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Eric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast

Training and performance podcasts by Eric Hörst, the internationally renowned author, climbing coach, researcher, inventor, and accomplished climber of more than 40 years. Founder of TrainingForClimbing.com and PhysiVāntage. With his unique combination of veteran climbing and coaching experience and knowledge of the latest climbing research, Eric presents practical, effective guidelines to climb harder, reduce injury risk, and maximize the experience of moving over stone. Eric is one of the world's most knowledgeable climbing coaches and his eight books (and many foreign translations) have sold more than 400,000 copies worldwide. His latest book release is the 3rd edition of Training For Climbing. Learn more at: http://www.trainingforclimbing.com
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Now displaying: 2017
Dec 31, 2017

I hope you’ll find this New Year’s podcast informative, thought-provoking, and mobilizing! After all, uncommon success comes to people who have big dreams, a clear vision and plan, and a bias for action—these are the keys to success in the climbing world…and the everyday world!

In this podcast I serve up 5 generalized tips for improving your training and climbing-related activities to perform better and achieve more in 2018. Towards the end of the podcast I also serve up 5 tips becoming more productive, positive, and happy in all you do in the days and years ahead. New Years is a great time to re-engineer yourself, redefine your personal mission and goals, and to change habits and your personal MO to become more effective in all you do. Let’s get started!

Podcast Rundown

1:00 - Introduction to “10 tips for the New Year” podcast….and the importance of having a bias for action.

2:00 – Strive to distinguish between high- and low-value activities. Which dominate your time?

3:20 – Key point: When “good enough” is good enough….and when “good enough” equals shitty!

5:20 – This New Years…step back and see the big picture of your life: What’s your primary mission?

6:00 – Develop a strategy…set goals and make a plan of action.

6:45 – Key point: Happiness comes from making progress in important activities or areas of your life (not from things).

7:30 – Surround yourself with likeminded goal-oriented, action-oriented individuals; avoid complainers and naysayers.

8:00 – Overview of the two main parts of this podcast:

PART 1.) 5 tips for more effective training for climbing in the New Year. These tips will be rather generalized—listen to the previous podcast (#18) for specific programming guidelines for your ability. PART 2.) 5 tips to improve your personal effectiveness—how to get more important things done with each minute and hour of every day.

10:30 – Details on book raffle (on January 16th)…learn how to enter. Email a snapshot of your iTunes or Amazon book review to: Horst@TrainingForClimbing.com

12:00 – Part 1: 5 global (big picture) tips for improving the effectiveness of your training—and to become a better climber—in the New Years. Importance of setting process goals (resolutions) for achieving your outcome goals.

14:00 – Tip 1: Climb more often. Becoming a better climber starts here!

17:12 – Tip 2: Train to get stronger. Critical for achieving the higher grades!

24:40 – Tip 3: Do some “smart” endurance training. Key point: Simply climbing until you get pumped, it’s an effective long-term endurance-training strategy. Learn about the continuum of endurance types (and training strategies).

38:20 – Tip 4: Dial in your dietary and recovery habits. Small changes in these areas, integrated over days/weeks/months, can make a majority difference in the climbing performance. Learn how!

48:18 – Tip 5: Commit to twice-weekly antagonist & stabilizer muscle training….which will improve your climbing posture, support more efficient movement, reduce injury risk, and perhaps even feedback to give you a stronger grip! What about free weight training? Learn the best approach to add a few supplement lifts without adding unwanted muscle mass.

55:35 – Closing tips for more effective living in the New Year. Here are 5 tips—or habits to change and/or develop--to get more important things done each day, improve your personal effectiveness, increase the rate of progress toward your goals, and experience more happiness day in and day out! Consider adopting a few of these as your New Year’s Resolutions!

58:20 – Resolution #1: TURN OFF notifications on your smartphone—these will rob you of deep concentration and the important flow state….and steal your effectiveness and your destiny! Don’t be a slave to your phone—be its master.

1:01:45 – Resolution #2: Limit time spent on low-value entertainment and “time killing” activities like surfing the Internet, viewing social media Apps, watching TV or movies. While it’s okay to spend a small amount of time each day relaxing with these activities, they can quickly consume many hours of your life…and rob you of real life, real action, real relationships, etc.

1:04:50 – Resolution #3: Develop good sleep habits…which begins with limiting exposure to blue light in the hours before bed. Avoid use of electronic devices before bed OR wear blue blocker glasses (my approach) which are available for ~$25 from Amazon.com.

1:07:25 – Resolution #4: Reduce needless conflict in your life and steer clear of toxic people (both in person and on social media). Strive to be a compulsive doer…and avoid criticism and negatively. Work, recreate, and communicate with doers….and avoid critical, negative, toxic people.

1:12:00 – Resolution #5: Don’t compare yourself to other people—instead find your own unique personal journey!

Follow Eric on Twitter @Train4Climbing

Follow Eric on Facebook!

Music by: Misty Murphy

Nov 29, 2017

Learn a proven and effective approach to off-season training, broken down for beginner-, intermediate-, and advanced/pro-level climbers. Eric discusses how to handle nagging injuries, refresh motivation, and develop an winter-season training strategy to climbing your hardest next year!

Podcast Rundown

1:00 - Podcast introduction including a discussion of new projects and my T4C YouTube channel.

2:00 - Brief intro to Jerry Moffatt's MasterMind...the best-selling Gimme Kraft, and Claudia Ziegler's "The Young Savages" book (featuring Adam Ondra, Shauna Coxsey, and more!)

5:50 - T4C Raffle! Eric explains how you can win a free copy of The Young Savages or a signed copy of Training For Climbing (3rd edition)

7:43 - Introduction to...End-of-season & off-season training strategy.

11:40 - Step #1: Take 2 weeks off from training and climbing, then evaluate your physical health. If still experiencing any joint or muscles pain, then get it resolved--see a doctor or physio. Do NOT try to "climb through" your injury! Learn how to "train around" it.

19:40 - Step #2: Begin an intelligent, well-designed and executed off-season training program that addresses technical & mental weaknesses and physical constraints. Program recommendations will be served up for beginner, intermediate and advanced-level climbers.

22:08 - The best off-season training approach for beginner climbers is....

27:52 - Eric explains his "training target" analogy.

28:15 - Intermediate program recommendations

37:00 - The importance of training the rotator cuff and scapular stabilizer muscles--not just for injured climbers!

38:06 - Learn how the brain acts as a governor limiting your grip strength in body positions that severely stress the shoulder joint. Yes, a stronger rotator cuff = stronger fingers! Specific exercise guidelines are found in chapter 6 of Training for Climbing.

41:32 - Advanced/Pro-level off-season training tips. Physical testing and expert coaching is essential to hit the bull's eye of your training target--vital for opening up the next grade.

48:00 - Importance of seeing the big picture (and mission), while nailing the critical training details (the bull's eye!).

49:10 - Warning about training too much, thus exceeding your recovery ability...and getting lackluster results...and risking injury.

51:30 - Wrap up and closing comments.

Follow Eric on Twitter @Train4Climbing

Follow Eric on Facebook!

Music by: Misty Murphy

Oct 25, 2017

If you occasionally struggle with the fear of falling, then this podcast is for you!

While the fear of falling is most acute among beginner and intermediate climbers, it's a fact that advanced climbers and the pros also experience a bit of falling fear from time to time. After all, fear is an important self-protective response—the goal, then, isn’t to eliminate fear, but to manage it…which is the focus of this podcast.

My Lithuanian friends, Dei and Ben, have created a series of excellent YouTube videos (called “Day in Nature“) with the common theme of exploring the fear of falling. I was happy to join Dei and Ben (and their YouTube channel viewers) for this online coaching session, in which I answer their fear-related questions and share a variety of mental training tips to better manage fear and advance their climbing ability. No matter if you're an indoor climber, boulderer, or sport climber, I trust you'll find some useful tips and techniques to address your unique vertical-world concerns and fearful experiences.

Ultimately, learning to expertly manage fear is a long-term endeavor—there are no quick fixes—and so I hope this hour-plus-long podcast will help kick-start your journey to becoming a more confident, in-control, and courageous climber!

Podcast Rundown:

1:07 - Introducing Jerry Moffatt's MASTERMIND!

2:04 - Eric's intro to coaching the fear of falling.

3:45 - Beginning discussion with Dei & Ben of "Day in Nature"

5:00 – The goal of controlling fear rather than letting fear control you!

10:00 - Legitimate fears vs. phantom fears.

11:30 - The importance of taking practice falls (in a very safe, controlled setting).

13:40 - How to combat fears of the rope getting cut...or a bolt pulling out.

18:45 - Developing the skill of managing fear is a long-term process....that takes effort over months & years.

19:30 - Why do some people conquer fear faster than others?

22:30 - A look inside Alex Honnold's brain (via MRI)...and his "quiet" amygdala.

27:23 - How to handle fear of runouts between bolts?

31:24 - Value of reading books on mental training (such as Warriors Way, Maximum Climbing, MasterMind).

37:00 - Mental training should be comprehensive...and not just focused on managing fear. This is a rich area with potential for huge breakthroughs in performance!

38:12 - Mental training literally changes your brain (neuroplasticity).

38:30 - Using breath-focused meditation as training (at home) and for performance (at the crag).

40:50 - For expertly skilled climbers, further improvement often comes down to mental training...and getting stronger!

41:15 - What about grabbing the rope (or quick draws) when falling?

43:10 - Tips for returning to climbing after an injurious fall.

48:45 - Why are children often less scared of falling than adults?

53:10 - What about fear when clipping the second bolt of a route?

56:23 - How to assess a fall…determining a "safe fall" vs. a dangerous fall situation?

59:55 - What about climbers who never fall (because they climb so far below their maximum ability)? How much harder might they be able to climb by becoming willing/able to fall?

1:03:50 - Who was the most fearful that I've ever coached or climbed with?

1:06:00 - The difference between Anxiety vs. Fear.

1:07:01 - The importance of "mete-cognition"...for improving your mental game and performance (in anything).

1:08:45 - Recognizing and breaking fear "triggers".

1:10:16 - Just as you train your muscles with exercises...it's essential to use mental training exercise to strengthen your mental muscle!

1:12:20 - My two favorite mental training exercises are....

1:14:44 - How to do effective visualization? (Hint: It must be more than just a mental rehearsal of sequence!)

1:16:30 - Closing comments by Dei & Ben.

1:17:30 - Eric wraps up podcasts...and asks YOU to share it with a few friends!

Music by Misty Murphy

 

Sep 16, 2017

Eric describes in detail his vision for improving the effectiveness of training programs via advances in training & testing technologies, nuanced program design, and genetic testing and epigenetics. This is a fascinating podcast rich with clues for improving the effectiveness of your training, reducing injury risk, pursuing your genetic potential, and for living longer and prospering in the vertical world.

If you enjoy this podcast, please share it with your climbing friends via social media....and consider writing a review in iTunes. You can support this podcast by purchasing a book(s) at www.TrainingForClimbing.com. Thank you, and enjoy!

Podcast Rundown

2:00 – Intro to the future of training for climbing.

5:00- Importance of climbing research and veteran coaching in pointing the way forward.

8:35 – Comments on Adam Ondra’s ascent of “Silence”…the world’s first 5.15d/9c.

18:00 – Overview of past training innovations…campus board, hangboard, etc.

20:35 – Recent innovations…the Treadwall, Moon Board, Lattice Wall, Zlagboard, etc.

24:40 – The need to establish standardize testing of climbing-specific strength, power, endurance….to determine the relative strength of the three bio-energetic systems.

25:10 – My vision for the future of training for climbing—broken into three parts:

29:18 - #1: Stop guessing; start testing. The importance of accurate physiological assessment. Leveraging "big data".

47:05 - #2: Smarter program design--short-term nuance with a good long-term aim. Importance of understanding hormetic stress and cellular signaling to getting the most out of your training investment.

57:00 – #3: Genetic testing and training program design with epigenetics in mind.

1:07:25 – Closing thoughts.

Music: Misty Murphy

 

Aug 10, 2017

In this podcast, Eric Hörst presents many practical tips for climbing your best on a roadtrip…and for training in safe and effective ways, by steering clear of popular training myths and dogma.

Rundown

1:10 – Reflections on a roadtrip—tips for performing your best while on an extended climbing trip.

3:20 – Learn about the “golden period” of a roadtrip—when you are typically the strongest and most powerful…and be able to climb the hardest.

4:10 – Why the best-trained climbers actually get weaker (and lose high-end power) during a multi-week climbing trip.

7:45 – What’s the best ratio of climbing days vs. rest days, while on a long climbing trip.

9:55 – Importance of diet and sleep for optimizing recovery and performing your best on a roadtrip.

13:38 – Upon returning for a long roadtrip, how long should you break from serious training & climbing?

15:20 – Eric comments on Adam Ondra’s mega-project…perhaps the world’s first 5.15d.

18:08 – Introduction to the “Training & Performance Mythbusters” segment.

20:38 – Myth #1: Hangboard training is only appropriate for advanced climbers. (Learn the truth….that hangboard training is useful—for developing finger strength AND building stronger tendons & pulleys—for all climbers other than beginner and recently injured climbers.)

29:55 – Myth #2: Campus training, as commonly shown in social media feeds, is something you should be doing…because campus training is the best method of developing a stronger, more powerful upper-body for climbing. (Learn the truth….and how “pre-hab” training is essential before adding campus training to your program.)

36:45 – Myth #3: The widely publicized “10,000-hour Rule” of practice applies to climbing….therefore you must climb as often and as much as possible so as to accumulate the 10,000 hours needed to become elite. (The truth? Applied to climbing…this rule is bogus! With good coaching, smart training, a high-level of motivation/dedication, and favorable genetics, you can become a high-level climber in far fewer than 10,000 hours of practice.)

40:02 – Myth #4: Body building and other “fitness” magazine (and web sites) are a good source of effective training techniques that you can apply to climbing. (Hear Eric bust this myth!)

43:45 – What about novel bodybuilding techniques, such as the recently popularized Blood Flow Restriction training? It’s been “proven” effective by research, right?

47:12 – Learn why it’s best for a climber NOT to have large, bulging biceps….or excessive muscles elsewhere.

48:40 – Myth #5: The latest diet fad (whatever it may be) is likely useful to a serious climber. (Eric will address the currently popular ketogenic/LCHF diet...)

53:00 – How about popular dietary supplements, such as fish oil, a multi-vitamin, creatine monohydrate, and such?

57:40 – Episode wrap up

Music by: Misty Murphy

Jul 1, 2017

If you’re a passionate climber who works full-time (or in school), then you likely train indoors during the week with the goal of climbing your best outdoors on the weekend. In this podcast we’ll dig deep into the rich topic of things you can do to optimize your weekend climbing. I’ll cover a wide range of things—perhaps a few that you’ve not thought about—you can do to arrive at the crag fresh and ready to send your project, on-sight at a high level, or climb for volume and maximum fun! While this podcast will be most meaningful to weekend warriors who specialize in sport climbing, the many tips I serve up will also be quite useful for boulder specialists and multi-pitch climbers.

Rundown:

0:50 – Introduction

2:50 – Things that contribute to “low-gravity” send days.

4:35 – Tip 1: Arrive at the crag physically fresh and 100% recovered from your last training or climbing day. Easier said than done...

8:40 – Tip 2: Get your sleep and diet right in the 48 hours leading up to your send day. Performance nutrition is especially important for advanced climbers… Listen up for vital tips!

17:45 – Tip 3: Conduct a quality warm-up before getting on your redpoint or on-sight goal of the day. I’ll take you through what it takes to get your muscles warmed up and nervous system turned on.

24:07 – Tip 4: Make the most of your Day 1 freshness…as you likely won’t be 100% recovered for your Day 2 of climbing. There are a few ways to approach this in order to best invest your time Day 1 and 2.

29:12 – Tip 5: Try to master each project route with the goal of nuancing each move, sequence, clip position, and rest to make it as efficient as possible. In aggregate, striving to refine all aspects of your climb will save you energy and increase the odds of a send—and it just might open up the next grade for you!

39:30 – Tip 6: Rest the right amount between redpoint attempts. I’ll give you science-based guidelines that you can employ and modify, according to how you feel.

44:50 – Tip 7: Breathe optimally, not maximally! Many climbers—and athletes in general—don’t know how to breathe properly to maximize oxygen availability to the muscles. The common practice of overbreathing actually lowers oxygen availability! This is powerful information—listen closely, then begin to become a more conscious breather until you do it right unconsciously.

52:30 – Tip 8: Eat and drink in small/modest amounts throughout the day, but be careful not to overeat and/or overdrink! Many climber tend towards eating and drinking too much during their climbing day with the belief that more is better. Ironically, eating and drinking too much can have the opposite effect.

58:55 – Bonus tip: Get your head right before going for the send. Anticipate success, but accept that a failed attempt is okay…because it’s part of the journey of working and eventually sending the route! As you climb, remain in the moment—take on the route one move at a time—and let the outcome evolve organically.

1:03:30 – Special feature! My thoughts on Alex Honnold’s incredible free-solo of El Capitan, and a throwback to a podcast interview I did with Alex in 2008 after his barrier-breaking free-solo ascent of Yosemite’s Half Dome. Though more than 8 years age, this short interview is quite interesting and revealing. If you’ve seen or heard a recent interview with Alex, it’s remarkable to observe that he’s pretty much the same guy today—as a world-renowned rock star—as he was a 23-year-old just getting his started as a pro climber, per this interview. Enjoy!

1:18:50 – Closing comments

Music: Misty Murphy

Jun 2, 2017

Climbing is one of the most complex sports on this third rock from the sun, and training for climbing is an extraordinarily complex activity in its own right. While beginners should mainly climb as their training, progressing from the intermediate rank to advanced and elite ability demands an increasingly focused, demanding, and nuanced climbing-specific exercise program. In this podcast I'll provide an overview of how to best structure your off-season (for many of us, winter season) and in-season (when you most often climb outside for performance) training program. While off-season training should be designed and scheduled to produce significant gains in strength, power, and endurance...your in-season training should be programmed and scheduled in a way to maintain current levels of strength/power/endurance while fostering recovery between weekends (or days) of outdoor climbing...so that you can climb your best when you venture outdoors!

If outdoor climbing performance is really important to you, then it's essential that you arrive at the boulders or crag 100% fresh and ready to give your project your best possible effort. Obviously, we're all different--more different than we are similar--so there's no single "best approach" or "best schedule" for training. Your challenge is to suss out the best program for YOU (and not copy what others are doing), and to actively modify your program and workout schedule to account for fatigue, injury, time availability, shifting goals, and changing strengths & weaknesses. This one-hour podcast will hit you with a lot of important information and ideas on scheduling and executing your off-season and in-season workouts to produce the largest gains, while also helping you to arrive at the crag physically fresh and ready to crush on your performance climbing days!

Podcast Rundown:

2:30 - Introduction to structuring annual training program

4:00 - Philosophy of off-season vs. in-season training

4:00 - Philosophy of off-season vs. in-season training

9:00 - Overview of off-season (for most of us, winter season) training goals and strategy

14:00 - Benefits of a largely polarized approach to off-season training

17:00 - Targeting specific energy systems -- when best to engage in ultra-pumpy anaerobic lactic energy system training

20:00 - Addressing injuries in the off-season; Training around bouldering competitions in the winter season

21:20 - Winter training tips for beginning climbers wanting to improve most quickly...and develop long-term climbing mastery

23:50 - Intro to scheduling of in-season training

26:00 - The importance of impulse control and self-awareness to effective in-season training

34:20 - The best training program for you is....

36:20 - Long-term improvement--how many years can you expect to improve at rock climbing?

40:50 - In-season tips to get your mid-week training "right"...so that you arrive at your project fresh on the weekend....and can climb your best

42:40 - Importance of targeting each energy system at least once per week during your on-season

46:30 - General structure of mid-week training for weekend "roped climbing" (sport or trad routes)

52:40 - Structure of mid-week training for weekend bouldering outings

57:05 - The importance of quality sleep and nutrition in training results and performance outcomes for advanced & elite climbers

1:00:00 - Wrap up and closing comments

Music: Misty Murphy

Copyright 2017 Eric J. Horst

Training For Climbing, LLC

May 1, 2017

A question I'm often asked is how much time—or attempts—should  you put into a project route, before taking a break and working on other climbs. My short answer (with a few caveats) is that it’s best not to get bogged down by long-haul projects—you will improve as a climber faster by sending lots of routes just below your limit, rather than hanging all over (and repeatedly falling off) a single project route that's beyond your limit.

In this podcast I'll detail my "10-4 Rule" of projecting, which gives guidelines and solid reasoning to keep your projecting efforts brief...to around 10 attempts over 4 days. (Personally, I halve these amounts and, thus, limit myself to a total of about five attempts over two days.)

Podcast rundown:

00:55 - Introduction: How much time should you spend projecting limit routes?

3:12 - The "10-4 Rule" for effective projecting and steady improvement

12:55 - Caveats: When to break the 10-4 Rule

16:20 - Bonus: The "80-20" guideline for outdoor climbing time

20:48 - Ask Eric!

21:22 - Can someone who gets into climbing as a young adult progress to climb at a world-class level?

27:00 - "Last minute" training advice for a slightly out-of-shape route climber going on a climbing trip in one week?

29:50 - Final remarks.

Apr 1, 2017

Podcast #11

Training: The Past, The Present, The Future

This episode is more of a free-form podcast rather than  single-topic focused, as in the previous podcasts. I hope you enjoy it!

00:15 - Introduction to Podcast #11

00:46 – The breakthrough climbing achievement of the year….Margo Hayes ascent of La Rambla, the first consensus 5.15a redpoint by a female.

3:05 – Similarities between Margo Hayes and Alex Megos – Smart training with a long-term perspective.

6:55 – Feature topic: Training for climbing….the past, the present, and the future.

9:25 – Comments on Eric’s 40th anniversary in climbing…and 30 years as a coach, researcher, and author. Insight into Eric’s sources of inspiration…and quest for innovation in training for climbing.  

11:10 - Training for climbing….The Past: John Gill – The Father of Training for Climbing. Did you know he climbed V9/5.13+ moves in the 1960s!

16:10 – Training for climbing….The Present: The training information glut of 2017. But can you distinguish the good from the bad (advice)?

19:45 – Training for climbing….The Future: I predict a revolution! New testing and training technologies, more effective training protocols and programming, and the path to 5.16a!

27:25 – Question & Answer: “Ask Eric”

27:38 – Question 1: How do I determine my optimal body weight…in the quest of gaining a higher relative peak finger force (strength-to-weight ratio)

28:00 – Question 2: What do you think of one-arm hangboard training…with the free hand gripping a helper sling?

37:10 – How to submit a training question to Eric

38:20 – Closing comments

Music: Misty Murphy

Photo: Bruce Wilson

Download all the monthly training podcasts for free by subscribing to the "Eric Horst's Training for Climbing" podcast on iTunes. Please leave a review on iTunes!

Mar 1, 2017

In terms of physical attributes, increasing relative peak finger force is central to taking your climbing to the next level—think of this as the finger force you can apply to a rock hold in relation to the body mass the fingers must support.  Improving this finger strength-to-weight ratio is possible by increasing the numerator (greater finger strength) and decreasing the denominator (lowering body mass).

While there are many different fingerboard training methods/protocols/programs (some good, some bad) in the public domain, this podcasts will present four evidence-based protocols that work. Experienced climbers, with no recent history of injury to the fingers/elbows/shoulders, can employ one of these maximum-grip-strength protocols on a twice-a-week basis as supplement to time spent climbing. Aggregate number of climbing and finger training days per week must not exceed four—resting the fingers a minimum of three days per week is essential for neuromuscular recovery and finger tendon remodeling. Break this rule and you’ll likely end up “broken”….in one way or another.

Podcast Rundown:

1:14 - Review of 5 reasons why stronger fingers are central to taking your climbing to the next level

4:24 - Intro to maximum finger strength training on a hangboard

4:50 - Importance of "Relative Peak Finger Force"

10:10 - 3 Hangboard training modalities

13:33 - Training protocol 1: "Minimum Edge"

19:14 - Training protocol 2: "Maximum Weight 10-second Hangs"

25:20 - Training protocol 3: "7-53 Weight Hangs"

32:00 - Training protocol 4: "7/3 Repeaters"

41:00 - How to fingerboard with good technique...to protect & strengthen your shoulders.

45:05 - Hangboard training program design - How to integrate your with your other workouts and performance climbing.

53:00 - Closing comments

Music: Misty Murphy

Download all the monthly training podcasts for free by subscribing to the "Eric Horst's Training for Climbing" podcast on iTunes. Please leave a review on iTunes!

 

Feb 2, 2017

While climbing is, first and foremost, a mental and technical skill sport, long-term improvement—and pursuing your genetic potential—demands getting stronger in a number of climbing specific ways. Numerous research studies have confirmed that elite climbers, compared with non-elites, have higher grip-strength-to-mass ratio, greater forearm endurance, and a higher rate of force development in the finger flexors. Therefore, assuming that you have solid technical and mental skills, training for stronger fingers is paramount to taking your climbing to the next level. In this episode you'll learn 5 reason why strong fingers matter--this will set the stage for the next podcast which will cover effective fingerboard training techniques.

0:15 - Intro
1:00 - Research on Finger Strength of Elite Climbers

1:42 - Reason #1 Why Strong Fingers Matter - They Can Grip Smaller Holds

3:00 - #2: Stronger Fingers Can Endure Longer

9:10 - About Zlagboard

11:55 - #3: Strong Finger Can Rest on Smaller Holds

15:25 - #4: Strong Fingers Have More Stamina

18:15 - #5: Strong Fingers Make Climbing More Fun!

18:50 - Summary

20:10 - Closing Comments

Tune in next month for detailed coverage of effective fingerboard training for stronger fingers!

Music: Misty Murphy

Download all the monthly training podcasts for free by subscribing to the "Eric Horst's Training for Climbing" podcast on iTunes. Please leave a review on iTunes!

Jan 1, 2017

Welcome to the launch of the new Training for Climbing podcast! This is one full hour of rich training-for-climbing content, so you may want to take notes or listen twice! Here's an outline of the show:

1:00 - Podcast overview
8:30 - Topic #1: Training program design
9:45 - Beginner-training program tips
14:20 - Effective training for intermediate-level climbers
17:45 - Advance & elite off-season program design
22:15 - Periodization schemes
30:00 - Topic #2: The importance of getting stronger during the off-season
32:20 - How stabilizer-muscle training can make your fingers stronger
34:50 - Overview of hangboard and campus training for maximum strength and power development
36:30 - The "7/53" hangboard training protocol
39:20 - Weighted pull-ups training
41:00 - Complex training
42:50 - What about endurance training?
48:00 - Topic #3: How to make the most of your gym training time
53:30 - Two MOs of gym climbers
56:10 - 4 Tips for effective gym training
58:00 - What is "junk training"?
1:00:00 - Closing comments

Listen closely. Apply. Send!

Music: Misty Murphy

Download all the monthly training podcasts for free by subscribing to the "Eric Horst's Training for Climbing" podcast on iTunes. Please leave a review on iTunes!

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