I have four weeks to train. Help a girl out.

Booked a last minute trip to Potrero.

How can I make the best use of the next 4 weeks in preparation?

I have a gym pass to movement. I'm a girl. I'm generally a trad climber and am breaking into 11s. Current plan is just to climb as much as possible.

Also working on margarita consumption.

I would probably just work on endurance for the longer routes. Unless you have a different plan on what to climb.

The most important thing is not to get hurt just before your trip.

Are you breaking into trad 11s? Then you'll romp up the stellar bolted routes. Are you breaking into sport 11s? You'll still romp all over Potrero. There are so many great multi-pitch routes in the .10s. Prep for long days is probably good. Are you confident on multi-pitch and rapping rope management?

Put your climbing shoes on for 8 hrs and blast norteño.

Yeah, breaking into trad 11s AND sport 11s lol.

Thanks for all the advice. Still looking for the four week shortcut to climbing 12a. Seems like it would open up some great classics in Potrero.

Multi pitch systems and transitions are dialed, but haven't solely focused on speed.

I was climbing a lot of easy trad this year but had a 12a sport goal in the back of my mind to red point. I basically climbed really hard for 4 weeks in the gym leading as many 12's as I could that were in the style I was looking for. I was able to send my project in 6 goes with this method but I had the luxury of it being 30 min form my house.

I don't know what the climbing is like at potrero so I am not sure the best training. I would figure out some beta and train that type of climbing. Also there is always the option to stick-clip aid the hard parts if the bolts are in reach. Takes some extra time but if you are proficient at it, it can go quickly.

khalifornia wrote:Yeah, breaking into trad 11s AND sport 11s lol. Thanks for all the advice. Still looking for the four week shortcut to climbing 12a. Seems like it would open up some great classics in Potrero. Multi pitch systems and transitions are dialed, but haven't solely focused on speed.

Unfortunately, there really isn't a training plan for taking someone from just breaking into .11s to climbing 12a in 4 weeks. Just go have fun climbing the lifetime worth of 5.10s that are found in EPC.

A few things to qualify answers here.
Age?
Do you have a regular workout routine? What, and for how long.
Do you A.R.C. ?
Hangboard?
Thoughts: If you have a routine, up the frequency and intensity, with the advice by MSprague kept firmly planted in mind. Best is to stay healthy, and not injure. It is easy to get tendonitis if you jump in too hard too fast.
Is it skill sets or strength limiting you? Skill sets....just go for it, if you are willing to get whupped. Strength, unless you are some supergyrl, hard to get 5.12 strong in 4 weeks.
And yes, there are uber-classic 10's, enjoy them!

Hangboard with the Trango Rock Prodigy system. The pulley system with the un-weighting is key to not getting injured and gauging progress.
Do every third or fourth day for three weeks then take a break before your trip. Some gym sessions in between hangboarding workouts to work on other stuff.
Just an idea. Hang boarding worked amazing for me last winter. I had a hip replacement and couldn't do any other type of training and the hangboard workouts had me back to doing some 5.12's pretty quickly.

I would do cardio twice a week as well. It will keep you light weight and build your aerobic system. 4 weeks is a perfect amount of time.

Also I would ask yourself why you want to climb 5.12. For yourself, for others, for MP, for bragging? I dont give a shit what the answer is but I think people are too obsessed with 5.12. Climbing is about the journey, not the destination. Taking shortcuts to 5.12 takes all of the learning from 5.10d and 5.11s out of it. And most of the time we will end up pulling draws and gear, and hangdogging 5.12s.

A clean dance up a 5.10 is better than strug-life/hangdogging up a 5.12 all day.

Jeff G. wrote:Hangboard with the Trango Rock Prodigy system. The pulley system with the un-weighting is key to not getting injured and gauging progress. Do every third or fourth day for three weeks then take a break before your trip. Some gym sessions in between hangboarding workouts to work on other stuff. Just an idea. Hang boarding worked amazing for me last winter. I had a hip replacement and couldn't do any other type of training and the hangboard workouts had me back to doing some 5.12's pretty quickly.

Yes, the Trango Rock Prodigy system is a great training system, no it won't get you from 5.11- to 5.12- in 4 weeks (especially if you've never climbed 5.12 as in the OPs case).

To emphasize what someone above suggested: in your enthusiasm, don't get injured before you go. Furthermore...It seems as though no one is satisfied with the grade at which they are currently climbing (including me!). I am leading Eldo 7s--but look at all those beautiful 8s I could do if I could bump it up a bit! Or, now I'm leading 9s--but look at all those beautiful 10s I could do if I could just push it a bit more! This is human nature, of course. I personally would be in heaven to be "breaking in to 11s"! Instead, maybe try a different approach for your trip...just focus on the long, fun routes that you can already do in great style. There will be plenty of those and you'll have a great time. It's all in your perspective/philosophy...be happy with where you already are (at least for this one trip anyway!). Solamente te ofrezco mis dos centavos...

Daniel Joder wrote:To emphasize what someone above suggested: in your enthusiasm, don't get injured before you go. Furthermore...It seems as though no one is satisfied with the grade at which they are currently climbing (including me!). I am leading Eldo 7s--but look at all those beautiful 8s I could do if I could bump it up a bit! Or, now I'm leading 9s--but look at all those beautiful 10s I could do if I could just push it a bit more! This is human nature, of course. I personally would be in heaven to be "breaking in to 11s"! Instead, maybe try a different approach for your trip...just focus on the long, fun routes that you can already do in great style. There will be plenty of those and you'll have a great time. It's all in your perspective/philosophy...be happy with where you already are (at least for this one trip anyway!). Solamente te ofrezco mis dos centavos...

Get back to us when you are there, and let us know if you feel like you are content where you're at.

Yes, what Sprague said. Don't overdo it and get hurt. Regardless of how prepared you become you will have fun.

M Sprague wrote:The most important thing is not to get hurt just before your trip.

This, above all. Others have asked some good questions as well. Honestly, I think it's unrealistic that if you are JUST breaking into .11 sport that you'll improve enough in a month to climb .12s. I'd focus on staying healthy and maintaining your endurance up to aid in recovery for climbing on consecutive days. If you don't already, try some exercises to work on weak areas, such as your antagonistic muscles. You should be doing that already and those are generally low resistance and not likely to tire or injure you before your trip.

I went to Arco for a couple of weeks years ago (before gyms were everywhere). I just focused on getting out regularly and trying to climb on the type of rock I thought I'd encounter there. I also kept my weight down (which helped alot) and hooked up with some strong locals, which was probably the biggest aid. I made some big jumps, but already had a solid base in both strength and technique. I stayed pretty strong for a while after, the two biggest changes being added endurance and added finger strength. To me, provide the former isn't a problem, the latter is the biggest factor between climbing .11s and .12s.

Having said all that, you will have a blast whether you're climbing .11s or .12s. Stay healthy and enjoy your whole trip.

Honestly, to echo a number of comments. Stay healthy, spend the next three weeks projecting sport routes at your limit at the gym 2 days a week and then an ARC session on another day. Try to climb outside at least one day a week to keep your skin healthy. But 4 weeks before you leave equals 3 weeks of training in reality. You do not want to show up down there burnt out from 4 weeks of training. You need a rest week to recoup. I would advise against throwing in any hangboarding or campusing or anything like that prior to a trip if you are not use to doing that sort of training since you would be more likely to injure yourself instead of making any gains. Generally you would want to do like 3 weeks of pretty specific base building to bring yourself up to speed to start training.. it is essentially training to train. And I echo whomever suggested to do some cross training to get your body use to longer days.

I'd do stretching, sleep, nutrition, fun climbing and injury prevention! It would be risky to try to get "stronger" in four weeks and then push your grade, IMO, if you weren't already doing that kind of work.

You'll have a blast!

Anyone here know if driving a shiny sprinter-type van to Potrero from Texas is a good idea? My life is in that thing so....

Funnily, I just booked a last minute trip to Portrero, too. Thank my partner, she's the one that bought my broke ass a ticket!

PM me if you're looking for a partner for Movement Boulder + you would like to do some endurance training specifically for EP multipitch routes (TWZ). My partner is currently at the Creek.

My "path to crushing", other than endurance work (w/perhaps a pack on), is to just boulder hard. Portrero has a lot of thin, sharp crimps and pockets, and TWZ seems to have some slopers at the crux pitch, so that's what I'll be focusing on aprés bouldering session on the hang board.

Like many have already mentioned, four weeks is not a lot of time. However, I do think you can make a lot of improvements IF you know what’s holding you back. Spending four weeks working on your biggest weakness will be a lot more effective than spending four weeks doing a bunch of random exercises/training routines. Unfortunately none of us really know you, so we can only offer a bunch of advice that may or may not help you at all.

So if you look at your climbing critically, or maybe ask climbing buddies to give you critic, what is your biggest weakness right now? Is it your mental game? Finger strength? Endurance? If you can figure this out and really work on it, I don’t think it’s totally impossible to go from 5.11s to 5.12s in four weeks.

I'm assuming your goal of breaking into 5.12 is to open up Tinewave Zero...

The crux pitch is sharp as hell and is a huge challenge for seasoned 5.12 climbers, not just due to the difficulty, but because of the half mile of climbing that precedes it. Just aid past it, and you'll have more of a blast than you would by splitting your tips and aiding through anyways.

The best training you can do is climbing laps to build endurance. Also make sure you're fast with anchor setups and rappelling, because you'll be doing lots of that at EPC, often with impatient parties below you. Get your systems down pat, get used to the idea of simul rapping on a Grigri, and make sure your partner is up to speed on all of the above as well.