[route149]

i have pinpointed a weakness in my lock-off strength when traversing on small holds and poor smears.

are the mechanics of this move the same as holding a static lock-off with one hand?  i often seem to be able to hang on certain holds for ever, but not cross-through easily or at all. 

flame me, desecrate my karma, whatever. i just don't know.

[Aussiegav]

the mechanics are different.
climbing traverses there is more a range of movement through the wrists, especially when crossing over/through.
when training on holds the direction of 'pull' is in one direction. a straight line from fingers to elbow. the ligaments and muscles in the wrist are spared as the larger muscles in the forearms and your skeltal structure absorb the force. thus making you hold/pull harder or on smaller holds.
if you were to build on this weakness, you'd perhaps try twisting your holds on the training board or hold the holds and go through a range of lateral movement from left to right or vice versa.

note, in theory the wrist is not designed to sustain such intense forces.. just pouring pints in to your gob and 1 handed loving.
to which you really don't want an injury

i hope this makes sense and is of use.

[Monolith]

Yeah apart from masturbating loads, I reckon just climbing lots of different types of problems and rock types is sound. Spend some time down at your local gymnasium too and find some exercises that work well for climbing (See the recent article on Muscleups here). "Training" always perplexes me. What exactly are the majority of climbers "training" for? If you're training to get better, why not just climb lots and do the mandatory cardio and gym work? Crank hard in good company and you'll be A-O.K.

[route149]

Training" always perplexes me. What exactly are the majority of climbers "training" for?

yeah I totally share your perplexed state.  by 'training', i just mean doing contrived stuff on wood and plastic instead of on rock.  if i could get on rock more often, i would, believe me.  but since i know (as everyone comes to know) that plastic and wood don't simulate rock perfectly, i call the stuff i make up 'training'.  it sounds more grandiose than it is.  it's just playing really, playing, but with an eye on the clock.

[Houdini]

"Training" always perplexes me. What exactly are the majority of climbers "training" for?

Power.  What else is there?  Oh yes, control.

[Monolith]

I think the word "training" seems to be applied more to preparation for something, like an event, a finite moment. I'd probably assume also that the majority of climbers don't climb in competitions. That said, it's a bit of a boring semantics war if one was to try and find another word for doing weights.
I submit 

[Houdini]

I pump iron for fun. 

I heard Arnold Schwarzenegger gush on one time about pumping iron: You know, venn I am lifting zee heavy veights it's the same  as venn I'm cumming, it's zee same feeling... blah... etc...  Endorphins  blah... Heil Hitler!  Blah...

I thought he was crackers.  It shocked me later to learn that the guy was right, sort of...