Can you help me out with the Beginner Campus Routine?

[moe]

Hey there guys,

First I wanted to say thanks for the RCTM! It's such a great didactic piece and got me really stoked on training after being lost like so many climbers between "just climbing", occasional bouldering and random strength training. Coming from a fitness/lifting background, I really appreciate structured training approaches and it's great that even as a beginner you get to learn the common training tools in climbing like the Hangboard (got a RPTC with pulley system which I love using) and the Campus Board.

I live in Germany and been climbing since close to 3 years and I'm currently in my first training cycle (beginning of the power phase). Unfortunately Corona got in the way and gyms closed otherwise I would be much further along in the cycle. During the isolation I basically did a lot of hangboard maintenance, ARC and home strength training as well as starting out with Yoga.

Well I'm back on my power cycle now and have a few questions left with the beginner campus routine:

- One thing is the time frame scheduled for campusing. It progresses from 15 to 25 minutes between workouts. I usually try to rest 60-90 secs between sets. My problem with the progressing time frames is that I can't campus on the medium straight rungs yet. They are just really small and I can barely deadhang on them with bodyweight for a few secs. There is a size between the large and medium straight rungs but it is a slopy type of rungs that I find super hard on my skin and keep sliding off (getting a pretty bad blood blister and flapper last session).
So having said that, what would you suggest to me? Stick with the large rungs for this cycle mostly and to the basic and matching ladders? I don't feel I'm ready for max ladders yet. If doing so, how would you flll the remaining time left in the later (20 and 25 min) campus sessions? Just adding more basic and matching ladder sets and trying to get progressively higher till being able to complete the ladder? Then start with max ladders? Also in the beginner campus routine matching ladders are only specified as up to B4 and basic ladders to B6 - Does that mean that I should not try to complete the whole board yet and rather start with max ladders and work on the smaller rungs as soon as I can get as high on the board as specified?

- I'm also interested in how "hard" you go on the WBL before campusing. I feel that for me the 60 mins, especially the last "hard bouldering" part got me pretty fatigued and my skin already a bit shredded. If that would be the case for you, would you suggest to reduce the time of the WBL a bit or maybe skip the hard bouldering part until getting a bit more used to and proficient on the Campus Board?

Sorry I know this is a bunch of text but I feel campusing is really pushing me and I don't want to overdo it and risk getting injured and try to progress in a reasonable way. I really appreciate any advice very much!

Best regards and enjoy climbing!

Moe

[cozisco]

Welcome!

Jul 6, 2020 21:39:06 GMT -7 moe said:

So having said that, what would you suggest to me? Stick with the large rungs for this cycle mostly and to the basic and matching ladders? I don't feel I'm ready for max ladders yet. If doing so, how would you flll the remaining time left in the later (20 and 25 min) campus sessions? Just adding more basic and matching ladder sets and trying to get progressively higher till being able to complete the ladder? Then start with max ladders?

A frequent response would probably be "don't campus". But, campusing can be pretty fun and if it's something you really want to do, I would just stick to the large rungs for now. If you're pretty fatigued after the WBL (as you mention below), I wouldn't worry about completing a full 20-25 min and only campus for 10-15 min.

I'm also interested in how "hard" you go on the WBL before campusing. I feel that for me the 60 mins, especially the last "hard bouldering" part got me pretty fatigued and my skin already a bit shredded. If that would be the case for you, would you suggest to reduce the time of the WBL a bit or maybe skip the hard bouldering part until getting a bit more used to and proficient on the Campus Board?

Were you able to complete a full base fitness phase? The base fitness phase should increase your work capacity (and skin) enough to complete a full WBL. For me, a quick ARC warmup prior to each HB workout is enough to maintain that through the strength phase.

In any case, I wouldn't skip the WBL. If anything, I'd put higher importance on the WBL and the hard bouldering than the campus component. If you skip the WBL, you'll have a higher chance of injury and you'll be skipping an opportunity for skill practice and development, as well as physical adaptations.

[hangboarderjon]

Cozisco, I think your advice applies to me as well. I lacked access to ARC during this training cycle, so I'm also lacking the capacity to complete a long WBL, although the HB sessions have built up some strength.

Also, the medium rungs on the campus board gave me A2 soreness in my middle fingers. I'm thinking of restricting myself to the large rungs until the soreness goes away.

Lastly, to reply to the original poster:

I think the goal in the "power" phase is to emphasize maximum effort in short time period. So my own interpretation of the introductory campus routine is to take it literally and only include about 4 hand movements per set. To add some of my personal experience to this -- in the past I did what you suggest and campused all the way up the campus board. I think this is a bad idea and can lead to shoulder injuries, especially at the beginning phases of training; I found it causes rotator cuff problems due to the orientation of the shoulder joint and "palms out" hand positioning. I think this is one reason that the Power phase should not be solely focused on the campus board, but also on moderate to difficult bouldering (as emphasized in the WBL).