ARC & Lead Climbing

[brandonb]

I just started reading the book yesterday, and am about halfway through it. I haven't been able to put it down - great material! As someone that's 33, and is just coming back from my latest pulley injury, this has really encouraged me that I'll be able to train to overcome these. They're the number 1 thing that have hampered my growth as a climber.

So tomorrow starts the Base Fitness phase of the program. That said, I usually have some climbing partners in the mornings, and I'd like to get there earlier than them to get in 2 ARC sets before switching over to some lead climbing. As long as I keep the leading during this phase somewhat light, is this advisable? Also, as someone that used to be able to climb high 12's, but has big time endurance issues on steep routes, what should my target ARC training be, or is this something that I kind of have to feel out for myself?

Thanks again for this great book. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to get this training underway!

[MarkAnderson]

I think it would be ok, but realize you will be more injury prone than normal after ARCing, so you really need to take it easy on the lead climbing, especially if you have a history of injuries.

It's tough to give a target grade for ARCing because the type of terrain is a huge factor.  You really need to just go by feel, but you'll figure it out pretty quickly.

...and thanks for the praise!
Mark

[brandonb]

Thanks for the response, Mark. My climbing partner overslept this morning, so I didn't have to worry about it, but I'll likely keep the leading down to around my ARC level during the Base Fitness phase. That may be on the extreme low-end, but I'd prefer to play it safe and avoid injury.

Also, ARC #1 kicked my butt!

[Charlie S]

Jun 8, 2015 7:28:35 GMT -7 brandonb said:

My climbing partner overslept this morning, so I didn't have to worry about it

I can see the next training book title: "Training Your Climbing Partner; Practical Motivation Techniques for the Dedicated Climber Trying to Convince His Buddy to Try Harder."  The diet plan in this one: beer for belaying!

In all seriousness, it's funny to see some people's lack of interest.  I wonder, does it stem from a lack of desire to get better, or thinking it's not possible to get better?

P.S., welcome to the forums!  May many new fun and hard redpoints be in your future.

[jonfrisby]

I think for a lot of people, the idea of training to get better is antithetical to the fun aspect of climbing, so they don't do it. They're probably better for it, TBO

[jessebruni]

Yeah, it's certainly not for everyone, but I think a lot of people don't realize how easy it is to get addicted to the comparatively fast improvements. Climbing for fun is fun, but training and getting better at climbing and climbing harder than everyone you hang out with because your training and they're not is fun too.

[joev9]

Especially with the hangboard, it is addicting to be able to keep pushing the weight higher. It gives a much more quantifiable progression over climbing grades. There is nothing to dispute that I can look at my OCD excel spreadsheets and see that I have gone from -50 to -15 lbs on the micro crimp or -30 to +15 on the wide pinch in less than a year.

Now, I just need to get these gains to apply to those stupid fickle climbing grades...

[brandonb]

Thanks for the welcomes all.

My main reason for training is to (hopefully) start climbing smarter. I think my biggest set backs have come from injuries, and following this program, and not pushing myself too hard while I try to figure out what my baseline is, will really help me. I've been stuck in high 12's for a while now and keep getting set back due to injury. I've also only been climbing for a few years. I wish I would have discovered the sport earlier in life! It's definitely harder for my body to adapt to things in my 30's than it was in my 20's.