Avoiding injury when foot-on-campusing

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stone

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In the "best of 2024" thread @spidermonkey gave his cautionary experience of injury from foot-on-campusing. I found that sobering and made me think I perhaps need to seek any advice out there. As an older climber, I guess the key thing for me is to avoid injury. I do some repeater hanging and my impression (ie utterly unscientific "vibes") has been that that actually helps me avoid injury. So, I'm not wary of ultra-simplified repetitive exercises per-se.

Although I've never previously used a campus board, I recently modified our loft ladder with a view to using it for foot-on-campusing. I just put finger tape on the aluminium steps to comfort-ize. My intention was to try and take the advice from and do reasonably large reaches, swapping between having just the right or just the left foot on with perhaps just the first finger joint on the rungs and a stonking full foot on. I was thinking of starting with a ridiculously light session of it (today was supposed to be my first taster) to see how it feels. I'm keen to hear any suggestions.
 
For me it was the fact that the board I did it on was simply too steep. I've never had an issue training on a campus board in a wall (whatever angle that is, presumably its relatively standardised).
 
Thanks!
Is steepness impossible to compensate for by improving the foot rung?

I'm not arguing, just trying to understand/accommodate into my home set-up.
 
Thanks!
Is steepness impossible to compensate for by improving the foot rung?

I'm not arguing, just trying to understand/accommodate into my home set-up.
Possibly, but ultimately to me if you're getting really pumped your elbows are going to come out and you're going to stress them. That is the point of doing the training after all. The problem with doing this kind of training on a steep wall is that there's only so much your feet can do, even if it's on a bigger edge. There's still far more weight through your arms than on a less steep wall.
 
Just watched the video. I basically disagree with all three of his points 🤣 I obviously know less about training than Tom randall but to me the whole point of FOC is that its nothing like real climbing. Trying to make it more akin to the movement we'd do on rock seems to negate all its benefits. Certainly if thats the aim a circuit board would be far better.
 
I'd be a bit concerned about a high volume of deep locks and repetitive dropping-down moves stressing the elbows. This isn't an issue with isometrics like deadhang repeaters.
 
Perhaps I shouldn't risk it then.

What I have been doing, as non-climbing exercises, were deadhang repeaters and twisting one handed ring rows. I think those ring rows are totally contrary to how ring rows are supposed to be done. I don't try and keep my hips and shoulders orthogonal to the pulling direction; instead I rotate as I go from hanging facing sideways, right around to touching my ear and facing sideways the other way. I hoped that was a climbing-movement relevant convenient exercise. It doesn't seem to cause any sort of tweakiness (fingers crossed).

I was trying to analyse quite what was unravelling on my unsuccessful sport climbing repoints. I'm sure that if I was better in any number of dimensions, I'd do better, but it was more what was most realistically improvable by me. My thinking was that it might be sort of non-finger-specific power-endurance. My thought was that foot-on campusing might help that in a way that deadhang repeaters missed. Possibly just doing more of the twisting one handed rows is a safer answer. Perhaps adding in some sort of interval timing for them. Up until now I've been pretty casual, just trying to do a bunch with a sort of anything-is-better-than-nothing attitude.
 
I find repeaters really nice for maintenance and keeping fingers feeling healthy (I feel tweaky when I haven't done much for a while) but the very gentle and uniform load profile on the fingers doesn't seem to very applicable to climbing where you need to be engaging as you hit holds. Foot on campussing gives a little bit of this, although obviously not to the extent bouldering or campussing does.
For me the biggest potential issue is the locking, and in particular the down moves. I've had plenty of elbow issues in the past so am very mindful of this. So I avoid the first point in the Lattice video. My foot on campus board is actually a mini circuit board, equivalent size to rung 1 to 3 campus board but with a smattering of symmetrical holds between (mostly small crimps). And a footboard on the wall with a load of small-ish sloped eges. Equivilant to about a 30 degree wall. My usual circuit would be something like 1-1-3-3-2.5-2-1.5-1-1 with a specificed foot sequence. It feels a bit more like real climbing that the video. And I have some other circuits I can mix it up with, crossing through, using sidepulls and gastons etc.
1 min on, 1 min off, x10. Rest 40mins, go again.
Because the moves are less big and the movements are small, I am using quite small edges to get the required level of pump/power out by the 8th/9th/10th set. More like tikka-takka climbing than all out lobbing for good edges, but it gives a decent workout that I feel is quite safe for my elbows.
My main principles of training are, that it's something to do when I can't get out, and not getting injured is more important than trying to make quick or big gains. And I recon this FOC fits in with that nicely
 

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