Looking back, I wish I started hangboarding a lot sooner than I did! My finger strength wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was, I needed to get a lot stronger to climb an 8a.
I hope I managed to get strong enough now! I can hang on a 20mm edge for 7 seconds with +32kg (so 142% of my body weight), and my critical force went up to 411 N (53.7% of my body weight).
The mental and tactical skills also made a huge difference: I found a way to manage my fear of falling, I practised the ability to flip the switch and go from relaxed climbing to full effort climbing, and I found a dozen ways to make a route just a little bit easier to increase the chances of red pointing.
Due to changing conditions and injuries, my plan kept changing and therefore also this video. This makes the video a bit chaotic, but I hope it still gives a good insight into my training! However, this video isn't a how-to guide. If anything, it's a video on what not to do. I have 5 weeks left to climb my first 8a, and I have a lumbrical injury in my left hand, a TFCC injury on the right, and I am showing serious signs of overtraining.
Looking back I should've taken a lot more rest. I did take deload weeks, but the stress of leaving for a climbing trip on a weekly basis (leaving on Thursday, returning Sunday night) really added up, especially considering the fact that sport climbing is still a scary/stressful experience for me. I Should've taken a month break somewhere in the summer, but in reality that's when I doubled down. So; learn from me, take more rests. I'm about to leave for Spain with a banged up body, but I think I still have a shot. Win or lose, starting January I will take it much easier. Till then, I'm giving it all I got. Wish me luck!
Thanks to @strengthclimbing7102 for the diagram, critical force calculator and suggested aerobic endurance training protocol!
Chapters:
0:00 Trying to go from 7a to 8a in a single year
0:21 Background and motivation for this goal
0:50 Phase 1: mental skills and fear of falling
1:27 Phase 2: sport climbing tactics
2:37 Start of phase 3 with a physical assessment
3:05 Strengths: strong, analytical privileged
3:33 Weaknesses: crimp, hip impairment, endurance
4:41 Lattice hangboard finger strength training
7:10 Diet and supplements
8:31 Kilterboard on the minute mixed with compound exercises
10:44 Measuring critical force for aerobic endurance
12:50 Aerobic endurance pyramid training using critical force
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Cognitive psychologist and passionate rock climber. My goal for 2022 is to overcome some health issues and go from climbing 7a to climbing an 8a :)
My plan to reach 8a consists of a mental, tactical and and a physical phase. Every 2 weeks, I will evaluate my progress and check if I'm still adhering to my core values: health, virtue, resourcefulness, transparency, and growth. Progressing towards 8a must not be detrimental to my long-term health, or any of the other core values.
I will share the whole journey on YouTube! If you want to know every detail, go to AmirNickname.com to see the exact stats and schedule.
For information about falling safely while bouldering go to:
valcursus.nl
Music by Fesliyan studios
#rockclimbing #climbing #bouldering
