Campus Training

[edit: on an unrelated note, here is an interesting discussion about winter gloves]

I've been bouldering a lot inside recently and I knocked off a bunch of V5s this week. I feel like I've broken through a bit of a mental barrier. I used to think that I might, maybe, one day be able to do a V6. Now I can see that's going to happen reasonably soon, and in fact, harder stuff is possible. I wasn't a gymnast, wrestler, or other sort of inhuman superman as a child. In fact, I decided un-athletic as a child. I'm certainly not a natural at climbing--it's taken lots of concerted effort.

Well, one direction I direct my efforts towards is campus training. Invented by the redoubtable Wolfgang Gullich in 1988 for his famous route, Action Directe (5.14d here in America). Basically, there's a bunch of wooden rungs which you climb up with no feet. It's primarily a form of neuromuscular training which gives you both the macroscopic coordination you need to execute big, dynamic moves and the microscopic coordination you need (muscle fibers contracting simultaneously) to be able to "stick" deadpoints and dynos. It's said there's not much muscular conditioning, but I bet it increases your tendon and even bone strength. I read an interesting article in the New York Times that seemed to suggest that strength training is not as helpful for increasing bone density as has been previously imagined. In fact, bones need "large forces released in a relatively big burst" to get stronger. I wonder if campus training qualifies? Hmm.

Anyways, each of the rungs are numbered (#1-10). On the one at Metrorock, ten rungs are arranged four or five inches apart. There are three ladders with small, medium, and large rung thicknesses. When I started doing it (six months to a year ago), I could barely hang from the large rungs, let alone do any campus moves. I started by sticking a foot on and doing "lock-off touches" on the large rungs. Both hands start on rung #2, say. One hand remains on #2, while the other bumps from 2-3-4-5 and back again. I figured that if it was, in fact, neuromuscular conditioning, then full body weight was unnecessary. I don't know if I was right or not, but it worked. After a while I progressed to doing it with no feet on, and then to "laddering," which is where your hands alternate 2-3-4-5... and then back down. Now, just this week, I've progressed to skipping rungs 2-4-6... which is a lot harder, believe me. I can do the single step laddering on the medium rungs now too. Next up is the "double dyno" which means both hands start on rung X and then explode up to rung X+n (n=1 if you're me, but much more if you're crazy). Immediately, both hands drop back down to rung X. It's not as hard as it sounds--but I almost fell over with surprise when I did it for the first time.

Aside from being just plain fun on its own, I've noticed that campus training has helped my bouldering and to some extent, route climbing. I can make big dynamic moves. I'm actually excited, rather than terrified, of making big moves or climbing on very steep terrain. Everybody complains that campus training is "too harsh" or "too hard" or whatever, but I think it's great. As long as you gradually ease yourself into it, stop if it hurts, and do it maybe two weeks on/two weeks off, I think it's fine. I make sure I take 5-7 days off climbing every two months or so. You'd be surprised what a difference that makes. I don't have a problem with skin rubbing off or anything either. I make sure I wash my hands after every climbing session and moisturize with something greasy before I go to bed that night. That, and cutting off any calluses that form with nail clippers, keeps my hands relatively smooth and functional. Some people think that calluses actually help their climbing, but I think it actually gets in the way of making good contact. And, of course, if they get ripped off, then that really puts a damper on things.

Note: Everybody says this, but you probably shouldn't use the campus board unless you can boulder at least V4 because you can get hurt (it's hard on the tendons, joints, etc.).