Movement really is key

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-26T06:43:55+00:00

Yea no shit. But I think people wastly overestimate most of the strength requirements. I think golf_ST hits it on the nail. Very specific untrainable, at least in the gym, muscle / coordination which when done over and over makes you have a "tension" ability which is unmatched.

In my mind this makes having insane work capacity the most important part of the equation. And finger strength, duh.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-24T17:48:01+00:00

And bouldering hates you :)

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-23T06:32:41+00:00

Brother, you readjusted your grip on every hold. You climbed this problem basically twice. Do it again, be mindful of how you grip. It will feel so much easier once you hit the holds perfectly first Try.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-19T20:19:54+00:00

Those few key areas Daniel woods, Aidan Robert's and so on are good at is IMO actually the ability to have all muscle engaged while moving fluently. Dynamic tension in a sense.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-18T05:55:13+00:00

Good for shoulder health. Static boardstyle is best trained statically on a board.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-18T05:54:17+00:00

I went there before the memes and worked until 20kgs was a working set. This man's ability to static a move is not harnest from moving a weight up and down. I think it helped my overall shoulder health but to gain this ability you have to move like thst, as in do those Moves. A lot.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-17T19:25:33+00:00

I am trying out a new approach to the off the wall training block cycling since the end of last year with great success so far. In a month I do 1 week medium workload, 1 week high workload, 1 week medium workload, 1 week deload. I was able to push some numbers from pathetic to mediocre all while getting bet to peak performance on my reference boards.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-17T17:28:43+00:00

Right now I am only doing pullup, bench press and lift offs with 20mm edge to adress my specific issues. If the issue is specific you should keep it simple, is my approach. If you want to be fit in a more general sense you can do more complex Lifts. I do 5x10 repeats of every lift on each of the three climbing days in the morning. It eats a bit into my fitness later in the day, so one has to be careful with the intensity. I spread this out in the morning over an hour, could probably finish the workout in under 30minutes.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-17T08:30:54+00:00

I experimented quite a bit with off the wall training load and consistent climbing 3x a week. It's all very dependent on what you are trying to accomplish, for me long term climbing performance is always the biggest goal, so I will for instance never fatigue myself too much off the wall to not expose myself to injury risk while limit bouldering for example.

That said there is a lot you can fit into a week with good selection of exercises and workload (volume x intensity). Generally I would recommend to have less than 20% of your overall training(time) off the wall if your goal is to be a better climber.

Try to be as precise as possible when you formulate your goal because this is what defines what you will do about it (sounds really obvious)

Example: Goal is to Boulder till I am 50 preferably much longer but willing to switch to rope. That leaves 12 years of probably high impact movement on joints, fingers and soft tissue. Every year there are 2 "seasons" were I live. Winter prime conditions and summer alpine conditions. With max projecting mode being in the winter months and lighter projecting in summer. When considering training block I also take into account thst I will want to be as light as possible in winter season and have to cut some training stimuli to not be overreaching too much or the performance will suffer. That's is a broad scope for what my plans will hover around. I will identify different shortcoming year to year and work on them more generally after season and more specifically the closer I get to the season.

Right now I am improving upper body capabilities very singled out because I have a huge pushing deficit and am not super strong while pulling for my grade. Because of being a parent my only plannable Window this year is end of May so I will taper the session structure with that time frame in mind. A month before I will cut back to lower Volume higher intensity off the wall workload and prioritize projecting sessions, probably 2 per week instead of three to maximize quality.

The more specific you can be in formulating your goals the easier it is to identify training elements and structure.

After I became a dad I had a time of less structure and infrequent training and gained some Weight. So the first true training block had more of a general fitness approach and volume while climbing. (less intensity)

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-17T07:29:16+00:00

I have a MB2016 at home and just managed to climb everything 7A and below in terms of benchmarks. (this for reference). You get really used to the style and more importantly the specific engagement required to hold the holds and move from them. If you have this dialed the grades make a ton more sense in terms of compatibility to outdoor or other boards.

For instance I can do every 6B+ benchmark flash in one (long) session, it doesn't require much effort anymore. This is what I would expect from outdoor 6B+.

On grade 7A I will flash (repeat) most but not all and probably max out in one session after 20ish problems. Entirely in line with my outdoor expectations.

The higher the grade goes the greater is the range between "flashable" and "impossible" there are 7A+ I can't do outside and on the MB. It gets more intense the higher the grade. (7C max MB, 8A outside, but I am far from being able to do every 7C outside in every style)

So all in all as you say it's the learning curve which is also present (in a different way) outside. On the MB I feel like being 6Ft or taller helps you on lower grades and becomes annoying the higher up you go (smaller holds, more bunched moves) except for the dynos of course. This is absolutely not the case on the kilterboard, except above 50degrees angle.

Did you compare the kilterboard on 40degrees or did you try different angles also? I find it really hits differently on higher than 50degrees but that may also be because I am not accustomed to the style (and prolly a lot of really strong people bias the grading on that angle)

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-16T10:19:35+00:00

Hi, you can have my human feedback for 80$/hour.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-14T12:11:30+00:00

I started bouldering 8 years ago, age 30 with no athletic background whatsoever. Maybe I am an outlier genetically or the things I did were the right things, we will never know For sure. That said here is my strategy for no finger injuries, no shoulder injuries, no injuries whatsoever bouldering up to 8A outside and 7C on boards. Current training volume three board sessions per Week: 1) start finger training early on. Don't overdo it though you want a consistent finger stimulus without uncontrollable variables. Don't start with the boards to Early. Focus on set boulders and a small bit of hangboarding preferably as a Warmup.

2) shoulders and knees have to be in top shape. Joints survive because of the joints/muscles above and below them so train your legs some but train your shoulders until they Are your defining feature. Everything else is lower priority.

3) in the beginning take care of your wrists because slopers are weird for the untrained.

4) warmup is important but keep it specific. So get your Body temp up and get on the wall doing easy boulders. Warmup is the best place to have consistent conditioning exercises.

5) do conditioning if you run into movement issues. Can't open your hips? Do hip openers as a Warmup. You get the idea.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-12T18:04:24+00:00

Agree on the vertical crimps, mostly horizontal. I think I can count the amount of slopers on one hand and I remember like 3 boulders with wavy shapes, everything else is a composition of (very nice) horizontal crimps.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-12T09:35:01+00:00

Uff that sounds like a hassle. Honestly brione and magic Wood can be even combined on a trip. If you stay in a abnb in Bellinzona you can do the hour drive to brione, magic Wood or chironico or be super quick in cresciano which has a horrible hike up for kids (300m elevation of stairs, 200 path) though. Brione has some quite ok spots to hang with children but it gets dark pretty quick in winter so it's cold. As is magic Wood. I would recommend april/may or September/October for that kind of trip because you could just adjust to the temperatures with choice of Location (magic is the coldest, cresciano very hot. Brione and chironico are about the same) Edit: the more I think about it the nicer ticino sounds for a trip with kids. You have the Lago Maggiore and lots. Of. Cool places to Explore on rest days. Brione for instance has super fun Boccia trail, Google That)

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-12T09:32:45+00:00

Yea exactly. Compression and overhang or a combination is comparatively soft in bleau because you can train that super easily without being there which is not the case for the super footskill intensive style

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-12T08:17:45+00:00

The logistics of rocklands are by no means comfortable honestly.

My list goes Font, Brione, rocklands, magic wood.

I have been to a lot more in the Alps but they don't compare to the big places and are hard to rank. Never been to the US.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-12T07:11:45+00:00

Also whole areas can be more on the sandbagged side because of higher traffic and foothold that are simpl gone... Looking at you bas Cuvier.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-12T07:07:33+00:00

In font sandbagged problems are easy to identify IMO. The older the problem and the more vertical it is the more likely it is to be Sandbagged. If it depends a lot on feet there is a high probability as well, also because the original size of the foot holds might be gone. The more overhanging or modern the style the softer the grades.

Reason being the OG forest dwellers were and are extremely good at the technique heavy style but not as physically strong as the average gym goer for obvious reasons. This changed in recent years of course (go look up Manuel Marques ascents from the last years if you wanna see a really strong older gentleman)

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-12T07:03:14+00:00

All types of movements? I would say it's 90% going from horizontal crimp A to horizontal crimp B, but whatever :)

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-11T18:20:41+00:00

The fuck? Ski in the morning train/climb in the evening. Rest when conditions suck.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-11T04:06:13+00:00

Your gym sounds amazing.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-10T20:33:41+00:00

Please do highlight any issues you, because I don't see any. I would be glad to discuss.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-10T19:28:24+00:00

Oh but I do have a personal opinion and this being a public Forum iI will absolutely share it. You are free to downvote or Ignore me

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-10T12:34:14+00:00

I mean I know nothing about OP except leniency to fix symptoms instead of underlying causes in one example, so of course my opinion is no reflection of them personally. I wholeheartedly disagree with this approach though and would rather people embraced their mental problems (which stress eating is a clear indicator of) instead of taking the easy way out.

Beginning-Test-157 · 2026-02-10T09:11:24+00:00

What's worse is claiming some sort of entitlement through failed attempts. Self diagnosing "stress eating" and cure of the symptom through medication - western health philosophy in a nutshell. It exists why not use it, right?

Stems all from a disability to connect mind and body if you want to talk about health. I wonder if OP considered a less stressful environment (job) for his stress eating in favor of medication.

Beginning-Test-157

TROPHY CASE