Best books for improving climbing?

Have you found any training books particularly helpful in improving your climbing?

At REI today, I was stumped by Hjorst's How to Climb 5.12; Training for Climbing, a thicker Falcon Book also by Hjorst; The Rock Warrior's Way by Ilner; and I didn't see Goddard's Performance Rock Climbing, but have noticed it before.

Is one of these, or some other, the one to get? Should I just search articles on the internet instead?

What do folks recommend?

Shawn,

Horst's books are all basically the same book in different editions. The first iteration was "How to Climb 5.12", then came "TFC", and now there's a new one out, that I've only skimmed over at the store. He also has a book on conditioning I believe (stay away from that). These books are all basically the same, which is to say, they are all regurgitations of the concepts presented in Performance Rock Climbing.

I think PRC is the best, but its very top-level. There is very little specific training information. It basically just talks about concepts, leaving you with defined plan to follow. Horst is much more specific, probably to a fault.

In the interest of nepotism, I suggest you start with The Making of a Rock Prodigy primarily because its free. Once you've read that it should give you a better idea of what you're looking at at REI.

PRC is pretty outdated, as are the older Horst books--some of the material is still valid but some isn't. The newer Horst book is more up-to-date and includes a bit more about nutrition. Rock Warrior's Way helps some people but mental is just part of improving. My book isn't really for rock climbers, more geared to alpine etc, but has more nutrition and fitness info than any of the others.

Arguably the best book for improving rock technique is The Self-Coached Climber by Dan Hague. It's less about training and more about movement skills, which is the real weakness for many. Comes with a DVD that is quite good.

The Self-Coached Climber by Dan Hague was pretty good. Some very obvious stuff, but some things that were new to me.

I can tell you that I've read them all at length and the "The Making of a Rock Prodigy" is a very clear and concise article that I would also highly recommend. I have used his recommendations for training and have seen great results. The SCC is probably the next best in my opinion.

Thanks for the guidance, guys.
Mono, I'd come across that article before (think I mentioned that to you at the Dark Horse), but didn't remember to think of it as a general reference starting point. I'll dig in and go from there. Thanks!

"How to Climb 5.12" by Horst is the best IMO. I used it and its techniques and theories helped me break my plateau. Use it w/ a grain of salt and adjust it to fit YOUR needs and weaknesses. The "How To" series as a whole is just awesome. Use em all together, bits and pieces of each, and you will find answers and see results. Good luck- and most of all- make training fun!

I can't repeat "Self-Coached Climber" enough. How to Climb 5.12 is really good, but you MUST have your technique dialed (or at least understand what needs improving) before you can follow most of the advice in there. I'd say (in this order) Self Coached Climber, How to Climb 5.12, then Rock Warrior's Way, will address the issues you'll face as a developing climber. SCC will get you past technique issues, How To will get you past power/endurance issues (I like Horst's physical fitness advice a lot more than Hague's), and Rock Warrior's Way will address mental issues (Ilner blows Horst and Hague out of the water when it comes to the mental game).

Shawn- every book out there has at its core a general premise: you need to be out there no less than 3-4 times a week. That said, some guy writes up how you can maximize technique/training while raising a family, paying a mortgage and staying employed full time would really be innovative.

Here, here, Mike!
On the other hand, Mike Anderson became a 5.12 climber (and beyond) training hard at the AF Academy and climbing weekends (if I remember the article) and bro Mono became a 5.14 climber while employed full-time. Hmmm.

They didn't have kids and mortgages yet? Anderson genes are made of stern stuff?

Shane or Brian: Do you have any reason to prefer "How to Climb 5.12" over Horst's other book, "Training for Climbing"?

Mike Lane wrote:some guy writes up how you can maximize technique/training while raising a family, paying a mortgage and staying employed full time would really be innovative.

Mike Anderson (author of Making of a Rock Prodigy) has all of those responsibilites, and he does first free ascents of 5.13 big walls.

Shawn Mitchell wrote: They didn't have kids and mortgages yet?

Mike's got 2 of each! He's also got a saint for a wife, who incidently made the first female ascent of Devil's Thumb.

That's pretty good sibling loyalty, Mono. But lest anyone conclude he's invincible and infallible; I happen to know from perusing these forums that Mike spends a lot of time preoccupied with squirrels and trying unsuccessfully to enlist community sentiment in his anti-critter crusade!

...back to the subject at hand.

All of the books (PRC, TFC, SCC, & RWW) have something to offer. Ideally you would read all of them, and you could probably benefit from doing so.

If you could only choose one, then you should seriously consider what your greatest weakness is as a climber. Each book focuses on a different leg of the triangle:

TFC = Physical fitness
SCC = Technique & Strategy
RWW = Mental fitness

PRC addresses both the physical & mental aspects to some degree, and covers a good amount of strategy.

I agree with Mike Lane that training regularly is the most important factor. But you don't need to train on real rock, and you don't need to dedicate huge amounts of time. An elite hangboard program takes 2 hrs every 3 days (less than 5 hrs/week total dedicated to "climbing"). If you want to improve by training outside you have to devote a lot more time since outdoor climbing is extremely un-systematic, and therefore very ineffecient at providing the desired training stimulus.

Thanks for keeping the focus on task...it's evident how you reach your goals. :) And thanks for thoughtful points on the issues!

Shawn Mitchell wrote: I happen to know from perusing these forums that Mike spends a lot of time preoccupied with squirrels and trying unsuccessfully to enlist community sentiment in his anti-critter crusade!

Guilty as charged!

To the point, though, I think the more busy you become with life, the more important it is that you spend your time wisely. There are many roads to the same place, but some are more direct than others. I spend relatively little time training. I'd like to spend more, but you know how that goes. The data seems to indicate that if you know what you are doing, you can get very good results with little time.

Speaking of which, why are we wasting time on the internet?

cause Shawn wouldn't give us a bailout from the state

Maybe that's it, Buff. But I really think it's because if we didn't frequent Mountain Project, we'd miss posts like Tea's latest on the squirrel thread.

Get your game face on, Mike!

Douglas didn't mention antagonistic muscle training in SCC because it's flawed. There are no "antagonistic muscles" in climbing.

The most common cited are the finger extensors, that's why EH pushes reverse wrist curls. It was an interesting idea 10 years ago.... The finger extensors are extremely critical in the closed crimp position, and any well trained climber will have very strong extensors. You can halt the reverse wrist curls and spend an extra 10 minutes with your kids.

If your elbows hurt, it's likely because you lack FLEXIBILITY in your forearm flexors and extensors, not strength. One Move Too Many (another key reference) describes several stretches that will help remedy this problem.

That said, I think Douglas didn't adequately address strength training, choosing instead to focus on technique. I believe this is based a lot on his climbing background at places like Rifle and Maple where routes can be "learned down" and extreme finger strength is not a requirement. As a result, he wrote a book that is the gold standard for technique training. At least Douglas has substantial experience with coaching and he has used the techniques he pushes on clients and seen success.

I'm curious what you mean by PRC causing injuries...how do books cause injuries? How many deaths has Twight's "Kiss or Kill" caused?

There are a lot of ideas out there, but nobody knows the "one true way", not at this point anyway. Get what you can from many sources, experiment, and figure out what works for you.

Hi Shawn,

I've been trying to improve my flexibility and I bought two books:

1) Stretching scientifically, by Thomas Kurz
2) Stretching Anatomy, by Nelson and Kokkonen

of the two I like "Stretching scientifically" much better.

I've only been using these books for about two months, but it's nice to have some principals to use to improve my flexibility.

Shawn, having looked at your profile it says you just climb trad 5.9 and follow 5.10. Having looked at many of these books myself, most of them focus on sport climb training. Horst's books rarely even mention training for longer routes or crack climbs and provide no real information on training for either.

Having read most of these and training books for several other sports (I studied human physiology in college and ran at the national level for a few years in track) I would say that the best all-around training book that caters to lay people is Steve House's "Training for the New Alpinism." It's a big tome but simple and easy to read, and it covers training in a general way while providing specific examples for a variety of climbing. Obviously it's much more endurance focused than someone who wants to crag harder but I think its still more applicable to someone who has never trained than say a specific hangboard program. Maybe that's you and maybe that's not.

I think Horst/Yaniro/etc. makes some good points... there is strength and there is technique. General strength is easy to get but ultimately you need the neuromuscular memory to do a difficult move. You can do a hundred pullups but some scrawny kid will float your proj because he can do that move easily and efficiently despite never having been able to do one pullup in his life. Figure out your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. That's been the most helpful in my experience.