[Luke Owens]

Looking for some advice on how to structure my board sessions to make the best use of my time on it. I usually train Tue and Thurs for 2 hours and go out one day on the weekend or go on the board again if I can't get out. I could train more as the board is 5mins from my house but I feel beasted after a session on it.

I warm up for 10 - 20 mins traversing then get about 1hour 30mins on the board then warm down for 10 mins.

I have zero structure at the moment, I just randomly try problems/moves I've made up for the whole time, lately I've tried an actual Moonboard and was pretty floored by how hard even the easiest (6B+, 6C) problems are. I couldn't do most of them. The angle itself is a weakness of mine. On easier angled stuff I seem to be able to use any sort of hold size/type and have an illusion of finger strength (probably over reliant on my feet).

I spent a lot of time on the board last winter and saw small improvement on it but didn't feel my core or fingers got a noticeable amount stronger. I'm not able to kill/control any sort of swing when my feet come off and my fingers feel way weaker than what's needed for this style. I really enjoy the board, the style of board climbing is something I'm psyched to get good at but feels very hard to improve at.

Any ideas how to structure my sessions better than just randomly trying problems? Maybe some helpful drills/exercises to do on it? I did consider doing some fingerboarding but have no idea how to fit this in with the board sessions feeling so intense on the fingers.

Cheers

[36chambers]

I've become completely obsessed with board climbing over the last few years. It's almost as satisfying as the real thing.

I find it very useful to have a theme for the session beforehand, these are usually based on my current goals/projects and can be split into things like; small holds small moves, big holds big moves (etc), no cutting loose, wide moves, undercuts, AnPow, AnCap (if the board is big enough), ongoing hard board projects, replica moves, 1-2 move wonders (my current favourite), novel moves, novel holds.     

I stumbled across this gem a while ago which is an excellent general approach that I've used a few times and found useful/fun.

Trying several individual hard moves that take you more than 3 sessions at a climbing wall is surly pretty demoralising, boring and you probably end up doing very little climbing.

Why don't you give yourself 6 weeks, two sessions each week and set yourself 6 boulder problems varying between 4-8 moves on a 45 board. All problems should be different in style using different kind of holds.

Problem 1 (easiest): Should be fairly hard but suits your style and strengths, should aim to do this in a session 10-20 goes of trying super hard.
Problem 6 (Hardest): Super hard, have two back to back moves that are ridiculous. First session you should be able to tag the holds of the back to back moves individually, but not be able to hold them, the style should be something you are rubbish at/ or holds you are not very good at using. You should aim to send this on your last session of your 6th week.

All the other problems should be somewhere in between, but the harder ones should be tailored towards your weakness or a certain problem you have in mind for the real stuff that actually matters (rock). Ideally, first week, you should be able to do one of them in a sesh, week 2 should able to do two of them in a sesh, week 3, 3 of them etc etc.

Before you try any of your problems, warm up well (20-30mins) on easy problems but also pulling on some crimps, pinches or whatever type of holds your board problems have on them. Then have between 1hour- 1 1/2 hours on the board pulling as hard as you can, give 100% and no less on each try whether that being one individual moves or linking the whole problem. Remember to try and finish relatively strong.

By the end of the six weeks, you should aim to do all the 6 problems you have set in a session.

Not that I know anything about training but this is something that I tend to do if I am preparing myself to try a hard problem on rock! Probably total rubbish, but it's pretty satisfying when you send all 6 in a sesh.

Rest wise, I usually work in blocks of 10-15 minutes of climbing (with appropriate rests between attempts) and then ~10 minutes of complete rest (wandering around the wall heckling people). With maybe 4-5 blocks per session. I think I originally got this approach from RCTM's limit bouldering work out.

I have a few 1-2 move projects that I try every now and then to gauge how I'm doing. Being able to do a few from last year practically every time is very satisfying.

I've also gone as far as having an STG, MTG and LTG for the board, which are as follows;
STG: be able to properly use all of the small holds on the board.
MTG: tick off 3 specific "8A's" set on the board.
LTG: burn off Tim Palmer.

Interested to hear what other people have to say about the subject.

[Footwork]

I've become completely obsessed with board climbing over the last few years. It's almost as satisfying as the real thing.

I find it very useful to have a theme for the session beforehand, these are usually based on my current goals/projects and can be split into things like; small holds small moves, big holds big moves (etc), no cutting loose, wide moves, undercuts, AnPow, AnCap (if the board is big enough), ongoing hard board projects, replica moves, 1-2 move wonders (my current favourite), novel moves, novel holds.     

I stumbled across this gem a while ago which is an excellent general approach that I've used a few times and found useful/fun.

Trying several individual hard moves that take you more than 3 sessions at a climbing wall is surly pretty demoralising, boring and you probably end up doing very little climbing.

Why don't you give yourself 6 weeks, two sessions each week and set yourself 6 boulder problems varying between 4-8 moves on a 45 board. All problems should be different in style using different kind of holds.

Problem 1 (easiest): Should be fairly hard but suits your style and strengths, should aim to do this in a session 10-20 goes of trying super hard.
Problem 6 (Hardest): Super hard, have two back to back moves that are ridiculous. First session you should be able to tag the holds of the back to back moves individually, but not be able to hold them, the style should be something you are rubbish at/ or holds you are not very good at using. You should aim to send this on your last session of your 6th week.

All the other problems should be somewhere in between, but the harder ones should be tailored towards your weakness or a certain problem you have in mind for the real stuff that actually matters (rock). Ideally, first week, you should be able to do one of them in a sesh, week 2 should able to do two of them in a sesh, week 3, 3 of them etc etc.

Before you try any of your problems, warm up well (20-30mins) on easy problems but also pulling on some crimps, pinches or whatever type of holds your board problems have on them. Then have between 1hour- 1 1/2 hours on the board pulling as hard as you can, give 100% and no less on each try whether that being one individual moves or linking the whole problem. Remember to try and finish relatively strong.

By the end of the six weeks, you should aim to do all the 6 problems you have set in a session.

Not that I know anything about training but this is something that I tend to do if I am preparing myself to try a hard problem on rock! Probably total rubbish, but it's pretty satisfying when you send all 6 in a sesh.

Rest wise, I usually work in blocks of 10-15 minutes of climbing (with appropriate rests between attempts) and then ~10 minutes of complete rest (wandering around the wall heckling people). With maybe 4-5 blocks per session. I think I originally got this approach from RCTM's limit bouldering work out.

I have a few 1-2 move projects that I try every now and then to gauge how I'm doing. Being able to do a few from last year practically every time is very satisfying.

I've also gone as far as having an STG, MTG and LTG for the board, which are as follows;
STG: be able to properly use all of the small holds on the board.
MTG: tick off 3 specific "8A's" set on the board.
LTG: burn off Tim Palmer.

Interested to hear what other people have to say about the subject.

For the record, non of the above counts as training.

[dave]

There's a tendency these days to overcomplicate stuff with plans/regimes/protocols, but there's a lot to be said for just trying bastard hard on a lot of problems. If you're trying bastard hard then you're getting stronger, end of. So the difficult thing is in finding a set of problems you can do enough moves on to try them or do them (or almost do them) without it feeling like a waste of time. This is easiest to do on an established board with a book of problems across the grades. If you're on your own board, or on a new board without a book, or a moonboard where the grades are all over the place then be prepared to put the groundwork in and waste a lot of time making stuff up and going down dead-ends, or gravitating to train only your strengths.

So you're going to need:

- a set of escalating problems in a range of styles to get warmed up on, and crucially, to get through feeling like you're climbing well.

- a set of harder problems you expect to just do if you nail it, maybe just fail on, and a few where you are piecing together the moves on. If you're never failing it's too easy, if you're succeeding on nothing it's too hard.

- a set of fallback options if for whatever reason you're not feeling it - it could be doing your warm-up circuit but only with tiny footholds, or could be doing something on a different board angle you don't normally climb on.

The aim should be to always keep the psyche high, to always make sure that you're getting enough actual climbing in (easy to miss if you're stuck projecting stuff way too hard, or wasting time setting problems), always trying bastard hard, and crucially to always take away some kind of victory from the session no matter how tiny. Then psyche will prevail and you'll stick at it. Rome wasn't built in a day.

[tomtom]

Good words Dave. I do this at walls. Get warmed up then get stuck into problems straight away that I can't do - but am not completely shut down on.

[PipeSmoke]

I try and have a session or 2 every couple of weeks with someone else , just making problems and trying some random stuff. Just because when I make my own problems I seem to trend towards similar holds/moves. So it's good to get shutdown and try hard on something different. Climbing on a board with someone else can also be pretty good for trying hard , a bit of friendly competition. Unless they flash your project

[Oldmanmatt]

To add to Dave's wise words, I like to do the following when developing a problem on a well filled board. It works for me.

Using the poorest foot placements I can, find a couple/a hold(s) that I can only just pull off the mat with. Find something a suitable distance up that I can just about pull on using one of/the first hold(s) and so on. Evolving the problem as I go. Since the next hold position is determined by the "hold I find hard to hold" algorithm, rather than the "what can I reach next" version, I get forced into making moves I wouldn't "choose" to do otherwise. In other words, it usually means making a move that feels less natual, than I might have chosen.

If that makes any sense.


All posts either sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek or mildly mocking-in-a-friendly-way unless otherwise stated. I always forget to put those smiley things...

[Luke Owens]

Cheers guys, some great advice all around.

Realised why I was getting demoralised before, I was just warming up traversing then getting stuck into 1 or 2 problems on the board for 1.5hr, maybe managing the odd link of a couple or few moves here and there.

Last night was much better, came up with some good easier warm up problems and set 6 problems of increasing difficulty. I did the first one after about 10 goes, then worked on the 2nd and 3rd.

I've identified a more accurate weakness too, big moves on good holds shut me down, but I find small moves on small holds relatively easy in comparison. Added some better holds to the board and included some big moves on and off them in my set of 6.

Cheers!

[SA Chris]

I think from a psyche / morale  / ego perspective it's good to get one or two harder new problems  / longer term projects (week or more) ticked in every session, so you don't feel you have come away empty handed having done nothing but a few easier problems done as warmups plus continual failure on harder projects. That's how I feel anyway, even if it's only an extra problem or two.

[Oldmanmatt]

having done nothing but a few easier problems done as warmups plus continual failure on harder projects.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, sums up my current climbing life; both indoor and out.

I quite like it though. It's been 38 years since I started. Endlessly ticking things I can do after a session (or even four) lost it's appeal somewhere.
I've reached a point, at the moment, where I pick a monster and work it to death [emoji88].
Currently I'm obsessed with doing Saddle Tor traverse by the old method/broken hold.
I go, warm up, set a timer (4min on, 5 off) and work the moves.
My board sessions are the same, really.
So, in a lot of ways; the opposite of Doylo, Chris et al.

I have even recreated a (harder) approximation of the problem on the board and spend several minutes of each session working it (on a Monday, session on the rock every Thurs, weather permitting).

Not quite as clockwork as it sounds.
Nearly...
[emoji12]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Three Nine]

Might head to Saddle on sunday if you're about?

[Oldmanmatt]

Bristol for panto.
Weekends suck when you have four kids. Perks of being the boss though, I take a day off during the week and my partner/boss(51%)/Fiancée covers the wall. This is usually a Thursday. Guess which day is the only day of rain forecast this week?
I'll chuck the pads in the van, just incase tomorrow, but I think it's race training day only.
If you're around during the week, I don't mind publicly embarrassing myself, falling off things and sharing a flask of coffee...


All posts either sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek or mildly mocking-in-a-friendly-way unless otherwise stated. I always forget to put those smiley things...

[Paul B]

Varian once said something like you need to stop judging the success of a session in terms of problems and think of moves, or even just progress on moves as success.

Warm up (thoroughly, don't rush it or do too much)
Try something (problem / moves) near limit with ample rest between attempts (tricky if you're on your own)
Starting to tire? Quick warmdown and finish (stop strong).

Training strength or power is brutally efficient.

One of the many joys of the School was that you have a booklet full of problems set by people likely to have very different strengths / weaknesses to yourself; Jens once told me off for putting School problems on my scorecard. I reprimanded him and he then asked me to write him an article (I declined).

[Durbs]

Hope this is relevant, but from my circus days, went to many a workshop and seminar including some excellent ones on training.

One of the best lessons I took away from one of these was “Always finish a practice session on a high”. This was in the context of learning a new trick, but applies just as well to most practise/training things. If you have a training session, and finish feeling deflated/beaten/frustrated your motivation to return next time will lessen, and your pre-psyche when you do will be less.
Finishing up with something “fun” keeps the love alive and the desire strong. In juggling terms, this was usually putting on some tunes and having a play – so guess the same would apply for board training – do some daft dynos, climb a route you used to struggle on (“I can do it now even though I’m knackered – progress!”), play +2 with a mate (and win).

This may be hippy talk, but it worked for me :D

[Teaboy]

or a moonboard where the grades are all over the place

Is this the case at all grades then and not just down at the shallow end? Certainly in the 6b+ grade the problems range from flash-able to a series of moves each one alone must be 7a

[Duma]

In my experience they get more reliable above 7A. The lower end stuff is def all over the shop - probably exacerbated by the feet follow thing - means stuff is more likely to be very morpho I think.

[Muenchener]

Hope so. Being fairly tall I find I usually manage the first couple of hand moves on "6B+", then lever myself off the board trying to get a foot up from the kickboard onto the starting handhold at waist height.

[dave]

Does that not indicate that the starting handholds are just too high?

[36chambers]

I always thought the foot follows hand idea seemed pretty daft. Surely all usable hand holds are jugs for the feet.

[Will Hunt]

I always thought the foot follows hand idea seemed pretty daft. Surely all usable hand holds are jugs for the feet.

 

And you get shoe rubber over your handholds.

[dave]

Depends on the handholds (it's certainly not the case on the school 50). But if all the holds on a board are big flat angular blocks of resin, then mainly yes.

[T_B]

I've found this on the Moon Board. Is it not to do with the grid layout of the holds and overall lack of hold density? It is an 'issue' on a few problems on the 50 Degree (e.g. Too Fluffy first couple of moves), but I find the grades all over the shop on the MB. Often I'm stretched out and clearly lanking it, or it's too high a high step for me.

[dave]

There's no high-steps-off-the-kickboard moves on Too Fluffy innit?

[Luke Owens]

Glad to hear other people think the sub 7A stuff on the Moonboard is all over the shop grade wise. Ben Moons problems especially seem ridiculous at the grade. I could barely do any of the moves on Wuthering Heights, Far From the Madding Crowds, Hocus Pocus and Tess... All sub 7A

[T_B]

There's no high-steps-off-the-kickboard moves on Too Fluffy innit?