Hello All! So basically, I took up climbing seriously this summer, mainly bouldering in a climbing gym. The hardest problem I've done was a V2+. I usually do V1-V2+

I love it. The culture, the physical benefits, and the overall feel of completing a problem.

The problem is, I'm starting school on Wednesday, and with the start of school, I'm not going to able to go to the climbing gym nearly as often.
I'm a member of the school's XC team, meaning most of my weekends are filled with XC races.

I will go to the climbing gym as often as I can.

Aside from that, how can I stay in climbing shape? and possibly improve? I have a hangboard, the Metolius simulator.

Any suggestions appreciated

Some background info:
16yrs old
5'10" 146 lbs, fairly muscular, and stronger than I look
I run a fair amount, 40+miles per week in season.
I will work hard.

Go climbing when you can. Have fun when you go. If you have fun, you will get better.

Wilson,

I ran cross country for a state championship team. Dedicating youself to XC means that you dont have time for much else. Good news is that the running cant hurt your climbing, and in your case it may help.

Get to the gym when you can but dont stress over it. Buy some rock rings and use them a few times a week. You can get a good pump going in 10 minutes and they are a great way to train your core as well, which will help your running.

Last year i got the chance to spend a month in the Sierras but for the 6 weeks leading up to the trip i was working at sea level with no rock in sight. To stay in shape i used some interval training and speed work from my XC days mixed with time on the rings. It worked well.

I am a big believer in interval runs for climbing and approaches. Im sure you do the same type of speed work that we did. It will only help you in the long run. Mix in some high intensity rock ring sessions and youll be surprised at the results.

There are hundreds if excercises you can do, just make sure to warm up. Try to do the sessions after your running workouts so youre already nice and warm.

Good luck.

When you are 16 your body will pick it back up as fast as your brain can remember the technique. I say don't worry about it. Staying in shape on the off season is for old people with creaky joints.

I recommend quitting the XC team. Unless you think it's gonna get you a scholarship, who cares?

I went to college as a national hopeful in XC. Pretty much the first day I got to college I walked over the the athletic facilities and informed them I had not done any of the preseason training (over 50mi per week) and rather I would be pursuing rock climbing. Boy did that make some coaches angry. They got over it and I have not looked back since. One of the best choices I made in my life. Although I did have practice... in the spring just before college I was supposed to be captain of varsity lacross and quit the week before practice to hit the climbing gym with my good buddy after school rather then play lacross. I got in early decision so it was of no consequence to getting into a school. Got really strong really quickly.

So I would say this since you're 16. Go after the sports and stuff you think you will need to get ahead in school (varsity captain etc etc.) and keep the climbing on the side. Once you've gotten into college and your resume building is over (if you care about your school) then let the cards drop and become a full time climber would be my advice.

Which do you like more- running or climbing? Do the one you'd rather do.

I don't think its wise to suggest that a 16 year-old "drink a few beers on Saturday night", but otherwise I agree with the point of Ryan's post.

You have your entire life to be a degenerate climber. You may not realize it now, but you only have a short window of time to experience the cameraderie of being part of a team. Savor it.

Also, I bet there are far more single ladies on your XC team then at your local climbing dungeon.

My experience with XC was not as pleasant as yours, Ryan. Maybe cause I ran for a 7 straight year national champion team and I was just a casual runner. But quitting was the best decision I made in high school. I started playing beach volleyball tournaments, started climbing, got a job at a rock gym, windsurfed on weekends, started a band. Had more free time, and never would have done any of those things had I not quit.

My point isn't that he should quit if he's mediocre. My point is that if you have a chance to get a scholarship, then I WOULDN'T quit. But if not, have fun and don't work too hard. Life is hard enough when you get older. The great thing is you don't need to be on a team to run. So fuck getting up every morning at 5 am and staying after school till 6.

Just giving the kid a different viewpoint.

Plus there's only one event in running that's a team sport. It's the relay. Play football if you want to be on a team.

Minimize the gym. Don't worry about grades. Spend as much time outdoors as possible. Become an outdoorsman: Someone who appreciates all the little things outside. This more than anything else will make you a true "climber".

If you want to climb to get better, get a book on the subject. Dave McCloud 9 out of 10 climbers make the same mistakes is a good one. If you want to climb for the enjoyment of climbing. Take the advice of most of these folks and just have fun. I suggest the having fun advice. Kill yourself training for XC, then enjoy the benefits of just climbing for the sake of climbing.

Climbing is much different than training to boulder hard. If your goal is to spout off v grades and yell shirtless with a beanie, cool, but climbing and training are two different things.

If you want to traing to get better at climbing there are books for that, but a new climber would be better suited to just climb.

Mix it up, have fun, take chances.

Thanks for all of the advice/opinion!

I should add that I really want to learn how to sport climb. I live in the Bay Area, so I have plenty of options.


What advantage do rock rings have over a hangboard? Just curious.

Also, any good hangboard workouts would be great also.

go climb whenever you can, outside if possible, inside if not

ignore the people here telling you indoors wont help you ... if you noticed all the wonder kids that climb harder on their warm ups than anyone here does in real life, youll notice they all go to the gym when they cant get outside ...

A little bit of meta-advice:

It's difficult for those of us on this forum to give specifically tailored advice because we don't know that much about you. An experienced climber at your gym could probably give better feedback on how to improve, given your constraints.

For most people, climbing is a series of improvement curves separated by plateaus. In my mind one of the most exciting aspects of serious climbing (vs. recreational climbing, where improvement isn't as important to the climber) is the ever-changing question: What could I do differently to get to that next level?

In summary: ask advice from an experienced climber who has sessioned with you. And reassess often - there's no one silver bullet training regimen.

My experience with XC was not as pleasant as yours, Ryan. Maybe cause I ran for a 7 straight year national champion team and I was just a casual runner. But quitting was the best decision I made in high school. I started playing beach volleyball tournaments, started climbing, got a job at a rock gym, windsurfed on weekends, started a band. Had more free time, and never would have done any of those things had I not quit. My point isn't that he should quit if he's mediocre. My point is that if you have a chance to get a scholarship, then I WOULDN'T quit. But if not, have fun and don't work too hard. Life is hard enough when you get older. The great thing is you don't need to be on a team to run. So fuck getting up every morning at 5 am and staying after school till 6. Just giving the kid a different viewpoint.

Plus there's only one event in running that's a team sport. It's the relay. Play football if you want to be on a team.

My experience was great. I was a casual runner at first, but I was very competitive back then and once I realized that I was good enough to stay on the team, and that our team was good enough to win at a high level, I became more than just casual.

The experience will be different for everyone, but I think XC runners have some sort of bond between them. The training is BRUTAL, and for me, that is where the team came into play. I couldn't have done that without my teammates pushing me. It's very much like a group of climbers in that way, or big wave surfers, or any number of pursuits that take every ounce of effort. You need someone to push you. And in return, you are there for that person when they need support.

I think that the team element is a great lesson, but I also think that the training itself, the emotions that come with it, are important lessons. XC is very much about personal goals, and some of them seem impossible at the beginning of the season, but you reach them. This taught me, at least, the value of hard work. More so than any job I had back then.

I agree that young athletes should not be too obsessed, but I don't agree at all that high school kids should take it easy and have fun just because "life will be hard enough when you are older." Habits die hard. Learning to "not work too hard" as a 16/yo is not a good way to start adulthood. I certainly will never tell my 16y/o that. In fact, it is just the opposite of what my father told me. "Work now, play later" he used to say. I didn't really follow that advice so well, and I am paying for it a bit right now.

I do understand your first comments better now though. It sounds like the extra time you gained by stopping XC was used wisely. That is perhaps the only real advice any of us can actually give to someone that we don't know.