Note –  A Look Back: October is coming, but a lot happened last month.  Start your training early this month with our first look at the true Crank Training Cycle.

Since this is your first round through the Crank Training Cycle (CTC), we need to set up a baseline for all of the trainable Characteristics.  As such, this is really just a half phase that only lasts for four sessions, or two weeks, for either roped or bouldering.  If you are choosing to train both disciplines, then only two sessions per discipline are possible.  It also includes complimentary sessions for cardio, core, and conditioning

Preparation:

If you recall from the Climbing Characteristic assessment, part of the goal is to be as well-rounded as possible on the largest variety or features and styles.  The purpose is simply that experience increases proficiency in weak areas but will also solidify strengths.  These sessions are to provide time for dedicated exploration of your training facility and what it has to offer, rather than just your usual haunts, and the to get a feel for the relativity of the grading system.  As we lay out the resistance levels in future phases, these grades will become important to determine the appropriate level you will be training.  As we explored in a previous Jams My Cams post, the person’s idea of a V5, for example, on an overhang and a V5 on a slab may not feel like they are the same to you.  Similarly, if two setter’s work on the same section, one setter’s V5 may feel harder or softer than the other.  This will help to delineate the idea of what a V5-, V5, and V5+ feels like for you, and so on and so forth for each grade that you are able to climb.  The best thing that you can do is climb as many problems/routes as possible to identify the following:

Can you do pull-ups?  If yes, great!  Use this time to test yourself and see how many pull-ups you can do.  If you rated yourself in the Advanced Category for strength, how much weight can you hang from a weight belt and still complete a pull-up, or what are the smallest rungs you can use effectively on the campus board?  If not, no worries, there are still plenty of no feet exercises that you can do and progress through the different levels.  You should still take some time each session to see what it is that you are capable of including dead hangs, flex hangs, and negatives for time on a bar, campus board, and hangboard.

The Core is such a substantial part of one’s climbing ability, but sometimes we just do not know how to effectively activate our core.  Remember that the use of the Core is actually much larger than just those pretty front wall 6-packs we crave.  It also includes the ability to balance and hold a position during static and after dynamic movement through the hips and trunk.  Use this series as a warm-up for both Climbing and Conditioning so that the body is fully activated and ready to work.  Two exercises are for each sub-characteristic are listed below, one set will be used on climbing days and one set to be used on conditioning days.  The purpose of the following exercises is to build a solid foundation for future.  These are a sample of exercise progressions that will be fully detailed in the forthcoming book.

Drawing-in Maneuver (Supine)

Drawing-in Maneuver (Quadruped)

Single-leg Balance with  Arm Motion*

Single-leg Balance with Leg Motion*

Box Jump Up and Hold^

Box Jump Down and Hold^

*Increase difficulty by using the following; a board, a foam pad, DynaDisc, or half foam roll

^Many gyms have various boxes for different heights.  Stairs will also work.

Below is an example of four sessions of the Core workout for the Preparation Phase.  Each line in the “Sets” and “Reps” section represents a session.  In the “Cadence” section, the numbers represent the following; 4 = hold the position, 2 = release the position, 1 = reset the position and inhale.  After you inhale do not hold your breath but give a slow exhale to cover hold and release.  If you are training for two disciplines, select two exercises from the list above for each of the sub-aspects.

This one is easy.  Pick a cardio activity or two from the following outdoor activities; street/trail running, cycling, roller blading (hey, it’s still big in some places), cross country skiing, or indoor activities; treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike (not a recumbent, those are useless), or erg (commonly known as the rowing machine).  If you are choosing to train only one climbing disciple (roped or bouldering), then only choose one cardio activity for consistency.  If you choose both, then choose two cardio activities to keep yourself diversified.  Personally, I prefer to train both disciplines and choose the following; late spring through early fall I run and cycle, and then in late fall through early spring I use the elliptical and erg.

Start moving at a comfortable pace to get you started.  This pace can be difficult to determine if you are not already familiar with how your body reacts to cardio work.  I like to call it the “Conversational Pace”, meaning, that if you were doing it with a partner then you would be able to chat or if you are solo you could sing along with your iPod.  If you want to get technical, the pace is between 60-70% of your maximum effort.  The easiest way to calculate this effort is you heart rate as such:

220 – (your age) = Maximum [Effective] Heart Rate (Max. HR)

Then,

Max. HR x 0.6 = 60% HR

Max. HR x 0.7 = 70% HR

My target is 65% to strike a nice middle between the two values and stay in the correct range.  Perform at this pace for 20 minutes with a 2-minute power walk to warm-up and warm-down on either side of the actual session making for a 24-minute total per session.  This will set up for a good base and a launch point for the future increases.

While all of the other Characteristics are directly influencing climbing, Conditioning has a more indirect influence.  It is designed to worked the antagonist and synergist muscle groups necessary to keep the body balanced and will also help to improve other often over-looked aspects of your climbing, such as top-out ability.  The major muscle groups targeted here are the chest, shoulders, and legs all in the pursuit of improving posture and reducing possible injury.  Time in this phase should be spent find the one-rep maximums of the selected exercises that you plan to do for the entire Cycle.  The exercises listed below are the most effective for building strength in these muscle groups and stability in all of the body’s major joints.  And yes, all of these are free weight exercises, and you may choose either dumbbells or barbells.  Some gyms may have a cable tower and/or resistance bands that will also be appropriate for this kind of results that we are trying to achieve.  Machines are ineffective for building stability and core strength because they lock you into a limited range of motion and do not necessitate the need for the synergist muscle groups to activate.  Your exercises should obviously reflect the type of equipment that you have available which is why the generic names have been used.  Most of these exercises can be modified for the variety of equipment.  Below are some examples, but a full list of appropriate exercises will be available and detailed in the printed version of this format.

Chest Press

Modified Chest Fly

Shoulders

Overhead Press

Lateral Shoulder Raise

Back Squat

Deadlift