Learn This: Friction Science

Learning the properties of friction will help you send By David Flanagan

Friction is the magic ingredient in climbing. Its what keeps you off the ground and makes subtle weight shifts and delicate sequences successful. Understanding the how and why will make you a better climber. In simple terms, friction is the resistance that one surface encounters when moving over another. In high school physics terms, friction is independent of the contact area, but in a climbing context, friction is proportional to the contact area (more contact equals more friction). Well look at three materialsrubber, skin, rockto see how each behaves.

Rubber

Climbing shoe rubber is designed to be soft enough to mold to the rock, and this softness results in increased friction because it wraps around the irregularities in the rock, upping the contact area between the two surfaces. This softness and the resulting performance vary based on temperature; this means some days you can stand on a certain foothold and others you cant.

Temperature

Climbing shoe manufacturers design their rubber to work best in a specific temperature rangeapproximately 32 to 41F. (Of course, all rubber compounds are different, but this is an average according to shoe manufacturers.) Below this range, the rubber is harder and wont mold well to the shape of the rock. Above it, the rubber will be too soft and will deform easily, causing it to slip. The reason climbing shoes work best in the cold is because they are designed to. But why such a low temperature range? At temps above that range, most peoples hands will begin to sweat (even ever so slightly), which reduces gripping ability. So shoe rubber is designed to function best at the same time that we have optimal hand grip. The 32 to 41F range is too cold for hands to sweat, but its not so cold that you cant warm your mittsup relatively easily. The variability of rubbers friction with temperature means that a climbing shoe that works well when bouldering in Hueco in January wont have maximum performance sport climbing in Rifle in August. (Thats not to say climbing in Rifle in the summer is pointless; your shoes just wont be in the

absolute optimal temps for highest friction.)

When Formula 1 cars hurtle around a track at 200 mph, the tires heat up significantly, so F1 tires use rubber that works best at those high temps. This is why pit crews pre-heat their tires before a raceso theywork optimally right from the start. Climbers can do the same thing with some very simple tactics. During winter when your shoes are cold and dry, try warming them up by putting them in your puffy next to your heat-radiating body, and during summer, leave them in the shade or next to a chilled water bottle after you take them off.

Edging

When standing on a small, flat edge, friction isnt the deciding issue; this is why mountaineering boots are reasonably good at edging. Standing on an edge is mainly a mechanical act, so the best rubber for edging is actually stiff, meaning it wont deform and roll off the edge. In contrast, smearing is most effective with soft rubber. Manufacturers compromise by choosing a rubber compound that lies somewhere in the middle,striking a reasonable balance between smearing and edging performance. Reasonably new shoes tend to be more effective on really small edges, as their more pronounced toe allows them to maximize the contactarea (fig. 1).

Tread

Car tires have tread to improve grip in wet conditions because it allows the water on the surface of the roadto escape as the tire presses down on it, improving the contact between the tire and the road. Without treads, the water is unable to escape, and a thin layer of water remains between the road and the tire, reducing grip.

However, if the road is dry, the tread reduces the contact area between the tire and the road, thereby reducing potential grip. This is why treadless tires are used in motor racing when the track is smooth and dry. This is the same reason climbing shoes dont have tread while sneakers and approach shoes do.

Rock

Anyone who has climbed on a variety of rock types knows that rougher rock (limestone, unpolished sandstone) seems to have more friction. But rougher is better only up to a point. On really rough rock, the irregularities are so large that the rubber cant adapt to them. This is the point when increasing roughness reduces friction (fig. 2). Softer rubber is particularly effective on rough rock, as it molds better. Similarly, rubber will perform better on rough rock at a slightly higher temp than the aforementioned range (32 to 41F). Morals of the story: Smooth rock is best climbed in temps on the lower/colder end because you dontneed rubber to be at maximum softness. Rough rock is best climbed in temps on the higher/warmer end because of increased softness.

Rock factors that determine friction:

>>Grain Size The physical dimensions of individual particles of rock: Some are larger, and you can see the

big crystals (coarse-grained quartz monzonite of Joshua Tree); some are smaller, and the rock seems moreuniform (fine-grained granite of Yosemite).

>>Grain Shape Sharp grains will have higher friction than round ones. How the rock was weathered (wind,water, glaciers, etc.) influences the grain shape to be smoother or more jagged.

>>Porosity The proportion of the non-solid volume to the total volume (fig. 3). The less porosity (meaning denser rock, less airimage on right), the larger the surface area for rubber contact (read: more friction).

>>Sorting Rock that consists of a range of different particle sizes is less porous than rock that is well-sorted (uniform particles size), as the smaller particles fill the gaps between larger ones.

>>Composition Chemical components in the rock; e.g., granite is largely silicon dioxide and aluminum oxide. Certain compounds have more or less friction.

>>Cementation How well the rock is held together.

Skin

The skin on our fingertips gets a lot of punishment from friction, and its not unusual for sore or bloody tips to force a session to a premature halt. Our tips can only bear a certain amount of pressure before the skin starts to tear. This pressure (force over a given area) can consist of a low force on a small area (a tiny crimp on a slab), a high force on a large area (a big sloper on an overhang), or anything in between. Get more mileage from skin by maximizing contact area with the rock, which spreads the load and reduces the chance of damage. Contrary to what you might think, if your skin is feeling thin and damaged, avoid crimps and small holds, aiming for climbs with bigger, slopier holds that require more skin contact.

Temperature

Like rubber, skin is affected by temperature. Obviously if its too hot, your skin sweats and creates a layer of moisture between your skin and the rock, hence reducing friction. Also like rubber, your skin grips best ata certain temperature range. It varies by person because of the differences in the temperature at which people sweat, but generally speaking, it works best in the 32 to 41F range mentioned previously. Cold makes the skin become harder (it reduces the fluidity of the liquids that constitute our cellular membranes) and prevents sweat. When it gets too cold, your fingers will get numb, and that will prevent you from climbing. Keeping hands warm between burns is crucial to being able to grip on super-cold days. Beyond that, very dry air in 30 and below temps can cause your tips to get smooth and hard, sometimes describedas glassy. This condition reduces grip, especially on smoother rock types (some types of granite, polishedsandstone), and it can cause your hands to slip quickly and without warning. Warm your hands and then use sandpaper lightly on the tips to roughen skin for increased friction and prevention of that glassy feeling.

Best Qualities for Skin

>>Smooth There should be no rough spots where dead skin is hanging off and can easily tear. Use sandpaper to remove this fraying skin and to smooth the tips between attempts.

>>Thick Calluses These make climbing on rough rock or sharp holds more comfortable, meaning you can bear down more and increase the contact zone. However, if they get too thick, there is a danger that the entire section will rip off in one massive chunk. Your skin will be naturally thick in some spots, but use sandpaper to smooth calluses down so theyre even with the rest of your skin. It shouldnt stick out at all.

>>Dry Moist skin is slippery, so dry is good. Sweat, water, or any other liquid on your skin acts as a lubricant, decreasing friction. But if skin gets too dry, it becomes brittle and tears easily, so moisturize regularly.

ChalkIn 2001, researchers from the University of Birmingham came to the conclusion that chalkwait for itreduces friction. Participants in a study were asked to hold a flat rock in their hand while an outside force pulled it away. The coefficient of friction (basically how much friction existed between the two surfaces) wasless when participants hands were chalked (vs. unchalked). So why do we use it? Because a chalked hand still has better friction than a sweaty, unchalked hand. If you are lucky enough to have hands that dont sweat, then you can enjoy great grip without chalk. Otherwise, only use the bare minimum of chalk necessary. Once you dip your hands, remove the excess by blowing it off or patting your pants before you start climbing. Try one of the brands of chalk that contains an extra drying agent to increase sweat absorption.

Remember this:

Think in terms of the Goldilocks Effect. The rubber on your shoes should be soft but not too soft, your skin should be hard and dry but not too hard and dry, temperatures should be low but not too low. While we cant manipulate many of the environmental factors that influence friction, there are a few simple things thatwe can do to tilt the odds in our favor.

>>Choose cold, dry days with highs in the 40s (noaa.gov has the most accurate weather reports) to attempt your projects.

>>Wear quality climbing shoes that have broken-in but not damaged (fraying or hole-filled) toes and soles.

>>Carry a small carpet or utilize the included patch of carpet on your pad to clean your shoes of any major dirt. Taking it a step further, use a damp rag to fully clean the soles, allowing a few minutes to air-dry.

>>Use the minimum amount of chalk necessary, remove any excess from your hands before you climb, and never put chalk on footholds.

>>Brush the holds between attempts to remove chalk, thereby increasing contact and friction between yourskin and the rock itself.

>>Keep your skin in good condition by moisturizing consistently and sanding it as appropriate.

Training: Never Plateau Again

Break through performance barriers with tips from the pros By Neely Quinn / Illustrations by Skip Sterling

Climbing is addictive. One reason is that you can see massive strength gains and technique improvement from day one of your climbing career. But after a few monthsor for the extremely lucky, a few yearsa plateau can sneak up on you, slow your progress, and frustrate you beyond belief. During my own personalthree-year-long plateau, I heard every kind of advice from doing more pull-ups to climbing every day

despite the pain to even going vegetarian (not gonna happen). On a quest to find the one true way, I started to interview top climbers to see how they handled these annoying performance flatlinesboth mentally and physicallyand the answers I found were as diverse and interesting as the climbers themselves.

Focus On:

Nutrition and Healthy Body Weight

Weight has always been a tricky topic for climbers. There was a time when starving yourself seemed the norm, and strong climbers sacrificed much-needed muscle mass to be as light as possible. Today, its common knowledge that eating too little is not only counterproductive to becoming a better climber, but its also detrimental to your overall health. To figure out if youre at a healthy weight, or over or underweight, figure out your body mass index (BMI) with bmi-calculator.net. This can give you a good idea of how much fat you can stand to loseif any. Remember that the BMI system does have its flaws; sometimes the super-fit and muscular folks can score overweight. The ultimate judge of your weight and food intake lies in your climbing performance and how you feel on a daily basis.

The next step is to figure out how much you should be eating. Trymyfitnesspal.com, a free online diet tracking tool that uses your weight, height, gender, and activity level. Using those estimated calorie needs as a guideline, track your diet on the site to see how much you should eat every day. Just a few days of tracking can give great insight into how much food youre eating, and how much of it is unnecessary. This will help you strike the fine balance between eating too little to stay light and eating enough to stay strong and energized.

So, what to eat? Whole foods like lean meats, vegetables, fruit, and whole grains are crucial to maintaining a healthy weight. One trick from 5.14 climber and trainer Mike Anderson is to eat a ton of low-density foods like vegetables. He eats an enormous salad with veggies, meat, and healthy fats (avocado, olive oil) at least once a day; it provides plenty of nutrients and keeps him full for hours, thanks to the fiber, protein, fat, and bulk it provides. Fat loss can be accelerated by cutting back on carbs. Every climber needs carb energy, but we dont need as much as what a common American diet delivers (bagel for breakfast, sandwich at lunch, pasta for dinner, etc). This will result in storing less of those unused calories as fat.

Angie Payne: I went through a light phase. I was climbing way too much, and not eating enough. I knew Iwas losing weight, but I didnt know I was losing that much. It was a pretty vicious cycle. It wasnt really sustainable, and I didnt have very much energy at all. It feels good to feel light, and when youre pretty small you feel that more often. But after a while, I realized that the feeling of being strong is a lot cooler than feeling light, and theyre very different.

Strength Training

Most climbers hate to spend training time off of the wall, but adding one or two specific exercises, including hangboard workouts, after your climbing session can produce major results. If youre short, wide-grip lat pull-downs at maximum weight can give you extra reach and improve lockoff strength. Find a lat pull-down machine (most gyms have them), and widen your grip as far as possiblewider than your shoulders. Experiment with weight until youre failing on your third rep. Then do three to five sets of two reps (failing onyour third) at that weight with five minutes of rest between sets. Do these after a climbing session or on an off-climbing day; dont do them before your session because youll be tired on the wall and wont maximize your climbing time. Start with three times a week, moving up in weight as you get stronger. You can do more sessions in a week, but if you find yourself too tired to climb hard during your session, scale back to three.

Trainer and author Steve Bechtel is a huge proponent of weightlifting, hangboarding, and campusing as

specific training for rock climbing. He says, I am becoming more and more convinced that if you simply develop a base strength, everything else falls into place. Thinking about incorporating running into your training? Think again. Bechtel thinks its a waste of time for climbers. Instead, focus on the obvious: climbing, hangboarding, campusing, weighted pull-upsand the not-so-obvious: squats and walking lunges. Try lunges or squats twice a week to strengthen your legs and core. These will improve your overallperformance, but theyll especially give you more strength and power for dynos where the initial push comes from your lower half. Multiple professional climbers have touted the hangboard as their catalyst for bumping up grades. As you move up in grades, holds get smaller, slopier, and generally crappier, and finger-strength training will make these holds feel easier to use and hang from. Think of it this way: If you can reach a hold to touch it, you will be able to grab it, and if you can grab it, you can hold on. See Digit Dialing for some workout ideas.

Carlo Traversi: I doubled the number of V13s I had climbed and did a few V14s when I incorporated max-weight, wide-grip lat pull-downs into my training regimen four to five times a week. My personal record was 260 pounds, which was almost twice my weight. As a short climber, I often need to be able to lockoff incredibly wide, and lat pull-downs were my solution.

Weaknesses

Its easy to have fun by focusing on what youre good at; its much more difficult to face the fact that youre not good at certain things, and then go out and turn them into strengths. Below are some common issues I found among the pros when it came to weaknesses.

>>Bad Footholds. Seek out the worst possible footholds in the gym and practice using them in a variety ofways, moving in all directions. Do the same outside and find problems that are known for glassy, microscopic, terrible feet.

>>Small Hands, Big Holds. Women tend to be good at crimping the tiniest nubs, but when it comes to large slopers and pinches, the ladies more often struggle. The only way to become proficient with these sizeable holds is by using them. Shannon Forsman is a short but very strong V12 boulderer and climbing coach. She encourages women to at least try difficult climbs that arent just crimps: All Im asking is for youto try something out of your comfort zone, whether it involves slopers, pinches, or evengaspa jump move. Just try! It might be difficult and embarrassing to project a couple of V-grades lower than youre usedto, but over time youll come out a much stronger climber. She says finger strength isnt the only factor for open-handed holds; success can depend on how well you use the rest of your body. Slopers require patience, balance, core tension, and very subtle movement; every limb must be engaged. You dont just grab slopers, you use the rest of your body to position yourself in a way that makes them useable. A general rule of thumb is to stay as far below slopers as possible so that you are pulling down rather than out.

>>Power. No matter how many laps you can run on techy moderates, you will inevitably plateau at a more difficult grade if you dont have power. Try circuits on hard boulder problems instead of just climbing aroundrandomly. The campus board and systems board are also especially useful. Consider adding a few sets of simple box jumps (repeatedly jump on an 18 to 24 sturdy box) after climbing sessions. It will give you the explosive leg power and muscle memory you need for big moves.

Jonathan Siegrist: I could run lap after lap on sport routes just below my max ability, but power always eluded me. My training volume has gone down, but my training intensity has gone up. I do limit bouldering, so short, hard problems [that have one or two crux moves at your limit], and campusing, which is really important. I do one to three campus board sessions per week that last two hours each.Note: Due to altering his training to focus on power, resting more often than he used to, and quitting his running habit altogether, Siegrist broke a three-year climbing plateau by nabbing 5.14d ascents in a few tries and sending his first 5.15a, the historic and legendary Realization, also called Biographie, in Ceuse,

France.

Failure and Redpointing

When climbing at a world-class level, professionals are constantly faced with failure. Each pro climber has had to develop his or her own positive attitude, along with mental coping mechanisms. Studies that focus on the psychological aspect of sports show that the best athletes are those who can successfully lie to themselves, meaning they can internally say, Yeah, I can do that. Doesnt matter that I sucked just nowI can totally do this. No problem. Even if something is beyond your current ability or strength level, its best to approach it with blind optimism and confidence (within reason, of course). Carlo Traversi has a refreshingly positive and simple outlook, saying, There are so many failures in climbing. I try not to dwell on them. I climb because its fun.All of these pros have spent monthssometimes yearson particular projects. This means returning to thesame crag over and over with an upbeat attitude and a desire to go back for more. With any luck on a project, youll be falling off higher and higher up, but if you arent, the Anderson brothers (authors of The Rock Climbers Training Manual) say you should get back in the gym and do a strength- and power-focused training cycle to get stronger. They say sometimes its best to step away from the rock, even if it means not getting the send that season. Whitney Boland, a 5.14 climber, says she gets anxious or scared before certain moves, especially big, dynamic ones since shes short (5 ). She recommends just going for it as a way to push through. She says, When you get to a move like that, decide you want to stick it andgo for it. More often than not, youll surprise yourself. Even if you dont hit the move and take a fall, you canfeel proud of the fact that you really went for it, and then you can work on adjusting for the next attempt.

Emily Harrington: After a few months in the big mountains, I returned to sport climbing, and it was demoralizing to start all over. My secret was finishing every day by giving it everything I had, even when it bruised my ego. I would fall on climbs that were warm-ups. I reminded myself why I do this sport and what makes me love it so much. All you have to do is put in the time and effort. In the end, its all about wanting it.

Heather Weidner: It takes tremendous will to persevere through repeated failure. The best advice I can offer is dont give up. Be headstrong. My hardest routes have taken me months of consistent work, and it isoften painstaking to put in another burn that ends in failure. To get through the frustration, it helps me to focus on the small victories instead of the end result. I celebrate getting a new high point or figuring out more efficient beta.

Breathing

The simple act of concentrated and thoughtful breathing can make everything feel easier. When you reach a difficult section on a climb, your breathing becomes shallow and rapid, which will decrease your bodys overall efficiency and can even make it hard to think straight. Start taking slow, even, and deep breaths before you leave the ground, and continue to force these breaths as you climb. Make them loud if it helps you concentrate on it. Practice will help you find the balance between breathing too rapidly and too slowly. Smooth, calm breathing is a simple solution for better performance.

Paige Claassen: I leave the ground with one big breath and then maintain a steady pattern of deep, consistent breaths throughout my climb. It provides more oxygen to your muscles to ward off pump. I think about making my breathing audible and rhythmic. If I can hear it, I will focus on keeping it even and deep. All I can hear is my breath, and it has become a comfort as I climb, distracting me from fear and doubt. Plus, I immediately notice if I stop breathing.

Learn This: Mental Training for ClimbersFocus on your brain game to break through plateaus and send challenging climbs. By Don McGrath and Jeff Elison

Think back to the last time you got on your project. Why did you fall off? Were you so pumped you couldnt hold on? Were you scared to fall so you just sat back on the rope instead? Or were you so anxious about your redpoint attempt that you didnt even get on it? If the second and third situations sound familiar, youre not alone. Years of personal climbing experience, countless climber surveys, and psychological research allpoint to mental strength as the most influential factor in whether a climber succeeds or not. Your body mightbe strong and willing, but if you dont have an equally strong and willing mind, your body has nothing to guide it. The good news is that you can train your brain just like you train your body. Weve developed a mental training plan that outlines the knowledge and skills youll need to improve your head game and thus,your overall climbing performance.

How we learn

Any skilled behavior is learned. Therefore, we will first describe some of the science behind learning. Neural firing is responsible for the three domains of psychology: thinking, feeling, and doing. No neural firing and you are without thoughts, feelings, or emotions. You are dead. In fact, it takes many, many neurons firing in particular patterns to produce the end results that we observe as thoughts and feelings. Understanding a bit about how this system works will help your mental training.

Hebbs Law states that when Neuron A fires, causing Neuron B to fire, changes occur in the neurons that make this firing sequence more likely in the future. Some people describe Hebbs Law as: Neurons that fire together, wire together. What this means for climbing is that repetition, practice, and drills improve performance by changing neural connections.

Rehearsing something until it becomes automatic is called overlearning. Think about memorizing beta. Why did that redpoint crux feel so easy after rehearsing it a hundred times? Rehearsal made you quick andefficient at perceiving the holds, grabbing them exactly the right way, and moving smoothly between them. Because you overlearned the sequence, you could reliably produce it under pressure, and you experiencedless anxiety.

Visualization and beta mapsWeve all seen climbers outside and at competitions standingbelow their route or boulder problem, hands in the air, mimingmovement while staring intently at the line. This is an excellenttechnique when youre at the base, but a more practical andpowerful tool that allows you to overlearn beta on a climb withoutbeing there is a beta map. This is an illustration of the key holdsand moves on a project climb, including clips, cruxes, and anytroublesome spots. While youre at the climb or looking at anoverall image of it, draw the map to the finest detail, making sure tocall out key features, moves, and holds. Use this reference tovisualize and rehearse each move and hold over and over, just asyou would study for an exam. Practice makes perfect, so do it asmuch as you can: lying in bed before you fall asleep, riding the buson the way to work, or whenever you have some free time.

A sample beta map. Click for full size.

Importance of scripts

Human brains have evolved to perceive patternswhatever makes a certain situation similar to previous situations. Generally, this is a very positive mechanism because it allows us to react speedily without much (if any) thought. These sequences of perceptions/thoughts/feelings/actions are what cognitive psychologists call scripts. They may be as mundane as your morning routine, or they may be as important as your way of interacting with loved ones or responding in emergency situations. Scripts are typically automatic, quick, and efficient. As such, we usually carry them out in a similar way every time. They requirelittle conscious effort, allowing us to conserve valuable resources: attention, consciousness, and working memory, which are intimately linked and very limited. On average, a human adult can hold about five to nine items in working memory, which becomes the bottleneck in our thought process. One of our greatest adaptations as humans is the ability to learn, to practice, and to turn intensive tasks that would usually take up the entirety of our working memory into automatic, scripted tasks. In other words, instead of having to think through each move and hold of a crux (wasting valuable time and energy), your body would automatically perform the moves without any active thinking.

Rewrite scripts to improve climbing

You currently have a set of scripts that affect your climbing. Everyones scripts are different, but many needto be rewritten in order to get better. Luckily there are only three simple steps required: Plan, Practice, Perform. A different way to say it thats geared toward climbers is: Think, Play, Send!

Think

In this phase, analyze your climbing for areas where you can improve. Self-examine and gather input from others to figure out the skills to focus on and develop that will improve your climbing. A recent survey showed that more than 75 percent of climbers spend less than 30 minutes a week actually analyzing their climbing to figure out how to get better. We recommend spending at least 30 minutes (if not more) a week reflecting on your climbing and working to identify the things that will help you climb better.

One way is to simply ask people who have watched you climb what things they would point out as areas forimprovement. Most of us dont like to hear that we have things to improve on. Our egos feel hammered when this happens. You have to let go of your ego, be open to feedback, and figure out how you can improve. People who perform at very high levels are always good at taking constructive criticism and turning that into valuable lessons learned. So ask and listen. Dont try and defend why you do what you do. Just listen. Write down what a few people say about areas where you have room to improve, and especiallytarget areas that more than one person pointed out.

Play

In this phase, perform drills that build or rewrite scripts to create the automatic movements that lead to efficient climbing. In the previously mentioned survey, more than 85 percent of climbers spend less than 25 percent of their climbing time doing drills to develop specific skills, like better footwork (see p. 32) or dynamic movement. Spend at least 25 percent of your climbing time working to develop these skills. Spendyour warm-up time doing drills, or use the time when you are climbing easy routes to build these skills.

Perform these exercises in a safe atmosphere. Allow yourself to fail and try again. And again. The objectivewill not be performance, but the repetition of movements or thoughts that rewire the current scripts. Lets say you struggle with dynamic movement. Find some holds in the gym that allow you to work on jumping between holds without getting high off the ground. Try a variety of footholds and handholds; switch the catching hand, cutting your feet, and any other variables you can include. Practice a variety of dynos a few times each, until you feel like you have nailed down each different movement. This might not happen in onesession, but be patient and keep trying!

Send

At this point, youve identified areas that will yield the biggest improvements when mastered. Then you focused your training on those areas, practicing exercises in a safe and playful environment to form new scripts. In this final step, you solidify the new habits that you created by finding a route that you are excited about and will be challenging for you. Apply your scripts to the real-world situation of trying to send a route under the pressures of difficult moves, pumped arms, and potential falls. This makes the scripts actually useful in similar situations when you really need them. It doesnt matter whether youre trying to onsight or redpoint the route, but what does matter is that you really want to climb the route well and that its challenging for you. This will create emotions and feelings, including excitement, that build a proper environment in which to practice your new scripts. This will help move them deeper into your subconscious and make them automatic. Continuing this Think-Play-Send process with other weak spots in your climbingwill help you rapidly improve your performanceand have more fun along the way.This is an excerpt from the book Vertical Mind: Psychological Approaches for Optimal Rock Climbing by Don McGrath, Ph.D., and Jeff Elison, Ph.D., which is available now atverticalmindbook.com. The authors go deep into the latest research in psychology and explain how it can help you retrain your mind and body for higher levels of climbing performance. Drawing on psychological research, surveys of climbers, interviews, and more than 50 years of combined climbing experience, the authors explain not only how to improve your mental game, but also the theory behind why it works.

Learn This: Master TopoutsStand on top the trickiest of boulders by practicing mantels and rockovers. By David Flanagan

Youve crimped, dynoed, sidepulled, and gastoned your way to the top of your boulder project, only to be shut down by the topout moves on a slopey, no-hold overhang. Theres nothing more frustrating than that. Topping out can be the most difficult part of bouldering, especially if youre used to the gym, where you jump or downclimb from the top, or they set massive jugs to make it easy to haul your butt up and over. With most outdoor problems, it isnt considered finished until youre standing on top. At that point, youre often pumped and high off the ground, so it isnt the ideal time to experiment with the finer points of technique. Learn how to do these maneuvers in a safe and easy environment so you can nail them on harder terrain.

Certain rock types, such as sandstone, gritstone, and granite, tend to form rounded and featureless boulders that are notorious for their nasty topouts. If your technique is rusty, even relatively easy finishes can feel strenuous, insecure, and scary on these blocks. Manteling is the most commonly used topout technique, but if the top is really rounded and lacks good holds, you may need to rock over onto your heel. If nothing else works, the very last resort is to do a beached whale, which involves flopping over the top onto your stomach, kicking your feet, and wriggling your body until you can stand up. It isnt an elegant technique, but its nearly guaranteed to entertain onlookers, terrify your spotters, and get you to the top when nothing else will.

Mantel

Manteling is the method of going from hanging from a feature to standing on it, without help from any higher holds. Mantels rely mostly on the arms, whereas rockovers use the big muscles in the legs to generate upward movement. Manteling can also be handy on longer routes when you encounter large ledges or big, flat holds. The more area you have to mantel, the easier it will be; if there is rock directly above the large ledge, you might not have enough room to really lean in and transfer your weight onto yourpalms.

Step 1

Once you reach the lip, decide which hand you are going to use palm-down first. If one side of the lip is higher or more positive, choose that hand; otherwise, use your preferred hand. Place one foot on a hold high enough that your waist will be level with your hands when you stand up on it.

Step 2

Simultaneously pull your shoulders toward the lip and stand up on the high foothold. As your shoulders rise above the lip, rotate your chosen hand so its fingers face the other hand and your palm is flat on the rock. At this point your arms should be sharply bent with your elbows pointing up in the air.

Step 3

Straighten your arms and quickly rotate your other hand so the fingers of each hand face each other. Keep pressing until both arms are straight.If possible, combine steps 2 and 3 into one smooth motion.

Step 4

Bring a foot onto the lip and lean forward to shift weight onto it. Move up the hand thats close to that foot, and bring the other foot up.

Rockover

This move is when you place a foot on a high foothold and stand up on it by pressing hard with the legs while your arms keep you balanced. Rockovers require powerful leg muscles (strengthen them with squats or pistols, which are one-legged squats where the non-squatting leg is straight in front of you), balance, andcoordination. They arent used exclusively for topouts and are very common on vertical and slabby ground. Frequently on low-angled problems, rockovers must be done very slowly, pressing inch by inch. Conversely, on steep ground, rockovers are often more dynamic, relying on momentum to reach the target hold.

Step 1

Place your foot, usually the toe but sometimes the heel, on the high foothold. Get your hands as high as possible.

Step 2

Pull yourself up past the handholds, and with stabilizing help from your arms, transfer your weight onto the higher foothold.

Step 3

Smoothly press with your leg and push down on the handholds; usually the hardest part is getting the movement started. Your lower foot will leave its hold, and in some situations (especially slow, grinding rockovers), it can be helpful to drag it against the rock as a sort of ratchet to ensure you dont lose any ground.

Heel Rockover

Blank, rounded, or undercut topouts are best tackled with an approach that combines elements of rocking over and manteling. These features arent too bad if tackled decisively with good technique, but if you lose your nerve midway, things can get messy. As the angle of the rock flattens at the top, it becomes harder to see. It may be worth inspecting the top from above and noting useful holds. You can tick hard-to-see holds with a little dot of chalk, but make sure you brush it off when youre finished.

Step 1

Start with your feet highlevel with your waist if possible. Pull yourself high enough to get a heel hook on the lower side of the lip.

Step 2

Pull hard with your arms and heel while straightening your lower leg. Once your waist is close to the lip, turn your inside hand (the one on the same side as your heel hook) so its fingers face your other hand and your palm is flat on the rock.

Step 3

Press down with your palm. As your waist rises above the lip, lean forward to transfer more weight onto your palm. Roll your heel-hooking foot forward so the sole of the foot is flat on the rock.

Step 4

Straighten both of your arms, move your foot closer to your body, and bring your other foot onto the lip. This position is quite precarious, so pay close attention to your balance.Steps 2, 3, and 4 should be done in one smooth motion.

Training for topouts

>>If your local gym doesnt have any sections where its possible to practice topping out, focus on climbs that require mantels mid-problem.

>>Pushups and dips strengthen the pushing muscles that are critical for topping out, such as the deltoids and triceps.

>>A day spent out on the boulders doing as many topouts as possible (practice at least two to three gradesbelow your redpoint limit) will do more for your climbing than a session on the campus board. Seek out low problems with good landings, and experiment with the various topping-out techniques. Gradually increase the difficulty.

>>If you really want to excel on topouts, you need to figure out if you have a side. Do you favor pushing down with one arm, or high-stepping with one foot? The rock will dictate how you must climb, and it doesntcare about your preferences, so spend time improving your weaker side and you may find yourself doing a lot fewer beached whales.

Recover Faster: How To Perform A Healing Self-MassageLoosen tight forearmsand prevent injurywith these simple steps By Terry Cross / Photos by Ben Fullerton

Doing a ton of what you love (climb, train, climb, climb, train, repeat) naturally makes muscles tight, sore, and knottedespecially those forearms! Without effective recovery, you can experience a drop in performance, an increase in pain, or even worse, injury. The key to quick recovery is flushing out lactic acid

and metabolic waste, so you can come back the next day feeling fresh and ready to crush. These simple self-massage procedures will help you do just that.

The Problem

Repetitive strain injuries (RSI) such as tendinitis dont just appear one day out of nowhere, hence the namerepetitive. When specific muscles are used intensely, they have a tendency to become shorter, dense, and sore. Muscle cells no longer easily slide or glide over each other to create movement. When muscles are chronically short, it creates a pull (or strain) on the spot where the muscles meet tendons and attach to bones, both at the elbow and through the wrist into the hand. This constant pulling can eventually blossom from latent, under-the-radar tension into chronic pain at the elbow or wrist. Plus, muscle tension limits comfortable range of motion (ROM), which reduces performance. Climbers and athletes of all types should strive for full range of motion, meaning the muscles move without pain or restriction within the complete range. Maintaining full ROM means enjoying your natural levels of strength and endurance with faster recovery times and fewer injuries.

The Solution

Learning and using sports massage therapy techniques on yourself will release tight muscles and help you regain full, pain-free ROM. Youve probably tried to do what people have done for the last few thousand years: rubbing the sore spot with your free hand. Youre on the right track, but that method will be tough to pull off, especially when both arms are cranked. The following steps will give you the correct techniques to be truly effective and make a difference in your recovery time. Step one is to do broad, general massaging in order to increase blood flow, flush lactic acid, and identify trigger points. Step two involves targeted pressure that will release these trigger points and restore your muscles full ROM.

The Guidelines

Use pain as your guide when applying pressure. Find and maintain the delicious ooooh, yes, hurts so good kind of pressurethe feeling that something good is happening to your muscles when you press withthe right movement. The too-much-pressure ouch kind of pain will bruise and damage your muscles, and theres nothing good about that.

Massage slowly to discover your own patterns of muscle use and trigger points. You will tend to have sore spots in the same places, specific to how you engage certain muscles. Do it as often as you brush your teeth: Start with two to three minutes, two to three times a day. Go for longer later when your muscles get used to it.

You can do this at any time: before, during, or after climbing. Before and during will keep you loose forthat particular day of climbing, while after will help your body recover.

Adjust your recovery expectations. It took weeks or months to create your problem, so allow your muscles to slowly (over the course of days or weeks) regain their full, pain-free ROM.

Drink more water than you normally would. Add two to three eight-ounce glasses to your usual water routine. This will hydrate muscles, help flush out the lactic acid, and be an integral part of your whole bodys recovery.

The Tool

Find the tool that works best for you. Use your imagination. Its all in how you use it. Technique trumps all, no matter the size or shape of your tool. Snickers aside, thats the truth.It should:

>>Amplify your massaging force with a concentrated mass, meaning it has a weight of one to three pounds(or more).

>>Have both a smooth surface and an edge, but not so sharp that it could cut you when pressing down.

>>Be low-cost or free and found anywhere.

Examples:

A smooth, hefty stone that you can hold with one hand, found on-site.

A brick.

A large beer or food can. Decide whether youre hungry or thirsty.

Upper Arms

You can use these methods for your biceps and triceps, too, which can harbor even more trigger points. Follow the listed steps, but while you hold the edge of your tool on an upper-arm spot, flex your forearm up (about 20 percent) then extend all the way down at the elbow. Seek out and work on new spots in the upper arms to recover tight muscles and regain full range of motion in that area.

Technique #1

Circulatory Massage

Nearly everyone who is ber-active with their arms and hands has small, painful bundles of tight muscle tissue, called trigger points, in the forearm, bicep, and tricep muscles. These trigger points limit ROM and can only be discovered by accurate touch, meaning you poke and probe until you find the sensitive spots oftight tissue.

Motion: Rest the offending arm on your thigh or on a table. Probe with the flat part or the edge of your chosen tool in a broad, circular motion with mild, general pressure. Move a couple of inches at a time, slowly and thoughtfully feeling for soreness.

Effect 1: This stimulates general cellular exchange of nutrients and oxygen, and it brings blood to stagnant areas in order to help gently flush the cells of metabolic waste products.

Effect 2: It specifically locates sore trigger points so you can apply the next killer technique that will help you regain your ROM.

Technique #2

Active Release/Trigger Point Therapy

In my few decades of experience, this is the most effective therapy technique for regaining ROM. Some might find it painful at first, but its the most direct way to unstick tight muscles so they move properly and smoothly.

Motion: Probe for sensitive trigger points a few inches below the elbow on the outside of the forearm. The main bulky muscle there is the extensor digitorum; this very long muscle runs from the elbow into the hand and controls extension of the fingers, wrist, and elbow. Needless to say, its quite important for climbers. Find the specific sore spot, hold pressure on that spot with the tool edge, and then move the hand at the wrist to stretch the forearm muscle. You will feel it move under your tool edge. Change the angle to

approach the spot from all sides, and slightly alter movement of the tool to find what hurts the most. The pain will move and shift. Seek that good pain.

Effect 1: Regains ROM like no other technique. The pressure unsticks those tightly bundled muscle cells from each other, so they lengthen and release the tension, preventing the pull on their tendon attachments.

Effect 2: Gives you the awareness and confidence to maintain your arms and prevent injury.

Training: 7 Simple Drills To Improve Footwork And TechniqueFantastic feet By Dave Sheldon / Illustrations by Supercorn

Youve surely heard this once (if not a thousand times) before: Climbing is all about your feet. However, when a fellow climber recites that adage, its generally not followed with a detailed explanation about how and why your feet are important, so it can be confusing and frustrating and maybe not mean much at all in the end. So listen up, as thats about to change. Two people who know a few things about improving footwork are 5.14 climbers, brothers, and training experts Mike and Mark Anderson, who together authored The Rock Climbers Training Manual. Theyve compiled a list of guidelines and drills that will help you improve your footwork and become a better climber overall. Soon youll be spreading the adage, toobut with the knowledge and experience to back it up.

Why?Footwork is typically the last skill addressed when climbers try to progress. Thisbias is not surprising since emphasis is almost always put on upper body strength,but learning to optimally place and weight your feet reduces strain on yourforearms and puts your body in a position to efficiently reach the next set ofhandholds. Plus, the muscles in your legs are larger and have more stamina thanyour arms, so the more propulsion you can get out of those stems, the better. Thenet result is climbing that feels anywhere from a little to a whole lot easier.

When?Do these on toprope or bouldering close to the ground, so you can focus on themovement instead of worrying about falling. Set aside dedicated practice time twoor three times a week; you can easily incorporate the exercises into a 20- or 30-minute warm-up. Pay attention to how your body feels (sensory feedback) whileperforming the drills, and practice them frequently. Your new skills wont becomepart of your on-the-rock repertoire unless they are natural and familiar. You canaccelerate this by attempting these drills on increasingly difficult terrain.

How?Wear tight-fitting, high-performance shoes. Strap on your redpoint kicks when redefining what you can effectively stand on and move off of. Your mileage gym shoes will be too sloppy and loose to get the desired result and practice.

Keep your feet low and move them frequently. Most gym routes encourage large movements between footholds. And while high-stepping or a wide stem may help you send the blue route, these techniques have much less value on real rock. When practicing, work to make small, frequent foot placements. Specifically, try making three foot placements for every hand move. Dont be surprised if you have to add intermediate feet that arent part of the designated route. Climbing in this style will train you to keep your body close to the wall and your weight, well, on your feet.

Focus on feet and body, not hands. Its easy to get fixated on hand sequences and simply put your feet on the biggest holds you can find. The gym offers an excellent place to experiment with how utilizing different foothold locations will drastically affect body position, which in turn, affects the use of handholds.

Weight footholds correctly. There is more to good footwork than just putting your piggies exactly where you want them. Once your feet are in position, concentrate on wrapping your toes over the hold while weighting your foot in a way that maximizes friction between hold and rubber. This requires a large amount of core strength and body awareness.

DrillsPrecision FeetGoal: Toe accuracy When boulder traversing or toproping, pick the best spot of every foothold you encounter and move your foot onto this exact location with great precision like a bulls-eye. Do not take your eyes off the foothold untilyour foot is perfectly placed. Move quicker as your skill level increases.

Foot StabGoal: Improve coordination Wear your shoes, stand in front of the wall, and balance on one leg. Reach out and accurately touch pre-selected foothold targets with your raised foot. For increased difficulty, pick targets that require tricky reaches and challenge your balance.

BlinkingGoal: Evaluate foot placement by feel Pick out a foothold and move your foot toward its exact location. Before your foot makes contact, close your eyes and finish locating the hold using spatial awareness. Keep your eyes closed until you have your foot securely placed. Evaluate your performance first through feel, and then open your eyes to confirm. Pick out the next hold and continue.

Jibs OnlyGoal: Simulate real rock and utilize bad holds Only allow yourself to use tiny screw-on foothold jibs, small divots, waves molded into the body of handholds, and natural features on the surface of the wall.

DownclimbingGoal: Focus on lower extremities Many people develop tunnel vision and focus only on what is directly above them and in reach of their hands. When stuck in this pattern, the hips, legs, and feet are easy to forget. Practice downclimbing and letyour feet lead the way as you shift your body to most effectively weight and utilize your feet.

Glue FeetGoal: Increase holding power and prevent slips Imagine that your toes become frozen to the hold as soon as you place a foot; you cant change the relationship between foot and holdno pivoting, tilting, or repositioning. Simply flex at the ankle when moving past the hold. Learn to establish and feel a wide contact area between your foot and the hold, and then work to maintain this maximum contact while the rest of your body moves.

ObserveGoal: Learn from others Watch advanced climbers on the exact route or boulder problem you just climbed. When in witness mode, analyze how they move and use their feet. Also, note which footholds they use and consider why. Another option is to watch World Cup competition climbing videos to glean footwork nuances that you can later apply to your own climbing.

Foothold handbookHow to get the best purchase on common gym holds

Pocket> Place pointed toe precisely in the opening> Press down with forefoot> Raise heel slightly to engage calf

Flat Wall> Smear like on a slab (p. 30)> Drop heel as far as possible to maximize contact> Bend toes upward to engage forefoot

Small Edge> Focus on the most positive section> Keep ankle at about 90> Wrap toes around hold

Sloper> Drop heel to maximize contact> Push toes and forefoot down> Stay up high on hold

The Comeback: Recovering From Climbing Injuries

By Majka Burhardt

Vipers look a lot like sticks. Thats a thought you never want to cross your mind when climbing. But 20 feet off the ground, with a broken puzzle of loose rock below me and a deadly Armenian viper slithering out of a perfect finger jam above me, it was the first thing that popped into my head. A moving stick, I thought. Cool.And then reality hit in the form of beady snake eyes and a flicking tongue: Dont get bit, and dont fall on thesketchy gear in the poor rock. Then came the mental clincher: Dont get any more injured than you already are, idiot.

Six months before landing in Armenia, Id reefed a ligament in my index finger. My doctor eventually mandated 21 days in a brace. On day 22, I stepped onto the tarmac in Yerevan. I hadnt climbed at all in sixweeks, or very hard or even that well in five months. Putting up a first ascent seemed like a perfectly logicalplan, until I was actually climbing. Our first day out, my good friend and climbing partner Kate Rutherford elegantly danced the rope up a 5.10 corner. She made it look good and easyher specialty. I got a third of the way up and made it look hard and awkward, or like I was trying to climb without using my left handbecause I was. I began to wonder if climbing in Armenia was really a good idea. Or climbing at all. Armenian vipers kill several local farmers every year. But I was less scared of the viper than I was of my own injured body and my inability to trust it completely in situations where I needed to.

Ive been climbing full-time for 17 yearsif you dont subtract the time Ive lost to my dozen injuries and recoveries. Ive recently coined a term for that time during recovery when youre still vulnerable: Twinkie climbing. In your peak physical condition, think of your body as a watertight vesselyou can contract everymuscle and move as a unit up rock or ice. When youre injured, the vessels integrity is compromised, and you are missing some fundamental contraction and cohesiveness in your body from either the actual injury or the mental fear and anxiety around that injury. Put another way, when youre injured, youre a Twinkie, and all you have to protect your core is soft, yellow cake.

Life would be great if we bounced back quickly to 100 percent after recovery. But the reality is that once you get back on the vertical horse, you are still in recovery. Comeback climbing takes patience and acceptance of your vulnerability. It takes stepping back to the grades you began at and working your way back up. Early on in my climbing career, I used to fight it. Id be determined to get back to whatever was myhardest grade, and Id end up a scared and leaking Twinkie. These days, I try to embrace the comeback and revisit moderate climbs. Turns out its wicked fun to not be scared when youre climbing. It also lets youclimb harder sooner. Im not saying I always get it right. Sometimes it takes a poisonous snake to remind me Im trying to come back the wrong way. Heres a cheat sheet Ive assembled from my eternal comebackcareer to help you on your next round.

*Some guiding thoughts: (1) This advice is meant to supplement that of your medical professional. But you already knew that. (2) Comeback climbing is best done on toprope. (3) For best results, do some cross-training with your comeback climbing: swimming, running, biking, walking, etc. (4) And remember this as anunbreakable rule: You are comeback climbing, not re-injuring yourself climbing. Climb. Rest. Recover. Got it?

WhiplashCulprit: Cars, other drivers, and elk. Awkward bouldering falls when your body rockets down can also causeit.

High-maintenance adjustment: Traveling on long plane rides with my own pillow to three dozen countries ever since.

Comeback strategy: Think back to when you started climbingwhether that was 25 years or 2.5 months ago. Think of the first climb you ever did when you realized you could actually do itthat you were a climber. Go do that route (or as similar a route as you can find). And then do it again. Find another climb at the same grade. And another. Look for routes that create a smile on your face because they are about the pure joy of movement. These will be your anchor climbs. Think two to three grades below your fighting grade (5.10a climber? Hop on 5.7 and 5.8). Subtract more the harder you climb. Youre looking for cruiser terrain where you dont have to look up because you know your next hold will always magically appear when you need it. This will be easier on your neck and keep you moving and flowing and having fun. Start out climbing once every three to four days and only increase if nothing hurts more. Once you can do your anchor climbs five days a week, you can step it up to harder routes.

What to avoid: Steep climbing is not your friend when recovering from a neck injury because you want to avoid incessantly looking up. Pick slabs instead. Skip the runout leads and anything with potential for jostling falls.

Excuse to milk: Climb in groups of three and trade out the high-intensity leader belays for double toprope belays for your friends extra burns. Youll keep yourself from looking up too much and earn high marks for your generosity.

Broken FootCulprit: A microwave-size rock hit and rolled over my left foot in Red Rock, Nevada.

Unforeseen lingering issue: I had to drop out of hip-hop dance classes. I still cannot hip-hop dance.

Comeback strategy: Dave Knop, a PT, OMT, CSCS who owns Livevital Physical Therapy and Performance in Portland, Maine, offers this advice: Use this valuable time to shore up the leaks and strengthen any areas of weakness. Working on your core and back will pay dividends and can be done with little to no impact on your lower body.* Many classic gym exercises such as lat pull-downs, bicep curls, pushups, shoulder presses, and more can be done kneeling, emphasizing your core more than if you just sit, and helping you refrain from accidentally pushing on your foot. Added bonus: Youll end up a better climber in the long run with a stronger center (and have callused knees to talk about at parties). Other strategies include investing in comfortable and stiff climbing shoes to help your foot lever on edges. Baby your injuredfoot, enjoy juggy sport climbing, and use big foot holds to get your foot strong before relying on its edging power. Try out ice climbing if you havent alreadythe stiff boots and minimal foot articulation may allow you to get outside and climb sooner.

What to avoid: One-legged climbing. Some climbers get away with continuing to climb, boot/cast/brace andall, but I suffered a shoulder injury a year later that I blame on overusing on my arms to save my leg. Also, avoid bouldering and runout routes. This is not the time to fall.

Excuse to milk: Give your partners the foot-crushing flared crack leads and follow in your approach shoesyoull whine less, and theyll feel like a hero.

*This plan works for any lower-extremity injury.

Shoulder Injury or SurgeryCulprit: Overuse.

Best & worst moments: Asking out the surgeontwicewho operated on me when coming out of anesthesia.

Comeback strategy: Rediscover the truism climbing is all about your feet. Enjoy moderate slabs and stemming corners, and look for climbs that have twice as many holds as you need (i.e., think of the climb youd take your 60-year-old uncle whos never climbed onpick that one). Spend more time looking at yourfeet than your arms, scanning for holds and concentrating on strong foot placements. Youll come out seeing more micro foot edges and smears that will help you become a better climber down the road.

What to avoid: After one painful and failed attempt to grab a hold at maximum reach, I started picturing myself as having T-rex arms that could not fully extend. Have a T-rex circle of power (about half your normal reach) where every hold has to exist in order to use it. As your shoulder heals, your circle of power and holds will expand until youre working at full reach.

Excuse to milk: Awkward side-reachy things will be hard for a whilefor seven years and counting if yourelike me. If you have a previous shoulder injury, you have an escape hatch for life about not being able to doa one-arm sideways dyno.

Pesky KneeCulprit: No idea.

Added benefit: Got to see the shoulder doctor again. Almost went for the asking-out hat trick, but finally found self restraint.

Comeback Strategy: If youre cleared for cycling but not big hikes, expand your list of potential climbs by adding a ride to and from the roadside crag. Youll get a better all-around workout and burn off your post-injury angst in a safe way on the ride instead of trying to bear down on the wrong foothold on-route. Knop adds, Cycling or taking a spin class can be an effective method of circulating the synovial fluid for

continued joint nutrition. During times of weight-bearing restriction, cycling serves as a relative deload with an added conditioning benefit.

What to avoid: Offwidths, kneebars, massive stems, and anything that creates serious strain and twist on your knee will be out for a while. Pick similar climbs as suggested for the broken foot on the previous pagei.e., big foot holds, easier grades, and climbs where you can move fluidly.

Excuse to milk: Im a trad climber tried and true, and I used my knee injury in an attempt to be a better sport climber and work on my climbing weaknesses. I made two things clear to everyone I climbed with: I was hurt, and sport climbing had never been my thing. With expectations (mainly mine) lowered, I could keep climbing and enjoy new terrain and a different climbing style.

Back SurgeryCulprit: One fall off a ladder, one decade of carrying heavy packs, and two parents worth of bad back genetics.

Extra punch: Ten percent of microdiscectomy surgeries fail. Always a striver, I made that 10 percent and got a second one (not) free.

Comeback strategy: Back surgery is big. I had to go back to the very beginning to return to climbing. Think moderates with zero approach, zero danger, and zero strain. This is a great time to go back to those anchor climbs or find new ones if youve moved. Dial back your gymnastic climbing and climb more one-dimensionallyas in, climb more ladder-style routes with minimal pivots and twists. My back rehab with myPT was all about my core, and this was key to climbing. Employ the T-rex idea from shoulder comebacks, and extend the thought to your legs as well as arms. You want to be a safe, predictable, and tight unit, slowly expanding into the 360-degree realm, 20 degrees at a time.

What to avoid: The sharp end can feel exceptionally sharp post-back surgery. It did for me. The biggest thing I had to avoid, accordingly, was my ego when I handed over the rack to my partners. That happensor shouldwith any comeback, but with back surgeries, it had to happen for longer. Make sure your partners are extra careful about keeping you tight above ledges and off the ground so you dont bounce on toprope.

Excuse to milk: Develop your bartering skills and offer to buy the beer, bake the cake, or man the grill in exchange for carrying a lighter pack to the crag. If your climbing partner is still unwilling to shoulder more ofthe load, launch into a diatribe about the meds you were on and how they affected your digestion. Chancesare hell grab the extra gear and take off for the crag at a trot.

Finger LigamentCulprit: Underuse post-ice climbing season followed by pulling too hard during spring rock climbing on a two-finger pocket at Cathedral Ledge, New Hampshire.

Odd benefit: Belaying also made it hurt, so ability to claim princess status in teams of three.

Comeback strategy: Avoid vipers. Rediscover and find big, moderate routes with long approaches so that each climb takes longer to do and you rest your hands by spending 80 percent of the climb hiking. Enjoy the additional cardio fitness this gives you and start exploring some of the gems in the mountains youve never done. I was able to ice climb all winter on a hurt finger because the grip on ice tools didnt pull at my ligament. I kept current in the (frozen) vertical and was able to focus on hard ice and mixed climbing objectives instead of being tempted to pull on my finger just to check and see how it was doing.

What to avoid: Finger cracks (shocker) and tweaker holds.

Excuse to milk: Climbing never felt finger-dependent until I hurt my finger. Express wonder at how such a

little thing can hurt so much, and climbers around you will fear for their own fingers and give you a breakaka, look the other way when you reverse your hand position and barn door each time you try to ascend.

At my most optimistic, Id tell you my finger injury is my last. But I know that might not be true. And if theresone thing Ive learned through all of this, its that I can get through, over, and beyond any injuryand that that process will make me a better human by making me see the world beyond my injury, and beyond climbing. The added bonus is that better humans make better climbers, no matter what.

Have you had an injury that I havent sustained in my illustrious career? Most likely one of the above strategies in that given zone will work for yours, too. Above all, remember this: Injury is never easy. I remindmyself of that each time I get one. But Ive also come to cherish the process of the comeback. There is something about returning to climbing at its simplest and easiest to remind you of who you are and why youclimb in the first place.

Stretch and Strengthen6 yoga poses to ease aching hiking muscles By Amanda Fox

Stretching is an often-overlooked aspect of the pre-climbing routine. The following stretches pull double duty; not only do they lengthen your muscles, tendons, and ligaments for the approachtherefore preventing injurybut they also provide more mobility and flexibility on the wall so you can climb smarter and stronger. Pick and choose from the following stretches, or do all of them at the trailhead or before you leave basecamp. Hold each posture for at least 10 slow breaths.Frog poseOpen your hips to reduce strain on the knee joints

Start on all fours. Bring your forearms to the floor and clasp your hands. Widen your knees one at a time, as far apart as possible; knees are bent at a 90-degree angle. Flex your feet and keep your tailbone slightlytucked.Supine spinal twistRelax and realign the spine

Lay on your back with your arms straight out to thesides, palms up and forming a T, legs extended. Bendyour left knee into your chest, and lower the knee to thefloor on right side of your body; try to keep bothshoulders on the ground. Turn your head to the left todeepen the stretch. Hold, and repeat on the other side.Reclining big toe poseStretch the entire lower body to relieve backaches andstrengthen the knees

Lay on your back, legs extended. Use a strap (or towel or beltsomething that doesnt stretch) and loop it around the left foot, a couple inches below the toes. Straighten the left knee and press the heel up toward the ceiling, flexing the toes toward your face. Walk hands up the strap until the elbows are straight. Hold, and repeat on the other side.Seated forward bendCalm the brain and stretch the spine, shoulders, and hamstrings

Supine spinal twist

Sit with both legs extended in front of you, feet together and flexed toward your face. Move the flesh out from underneath your glutes. Reach forward and grab a hold of your big toes with your middle and index fingers and thumbs (think: your peace sign fingers). Keep your spine as straight as possible (dont hunch or round your back). Try to keep the legs straight as you pull your toes, extending from the heels. Look forward, not down, and continue straightening your legs and spine.One-legged pigeon poseOpen up the shoulders and chest, and lengthen thethighs, groin, and hip flexors

Begin in plank (or pushup) position. Bring right knee toright wrist and angle right shin so that your right footcomes close to your left wrist (its OK if your right foot iscloser to your groin). Lower your left knee and top ofthe foot to the ground; the leg should extend straightbehind you, not off to the right or left. Lower your upperbody to rest on the top of the right thigh, and extendyour arms in front of you. Hold, and then repeat on theother side.One-legged king pigeon poseStretch the quads and open the hips

Sit with both legs extended in front of you. Bend yourright knee and place the foot on the floor close to theglutes (less than 90 degrees); shin should be about perpendicular to the floor. Shift around to bring the left leg straight back and lay the top of the thigh on the floor, fully extended. Bend the left knee and raise that shin perpendicular to the floor. Grab the left foot with the left arm and gently pull the foot toward your glute. Keep chest lifted and press elbows toward ceiling. Hold, and then repeat on the other side.

Strong Circuits: Quick and Focused Workouts for Peak Performance

By Rob Pizem

As a full-time high school teacher, husband, pro climber, and father to two young boys, I dont have a ton oftime to devote to training for climbing. What matters most in a workout is getting the most bang for my buckthis means short but intense workouts that keep me strong. I dont climb or boulder much anymore during the week, but the circuits Ive developed with the help of top trainers keep me at or near my peak level of performance and can do the same for you. These circuits focus less on endurance, which I can get back by volume climbing (focusing on a lot of pitches in a day) on the weekend or just one night a week. Toround out my training, I include climbing-specific movements like campusing, hangboard, or my own exercises once a week for an hour to an hour and a half. (Check out climbing.com/skill/training for suggestions on campus and hangboard workouts.)

Circuit Breakdown:

Train for about 45 minutes twice a week.

Choose eight different exercises, which will be divided into two groups of four.

Within each group of four, there should be one exercise each for upper body, leg, and core, and the fourth should be an isolated pair of oppositional muscles

One-legged pigeon pose

(core/lower back, biceps/triceps, chest/upper back; choose one muscle for thefirst group and the other muscle forthe second group).

Perform each exercise for 40 seconds; give yourself three seconds to switch between exercises.

Complete four rounds, where one round is completing all four exercises once (160 seconds of work plus transition time). Dont stop after completing each round; keep pushing until you have completed each exercise four times for a total of 16 movements, and then rest for five minutes.

Repeat the above steps with the second group of movements, and then take another five-minute rest.

Finish the circuit with five straight minutes of thefollowing core exercises: 1 minute forearm plank

1 minute dolphin pushups (fig. 1): Start in a pushupposition and walk your feet forward until your hipsreach 90 degrees. Keep legs straight while you dopushups.

Two 30-second, one-arm planks: Alternate arms.

1 minute toe touches: Lie on your back with legs upand hips bent at 90 degrees, heels to the ceiling;reach hands up to touch your toes.

1 minute scissor-kick crunches: Lie on your back and raise legs slightly up so hips are bent at 30 degrees; move left leg under right, and then left leg over right while holding a crunch position with upper body.

I have a list of nearly 100 that I choose from; because it would be silly to list them all, here are my favorites from each category. If youd like to create your own, closely analyze the type of moves you make while climbing (e.g., locking off, crossing through, flagging, etc.), and then integrate an established exercise that works those muscle groups. Often I combine multiple exercises/movements to make coordinationhugely important in climbinga major factor in my workouts.

Upper Body

Mountain man: Use a rope on a pulley hanging from the ceiling, with a climbing hold attached to each end of the rope. (Free-hanging holds like Metolius Rock Rings are excellent for this.) Pull off the ground, movingone arm all the way down in a lock-off position and hold for a few seconds. Then pull the other hand down and hold for a few seconds. Repeat. Increase the challenge by wearing a weight vest or using smaller holds.

Campus board touches: Reach as high as you can with your first hand, latch the hold, and then come back to your starting position. Repeat without coming off the board. Use a foothold to make it easier, or smaller holds to make it harder.

Around the world: Use a pull-up bar to lock off with your head just below the bar. Stay locked off and change your position by moving one hand at a time, so youre now facing the opposite direction. Continue going around the world while maintaining the lock-off; dont swing your body wildly as you swivel around.

Offset pull-ups: Throw a towel over a pull-up bar or hang a hold on it so you have something to grab thats about a foot lower than the bar itself. With one hand on the bar and the other on the towel/hold, do pull-ups.Alternate the high hand each round.

Fig. 1: dolphin push-up

Legs

Box jumps: Using both feet, jump up onto a raised box or object; your entire foot should be on the box. Then jump back down without pausing. Repeat.One-leg squats (fig. 2): With one leg straight out infront of you, squat down on your other leg until yourbutt hits the heel of your foot, and then stand back up.Do this for the full 40 seconds, and alternate legs eachround. Add dumbbells to make it harder or use the wallfor balance to make it easier.

Lunges with press: Use a pair of light dumbbells (abouteight lbs. each) and press them up straight over yourhead while you lunge forward. Alternate legs with eachpress/lunge.

Steps: Step up onto a box or raised object, match feet,and step back off with same leg. Alternate legs witheach step. Use a taller box or add dumbbells toincrease difficulty.

Fig. 3: paint cans

CorePaint cans (fig. 3): Grab two paint cans (or something of similar height) and place them side by side on the floor about shoulder-width apart. Place hands on the lid of each paint can and assume the pushup position.Do a pushup, tuck your legs under your body, and then extend them in front of you without touching the floor. Hold for two seconds, and then bring them back under your body and into the starting position. Repeat.

Fig. 2: one-legged squats

Bridge (fig. 4): Lay on your back and place both feet flat on theground and shoulder-width apart. Raise hips as high as you canwith hands on the ground, palms down, along your side. Extendone leg out or balance feet on a stability ball for more of achallenge.

Dip-bar leg raises: Use a dip bar to lift your body up until your armsare extended and locked. Keeping legs straight, raise them untilthey are parallel to the floor. Lower them until theyre at a 45-degreeangle to the floor. Repeat the raise, making sure not to let your legsdangle freely. Make it easier by doing it on your elbows, or make itmore difficult by holding light dumbbells between your toes.Side elbow plank (fig. 5): Lie on your side, with forearmon floor (elbow directly below your shoulder). Lift yourhips up so weight is on the outside edge of your bottomfoot and your forearm/elbow. Keep hips, shoulders,legs, and feet stacked and vertically in line with body.Alternate sides each round.

Oppositional

Core/lower back: Crunches and Supermans (Lie onstomach with arms extended in front of you, legsshoulder-width apart; lift arms, head, and feet straightup as high as they can go, lower slowly.)

Biceps/triceps: Bicep curls and overhead tricepextensions

Chest/upper back: Pushups and bent-over rows (See climbing.com/shoulders-hipsfor a description of this exercise.)

Climbing Specific*These moves are performed on a systems board or hangboard.

Repeater: Choose a hold on the systems board that is a weakness for you (e.g., a pinch or sloper; ideally, there are pairs of similar holds lined up on the board). With fixed feet (meaning they dont move during the exercise), grab on to a set at the same level, and then reach up to the next set one hand at a time. Without moving your feet, reach back down to the starting point. Repeat the movement, and alternate the leading hand.

Around the block: Choose a hangboard that has four different types of holds (sloper, crimp, jug, and pocket). Grab the slopers and pull off the ground. Without touching the floor, go around the block by moving one hand at a time to the crimps, then to the jugs, and then to the pockets. Order doesnt matter, but keep repeating. Use your feet or pick big holds to make it easier.

Cross-through: Using the systems board, choose two good holds to start from and set your feet on the footholds. Lock off the left hand, and reach as far left as you can with your right hand (keeping feet fixed), and then latch a hold. Bring right hand back to the beginning and repeat; switch the locked-off hand each round.

Flag-and-clip: Choose a good left hold on the systems board and place your left foot directly beneath you on a good foot. With your free hand holding a length of climbing rope and your right foot flagged behind

Fig. 4: bridge

Fig. 5: side elbow plank

your left leg, clip a hanging quickdraw that is almost out of reach. Keep repeating, and alternate hands each round.

How to Rest for Redpoint AttemptsRecover properly to send projects By Dave Wahl

You've just fallen off your project for the fifth time, and now you're back on the ground wondering what to donext. You're still psyched and ready to give it another go, and that forearm burn isn't too bad. But should you rest? If so, how long? Should you keep moving or conserve energy? Hard bouldering and sport climbing dont fatigue a body as much as running a marathon, which can take even an elite runner several days to bounce back from. But how quickly you recover and how well your body is fueled greatly affect yourclimbing performance.

Every effort on a problem or route spends stored energy. When that energy is depleted, you feel fatigued, and your performance can suffer. What you do to mitigate that will be a deciding factor for sending your project or trying again another day. There are so many performance variables (conditioning, temperature, skill set, nutrition, anxiety) that the best recovery formula will be unique to each climber. Explore the following four physiological components to determine what strategy is best for you.

1. Length of resting time

While there are numerous elements to consider (age, climbing experience, current fitness, etc.) when determining how long you should rest between burns, recent sports-science research has indicated that a 5:1 rest-to-work ratio is an excellent starting point. That means you should rest five minutes for every one minute you "work"; in this case, climbing is work. If you"re on a problem for approximately 30 seconds, thenrest at least 2.5 minutes between attempts.

Climbs with harder holds or moves (think small holds on an overhang) can increase rest time, while climbs with more static postures (think technical and vertical) can decrease resting time. Assuming it is a project atyour limit, erring on the side of more rest is better. For sport climbers, a good starting point is to rest about 20 minutes between burns. Rapid-firing your boulder project, or jumping on it before you're properly warmed up, is something I did for years before one of my stronger friends told me about how legendary Swiss climber Fred Nicole approaches projects at his limit. Nicole waits for the right temperature, strives formental "readiness," warms up properly (climbing easier problems, active stretching, etc.), and focuses on all-out effort.

2. Posture

Stuart McGill, in Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance, a book many strength coaches consider the bibleof core-strength literature, describes research that shows loss of core strength when seated in "prolonged lumbar flexion," or sitting hunched over on your crashpad. If you sit this way for 20 minutes or more at one time while out bouldering, you lose significant neurological signaling to your spine extensor muscles, and you will have to warm up again. This not only wastes precious time, but also increases fatigue. Instead, sit against a support of some sort, with your back in a neutral positionnot bent or twisted, but straight and relaxed. Research has also shown that active rest is best; rather than climbing more, simply take a 15-minute walk along the base of the crag.

3. Stretching

Contrary to popular belief (and what you might see everyclimber doing), static stretching of the forearms might domore harm than good. This type of stretchingwhereyou keep your arm still and pull the hand forward orbackwardreduces strength at the muscle-tendonjunction while you're climbing. If you feel you muststretch, hold it for less than five seconds at a timethisshould not reduce strength. However, all climbers shouldstatically stretch after climbing. Focus on forearms,biceps, lats, and shoulders to maintain flexibility andpromote muscle recovery so you can climb or train infollowing days.

Training expert and author Eric Hrst(trainingforclimbing.com) recommends G-Tox (shakinghands above and below heart level for five secondseach) mid-climb and between climbs, which will reduceblood pooling in the forearms. You can also try somemassage techniques (fig. 1): With a knee in the crook ofyour elbow, push down on your forearm. Move your hand up, down, left, right, and in circles to move blood through your arms, which will decrease the pump.

One body part you should stretch just before climbing is your hips. Climbers generally have inflexible hips, and the gain in flexibility can outweigh minimal strength loss because it's such a large and powerful muscle group. Hip turnout with the inner thigh against the wall is very important to create good body position, and many men (especially over 30) are super tight this way. You can stretch these muscles by standing with feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointed slightly out. Drop your butt straight down between your feet. Useyour elbows on your inner thighs to push your legs outward as you sit deeply in the stretch (fig. 2).

4. Nutrition

Eating the right foods to fuel you and keep your body runningwhile climbing is just as important as what you consume whiletraining. You need carbohydrates and protein for energy,performance, and recovery. Recent sports-science studiessuggest that carb intake during (not just before or after) longerbouts of high-intensity activity (like a full day of climbing) canimprove performance, and consuming protein will assist in theshort-term absorption of those carbs. Along with that,carbohydrate ingestion 10 to 60 minutes before climbing willensure optimal performance. Simple sugars are best: Yourmuscles get the energy delivered quickly, and theyre easier todigest. Fruit is ideal, especially high glycemic-index foods likebananas and grapes.

Consuming carbs during a day of climbing is individualized, inthat it depends on the difficulty of the climbing or boulderingand whether your digestive system can handle carb-heavysnacks while working hard. If you can't stomach bars or wholefoods, then a drink with simple sugar (e.g., Gatorade) will

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

suffice; that sugar is what you need (ideally along with some caffeine and electrolytes) to perform at maximum capacity. Carbohydrate absorption is typically around 0.5 to 1g/min; therefore, only small amounts of carbs at a time are necessary (think a Hershey Kiss candy or half a banana). Consuming a littlebit at a time is easier for your body to absorb and utilize; plus, a small amount will be less likely to upset your stomach while you're working hard.

It's also important to stay hydrated throughout a day of climbing, and the best way to monitor your level of hydration is to check urine color. It should be light yellow to clear; the darker it gets, the more dehydrated you are and the worse your performance will be. Dehydration leads to muscle cramps, limits flexibility, and adds to your fatigue. A general guideline is one to two cups of water per hourmore if you're in high temperatures or at altitude. Below is a quick formula to determine how much carbs and protein youll need in a day when climbing, based on your body weight:Bouldering: Approximately 2.2g carbs/lb. and 0.7g protein/lb.

Sport Climbing: Approximately 3.3g carbs/lb. and 0.7g protein/lb.

Rest period refresh

DO THIS Sip a drink with sugar and caffeine.

Eat a small bite of fruit.

Watch a video of your climb and review it for mechanical flaws.

Stretch your hips.

Sit in a neutral position with back straight.

Wait 20 minutes between burns if sport climbing, or use a 5:1 rest-to-work ratio.

NOT THIS Don't jump on your project without properly warming up.

Don't rope up to climb immediately after your partner lowers.

Don't statically stretch your forearms right before climbing.

Don't eat too little or too much.

Don't sit hunched over on a crashpad.

Treat an Injured AnkleAssess and splint an injured foot to prevent further damage By Bryan Simon

The potential for injury while climbing outside is frighteningly infinite, and boulderers sometimes feel the pain more than anyone, with their repetitive high-impact landings on rocky and unfriendly terrain. The most common non-finger-related injury among boulderers is a sprained or broken ankle, and while its not alwayspreventableno matter how many crashpads you stackit is easily managed in the field. The following is a simple technique for both sprained and fractured ankles that involves assessing the injury and then splinting it for stabilization and preventing more harm. By using available resources, knowledge, and creativity, anyone can assist an injured friend and get him to care.

Three Parts of Assessment

A. After making sure there are no more immediate or life-threatening injuries (i.e., no head trauma and he isbreathing, warm, well-hydrated, and not bleeding todeath), evaluate the ankle. Remove climbing shoes; theyare not comfortable to begin with, but with a sprained orfractured ankle, they will only become worse. And unlikehiking or mountaineering boots, they have no ability tosupport or splint an injured ankle. Open any laces orVelcro straps as wide as possible and slowly wiggle theshoe off. It might be very painful and difficult, but thesooner the shoe is off, the fewer problems it will cause down the road. Signs of a serious injury (fracture or sprain) include: obvious deformity, tenderness/pain, inability to bear weight, rapid swelling or bruising, crepitus (a crunching or popping sound when moving the ankle), and loss of normal movement (or movement that is not normal).

B. Determine if the climber has circulation, sensation, and movement (CSM) in his foot. Can you feel pulses in the climbers foot? Pulses in the dorsalis pedis artery and the posterior tibial artery are difficult to locate sometimes even for an experienced professional. The dorsalis pedis artery is located on the top and outside of the most prominent ridge of the foot (tibial s