[nasher47]

Udo Neumann's new e-book was released today - haven't had a chance to read through it in any depth but thought I'd put it out there in case anyone is interested, it's had some pretty good reviews from around and about so far.


http://artofbouldering.com/

[Dave Flanagan]

Looks interesting going to splash out. Hope the english is better than the green book...

[nasher47]

Hope the english is better than the green book...

Haha, I hope the content is better than the green book, I was sorely disappointed by that.

[Boredboy]

Looks good, what's the green book and why was it disappointing?

[Schnell]

 

Hope the english is better than the green book...

"The Art and Science of Bouldering is easy to read on virtually any device. It has been thoroughly tested with Good Reader and PDF Expert (later versions are of course more performant)."

Udo's version of Google Translate doesn't appear to be performant however.

[nasher47]

Looks good, what's the green book and why was it disappointing?

Gimme Kraft is the green book. I *personally* found that it was massively overhyped in the run up to it's release and very well marketed (more fool me I guess!) but the book itself is very thin on content and really lacks anything informative for anyone serious about training for climbing. I was hoping for a little more insight into the training regimes of the great climbers featured in the book rather than a (disappointingly basic) list of exercises. Not recommended.

[abarro81]

+1 on being disappointed by Gimme Kraft

[Paul B]

+1 on being disappointed by Gimme Kraft

it must be sh*t or someone would've stolen Three Nine's copy by now.

[Boredboy]

Ah that green book! I'll take down the peg board and stop doing push ups with my legs in stirrups and go out climbing instead.

[Oldmanmatt]

I've got to defend it a little.
If you were already training hard, there was nothing new (why did you think there would be? A magic bullet?).
As a guide for someone entering into more serious training, it's excellent.

The English, is better than that used by half our 15 year old climbers... in'it! Bruv.

[Stubbs]

I also like Gimme Kraft, it has been an inspiration this winter when core routines or training at the wall has got stale, choosing a couple of the routines out of there and doing them for a few weeks has helped to liven things up.  There's been excellent results among my friends, although that may be just because the weather has been so bad we've just been to the wall loads!

[abarro81]

I was expecting a book about training for climbing, not a list of gymnastics exercises with a couple of basic campus things thrown in. Perhaps my fault for thinking it was something it wasn't, but I thought the hype was way out of step with the content.

[Oldmanmatt]

Being a new wall, in an area previously devoid of walls; we've had a large number of newbies. A significant portion have been Parkour addicts. They're training routine is very Gymnastic in content, much like the Green book.
It has been clear, that the progress of these guys and girls into competent Boulderers has been very rapid indeed.
A fairly simple matter of inserting finger strength exercises.
We've, in turn, adopted some of they're routines (including putting in a slackline, which (by anecdote, at least) has improved our better climbers sense of balance).

I feel like I've benefitted from broadening my training, especially with shoulder recovery being such a drag.

Our little experiment has been running 8 months and seems encouraging. Next winters comp season will be the telling point.

Oh yeah, I forgot. Our other big group of newbies, have been the MMA junkies who work security/door on the Casinos and clubs (several East Europeans) and are now three times a week regulars.

All have adopted large parts of the Green book and progressed well from it.

[a dense loner]

But what have they done on grit?

[slackline]

We've, in turn, adopted some of they're routines (including putting in a slackline, which (by anecdote, at least) has improved our better climbers sense of balance).

Do I have a doppelganger?

[nasher47]

why did you think there would be? A magic bullet?

I thought there would be more to it as a result of the excellent marketing job they did. And as I said in my previous post I was hoping for a little more insight into the training regimes of the excellent climbers who are promoted in the book, not a magic bullet, I work hard at trying to improve as a climber and I'm very happy doing so. In fact my favourite part of the book is the dvd of all the climbers giving their thoughts on power. I do see the book as essentially a list of exercises and the problem I had with this is they were all exercises I was either already doing or already aware of. What I really wanted was a structure of how to properly integrate the exercises into a climbing specific periodised training plan, this is touched on but not in any great depth. It's a shame as the book really had a lot of potential but fell short at the last hurdle. *My personal opinion*

Bit Off Topic now though!

[slackline]

I thought there would be more to it as a result of the excellent marketing job they did.

You didn't pay attention at school did you....

[Dave Flanagan]

.... the excellent marketing job they did.

This isn't the first mention of I have read of their marketing savvy, what did they do that was so great?

[Oldmanmatt]

But what have they done on grit?

Fair cop.


Still it's a bloody long hike from here.

Quicker to get to Font.


Anyway, a Dartmoor granite V4 is worth 7C on Grit, isn't it? 😜😇

[SA Chris]

If it's Death Jug Mantle then V1 is worth 7C on grit.

[slackline]

.... the excellent marketing job they did.

This isn't the first mention of I have read of their marketing savvy, what did they do that was so great?

Included Alex Megos in the "school" training group and waited for him to on-sight 9a before releasing the guide.

[nasher47]

.... the excellent marketing job they did.

This isn't the first mention of I have read of their marketing savvy, what did they do that was so great?

Included Alex Megos in the "school" training group and waited for him to on-sight 9a before releasing the guide.

Bingo. What a sucker I am!

[miso soup]

The resident wads at TCA Glasgow all seem to love the green book.  Lots of push-ups with feet walking up and down the wall going on, and recreating the photo with Megos doing a front lever off someone's arm.

[nasher47]

recreating the photo with Megos doing a front lever off someone's arm.

What is Megos doing at TCA!? Surely he has better things to do with his time!?

[nasher47]

And just for clarity, I don't have any issues with any of the exercises recommended in Gimme Kraft, I was just expecting more from the book than a list of exercises. It does not come as a surprise that people are seeing gains from doing additional targeted training.

[2 Tru]

Saw this on the 8a.nu app. The author climbed his first 9a recently at an age of 36 with a full time job and a family. From reading his website it looks like the book might fit you brief Nasher: "a structure of how to properly integrate the exercises into a climbing specific periodised training plan"

http://rockclimberstrainingmanual.com/2014/03/11/sneak-peek-at-the-rock-climbers-training-manual/

[nasher47]

it looks like the book might fit you brief

http://rockclimberstrainingmanual.com/2014/03/11/sneak-peek-at-the-rock-climbers-training-manual/

Oh no... yet another training website that will keep me from doing my work...it's a hard life!

Book looks good, I'll be interested to get my hands on a copy when it become available over here.

[Denbob99]

Its the same guy that wrote http://www.rockclimbing.com/Articles/Training_and_Technique/The_Making_of_a_Rockprodigy__258.html which is a good read

[nasher47]

So I've had a chance to read through Udo's new masterpiece and thought I would share my thoughts on it here.


Graphically I hated it. I thought there were some amazing photographs and some really excellent use of photo-montages to explain concepts etc but the layout was terrible and particularly irritating was the way in which the text was overlaid on the photos. This kind of layout can work but here it really doesn't


There are quite a lot of words. He says a lot without saying very much at all. However there are some really excellent observations hidden within the rather pleonastic text. This is a bit of a shame as if you took the two elements above, edited the text to say what needs to be said and laid out the images properly then this would be a really nice, philosophical read.


I do view the title as a little misleading as there is very little science, apart from a couple of pages of (quite interesting) sums, a bit more of this would have good, even if you're not into your physics; understanding that mathematically the use of technique make a difference should also help you to understand better when and where to apply different techniques.


Personally I didn't like the way the book has no continuity to it. This is a choice by the author but I felt it made the reading disjointed and made the book seem as though it lacked purpose or clarity.


I suppose this is a fairly negative review on the whole, I did find  it an interesting and thought provoking read, though in my opinion it's overpriced at £20. Perhaps it was the fact that I had that price tag in the back of my mind or perhaps it's because I'm a miserable b&stard but I probably wouldn't recommend purchasing the book at this price, if it gets reduced then at £7.50 I would have been happy.


P.S I'd be really interested to hear someone support this book as I feel I must have missed something and would like to think I would look at it again from a different perspective.

[Muenchener]

Doesn't surprise me. There are some gems on Udo's website, and his coaching results are pretty convincing, but he certainly has a very, er, non-linear cognitive style that comes across in his writing and graphics. I've looked at the original German edition of Lizenz zum Bouldern in shops a few times and decided that it's not for me.

[saltbeef]

you summarise this better than i do. its a lot of whiffle for a few gems of information that are often quoted from others.
its not a training book, its a quasi-philosophy book

[Lund]

The resident wads at TCA Glasgow all seem to love the green book.  Lots of push-ups with feet walking up and down the wall going on, and recreating the photo with Megos doing a front lever off someone's arm.

Isn't this a planche progression exercise, i.e. a fucking cool exercise, but nothing to do with pulling muscles, so with extremely poor specificity for climbing?

[miso soup]

I've never actually seen it listed as a planche progression.  Antagonist and body tension thing I suppose, not the most climbing specific but you could make that argument for any antagonist stuff, doesn't mean it's not worth doing.  I found it surprisingly difficult.

[miso soup]

NB:  I am in no sense a TCA Glasgow resident wad.

[a dense loner]

It's probably the best core exercise I've ever done