Training Success/Breakthough Stories

[gargano]

Hey all. 

I've been getting psyched reading about the successes that other folks have had on the training program, and thought it would be cool to hear some success/breakthrough stories here in the Psyche! forum.  


What get's you psyched?

Stories where training or mindset produced a breakthrough in your climbing?

Was there a route that changed it all?

The shift in the way you perceived your ability?

A successful season? 

A goal that you finally accomplished?

What are you working towards now?


Share 'em here!



P.S. Just joined the forum a few weeks ago. It's nice to be a part of a friendly, functional forum with good information and focused people from the climbing community.

Thanks for putting this together Mark and Mike!

[tedwelser]

I am psyched because I can feel the progress that I am making, especially in terms of endurance and strength.  (which makes sense because I am still in my power training phase and have not started power endurance yet).  

Anyways, I pre-ordered the book back in February, and when it arrived in April I immediately started a compressed training cycle aiming for peak in late May / early June at the Red and New.  

My typical onsight / flash level went from 10b/c to 11a/b.  I tried a couple of 12a's (Betavul Pipeline and Check Your Grip) but could not do them in 1 or 2 tries.  

I started my new training season on July 29th with a goal of raising my onsight / flash level to 12a, at least for steep routes.   So my symbolic goal for the October sending season is to climb Twinkie first try (technically a deja vu ascent because I used to climb it regularly in the mid 90's).  

Anyways, I did a day trip on Saturday to Summersville and sent Narcissus (12a) on my first attempt after TR one-hanging it a month ago.   

So, anyways, I am super psyched to be developing the capacity to send some of my goal routes in just 1 or 2 tries.  


 

[andycasler]

I'm happy that my hard work paid off with a five grade trad leading improvement!

I did a mini training plan in the spring and moved up from leading gunks 5.9 to gunks 5.10c by the summer. The increased outdoor mileage was huge, but I think the biggest game changer was the route pyramid, which motivated me to try harder climbs.

During the summer, I went into a full 17 week training cycle aimed at peaking in November. On Week 7 I sent my goal route, Coexistence (5.10d), on the second try, with one fall during the flash attempt. During week 9 I redpointed Golden Showers (5.11a) and in week 10 I sent Matinee (5.10d).

I've had to cut back on training during the past few weeks because of an aching knuckle, but it's feeling better now, and I'm ready to go for a gunks 11b before my season is over!

For my next training cycle, I'm planning to spend my spring performance phase working on Snooker (5.13a) in the Red!

[RyanJohnson]

It's pretty motivating to read everyone's training successes. I'll share my background with training as well.

Back in late 2010 I was a consistently climbing 12a/b and had been able to get there by just bolt clipping and bouldering for the previous five or so years. Southern Arizona/the desert southwest has many outstanding routes in the 5.12b-d range that I desperately wanted to be able to at least fall my way up. So I started reading the flavor of the month training articles in the magazines and tried to implement them on gym days. One of those articles was on hangboarding and had Tony Yaniro's famous quote, "If you can't hold on, there is nothing to endure" (paraphrase). I don't remember the specifics of the article but it was full of the standard advice of doing deadhangs off various holds and using a chair, bungee cords, etc. to take weight off. I didn't have a hangboard at the time, so I screwed a small campus rung to a beam and installed a pull up bar. I used these for about a year and slowly made my way to being consistent at 12b/c.

That little bit of progression did it for me. I'd been bitten by the training bug and I wanted to more. I came across the old Rock Prodigy article sometime in the fall of 2011 and saw the light (or maybe darkside). So I started using a hangboard, became more consistent about recording weights and reps, more focused on refining technique and began campusing quarterly. After that first cycle of a more systematic approach, I did my first 12d and 13a in the spring of 2012. Fully a convert after that, I spent the rest of 2012 doing training cycles and trying to consolidate hard 12/13a.

2013 and 2014 have been more of the same, refining technique, paying better attention to conditions and redpoint tactics, and a periodization training program. I feel that the Rock Prodigy approach is the best course for long term climbing improvement. It's safe, it's not gimmicky, and most importantly, it works! This season I'm having a great time consolidating 13a/b, working 13c and tickling the underbelly of 13d.

Be conservative with training and look to where you want your climbing ability to be in the next few years, not the next few months!

[Tom]

Sept 29, 2014 19:58:00 GMT -7 andycasler said:

I'm happy that my hard work paid off with a five grade trad leading improvement!

I did a mini training plan in the spring and moved up from leading gunks 5.9 to gunks 5.10c by the summer. The increased outdoor mileage was huge, but I think the biggest game changer was the route pyramid, which motivated me to try harder climbs.

During the summer, I went into a full 17 week training cycle aimed at peaking in November. On Week 7 I sent my goal route, Coexistence (5.10d), on the second try, with one fall during the flash attempt. During week 9 I redpointed Golden Showers (5.11a) and in week 10 I sent Matinee (5.10d).

I've had to cut back on training during the past few weeks because of an aching knuckle, but it's feeling better now, and I'm ready to go for a gunks 11b before my season is over!

For my next training cycle, I'm planning to spend my spring performance phase working on Snooker (5.13a) in the Red!

That's awesome progress in one season!  Quick question:  what was th mini training plan you completed in the spring?

[joev9]

So, I'm 45 years old and have been climbing for 23 years. I have bouldered two V9s (one in 2006 and one in 2009) and last sent a V8 in February 2012. Last year, I dedicated myself to trying to send another V9 and worked exclusively on three different V9s. I was pretty close on all three, but was super close on one. With all that effort and time, I felt like a failure because I didn't send anything of note last season (Fall 13/Spring 14).

This summer I set myself a goal to climb V10 and started my first cycle of periodized training. I was, in the past, definitely in the mode of climbing to climb, though I thought I was "training." After reading the Anderson's book, I was convinced that their methods were the way to go. Though my climbing friends harassed me about doing ARC sessions and hangboarding, I had faith thanks to the big improvements I made on the hangboard. I hit the Limit bouldering/campus board phase feeling pretty strong but not very coordinated. As I transitioned into full project mode, I was feeling good but the results weren't coming. I was doing moves that I had never been able to do before, but wasn't completing any of the problems that I was trying.

Well, yesterday conditions finally peaked (48F and 35% humidity) and I took down a V8 that I never thought I would be able to do (have never even been close to doing the first move). Best part was that it went down on my 2nd try on my 3rd day. Every other V8 or V9 that I have done was a long, long term project. So, even though I haven't reached my ultimate goal yet, I have to say that this stuff really works and I can't wait, now, to start my next cycle (still have a few weeks to go on my performance phase). Here's a video of my V8 from yesterday:

vimeo.com/110888061

[kerwinl]

Joe that is a great story so far! I love hearing the stories of others who dedicate themselves to training, its awesome to watch friends crush climbs that once were out of reach.

I have been climbing as a boulderer for about 7 years, but picked up trad climbing about 15 months ago due to a bad finger injury from bouldering. I spent the first summer progressing from 5.7 to around 5.10c/d trad leads, feeling mainly limited by my local aerobic endurance and ability to recover after hard sections of climbing. I spent last winter going through 2 cycles of the full rock prodigy cycle and this year went from 10c/d onsight, to 11c/d onsights, and 12b/c redpoints. I emphasized longer phases of local endurance, and downplayed strength, strength endurance and power, because of my bouldering background. This year I will be dedicating equal time to base/strength/power and hope to increase my onsight ability to around 12a, and redpoint to 13a. Excited and ready to train!!


I love the feeling of hitting the spring season in peak climbing form, jumping straight into hard lines. Most climbers need time to regain peak form after a winter off, I like hitting the stone stronger and fitter then I was at the end of the previous season.

[jessebruni]

I haven't yet done a "true" RCTM training season, but I got the book a few months ago and I've been reading everything on the site for months before that. The thing that struck me most was the idea of attacking your weaknesses. My weakness has always been my weight and general fitness. I'm a decent climber but I've always had extra fat hanging around that wasn't helping out much.
This summer I did a RCTM inspired season, mild hangboarding, campusing, power endurance training through 3 distinct phases but nothing very specific. I was keeping track of what I was doing, but not in a very organized or systematic way, and I still wasn't doing anything about my weight. Despite my lackluster record keeping and not working on my weakness I brought my climbing level up and was able to finally put down a 13a project I've been working for the last 2 years despite being 15 pounds heavier (mostly fat) than when I started working it. A few days later a friend of mine sent his first 8a, which got me pretty psyched and a bet was made. He would do his first V9 and another 8a before the year ended, and I would do 3 more 13a projects that I had, as well as the same 8a. Whoever failed to complete the goal would buy the other dinner. For whatever reason this really lit a fire under my butt. I went out and bought the RCTM and read it cover to cover after which I decided it was time to address my biggest weakness, my weight. I started dieting and began a new training season (again only loosely following the RCTM but much more than previously) with the idea of peaking during the first 2 weeks of November to coincide with a trip I had planned to the Red River Gorge. The weight loss was going well as were the strength sessions, but I messed up my very first campus workout and injured myself. Nothing too serious, but enough for me to know I wasn't going to be able to complete the power sessions. So I compensated by starting the power-endurance sessions early and throwing in some ARCing to prepare me for the gorge. After about 2 months, on October 19th (My 25th birthday) I hit a weight I haven't been at since freshman year of college, sent the first of the 3 13a's I had bet I could do and fell on the last move of the second 13a, knowing I could do it easily next time I came out. I could tell I was getting stronger but weather was no good and I haven't been out to my local crag since (fingers crossed for this weekend).

On November 1st I headed out for a 10 day trip to the Red River Gorge with the goal of sending Jesus Wept, a 12d that had shut me down hard last time I tried it in April, being unable to do most of the crux moves and falling 4 or 5 times on my way to the top. Prior to this my hardest send on a road trip had been 12b with a flash of Super Best Friends at Muir Valley (I had gotten pretty lucky) so to send a 12d on a road trip would, in my mind, validate all the work I'd been doing and prove that I had indeed gotten stronger. The trip went better than I could have imagined. I sent a 12b called Mercy the Huff on my 2nd try the first day. The second day I went to Muir Valley and onsighted a 12b called Bullfighter (my first 12b onsight), went over to the Sanctuary to get on Jesus Wept but there was a huge line so I worked on Triple Sec instead. The next day I warmed up by sending a 12b at the Indy wall, then went back to the Sanctuary and sent Triple Sec first try of the day while hanging the draws. My first 12d of the trip and hardest ever send on a road trip. I rested after that and jumped on my goal route, Jesus Wept, and sent it second try! I ended the day by nearly onsighting Iniquity over at the Midnight Surf wall, another 12b (I fell on the second move of the route, which starts with a hard boulder, started from the bottom again and sent, onsighting basically everything except those first 2 moves). Throughout the rest of the trip I ended up sending another 12d, Stunning the Hog at Left Flank, and decided to work a 13a, not really thinking I could climb that hard on a road trip. But as it turned out, after only 2 days of work, 4 redpoint attempts and 2 runs to hang draws and work beta I sent my first 13a on a roadtrip, the uber classic Table of Colors at Left Flank.

I still have 3 more routes to do to win my dinner bet, and not many weekends left in the year to do them (fortunately here in Texas winter is a great time to climb), but it doesn't matter at this point. That bet pushed me to a level I've never experienced before in my climbing and I'm excited to continue training with the RCTM (this time doing it right and following the program as perscribed). More than just the numbers and the sends this season helped open my eyes to the possibilities and made me realize that 5.13 isn't really too hard, and neither is 5.14. It requires work to get there, but no special genetics or luck. Anyone can do it with enough hard work and smart work. I'm ready to see how far I can push this climbing thing and see where my limits lie.

[EP]

I would like to echo everyone's comments that this is the real deal. I have been climbing about 9 years now and have been more or less stagnant at my upper end of difficulty in bouldering for about 6 years. I tried my first cycle this fall and followed the bouldering program in order to coincide with improved conditions in October/November. I have to say, the results were really impressive. I followed the program pretty well, but not to a T. Life events get in the way of the timing of some things. Anyway, in about 5 weeks I climbed more hard boulder problems (for me) than I had in my entire life previously including my first v9. Along the way I did quite a few other easier problems that would have been projects in their own right for me previously, further validating the program. I look forward to tweaking the program in the future and applying it to sport/trad climbing.

[MarkAnderson]

This is really awesome stuff everyone! Congratulations on all your sends and thanks for believing in the program and following through.

[Charlie S]

Sent my first 5.12a (All Chalk and No Action in LCC, Utah) yesterday after 8 attempts: 2 in March, 1 in May, 2 in September, and 3 yesterday (finally making it on the last try).


Attempt #6, right before entering the crux.


After the crux on attempt #8, now to just have the endurance to hang on for the last 40 feet!  The route on the dihedral way above is Orange Crush (5.13); the RCTM has a picture of Alex Honnold on that route.  It's not a personal goal route for me (yet), but it is cool to look at.

The crux is in the first 20 feet of climbing, followed by 40 feet of sustained 5.10+ climbing to the chain.

I went for this immediately following the hangboard sessions of the training cycle.  The reasons for this were multifaceted: 1, the crux is about 3 strong moves, though not overly powerful or power-endurance related.  2, I knew I needed just base endurance for the upper section.  3, it was the perfect weather outside and I couldn't resist NOT trying on a day I was feeling good and light.

On previous attempts, after falling at the crux, I continued to work the upper section. This time, I worked the upper section once and first on TR.  Then I lowered to the crux and attempted it once on TR.  After this the RP attempts began.  After falling on attempts #6 and #7, I simply lowered to the ground.  I knew the moves; it was a matter of just keeping it together for those first 3 bolts.

This was a bit of a jump in building the route pyramid.  Prior to this, I had only an 11c RP and 3 11a RPs for the year.  But an inspiring line can do a lot for you, and that's what this one was.

[RyanJohnson]

Dec 11, 2014 19:41:44 GMT -7 Charlie S said:

Sent my first 5.12a (All Chalk and No Action in LCC, Utah) yesterday after 8 attempts: 2 in March, 1 in May, 2 in September, and 3 yesterday (finally making it on the last try).

This was a bit of a jump in building the route pyramid.  Prior to this, I had only an 11c RP and 3 11a RPs for the year.  But an inspiring line can do a lot for you, and that's what this one was.

Nice work on pushing your limits Charlie! It looks like a fun line. 

[jessebruni]

I posted on this thread back in November explaining how well my first RCTM cycle went and describing a dinner bet I made with my friends that was to be concluded at the end of the year. Turns out we all failed to reach our goals by the end of the year, so no one had to buy anyone else dinner! I ended the year with my goal 50% complete, having done two of the 13a's I was supposed to do, and needing to do one more, plus a particular 13b.
By the year's end I decided that the goal time had expired, there was no point in throwing myself at these routes over and over, and I had just gotten the RPTC for Christmas with the pulley kit and everything so I was psyched to start a new RCTM cycle. So instead of trying to finish my 2014 goal I did an RCTM cycle (bouldering cycle since our routes are basically all roped bouldering).
Today is the start of my 4th week in the power phase and I'm pretty sure power is peaking, I went to my local crag yesterday on one of the first good weather days we've had all year with the intent of putting some work into that 13b I was supposed to send last year. I warmed up with an 11a, followed shortly by a 12a and after about 45 minutes of rest and waiting for my belayer to climb his warm up routes I headed over to get on the 13b project. I told my belayer that I was going to go bolt-to-bolt to relearn the beta, this route is a short roped boulder problem, only about 20 moves and can probably more accurately be described as a V8 boulder problem rather than a 13b sport route. I started up the problem feeling good, I clipped the first bolt 3 moves in and kept going because the first 3 moves are on jugs. After clipping the first bolt the crux begins, 7 moves of which 5 are pinches with the last move being a big iron-cross stab into a good slot on a 30 degree angle, you need to do that move before you get to clip your next bolt. I climbed all the way up to that last move and felt better than I ever had before and I figured "I'm already at the crux, I might as well give it a try", so I went for it. I've never stuck that move from the ground, but this time it happened, and what's more it felt easy. Previously doing that move in isolation was at my very limit, doing the 6 hard moves before made that move nearly impossible, but yesterday I floated through it feeling lighter than I ever had before. I clipped the second bolt and decided, "Okay, I'm through the crux, from the ground. This has never happened before, there's no way I'm not going to try and send this thing now!" I climbed deliberately and punched out the remaining 10 moves (probably V5 on their own), and found myself at the top of my very first 13b, almost in disbelief, not only at the fact that 3 years after doing my first 13a I'd finally made it to the next level, but also amazed at how easy it felt!

At this point I had only one more 13a left from my original 2014 goal. I'd been working it lightly all this year whenever I got a chance so I knew the beta. This route was the opposite of the previous one, a long (for our crag) roof traverse on slopers, jugs crimps and pockets, and a topout on a super technical dead vertical headwall with miniscule holds. The route breaks down to a 15 move 5.11d which is basically a one-move-wonder, to a not-so-good rest where you are totally horizontal, hanging off a roof jug with a single heel hook and your hands. From this point you launch into a non-stop V6 to the chains of which half is a powerful traverse, and the other half is a technical, balancey top out.
I got to the top out on my first go, but my foot popped off as I was reaching for the final hold. I knew I had it in the bag so I rested up and sent second go of the day.
I finished the day by getting on a 13b I'd never been on, and did all the moves but one. I'm confident I can send this new route, especially if I keep training.

All this to say, the rock prodigy program has been paying off very well for me. When I started my first cycle in September 2014 I had done two 13a's. Today, nearing the end of my second cycle, I've done 5 more 13a's and my first 13b. I'm feeling stronger than I've ever felt before and I'm psyched to keep on pushing. I'm confident with this training it won't take another 3 years to get to the next level.

He'res a photo of me on the 13b from November.

[MarkAnderson]

COngratulations!!! That's awesome. Sounds like you're at the next level already, but don't let that stop you from enjoying your recent successes.

[slimshaky]

dude, that's awesome jesse! my hands were totally sweating just reading it. that is some solid progress.