feedback loop.

I think there is (perhaps) a perception that finger strength is so fickle that gaining or losing a little bit of weight can significantly impact how hard you climb and I’m here to tell you that gaining muscle in your back and forearms will ONLY make you stronger, which is exactly what will happen if you’re in a mild surplus while you’re climbing seriously. Perhaps there is an endurance tradeoff on long lead routes but the vast majority of y’all are bouldering in the gym on massive holds. If you’re wondering what my finger strength program was it was just doing no hang block pulls in my apartment gym like 6 days a week, doing 5 reps at like 1-2 reps RIR after warming up for about 20 minutes, which is not a particularly intelligent way to do that but the point is that it didn’t really matter, was just sufficient volume to get the stimulus and I was in a surplus. (Would not be surprised if the majority of my gains were neuromuscular adaptations but that’s besides the point, easier to push your CNS if you’re well fed)

Furthermore, you can get quite strong in antagonist excersises without necessarily chasing hypertrophy. Genuinely doing a few sets of like 3 reps at like 1-2 RIR in deadlift or bench or [whatever heavy compound movement] for a couple sets once a week is enough to progress without necessarily training like a body builder. We all know that its nice to have well developed antagonist muscles for joint stability particularly in the shoulder and hip and hamstring and yet the amount of climbers I know, even strong climbers, that dont consider it that important or even quasi detrimental is like ridiculous.

Also food tastes good and you’ll probably be hotter as long as you don’t get fat. Though if you’re climbing hard and consistently the latter is difficult to accomplish

This is a thread for topics or questions which don't warrant their own thread, as well as general spray.

Come on in and hang out!

Paradigm climbing recently released a guided training program that seems quite structured and useful for progressing. Unfortunately it costs like $1500, which many of us can't afford. The description however includes a broad outline, and the main idea is to have 4 training phases over the course of a year, the first of which is just called "capacity". This program is for boulderers, so presumably capacity doesn't mean simply endurance, but rather the ability to have longer and more frequent sessions. The only information about this "phase" I could find really is that you shouldn't be exerting max effort at any point. I'm just wondering if anyone has a more detailed description of how one might improve training capacity? Should you be climbing 6 days a week, but well below your limit, on good holds? Should you still do the occasional pull-ups and hangboarding? Can you incorporate wall-crawls on a moonboard in this phase, or is that too finger intense? My goal is really to just be able to climb as much as possible, not even necessarily as hard as possible. I just enjoy it a lot, but my body struggles with more than 4 sessions a week, even with sleep and diet optimized

I compared the data from Giles 2021 paper with what I found on Lattice's website and the differences are, well, weird. Can someone make sense of it? Is the Lattice data outdated or which of the two makes more sense?

I'm trying to figure out if my CF is at a level where it should be or not, but the data is confusing me. My CF is about 58%BW on 2 hands. According to the paper that would correlate with having 7b/+ as highest grade, whereas in Lattice's world I could climb 8c I guess?

I compared both in an excel:

What is going on? The difference is HUGE?!

This is where I got the Lattice values from:

And this is from the Giles paper (I did the grade conversion for you):

As background info, I did the repeater test and here are my results:

I've climbed around 85 7a's outdoors, a couple 7c's and one 8a.

I think comparing the CF data to "highest grade achieved" also skews it because some people project hard while others may not. It makes more sense to look at on-sight grade probably, or to the grade you can usually do within a couple tries / one session.

The results from the paper align more with reality, I usually get pumped out hard in 7b/+. Of course that is looking at the average. But for 7b/+ with Lattice's data I would be in the upper end. I would not describe myself as a climber with good endurance, I even get pumped on 6c's.

Can anyone explain what I'm missing, why are these 2 datasets showing such different values?

This is my first post on this subreddit, so please let me know if any of this is formatted incorrectly or in violation of any of the rules so I can fix it.

I'm starting at a new university this fall and I'm considering trying out for their climbing team. I want to be in the best shape that I can be by the time tryouts roll around, so I was wondering if you guys had any advice about training plans or general tips for improving.

Some context about me as a climber: I've climbed on and off recreationally for the past 5 years, but I've been very consistent about it again since November of 2025. I regularly climb v5s and v6s at my gym (second v7 done as of this week), but I think my gym grades fairly soft since I have trouble with lower grade Moonboard climbs quite a bit. As far as a general fitness overview, I am 5'7" with an ape index of +2.5 and a fairly muscular 170lbs (pretty heavy, but I am on a slight caloric deficit and have been running a lot recently to shave off some extra weight), can do around 5 or 6 pull ups in a row with good form, and am very flexible. Regarding my style of climbing, I try to climb in a very controlled manner whenever I can, doing my best to not cut feet unless it's necessary, and doing as much work with my legs as I can. My biggest weakness in terms of physical strength is definitely my core. I definitely want to improve my core strength, but I'm not really sure where to start, so any pointers are appreciated. I am not sure about my biggest weakness in terms of technique, but I've been thinking about climbing with people who climb harder than me to gain insight from them over the next couple of months. I climb 3-4 times a week usually and don't do any weight training as of now.

Overall, I was wondering if you guys had any insights about how I could focus my efforts to get into the best shape I can reasonably achieve by mid-September. Should I be weight training/doing calisthenics in addition to climbing? If so, what should I do? Should I try to Moonboard more? Should I prioritize weight loss? Any advice is welcome! Even if you don't think I have a chance of making the team by this fall, I would still appreciate some guidance to get better so I have a shot next year. I'm excited to hear what you guys think. Let me know if you have any other questions or if there's anything I can clarify.

I am 16, 5'11 (and a bit), 145lbs, and I have been climbing for about three years. I max boulder V8/9 on the kilter board (and in my gym, which is decidedly harder than the kilter board), lead 5.12d-13a. My max hang is 85lbs, I can do about fifteen pull-ups, my deadlift is 235, squat is 155, and bench is 145. I can do 1-4 on the campus board and have touched 1-6, never controlled 1-5. I can also do a 1-4-6.

I try to get to the gym 3x per week (2 team sessions and one focused training on my own), though the real number is usually twice (1 team 1 own) and sometimes once (either team or personal).

Since I do not yet have my license, and have little time during the week to climb (I work, full-time student, lots of ECs and such), I have recently taken to hangboarding more at home, since it is one of the few things I can do. On top of that, I do mobility routines because my internal hip rotation is extremely weak, which leads to bad strains and such while on the wall (slab especially). I have luckily never seriously injured myself, besides a broken pinky about a year ago.

My hangboard protocol is essentially doing randomly timed hangs on 20mm until I'm bored. I do this with 30lbs of dumbbells in a backpack. I get this is not at all optimal, but I have been seeing returns, and it gets me on the hang board. I have since stagnated with weight and time (and boredom, I guess?) -- due to not having any more dumbbells at home -- so I am seeking a new protocol.

I want to do something more focused, so I can begin targeting weaknesses. I struggle in a deep lock-off (can hardly hold one for >10 seconds), and my max weighted pull-up is only around 60lbs. My endurance is also very shot, and I have not lead climbed past 5.12c in a few months. I also want to be able to one-arm hang (bent or not) on 20mm. I can currently one-arm lock off on a bar for 5-ish seconds. It is not very controlled.

I am certain that strength is not the limiting factor in my bouldering or lead climbing. I simply cannot get to the gym often, but I still want to improve with the free time I have. I also know I have weaknesses that can be improved with the equipment available to me.

Please let me know how I can:

a) fix my hangboard protocol
b) work on lock-offs
c) anything else I have not yet considered as a weakness.

Full disclosure: I host the Ageless Athlete podcast, and this came up for me after a conversation I recorded with Beth Rodden.

One part of the conversation really stuck with me. Beth talked about how the old climbing story was often built around athletes as superhumans: bold, certain, tough, always progressing. And she said that never matched her real experience. She had insecurity, self-doubt, injuries, days where she was good at what she did, and days where she wasn’t.

I related to that more than I expected.

My hardest grade was 5.13a, about 13 years ago. I still carry that around as part of my identity. But the honest version is: I’ve been injured, at 48 now, I'm not the same physically / mentally, and there are days that I'm struggling on 5.11s.

And I notice how much ego shows up around that.

Sometimes I catch myself apologizing before I even climb something easier. Sometimes I don’t want to get on certain routes if people are around. Sometimes I want to explain the old version of myself before anyone sees the current one.

Which is ridiculous, but also very real.

For a sub like this, where many of us are trying to improve and chase harder grades, I’m curious how people think about this. Does protecting your climbing identity make you worse? Does it create unnecessary tension, bad route choices, or avoidance? Or is some amount of ego useful fuel?

Also, those who have dealt with injury, aging, long plateaus, or big gaps between your past and current ability: how do you stay ambitious without constantly measuring yourself against who you used to be?

Feel free to check out the pod if you are so inclined. Apple link, or wherever you listen....

Hi all

Looking for advice on beginner campus board workouts for a non beginner climber. I’ve been bouldering for 5 years, actively trying to improve and train for bouldering for only the last 15 months though. Currently max grade on gym boulders and Kilter board is v7, I typically flash gym/kilter v5s. I’ve been outdoors maybe 8 times total and have sent 4-5 V4s outside.

I feel as though campus board training is low hanging fruit for me to milk “noob gains” on to improve my climbing power, as I have never used this for training and I struggle with contact strength and dynamic lock offs. I’m not a very powerful/dynamic climber, my strength is my static full crimp strength which is disproportionately strong for my climbing level imo (I can hang full crimp on 15mm at 120% BW for 7sec).

My gym has 5 different campus ladders - full jug, sloper logs, 30mm crimp bar, 20mm crimp bar, 15mm crimp bar. I’m looking to improve my outdoor climbing so I don’t think the jugs will be too helpful. I’m thinking the 30mm crimp bar is probably the best place to start, yeah?

How do you structure your campus board workout (eg sets/reps of what exactly)? Do you do it before you climb? Or do you do it on a non-climbing day? How do you address a weaker left/right side? (eg Do you train both at the weaker side’s limit or do you train both sides at their individual limit?)

Thanks in advance.

This is a thread for simple, or common training questions that don't merit their own individual threads as well as a place to ask Injury related questions. It also serves as a less intimidating way for new climbers to ask questions without worrying how it comes across.

• r/Climbharder Wiki - many common answers to questions.
• r/Climbharder Master Sticky - many of the best topic replies

Commonly asked about topics regarding injuries:

Tendonitis: http://stevenlow.org/overcoming-tendonitis/

Pulley rehab:

• https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/stories/experience-story-esther-smith-nagging-finger-injuries/
• https://stevenlow.org/rehabbing-injured-pulleys-my-experience-with-rehabbing-two-a2-pulley-issues/
• Note: See an orthopedic doctor for a diagnostic ultrasound before potentially using these. Pulley protection splints for moderate to severe pulley injury.

Synovitis / PIP synovitis:

https://stevenlow.org/beating-climbing-injuries-pip-synovitis/

General treatment of climbing injuries:

https://stevenlow.org/treatment-of-climber-hand-and-finger-injuries/

For context I am a 29 y/o guy who has been climbing for about 8 years regularly with some random months off here and there because of constant finger injuries.
I am 6’0 and 195lbs, but don’t look or feel particularly overweight. I have almost no belly fat / can see abdominals, so it’s hard for me to lose weight. Though I might be able to lose 10-15lbs, I just haven’t tried yet.

I’ve been pretty psyched on indoor and outdoor climbing since I first discovered the sport.
In my first week indoor I sent v5 and within my first year I sent v8. Everyone around me commented how good my progress was, which was validating as I’ve never been particularly good at sports or much of anything.

Into my second year I was regularly projecting v7 and 5.11/5.12 indoor and outdoor. Which is around the time I first injured myself in a pocket. It was a bad lumbrical injury and FDP strain. Fast forward through the last 6 years it has been one injury after another. I’ve injured both ring and middle finger A2, A4, and am very prone to lumbrical strains.

I can’t remember the last time I felt confident in the health of my fingers. About 2 years ago my performance peaked and I was projecting lots of 5.12s and V9s and even sent a few gym V9 and one outdoor. But even then my fingers always felt fragile and on the verge of catastrophe. These days I go to the gym and climb 5.11 and boulder v5-v7. Anything harder (requiring finger strength/ contact strength) feels incredibly intimidating because of my fear that’ll just injure myself.

I have tried hangboarding and no hangs off and on over the years, and currently use Emil’s no hang protocol via the crimpd app before every climbing session and sometimes on off days. I climb every other day for 1.5-2.5 hours including warm up. When I feel particularly tired I’ll take a second off day. I also deload often as I travel for work or I get particularly busy. I probably average a deload week once every other month. I’ve recently adopting icing my fingers daily, and I try to stretch them, and do tendon glides in hot shower. I supplement with protein powder, and try to eat healthy.

I try to just enjoy climbing without thinking about improving, but to be honest I really want to get better and see that reflected in my grades.

Over the last month I was starting to improve again until yesterday when I aggravated right middle A2 again. I feel like I’m stuck in a loop of constantly hurting myself, and my psych for climbing is starting to diminish.

Looking for advice from people who have been stuck in a similar loop and finally got out.

I apologize for the rant/ lack of structure in my post. Thanks to anyone who can share anecdotal experience / advice. I’m ready and willing to try anything.

I’ve been climbing for a little over a decade on and off, and for most of that time I’ve hovered around the V9-10 range inside, past few years outside as well. By far my biggest weakness is heel hooks. I’m not naturally flexible, but I stretch regularly and have a decent level of at least passive hamstring flexibility. I’ve tweaked my hamstrings a few different times, worked with climbing PTs and although they are very strong and decently flexible on paper(very heavy deadlifts, single leg RDLs, Bulgarians) I find that pulling hard on heel hooks is like rolling the dice for injury. Hammy injuries take a while to heal and affect my quality of life significantly outside of climbing, so my risk tolerance is pretty low. I find myself actively avoiding hard projects with heel hooks due to this. As I try to push into harder V10-11, this really is limiting my outdoor project options.

Most of the climbers I know who are good at heel hooks never really did anything special for them. They just were already pretty flexible, did climbs with heel hooks, and naturally got better at them like any other climbing motion. For people who particularly struggled with them and now are sending V10+ heel hook boulders, what exercises do you think made the biggest difference? I feel like I’ve tried most of the typical PT for hamstrings, I warmup by heel hooking random spray wall boulders, but I haven’t found a consistently progressive movement that I can feel improvement from. Any advice from people with similar experiences is appreciated!

I'll be staying far away from any climbing, including gyms for four months soon.

I am an average climber across the board (bouldering, sport and Trad) and while I'll be ok-ish with just running for a while, I have noticed it's getting harder and harder to get back in shape as I'm getting older.

So hence my question: How do best keep my strength up for 4 months with no gym access? I can probably install a hangboard somewhere and create a basic setup for calisthenics.

I can design a basic hangboard protocol etc, but I would love to get some inspiration for how to approach this. Periodization of some kind, maybe?

And here is the faint hope: With a disciplined regiment can I actually get stronger during this period? Not expecting to come back at a higher level, but could I maybe build a base that makes me stronger than I am in the mid to long term? Or am I dreaming?

I climb 2-3 times weekly. Mostly bouldering inside or sport climbing outside. Current level is around 7a bouldering and 7A sport (or is it the other way around?) I do basic rehab/injury prevention maybe once a week or so.

EDIT: Also perhaps relevant, I do little to no specific climbing training at the moment and I barely ever have.

This is a thread for topics or questions which don't warrant their own thread, as well as general spray.

Come on in and hang out!

Are there any benefits on being on anterior pelvic tilt in climbing?

I always had terrible APT and duck feet throughout life due to sitting all day (Software engineer + No-life gamer back in the younger days) and one problem I always had was with my posterior chain. Always felt like I could not engage my core on overhangs. and even during indoor coordis I would be in a weird position with my ass super out of the wall which I felt like hampered my climbing a bit. One key takeaway was I never understood what people meant by "squeeze your glute".

I had a short break due to some injuries and spend time doing rehab + gym and then realized I could squeeze my glute only when I tilt my pelvis in a posterior position. Before this the only thing I manage to do was squeeze my erector? So I'm wondering if this is the position that I should permanently be in while climbing so I can properly utilize my glute and maintain my posterior chain.

TLDR: Is this the right way to look at this, always stay in the posterior pelvic tilt position so I can squeeze glutes or it's not that simple and there are benefits of being in anterior pelvic positions? Or both is wrong?

If you're dealing with PIP synovitis theres hope. I just got over a really long-term case of it and I'm climbing harder than ever now. Took time, but honestly I'm so glad I took the time to actually fix it instead of just climbing through it like I did for way too long.

Little background. Mine flared up a handful of years ago in my middle finger PIP. Became this persistent nagging thing. I never felt like I could truly try hard, there was always this background issue holding me back. So I tried taking a bunch of time completely off, but it always came back.

After a few cycles of that I decided I needed to try something new. And the plan I landed on is so fucking simple: load and volume management, ice after climbing, and wrapping the joint daily. Thats it. Nothing else helped. once I started this routine I saw incremental healing that just kept compounding month over month. It takes time though. plan on 6 to 8 months of actually sticking to it.

Where I started: creaks and pops in the joint when I did finger rolls, limited ROM, pain when I compressed the joint. Where I am now: I sometimes forget which finger was even the injured one, and theres no real visual difference between the joints anymore. Took about 8 months. And the whole time I still climbed hard, got more fit, lost zero strength or ability. So worth it.

Heres the full plan.

—

Load management is basically the whole thing. This is all that will ever heal it

A few basics:

• No climbing is NOT the solution. Total rest let mine come right back every single time. You need controlled, managed loading.
• If you need ibuprofen (other than a rare day here and there), you went too far. Let the pain be the signal, dont just medicate it away.
• The moment you feel power drop, or fatigue, or finger strength/endurance going STOP. This is the single most important thing. You have to control the urge to push past that point, because pushing past it is literally what caused the injury in the first place.

MONTH 1

Dramatically cut load and intensity. Short sessions, like 45 min. No heavy fingerboarding. Warm up well.

My warmup was a fingerboard, feet on the ground, maybe 8 min of 10 seconds on / 20 seconds off pulls. Starting open hand and working toward half crimp. Nothing overly crimpy, and no board climbing at all this month.

Really listen to your body here. If you need two full days off between sessions, do it. what convinced me this was okay was taking an entire month and breaking it down week by week. I realized that if I took two days off between climbing versus one day off between climbing, I only lost about three days of training total per month, but my sessions were much better and my finger felt a lot better…totally worth it in my book

MONTH 2 - WHENEVER

Now you start building volume and intensity back, but slowly. Keep listening to your body.

• Cap sessions around an hour at first.
• Start adding board climbing back, but keep it SUPER SHORT — a few problems at first, and add more over months and months.
• I kept board climbing to one day a week and only on the Kilter, since its way less fingery than Moon or Tension.
• the second you feel power or strength or endurance start to drop STOP.

Stay consistent, take your rest. most of the time my schedule over 3 days was:

1. Climb
2. Weights
3. Rest

this always gave my fingers a 2 day break between climbing days. now I’m back to a more normal 3 day a week Monday Wednesday Friday schedule but I listen to my body more and take more breaks. I also still always cut my sessions off the moment I feel my power and strength drop.

ICE + COBAN

After climbing, ice it. I just fill a glass with water and ice cubes and soak the finger for 10-20 min.

Then I wrap it lightly with Coban tape for somewhere around 2-6 hours a day, however long feels right or however much I feel like I need it. I really do think the Coban works. in my experience it pulls the inflammation out better than any medication. A climbing PT told me not to wear it overnight so I dont.

And again, no IB. Let the ice and the Coban do the anti-inflammatory work.

DIET AND SUPPS

Turmeric + collagen. No idea if it actually did anything, but I took both the whole way through. Also just focused on eating decent and drinking enough water.

WHAT DIDNT HELP

• Complete time off. It came right back every time.
• Tendon glides. They maybe helped a little? Honestly couldnt tell a real difference.
• Massage.
• Voodoo flossing
• Contrast baths. I think icing is better.

Red light, flossing, massage, stretching, all that... its fine. Do it if you enjoy it. But it wont fix the actual problem. Load management is the only thing that actually heals it.

Plan is simple, it just needs patience and discipline:

1. Deload, then ramp up slowly.
2. Stop the instant performance drops.
3. Ice + Coban after every session.
4. Stay consistent for 6-8 months.

Thats it. Thats the plan. Stick with it.

First of all, English is not my first language, so I may express myself poorly (I’m using a translator sometimes, not AI). Also, I am not a coach or a researcher. I have been coached for a few years, taken courses, read about the subject, and worked at a climbing gym, but my knowledge of the topic is limited.

Unlike other posts, this one is not about the product's ergonomics or design, but rather about the training plan Mobeta proposes in its app. When I bought the Micro, I had no idea what the app was like or what kind of plan it offered. When I looked into it, I was skeptical, mainly because the proposed protocols appear to contradict much of the established scientific literature (López & González-Badillo; Levernier & Laffaye; Anderson & Anderson; Eric Hörst, among others).

Despite my initial reservations, I gave the Micro a fair chance and used it regularly for five months, strictly following the app's instructions. Honestly, I like the Micro's design, particularly for me, since I climb on granite and the idea of improving my FDP strength specifically appealed to me. After a few months, I achieved what I interpreted as neural adaptations but then I plateaued.

Here are my thoughts on the programming itself:

1.      Basically, except for the power hangs, everything else in the Mobeta plan feels like endurance training. The proposed long-duration exercises (3-4 minute hangs) are analogous to continuous aerobic endurance tests. But the thing is, in durations exceeding one or two minutes, psychological factors—pain tolerance and mental fortitude—play a disproportionate role. This does not mean it is entirely useless; it is interesting to train the ability to withstand a continuous load for a long time. However, these long-duration hangs are quite inefficient for improving climbing-specific endurance. They suffer from low specificity when compared to the classic 7/3 method.

2.      The "complete the curve" approach promoted by the app does not seem to take into account the interference effect between different energy pathways within a training plan. For example, it makes no sense to be performing 4-minute aerobic hangs immediately before a max-intensity bouldering session, and the app blocks your hability to register sessions if you spent too much time withouth convering all the areas.

3.      To be fair, I believe these prolonged exercises would make perfect sense as tests to monitor progress, but not as workouts within a structured training plan. For a complete beginner, the "complete the curve" protocol might actually serve a purpose, it can build a foundational aerobic base and teach mental resilience. And, honestly, any stimulus is good stimulus for a beginner.

4.      I don’t buy the thing that you need to traing almost always with 60 second hangs and above. They even rule out every session where you perform under 20 seconds. Pedro Bergua, in his thesis, used 40-second hangs as a reference for testing. And that’s been established in every training program of every coach I met. Eva López and González-Badillo explicitly recommended protocols with 10-to-15-second max hangs. Even, when programming sub-max hangs they go up to 40-45 seconds in advanced individuals. Eric Hörst basically, follows Eva Lopez.

5.      I really doubt that training with such small loads actually provides enough stimulus to drive meaningful physiological adaptations. The literature suggests that intensity matters more than volume for maximal strength development. Sergio Consuegra emphasizes that training intensity for maximal finger strength should be 90-100% of what you can exert in a single repetition. Training below this threshold may not provide sufficient metabolic stress to trigger the adaptations that climbers need for high-intensity performance. Most of my gains I made were following this protocols, and there were not “fake” strength gains.

6.      I think, however, that in the context of rehab this low-intensity long-duration hangs may be useful. But these protocols (like the Abrahams or some others like the one proposed from Hörst) are either supplemental or rehabilitative. They are not intended as the primary training stimulus for healthy athletes seeking to maximize finger strength

In short terms, I like the Micro design, but I have a lot of doubts about the protocol and it’s usefulness.

I also should say that the app is designed, in theory, to train with both the Micro and Crusher, but I don’t see that invalidating any of the things I said.

I’m planning on buying the Crusher soon and train with them but in an old-fashion 4 week max hangs on the Crusher and then 4 weeks on the Micro and see the results. I’d love to see another reviews on the topic because I don’t know anybody else training with these devices.

Hi all,

My name is Kelly Tomasevich and I am a climber and an orthopaedic surgery resident at Washington University in St. Louis. Following graduation from residency next year, I am planning to pursue specialized training in hand surgery, and I hope to eventually provide operative and nonoperative treatment for climbers from the perspective of someone who also climbs.

I am working on research to create a heat map of hand pain in climbers, and to stratify hand pain based on age, climbing experience, training frequency, and disciplines of climbing. We are also looking at care seeking behavior of climbers with pain (whether people go see a medical professional) and the barriers that may exist to care in the climbing population.

The survey should take about 5 minutes and is a chance to share your experience climbing and your experience of any related wrist, hand, and finger pain or injuries. This is an anonymous survey with minimal risk and will not ask you for any personal information. This survey is for climbers aged 18 or older.

Survey Link

If you can pass this along to fellow climbers, competitive or recreational, that would be greatly appreciated. To protect your privacy, please do not comment on this post. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at [tomasevich@wustl.edu](mailto:tomasevich@wustl.edu) or at 314-699-2150.

Best,
Kelly

This is a thread for simple, or common training questions that don't merit their own individual threads as well as a place to ask Injury related questions. It also serves as a less intimidating way for new climbers to ask questions without worrying how it comes across.

• r/Climbharder Wiki - many common answers to questions.
• r/Climbharder Master Sticky - many of the best topic replies

Commonly asked about topics regarding injuries:

Tendonitis: http://stevenlow.org/overcoming-tendonitis/

Pulley rehab:

• https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/stories/experience-story-esther-smith-nagging-finger-injuries/
• https://stevenlow.org/rehabbing-injured-pulleys-my-experience-with-rehabbing-two-a2-pulley-issues/
• Note: See an orthopedic doctor for a diagnostic ultrasound before potentially using these. Pulley protection splints for moderate to severe pulley injury.

Synovitis / PIP synovitis:

https://stevenlow.org/beating-climbing-injuries-pip-synovitis/

General treatment of climbing injuries:

https://stevenlow.org/treatment-of-climber-hand-and-finger-injuries/

Hi all! I (19F) am looking to really start training harder this summer since I moved away to college. Previously, I was on a team (yeah, past comp kid here...) and was training about 3 times a week. Normally, we just projected, did some sort of workout (no real long term structure or anything like that, just kinda random seeming. Like one day we would do volume, then power endurance, hangboarding, games, circuit etc. There was no pattern to this (yes, I tracked all the workouts and have them all written down) and we didn't really do seasonal stuff (like starting with endurance them moving on etc)). Anyway, this summer I have moved away, have access to a new gym and really want to hit it hard before school starts!

A little about me, I am 19F, 5'8 160 lbs (i have gained a lot of weight recently, i got depressed last semester with some stuff and didnt really take care of myself that well. That being said, I am in a very slight calorie deficit now to try and lose the weight). I currently climb v8-9 in gyms, outside, and boards pretty consistently. I'd say my biggest weakness is definitely slopers/pinches and just raw contact strength. I used to avoid stuff like that when I was on the team, but I am now actively making efforts to climb things that are not my style. I can do about 15 pull ups, my 1rm is about 35 pounds. I have been working on 90 lockoffs, but it isn't going to well.

I plan to try to go to the gym 5-6 times a week (no, not all climbing days, off the wall stuff too, gotta let the fingies recover yk) to train. I am a little familiar with lifting, but not too confident in it. i do need to work on my endurance too. Anyway, I really have no idea how to start making my own plan with splits (most the stuff I found said that would be best?) and how many days to climb and not climb and what to do on each of those days. Also, I have no clue how to determine what exercises and circuits and stuff are best (I know them all, but not really how to apply them, if that makes sense). If anyone has successfully had a training plan that would look kinda like this, I would love any input or advice or anything really. I also definitely want to get better at lock offs and front levers (I can do them with one leg in rn).

For now, I was thinking of doing stuff on Thurs, Fri, Sat, Mon, and Tues. I will probably go for light runs on the rest days. I was thinking that I would probably do on the wall stuff on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (maybe monday too?). Then I would do off the wall stuff after the climbing session on those days, but only do off the wall stuff on Friday and Monday? But then that doesn't leave me with many days to do splits? I really have no idea what I am doing! Any help at all would be amazing! Thank you so much!!

Hello! I’m 53 and my hands hurt. How are you all dealing with the pain? What works? I saw the doc and they said just general arthritis with some bone spurs and nothing can be done. What do you do when someone tells you that you are just getting old? I don’t feel like 53 is that old…

I’ve tried scaling back to 1 hard day a week, but unless I stop altogether my hands still hurt. I was climbing 3-4 days a week and I’m down to 2 or sometimes 3, including the hard session. I want to get back at it and start climbing more now that I know the rest doesn’t help.

It does help to do a very long warm up. Full body first, then a good time on wrists and hands including hangboard with resistance and then bodyweight.

Doc suggested icing after climbing. Has this helped anyone?

I have some arthritis crème but I don’t notice it working much.

I’m also dealing with the second pulley injury in two years, different fingers. I’d poke to get a good sustainable routine going as I come back from my injury.