Submax Bouldering For Skill Development

[wcohen]

Hey all,

So I'm a novice climber of 2.5 years looking to improve my abilities across the board. I love all forms of climbing, but as a Gunks climber multi-pitch trad is my favorite. I'm not the best or putting down particularly impressive grades yet, but I love the sport and working at it.

Just a few stats so that you guys know where I'm starting from

Hardest Outdoor sport lead: 5.10c (
Hardest Outdoor Trad lead: 5.7 (onsight)
Hardest Outdoor Boulder Problem: V3/V3+

Hardest Indoor Climb (TR) 5.11a
Hardest indoor lead (onsight): 5.10b
Haven't done much redpointing as I've never had continuous access to a gym until the past few months
Bouldering Hardest Flash V3 (Have gotten a few V4's)
Hardest Boulder Problem V4/5

So my primary goal is to improve my roped climbing and get myself into the 5.8/5.9 trad range at the Gunks.

Unto my main question, I've noticed I've had the biggest improvement in movement learning during my "Power" phase when I spend 30 mins working up through the V grades doing 4 problems/grade as prescribed. My focus is to climb the problem "perfectly" while trying to find the most efficient movement pattern for each move. If I feel I didn't succeed in that feat I'll try the problem again. I feel like I'm learning the most in the V2/V3 range during the warmup ladder. 

I was wondering if it would be detrimental to make this a fairly permanent part of my training regimen until technique is no longer my limiting factor. I think the novel movement aspect does wonders for me, and it gets a ton of lower level problems that I don't find too strenuous under my belt. 

I know it's recommended during the power/power endurance phases, but would there be anything wrong with doing so during the Base and strength phases as well? It may leave me a bit more tired before my hangboard workouts, but I also find that I am most ready to pull hard after progressively holding on to harder holds.

Just some thoughts,

Will

[slimshaky]

this last spring i experimented with doing this (approx 30 to 45 minutes, bouldering pyramid from dead easy up to fairly difficult) as my warmup for my HB workout and i thought it worked really, really well. it is a good way of keeping from getting too rusty, while still being able to take advantage of the focused strength training. also, if you know of a certain type of move on an upcoming project, you can get work on it over a period of time and refine it, which will give you a bit of a head start when it is time to drop the clutch.

one thing i have to be dilligent about - be strict about the length and difficulty of the warmup. it is east to keep saying, i'm just going to give this one more try.... and pretty soon you have dug a big hole for your HB workout. be sure to plan ahead of time, and be strict about when to terminate the warmup and begin the HB workout.

good luck!

[wcohen]

Very cool! Yeah I can definitely see myself having a hard time giving up a good Boulder session for an hour of extra arcing...

But that's a risk I'm willing to take

[bk]

I've just started including a boulder ladder at the end of my arc workouts. I'm noticing improvements in my technique (which is a significant weakness for me). I'm climbing at almost exactly your level.

If you feel your technique needs work, pick up a copy of the self coached climber and incorporate these drills into your arc workouts. Since I started consciously working on technique, I actually got a compliment from a stranger on my footwork. If you were familiar with my work, you'd realize how remarkable that is

[Jack Ziegler]

Be careful working technique at the end of workouts. The general rule is to only work technique when you still feel fresh. Your climbing efficiency suffers when you try hard moves when tired and this can cause the development of bad habits.

[wcohen]

Already have scc actually! Been doing the drills (mainly the hip to wall turning traverse, flagging traverse, and silent feet to warm up in the beginning, but I should rotate more)