Adapting RCTM for teen climbers between 15 and 18?

[tedwelser]

I was at the New this weekend and climbed with a cool young climber.   He was keen to learn about the RCTM approach in general, but in our conversation I wondered about how best to adapt aspects of the approach to someone who was still in the "Wunderkind" time period.   He wanted me to ask these questions, as he is currently camping at the AAC and has no internet for the next several weeks.  He plans to get the RCTM when he heads back home for school.    

Where does the best balance fall between the RCTM approach  on the one hand, and the cautionary tales of "one move too many" on the other? How should a 16 year old balance his training for finger strength gains with his long term health as a climber?  

Or, in stated in a different way, if a climber could benefit form another 4-5 years of elevated insulin growth factor(chart on page 14), how should they modify the general RCTM approach? 

He has bouldered V8 at the Gunks, is currently projecting Apollo Reed, has onsighted  up to 12b.  
In terms of training he does a lot of core work, bouldering, climbing, some campus and hangboard. But he is also a multi-sport athlete, competing in wrestling and hockey so he will have some off seasons where is he not seeking sending performance for climbing, and during which his climbing will have to be efficient and convenient.

I thought these were interesting questions.  

[Charlie S]

Wow, the kid is crushing!

Dave MacLeod's recent book, Make or Break, has a good section about kids climbing. He suggests waiting until approximately 18 to begin serious strength building. The reason behind this is that too much too fast too soon can cause growth plates to fracture. He advocated for a heavy emphasis on skill acquisition until ~18-20 before really starting hard on hangboarding or campusing.

Dave MacLeod's opinion is also that "most climbers are strong enough to send their goals" (from 9 out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes). I'm not sure that's totally correct. My progression began when I became stronger. Probably depends on the individual.

So, my layman's understanding: lots of ARC and skill acquisition, "light" hangboarding for practicing open-handed crimps. Probably heavy on PE too.

I'd be interested in reading what the Jedi masters have to say...

[Chris W]

I could write pages on this topic and discuss the physiology of adolescent males, the PSYCHOLOGY of adolescent males, the effects of training and overtraining, the current sociology of 'wunderkind' athletes, multisport kids, etc., ad nauseam. It's not my blog and I don't have that much patience.

If the kid is progressing and having fun, I'd be inclined to tell him to just keep progressing and having fun. Otherwise, I believe that the rock prodigy method is very physiologically sound and would expect a kid that age to be able to follow it without any issues, assuming they don't do anything completely boneheaded. I feel they'd be more likely to injure themselves jumping on the purple freaky-tweaky problem in the gym.

[tedwelser]

The climber I am asking for, Eddie, is super motivated and is already training so I suspect that there is pretty much no way to convince him to just climb. But, he is currently training in ways that are not as safe and effective as the RCTM approach. I was able to convince him that the RCTM approach will be better than what he is currently doing for climbing.

He also trains for hockey and wrestling and is already quite strong, so I think they key thing is just to figure out how to channel his energy in directions that are both effective and good for his body in the long run.

[MarkAnderson]

I've heard the "growth plate" warning for years, and frankly I don't buy it. I've seen meta-studies (will link later if folks are interested) that refute the entire premise. Furthermore, I would apply the same logic that I use to argue in favor of training as a means of injury prevention. Sound training, with carefully controlled activities and prescribed recovery periods is almost certainly safer than whatever would be done in its place.

The fact is the very best in any physical endeavor began working very hard, very often, at a young (often pre-pubescent) age. If you want to be the very best, you're much more likely to get there by following a similar approach.

The bottom line is, if my kids are psyched to be their best, I will encourage them to use all the methods I've spent so many years trying to optimize.

Ted, to your specific question, my guess is an adolescent could get by with fewer rest days, but you would need to experiment to find out. All the other training volume (hockey, etc) will likely interfere some too. I know many of the top wunderkind types train 6 days a week, but often with shorter sessions than those of us who train less frequently do.

[tedwelser]

Hey Mark- Thanks a bunch! That sounds very reasonable. Also, I think that he will be glad to hear about the more frequent training being ok. He will also appreciate that he might be able to work in some brief hangboard sessions while he is otherwise busy with hockey or wrestling.

[tedwelser]

Some cool news- Eddie sent Apollo Reed this week. 3 days before he had to head home. I look forward to seeing how he progresses from the RCTM approach over the next two seasons.

[MarkAnderson]

Nice! Super classic route.