Half spacing campus ladders useful?

[acmesalute76]

I did my first ever campus routine yesterday. It was hard!! I did everything on large rungs with moon spacing. I didn’t know what I’d be able to do so I started with using half spacing. I did two sets each hand matching ladders, then two sets each hand regular ladders, ie 1-1.5-2-2.5-3-3.5. That all felt hard but went well so I did 123 on full spacing and then 1234. By that point I thought I should stop because I didn’t want to push it on my first day.

Two things I noticed. First, campusing is really hard!! I had to really try on every set and use a lot of finger and pulling strength. This is good! Second, my technique sucks. I was able to do each set pretty fast and carry decent momentum without really pausing, but didn’t feel as smooth or “perfect” as I know I could be. I had a tendency to pull my legs up in front of me which is obviously not the best thing. So my goal is to get better at the movement.

My question is what to focus on. Matching ladders at half spacing felt sort of awkward because of how small the moves are. Regular ladders felt less awkward. I didn’t try matching ladders at full spacing. Regular ladders felt doable, and I think I can probably do longer than 1234. I was thinking of sticking with what I’m doing, and trying to work up to the full 123456 with full spacing before trying max ladders. But I’m wondering if I’m wasting my time working on the smaller moves, or if there is benefit to mastering those first. Or should I spend that energy instead doing full spacing ladders and matching ladders. Like I said I’m a complete newbie and my technique isn’t the greatest.

I’d love some input from all you more experienced people!

[MarkAnderson]

Continue to take it easy for a while. You still don't know how your body is going to react to the new stimulus.

[acmesalute76]

I did my second session on the campus board today. Half spacing ladders and matching ladders felt much smoother. I am doing a better job keeping my legs from coming up into the board. I did 1234 and 12345 on full spacing, and did one set of 1-3-match (it was hard and not smooth).

I can definitely see the value of sticking with the easier ladders and mastering them before doing anything harder. My movement on the board is improving and things are feeling easier. I still can’t handle much volume but that will come as I get stronger. Thanks for your input Mark, you and your brother’s book is the most thorough I’ve found and having you available on these forums is an incredible resource.

I assume at some point I will have “mastered” the half spacing ladders, and can instead start my workout with full spacing matching ladders and regular ladders. It won’t be this training cycle, but how will I know when I’m there? More broadly, how do you know when to progress, whether it’s smaller holds, bigger/harder moves, or more volume? I realize this is something that is hard to quantify.