Anyone else a slave to HIT System Training?

I started doing a variation of the HIT System a few years back...I attribute a majority of my recent sends to HIT Training.

I'm wondering if anyone else uses this training techniques and what your system entails.

For mine I only really use the actual HIT Strips for Warm-up before the training, I still use the pinches as part of my workout. otherwise I acquired sets of identical pockets (1-pad), crimps (1/2 pad), slopers, and underclings...my home wall is set at 45 degrees and is 10' tall x 6' wide

Here's an example of my workout (it usually takes about 2 hours to complete...but leaves me feeling more worked than a 5 or 6 hour session in the gym...I will allow for 3 minutes rest between exercises):

- Pinch Controlled (with weight)
- Pinch Campus (without weight)
- (R & M) Pockets - Lead Right (with weight)
- (R & M) Pockets - Lead Left (with weight)
- Campus (without weight)
- (M & I) Pockets - Lead Right (with weight)
- (M & I) Pockets - Lead Left (with weight)
- Campus (without weight)
- Open Crimp - Lead Right (with weight)
- Open Crimp - Lead Left (with weight)
- Campus (without weight)
- Sloper - Lead Right (with weight)
- Sloper - Lead Left (with weight)
- Campus (without weight)
- Undercling (with weight)
- Ab Rolls - 4 x 25 Per Arm
- Pull Ups/Push Ups/Crunchs/Dips - 5 x 15

I'm not familiar with this workout. Please tell more.

Hey James,

I also have HIT strips. I have a 55 degree wall in my spare bedroom. I set up the strips just like recommended, and I have identical feet all the way up the wall (small .5 inch). It sounds like you have a good training schedual. I have also considered adding underclings to the workout.
Its hard to say what really works best in training for climbing- climbing is just so complex! It depends on what you are training for. Specificity is key right? In the past, when I had an 80 hr a week work schedual, I trained on my HIT system exclusivley (I didn't really have time for anything else!) I would do my HIT workout only every third day. Here was my workout:

Pinches-lead left, lead right
ring/pinky-lead left, lead right
index/middle-lead left, lead right
middle/index-lead left, lead right
full crimp
half crimp
jug haul

I would add weight with a weight belt as needed- (up to 60 lbs with the jugs) and aim for 10 movements max per hand per set, followed by a 2 min rest. The whole workwout took 37 minutes. Not too bad.

After following this schedual for probably around 6 weeks- I was really strong for me- (flashing V6 boulder problems)...when I switched to climbing routes it took about a week or so of getting some endurance back and then I was onsighting about every route up to 12b. On the week my fitness peaked I redpointed 12 12a/b's in the gym in one session (I had done each of these routes the week before though)- it was like I couldn't get pumped!

So- I am now resting for the month December and evaluating/designing my next training schedual- I have done so many other forms of training(and for different goals/ types of climbing) but I can say that for sport climbing the HIT strip schedual I used has so far been the most effective. That doesnt mean it is the best... but it does work for sure. I think the challange is to find what is the best (likley a yet to be determined combination of weight training, bouldering, finger boards etc). The difficulty once again is that everything produces strength gains to some degree, and when we note gains we tend to think we have solved the puzzle to overall improvement, but we really want to find what produces the best tangible gains. I think the great thing about the HIT system is its efficiency and ease to follow-it is a simple, and here I argue proven system.

I know Monomaniac- a user of this site who is a dedicated climber with a great climbing resume uses fingerboards exclusivley for his strength phase. He has a workout, every third day or so, and follows it for about 4-6 weeks tweaking the workout to prepare him for whatever specific hard route he is projecting. He has had amazing results doing this, and like the HIT system, it is also simple and doesn't require a wall.

I know I went off here, but it was good to see your post as this has been on my mind in the last few days. Keep up the good work! Try adding weight circuit training to target climbing specific muscles early in your route cilmbing phase-high reps, medium weight, little rest- that has also really seemed to help avoid the building route climbing pump for me and is time efficient.

Eric Horst recommends a 50 degree angle for a hit wall, but then adds "HIT workouts on a 55-degree (past vertical) wall are significantly harder than those on the common 45-degree wall".

Does Eric know that 55 is less steep than 45? At what angle did you guys set your wall?

I believe all references mean past vertical. I set mine at 50 degrees past vertical.

By past Vertical they mean, the number of degrees past 90. So they are setting the top of the wall to 0 degrees and going from that. 50 degrees past vertical is the same as a 40 degree wall from the floor.

thanks for the clarification. 40-degrees makes more sense. even 140-degress makes more sense than 50-degrees past vertical

Yeah I had to read the instructions more than once to get it as well. I think the "55 degrees being harder" comment is what finally led me to figure out where they were measuring from.

To redirect slightly, I purchased a HIT system for my local gym, in exchange for a membership, and trained with it this winter. I do feel that it is a great tool to specifically target finger strength. I have much more confidence using smaller holds and one and two finger pockets now. Additionally, I don't get the nagging soreness in my fingers after sport climbing or bouldering that i used to get.

However, I think the greatest advantage the system gave me was in pointing out my true weaknesses. I can now crank HIT sets with 50 lbs added on all but the pinch and pinky-ring pocket teams, but still have trouble bouldering V4 or V5 ish. So, I realized my real weaknesses are in upper body power and technique. Because of this I have been training with a campus board in the Gym to increase power, and am focusing way more on body positioning while climbing outside.

Now that this post has disintegrated into rambling I'll state my main thesis. The HIT system is a great tool that specifically targets finger strength, but it is only one tool that one should use in developing a balanced training regime.