Training for a .12a send

jmmlol wrote:Learn how to use the campus board, climb medium difficulty boulders with shorter rest periods, run circuits, lose weight

Campus boarding won't do squat for your climbing if you lack the experience and technique to cleanly climb 10+. Don't waste your time and threaten your tendons with finger training - it is of little benefit for the grade you're pursuing and with high risk of injury.

Bouldering is great for building the power and ability to figure out cruxes. Route climbing will build your endurance and lead head. Do both.

I had this goal. Trained a bunch. Wasted a ton of time. You dont need to train to climb 5.12 you need to learn how to climb real rock. Go climb outside as much as possible. Fail often and fall more. Next thing you know you will be climbing 5.12. Also dont rush through the 11s. Some of the best routes I have done are in that range.

BrianWS wrote: Campus boarding won't do squat for your climbing if you lack the experience and technique to cleanly climb 10+. Don't waste your time and threaten your tendons with finger training - it is of little benefit for the grade you're pursuing and with high risk of injury. Bouldering is great for building the power and ability to figure out cruxes. Route climbing will build your endurance and lead head. Do both.

If he's trying to climb 12a, he should be able to handle big rungs on a campus board. Start with pull-ups then move on to actual campus work once comfortable.

jmmlol wrote: Start with pull-ups then move on to actual campus work once comfortable.

Don't. Do. This.

You are way too new to climbing to even touch a campus board. If you want to get stronger, some hangboarding at around 80% intensity will be valuable, but as others have said, learning to move on stone is going to do a lot for you atm. And there's nothing wrong with getting to 12a after a couple years, so don't worry if you don't get one in the next 6 months

jmmlol wrote:Learn how to use the campus board, climb medium difficulty boulders with shorter rest periods, run circuits, lose weight

I've noticed, since climbing has gotten more popular, there has been a sort of "trickle-down" effect in which practices of more advanced climbers get increasingly applied to the cases of intermediate or beginners. This is why you have people "projecting" 5.10, and leaving tickmarks on similarly graded climbs.

This trickle-down mentality has started applying to training, too. It's pretty silly; you don't need to be campusing in order to get solid on 5.11.

There's a misconception that anyone who touches a campus board will hurt themselves. If you start slow on big rungs it'll be fine. Don't full crimp. Doing 3 sets of pull-ups below failure point on 3-5 minutes rest twice a week on the biggest rungs is a good way to build some basic strength. There should be foot holds if you can do a pull-up as well. I'm not saying he should go try 1-4-6 on the small rungs.

jmmlol wrote:There's a misconception that anyone who touches a campus board will hurt themselves.

The last three people who recommended against campusing didn't mention injury at all. What's the point of campusing? It sure is not about training good technique for climbing. So what's the point of sending someone to the campus board when they probably don't know the difference between a twist-lock and a lock-off?

Most of us are saying you don't necessarily need campusing power to climb 5.12, but I guess you can also argue that you don't necessarily need good technique to climb 5.12 if you can thug your way up the thing.

aikibujin wrote: The last three people who recommended against campusing didn't mention injury at all. What's the point of campusing? It sure is not about training good technique for climbing. So what's the point of sending someone to the campus board when they probably don't know the difference between a twist-lock and a lock-off? Most of us are saying you don't necessarily need campusing power to climb 5.12, but I guess you can also argue that you don't necessarily need good technique to climb 5.12 if you can thug your way up the thing.

Of course he needs to climb as well, but campus work as a supplement is extremely beneficial. It doesn't take much too.

You're correct that you don't NEED to be able to be a campus all star to climb 12a, and I'm not expecting that. But learning how to will be beneficial in the future. It teaches proper back muscle engagement (so many people hang on shoulders without using their back).

There's more to a board that just maxing out your movement. Regular pull-ups, offset pull-ups, bumps, etc. It can easily be tailored to a climber's level.

Richard Burnett wrote: Usain bolt didn't pop out of his mom training to run like hell, he trained first to just learn to crawl.

False. Usain Bolt popped out of his mom running like hell.

I heard sport climbing starts at 5.12. Whatever you've been doing, it's not climbing.

jmmlol wrote: Of course he needs to climb as well, but campus work as a supplement is extremely beneficial. It doesn't take much too. You're correct that you don't NEED to be able to be a campus all star to climb 12a, and I'm not expecting that. But learning how to will be beneficial in the future. It teaches proper back muscle engagement (so many people hang on shoulders without using their back). There's more to a board that just maxing out your movement. Regular pull-ups, offset pull-ups, bumps, etc. It can easily be tailored to a climber's level.

This isn't needed at the OP's level at all. There is a massive amount of movement skill to be learned on the wall still. They would learn a lot more by doing 3 second hovers in a lock off on 10+ routes at the gym and it's actually directly relevant to the climbing they will be doing outside. Most moves in the 5.10 range can be done very statically and with the right body position/core tension you don't need to be death gripping on the locked off hand while searching out a hold.

OP quit worrying about the number. Focus on volume of a variety of rock types and styles of movement.

Just do what Rifle climbers do and fuel yourself with hate...

I'm not a doctor, I'm not a trainer, I have not redpointed 5.12. I've been climbing outside for five years, roped for four. I sent v3 outside before I started roped climbing and haven't sent a boulder problem since. I can pretty consistently onsight 11a and have flashed 11b/c. I started training for the first time this past winter, basically following a slightly condensed RCTM plan to peak spring break (terrible idea, I'll be in red rocks climbing long routes). I decided to start training because I was demonstrably limited by physical factors in my climbing.

I would totally recommend the RCTM to anybody, it is a great book and I think it works super well for most people's schedules/lives. I would really reccomend reading this post by Kris Hampton. And I would recommend realizing that periodized training offered in the RCTM is not the only method, although it is very well proven for single anticipated goals.

If you are living in CO this summer, prioritize getting outside, climb outside as much as possible and learn to read rock, all different kinds, and expand your library of movements. Learn to rest on rock, learn about footwork and body positioning. I won't recommend against training, but if I were you I would be focusing more on practice than training. While they're not mutually exclusive, generally, inside is a better environment for training while outside is a better environment for practice.

The RCTM advocates a training plan that roughly follows a base-strength-power-power endurance-performance-rest cycle, I would treat my outdoor climbing that way, climbing lots of pitches in a day; then working routes/boulders with small holds for you and emphasizing lockoffs; then shifting to boulders/routes with powerful dynamic moves; then outside 4x4s or projecting goal routes. If you can't get outside, then training is certainly the next best thing, but while it will absolutely make you stronger it probably won't make you a better climber.

TBH, anyone of average to healthy weight who isn't crippled can climb 12a.

If you have a BMI higher than 24-25, work on getting it down.

Assuming your weight is OK, find a partner who is psyched enough to repeatedly go back to a 12a you really like. If you're in NoCO, I'd suggest Redneck Hero but you could probably find one closer to town. If you climb 2 days a week, try it one of those days. Try it about 3-4 times on the days you try it. Keep going back. You'll send it within 6 weeks.

You won't be a 12a climber, but you'll have one under your belt.

youtube.com/watch?v=8CAtQeF…

This. I've climbed a handful of .12as and few .12bs My suggestion and I think secret to climbing strong is training your core. Finger strength will come the more you climb and harder stuff you do, but training your core plays a huge role in climbing harder.

This thread is confusing.

As an ancedote, I climbed a ton when I first started and quickly got up to 5.11 (without any bouldering or legit training). Then one day my friends asked me to set a toprope on a climb for them. It didn't look too bad so I started, got halfway up, fell once, took a 10 minute breather, then did the route on my second try. Turns out it was my first 12 without ever doing 11d. The route fit my strengths perfectly. I guess what I'm trying to say is that training sounds sexy right now because everyone is doing it (including the girl on instagram that is campusing but looks like her arms are just going to rip right out of her shoulder socket because she's so weak), but I don't think it's necessary for anyone until mid-5.12 range if you can just climb a lot. Also, I wasn't strong then. I could do like, 5 pullups, and sucked at hangboarding. I just had really good technique. Actually, I've lost a good part of that technique since I've gotten stronger...

climbing friend,

do not listen to 95% of this terrible advice in thread of internet. increse your outdoor climbing days to 3-5x per week, and do limited amounts of supplementary hangboarding if you are not getting quite worked from the climbing. Anything else like training "core" may bring you warm and happy feelings but is basically a waste of time for your sending.

I'll just put this out there:

I've climbed over 100 5.12 pitches from 12a to d, and climbed a few (arguably...) 5.13-. Never trained for it, just climbed a lot in the gym and got a solid month of uninterrupted climbing outdoors. My nearest climbing area of note is 5 hours away - just made the most of my trips, spending my time between onsighting below my redpoint grade, working on near term redpointable routes, and identifying/working long term projects.

Does this mean there's no merit to structured training? Of course not -- I've seen many partners have huge breakthroughs with regimented training. I've also seen plenty of folks wasting their time training when their weakness lied in a lack of technique, footwork, and experience. If you aren't sending 5.11- cleanly but have the power to pull thru cruxes, my likely guess is that you just need to work on fundamentals and mileage and skip the training.

here are some of my thoughts. given how early you are in your climbing career, you are going to (by far) get more bang for your buck by spending most of your time 'practicing' (as reboot calls it) being a better climber. this is where you should be spending almost all of your time. at this point, your strength/power/endurance gains will come really easy, so you might as well gain them while you are improving technically.

i have to laugh when people suggest campusing and core training for somebody who hasn't been climbing very long. campusing is useful when you have a fairly large technical repertoire and want to start wringing out some power gains. i honestly think most core training is pretty silly. even when i climbed the occasional inversion OW i never trained core, and i have never felt like it has held my climbing back at all.

if i were to briefly sum up how my milestones shook out i would say that climbing a lot helped me climb a lot of 11's, hangboarding helped my climb a lot of 12's, and campusing helped me eek out a few 13a's. none of this would have been possible without a lot of climbing though.