[krymson]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to see if any one follows a protocol for training Power Endurance for Bouldering or if you guys think this is barking up the wrong tree.(i.e. just go train power, idiot!)

The point would be endurance for long boulder problems, as well as for onsighting/flashing problems.

4x4s are designed for routes so the type of endurance trained is too long -- repeaters seem a bit closer to the goal.
What about interval training on long boulder problems below the max bouldering grade? for example with a v5 boulderer, climbing a 10 move v3(perhaps 60s), resting 30 seconds, and doing it again?

Because of slightly tweaky pulleys I'm hesitant to train max power right now but would love to efficiently increase my ability to pull through on long, sustained boulder problems.

[Dexter]

find long sustained boulder problems a your limit and try them?

[Sasquatch]

4x2's?

There's nothing magic about 4x4's.  It's just a random number that generally ends up with a certain number of hard moves in a certain amount of time.  I've watched guys do 4x4's of 10-12 move problems resulting in 40-50 moves taking about 4-5 minutes to complete and they think they're doing PE.  I've also seen guys do 4x4's of 2-3 movers, so they end up doing 8-12 moves in about 45 seconds.  Again, probably not quite PE. 

I'd say look at doing two things.  One, find problems near to the length of what you thinking in time/moves and work those.    Stack 2 problems at or near the length of what you're thinking. Stack one harder and one easier(within a grade or 2 difference).  Sometimes do the easier one first, sometimes the harder one.  This'll help with being able to do hard moves at the end, and also being able to just keep going after doing hard moves.

[krymson]

Thanks Squatch, I think you're right.

Also, digging through the archives i found this discussed recently in another way:
http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,21816.0.html

I guess i need to devote the next month to reading the dt&i backlogs 

One interesting thing I've found as my fingers have gotten stronger is that forearm endurance seems to not be the only type of climbing endurance, but that the core is involved as well.

On routes i find that relaxing the fingers by taking weight off is nice but if i can get into a position such as a heel hook that allows me to relieve tension in the core -- i am absolutely golden, even if the same position takes less weight off the hands than a more tensiony position would.

Conversely when i am out of shape and try to climb an absolutely sustained hard boulder problem sometimes even if i can stick to the holds i feel absolutely thrashed halfway through the problem and my body is unable to get through it.

[SEDur]

This video by James Pearson is a great example of something you could try:


I have found 4x4s on boulder problems are good. I tend to make a 2/3 pyramid of power i.e. sets of  v3> v4  > v3 > v2; working around failure to ensure I get the most I can, out of my body.

I also tend to pick grade circuits i.e. v4, v5 or whatever (pump level 75%) and just bash through the entire circuit with no rests, lowering the intensity after failure.

Another good one is to just go up and down campus rungs 1, 2, 3 and maybe 4, making the exercise slightly easier all the time by adding feet or getting a mate to assist your back a little. The idea being that you pick a smaller rung size which requires a higher level of power to maintain the exercise, you then power out beyond your unassisted maximum.

If you have access to a fig8 board, trying to lap your limit is a good option; ensuring that all the moves are consistently hard.

If all else is a struggle to get psyched for, I try to link 4 or 5 boulder problems together with down-climbing so you never really recover (making sure i stay really quite pumped, but don't power out).


This has all been with an aim to be able to deal with a harder pump, more for the endurance end of power endurance.
The aim being to be able to have longer intense sessions.

If you want to train just to do longer boulder problems, harder and consistent but short routes may be worth considering.
To train the body to deal with longer single periods of sustained power, as opposed to more bursts.
I only call both power endurance because both views focus on power for longer in one way or another.

A cheeky stamina one I came across a couple weeks ago, was to do an entire circuit of boulder problems at an indoor wall, touching the floor as little as possible (generally to get between walls). If you can do this with a harder circuit set, you may be forced to do 4 or so more intense problems and climbing in-between without rests. You can then rest between sets but on the wall, so your body learns to deal with resting off the floor. May be a win win.

Hope this helps.

[krymson]

Thanks SEDur, Great ideas

I do like that video, and at 15-30 moves it seems relevant. I am interested in endurance in the 10-20 move range: extended boulder problems or short and powerful routes, as it seems this kind of endurance is difficult to increase easily(or at least there's no info about it), whereas the 30 move endurance from 4x4s or 30 move circuits is well documented.

If you are looking to learn to deal with a long hard deep pump i found the feet on fingerboarding/campusing can't be beat. You really can't go deeper into pump than that. It has both physical and psychological value, and is extremely time-efficient.