what's your training routine in the gym?

[kigga34]

i'm having problems working out a good training routine and wanted some suggestions from climbers who are looking to improve their performance during the winter season. not really used to the layout of the bouldering gyms here in seoul, but the only things i can think of to maintain strength and endurance is either traverse and do laps for endurance, and make up my own boulder problems on the overhangs for strength.

but the problem is i haven't been able to hammer out a specific routine like i did back home. so anybody got any advice? feedback?

and please don't say "just climb." please.

[Eric]

Here is a short list of some stuff you can do in the gym: http://www.koreaontherocks.com/forums/t280-making-climbing-in-the-gym-more-fun.html

BTW, what were you doing back home?

Here's what has worked for me in the off season which gave me my best season climbing so far.

I'd hit the gym 3-4 days a week. One of those days I would spend on endurance, picking a long route and doing laps. In my gym there is the "around the world" problem and it takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes to complete. If you fall off, get back on and keep going. The focus is on endurance and not pulling through crux moves and using crimpers the whole way.

Then I'd spend 1-2 days doing some hard routes which are usually about 30 - 40 moves. I try to pick routes that are just beyond my level. After a few weeks i usually complete it successfully. at this point i start looking for the next challenge but still practicing on the one i just did. also, these you can make harder by going round trip. do the route forward and backwards.

then for the other 1 - 2 days, i listen to my body and let it tell me what to do. it usually screams NO MORE!!! so i take it easy, stretch a lot, hop on some easy routes, focus on my technique and foot work and just enjoy hanging out in the gym.

its not a very regimented routine but it had me climbing much higher than i had ever climbed when spring came around.

i also read a lot of this article http://www.bodyresults.com/S1Climb.asp and it was really helpful, though i never stuck to any one routine.

i hope this helps!

Eric

[kigga34]

i was doing the horst 4-3-2-1 training routine. i kept up on it too cuz i had a good training partner who was just above my climbing level.

4 weeks of doing laps on easy routes. with climbing-related weight lifting.

3 weeks bouldering - 2-3 laps of some problems just below hardest difficulty. and finish off with a couple sets of arms lock offs, repeaters, weighted pullups, etc.

2 weeks redpointing - climbing at above previous redpoint. go up one route, belay partner, and then get on another hard one.

1 week rest. non climbing related exercise ok.

it busted my ***, but i was up a couple grades during the redpointing phase and was LOVIN it.

what gym do you climb at? i'm having a hard time figuring out the routes here. i think it goes by numbers. plus, the routes seem... different. i'm climbing almost a full grade lower than i'm used to. is it just me or is the route set up differently compared to the states?

[Eric]

i haven't climbed in gyms much in the states. basically only 1 gym, twice :S

but i am (i should say was cause im talking about last year) a solid 5.9 climber in the gym and the 5.10's are challenging whereas on the rock i am a solid 5.10 climber and the 5.11s were the tough ones. It's funny too because the koreans who climb circles around me in the gym struggle on climbs that are at their gym level on the rock. does that make sense?

anyway, i climb in daejeon. its just a bouldering gym, but quite large. no ropes required. in the past the routes weren't even marked, someone would show you the route, you had to memorize it and then you could climb it. nowadays they are marked by numbered peices of tape. footholds area rarely marked.

but don't get discouraged, the grades in the gym seem to be a FULL grade lower than their outdoor equivalent. plus, comparing yourself to some of the local climbers can be pretty demoralizing. they are SUPER strong and they climb in their gyms 5-6 days a week. i had to stop comparing myself to the locals and live with the fact that they are going to be and get much better than me because they put in the time. it's amazing how strong they get in such a short period of time.

at first i guess i really wasn't a big fan of the bouldering style of the gym but now i have come to like it and i am not so interested in climbing 'up' like back home. back home you always need a belayer and once you reach the top it's over. here, you can climb alone and just keep going and going and going...

ask one of the guys or girls at the gym to show you a route or the sequence of it if you don't know it.

eric

[kigga34]

******* i haven't been humiliated in climbing like this before. i'm down to essentially a 5.9. in US, i was a solid 11a climber. is traversing technique different from your typical top roping? all these bastards are really strong. they're uber friendly tho, in spite of a major communication barrier.

hey do you work a climbing focused workout routine? i've basically just designed a quick sloppy one, but want to finetune it so if anyone has beta it'd be super cool. i'd like to be as strong as the korean climbers one day.

it's basically after a good hour/hour and half of bouldering do 3 sets of one are lock offs, 4 sets of repeaters on a hangboard or 4 different holds (open hand crimp, pinch, sloper, and 2-3 finger pocket), and either 3 sets of frenchies, or 3 sets of wall lock offs (using a jug on an overhang to hold myself up with one arm for 5 seconds on/5 off and so on).

maybe i should direct this to rc.com.

[Eric]

I'm probably not the right person to be giving advice for gym training as I've done very little (hmm... none) formal training in the gym nor have i read too much about it. if you find better info over at RC.com, please enlighten. :)

but here's what i do know:
the grades in the gyms do not seem to reflect the actual outdoor rating. like i said in previous posts, i was climbing 5.9 in the gym and 5.11 on rock.
once next spring rolls around you will see the 5.11 gym climbers having a hard time on the 5.10's. at least this has been my experience.
"after a good hour/hour and half of bouldering" - the guys/girls at my gym put in anywhere from 2 hours to 4/5 hours 3-5 days a week. so you are comparing yourself to people who train at least twice as much as you. the question is, how do they recover so fast and maintain such an intense training program? let me know if you figure out how they do it.
i think traverse climbing is much different than top roping. you have to move in totally different ways, i think you rely more on balance and my experience is that the routes are longer and take more time to complete


i understand your frustration. i have wondered for years how the locals can continually pull and pull hard. my buddy and i have shared more than a few beers dwelling over this issue. here's what i think it comes down to: LOTS and LOTS of time in the gym. they are always in the gym. everyday. they are there when i arrive. they are there when i leave. if they are not on the wall or resting, they are lifting weights, doing sit-ups or skipping rope.

finally, one thing i noticed as a foreigner; the folks at my gym are super friendly and i like them a lot. they were the ones that actually showed me how to climb, literally. but as a foreigner who can basically order beer and find the bathroom in korean, they usually leave me alone and let me climb what i want and how i want. and by being left alone to figure problems out, i was given the freedom to explore different answers to problems. why am i saying this? because a lot of the locals in my gym will tell each other the exact way to do things. there is not too much exploration of a problem, they are usually spelled out step by step, left foot here, right foot there. Not to take away from their ability, but a lot of them have the routes wired. maybe you aren't getting that indepth 'instruction' through a route which makes you to have to work from the bottom up, figuring out the 5.9s and then the 5.10s until you get to your real level. but this is the reason, i think, that when i go with my gym members to the rock i can climb better than some who out climb me in the gym.

sorry, longwinded and inarticulate...

if you find some solid, objective training information, please share. you'd definitely be helping me and possibly some others here.

later
eric

[punchy]

i know you're basically asking about strength/endurance training, but don't forget working out your cranium as well.

what eric said about how korean climbers tend to stick with what works for one of them has been my experience as well. they dial a route and then drill the beta into anyone who cares to climb it. i enjoy being creative with my movement, whether on rock or plastic. i don't get a lot out of being yelled at to put my left foot there. my right foot there. i'd rather be in a state of fluidity while i climb to let my mind and body figure those things out for themselves. this is one of the challenges with climbing that i enjoy the most.

with regards to doing one armed lock offs with your brain, i suggest reading arno ilgner's "the rock warrior's way." arno has dveeloped a mental training program (more like a well developed philosophy) that can be applied on and off the rock. he borrows heavily from the ancient art of training for samurai warriors who, when engaging a foe in battle, faced dire consequences should he not be fully attentive to his situation. this book, when applied with a dose of healthy motivation, will aid even the most jittery of climbers in working the bugs out of their brains when it comes to falling, failing or flaming.

check it out at http://www.warriorsway.com

g