STOP Trying To Train Like The World's Best Climbers | ft. Will Anglin 

Why is will roasting me so hard

Great video. I think that this happens in all sports, but it's painfully obvious in climbing due to the high risk of pulley injuries. In cycling you may try to train like your favourite tour de france champion but you'll get way too tired and exhausted before you do something stupid enough to break yourself. But in climbing you jump to the moonboard a bit too early or pull a bit too hard on the hangboard and boom, 6 months out. There's also an overabundance of intermediate/advanced climbing content and not that much good beginner advice. For example, I started hangboarding recently after many pulley strains and my current protocol (1x a week, before any climbing, at least 2 rest days before the hangs, 3 10s hangs in open hand/half crimp/full crimp in 22mm edge with minus 15kg) is something that I had to come up with myself after consuming a lot of intermediate/advanced hangboard info, understanding what works for me and dialing down the knobs a lot with respect with what people on videos do.

CAT!

Love the cat on the background....and the idea as well :)

The one thing everyone should actually add to their routines that pros do religiously is board climbing. A lot of people will hop through mental gymnastics and a million coping mechanisms to avoid board climbing. I don't get it.

In wonderfully ironic fashion, this video was followed by an ad for Masterclass, and I think that encapsulates the same idea. Pretty sure you're not going to become an astrophysicist by watching Neil wave his hands around for a bit. Same thing happens in Skateboarding, some mid-thirties guy with a beer gut and poor posture will buy a complete from the mall, go to a parking lot by themselves, record an attempt at an ollie and then post it to reddit asking "How's my attempt? Any Tips?". That's why I intentionally didn't buy fancy shoes when I first started bouldering, I got some basic crap, because I know that any sport or hobby takes long-term commitment and enthusiasm, and if I'm still into a year later maybe I'll consider why/what better kit I need.

I don't care about doing like the pros. i just want to climb 9c.

Thank you for putting this out. I am 59 years old. I started climbing at 58. I would love to climb like Ondra, but I know that might be out of reach for me. I climb to stay in shape, and find it is the best workout for someone my age. (any age if done right) The intense training of the pros would likely cause injury and derail my overall fitness regime.

Thank you for words of wisdom and common sense. And yeah, Animals As Leaders hoodie

Yeah, definitly not enough emphasis on many important facets of climbing. Inspiration, enjoyment, the ability to reflect and identify weaknesses and potential injuries for example. Fear of falling/failure is another that I notice having a huge impact on most climbers, often unnoticed. Hangboarding and board climbing are still super useful tools though, even for intermediate climbers. You just need discipline and self awareness to use them effectively without injuring yourself.

"3 months out, I'm ready to train....what's Adam Ondra doing?" Nailed it. I think the internet really pushes these unrealistic ideas as people aren't willing to do deep dives and take stock of themselves and would rather fast forward through a video, not think about what they're doing at all, and injure themselves. I see it in the gym all the time. Anglin wrote what I think is the best article about hangboarding that nobody knows about called "Hangboarding: A Way" where he discusses training, metrics, and application. Every climber who sticks with the sport for more than a few months and wants to get more serious about training should read it.

I think people who get ahead of themselves tend to be naturally gifted. Ive gotten WAY ahead of myself. Ive started climbing last april and now climbing v6. Theres a younger guy who started in last august and hes already climbing v7. Even with that extra few months of ezperience, ive been urging him to take it slow and not get injured like i did.

Exactly. I often say that what Tiger Woods eats for breakfast has a huge impact on his performance. But if I, a novice golfer, eat the same thing, it won’t improve my swing one bit. The pros are at a different level.

I have climbed and trained with guys who have climbed 8C +and 9A. I never made the mistake to try to be like them. They have a genetic advantage. That's ok. Train in order to progressively get stronger and don't make the cardinal error of comparing yourself to others. Rest properly and don't worry about needing to complete a certain work load each week. Enjoy your climbing. We all have different bodies and different minds, and we can all get different satisfactions from our climbing.

happens tons in gaming, motorcycles also have something similar, but that's more like the normal dunning-kruger.

Will's ability to sit in that position for that long😵‍💫

You might not do exactly the same things that pros do, however the same training principles apply… so in a way it‘s totally legit to say I train like the pros. The hobbyist trains the same muscles as the pros with the same tools. Hangboarding is one of the safest (because best controlled) way of training. It‘s just that the levels are different what requires adaption of progressions.

Kitty ❤❤❤

For me as novice climber (5 months) main thing is to max training days. Every session gives improvements in technique. It's more important for me than raw power.

8.5 minutes of my life that I will never get back. Not a single bit of actionable advice or information. What an achievement.

People who are in that beginner/intermediate category often think that they need to train to get better. Generally they dont. Generally its purely just a lack of technique, or in other cases its that they are out of shape and that is holding them back. Once you get to the point of needing to train you will be able to tell what you need to train to progress, if you cant tell, then you just need to train technique. Thats the reality of it. If you know what your weakness is and whats limiting you then you train it. If you cant tell, its technique. If you constantly have injuries in a part of your body then thats usually going to indicate a weakness you should train. If your skinny and climbing v3s and getting injuries you dont need to train whatever your injuring, you just have some horrific technique. Doing some light hangboard sessions on days off or at the start of your session after a warmup isnt a bad idea for keeping fingers healthy, key word being light. Dont push it until you know what your doing, what the risks are and what the benefits are. Hangboarding or any other form of training isnt anywhere near as important as good technique, a mindset that motivates you, and consistency.

Imo he's being way to general with all of his statements. Saying very little with all the words he spoke. Like im sure he's seen a lot of beginners trying to be the best and hurt themselves but there is a ton of value at looking at the best climbers in the world and how they got there. You might have a long way to work up to their level but a lot of the ideas will be the same. Like a lot of high level climbers use hangboards to improve their static strength and almost every very high level climber I've heard of talks about the importance of trying as hard as you can in at least some of your sessions.

Completely agree with this. Most beginner and even intermediate climbers are at the levels these guys were at their first 0-12 months of climbing and things they are doing now are only applicable for intermediate to advanced climbers. When it comes to beginner and intermediate climbers one thing to take into account is that everyone starts in different shape and that creates different challenges. All climbers need to start strengthening their fingers (which they should know takes years) and improving technique but some also need to strengthen arms, back, legs, mobility etc whereas others are already strong enough in those categories. I think the key to figuring out how to improve at climbing is to do an assessment (or get a coach to do one) to determine where your strengths and weaknesses are and then figure out how to strengthen your weaknesses. I think already being strong (other than fingers) is actually a bit of a detriment/risk because it is easier to overdo it trying harder climbs (dyno to crimps/pockets etc) that your fingers aren't ready for. It would be nice to see more videos on self assessment for beginner climbers and then hints on how to proceed, things to avoid etc depending on your current level. I think most climbers figure out a lot of this stuff the hard way (like when I strained a pulley dynoing to a two finger pocket).

❤

You have to 'eat your veggies,' and not just try to skip to 'dessert.'

It's kind of like Michael Pollen's approach to eating: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Climb things, not too much, mostly rocks. Seriously though, know yourself, listen to your body, pay attention to your weaknesses and strengths, and build your climbing and training around that. What works for another, especially a pro or someone at a different level of climbing from you, won't be for you. Also, get a cat. Thanks, Will.

Very long way to say “you don’t take quantum field theory before you take intro calculus, therefore you shouldn’t train for V17 before V7”

Yes, you don't have to train like them, you have to train harder

Yes, and yes, and yes. I've been saying this to students for years. But let's developp for who's interested, i'll try to be efficient. For the very vast majority of climbers (let's say, under 7c/5.13 or 7B/V8 to give a reference, which can be super off), the absolute best strategy is to climb more. This can be achieved by climbing more, in volume (hours/week is a good approach), and this can be done by climbing more in focus. Climbing more focused is "simply" targeting some stuff (finger strength, rythm, power, positioning...) rather than "going to the gym". I've applied that to various people over the course lessons and the results are far more superior to anything else. I'm talking people going from 6a to 7a within a year, which by "internet standards" is not much, but for them, it's a whole new world. Then, another key aspect, for me, is the "5h/week". Again, that's an arbitrary number, but my rough estimate is that if you climb on average 5h/week or less, there should be no training. If that's what you want to dedicate to climbing, you're fine. Now keep in mind that grades achieved will be very different from people at this volume. My usual approach is then to get people up to this volume, to begin with, and try to be as focused as possible during this time. You can then enjoy the ride of climbing and see where this gets you. You might progress for several years by just doing this. If you find yourself in a situation where you want to push if further than this, performance wise, then you have to understand that you will need to add hours in. But addind even just one hour to 5 hours during a week is already a solid increase. Keep it light. Dont add 3 hours/week suddenly. Every hour you add in has to be a bit thought out. Why, and what will you do ? A good answer to this could be "i love climbing. I moved in recently closer to the gym and i now can climb more". That's fine. But, here's the catch : the more hours you put into, the less effective they are, and the more injury risk you expose yourself to. If you have absolutely no idea what to do, but still want to get further, my take would be to train strength, 1h/week. Cycle through the usual suspects (fingers, biceps, core, shoulders). Understand that this is a tiny bit for performance, and a lot about injury prevention, so how hard you perform on those exercices is not relevant. it should be challenging, but not hard. you can do this for several months, even a year, if that's your first time doing this. Now if you want to push it even further, there wil be a need to increase training rather than climbing. But. Guidelines : First, when you try something you've never done before, do it step by step and in little volume. if you've never tried spray wall, do it for 1h/week, starting on easy terrain. increase either intensity or volume (not both at the same time !), depending on how it feels. If you've never tried a "hard redpoint", like more than 5 or 6 tries, choose a project that you think could be done in...8/10 tries, not 20, etc. Second, observe around you what others are doing, and if it's working. There is very probably no pros around you, so you will actually see regular people doing effective stuff, not profesionnal athletes doing crazy things that won't suit you. Try to talk and climb with climbers you would like to be more akin to, because there is a good chance that what they're doing is making them climb like they do. if you want to climb more precisely, there may be little to be taken from the guy whose cutting off from each move. if you want to be more powerful, climbing with the ultimate "rest on crimps sufferfest recovery 35min attempts" climber might not get you there. Third, when you start implementing training, remember to check the balance between "real" climbing (spraywall, moonboard, and so on, usually do not fit in that category, because there is very little problem solving or position learning) and training. Rough estimate : about 2/3 climbing for 1/3 training is good.

Will clearly hasn't thought about this before because he comes out the gate with this really strong position but as he starts to try and explain it, he becomes less and less coherent. Oh so if I train like an athlete suddenly I'll get injured and dissapointed? Didn't really explain the link there. Oh because Adam Ondra uses a spray wall that means I shouldn't as a beginner? Huh that doesn't make any sense. Ultimately what Will wants to say is that climbers ought to focus on mastering the basics before trying the fancy stuff, and they should taper and manage their volume to avoid getting injured. Yeah that's correct, but all of the pros incorporate those systems into their training. So I would be training like a pro.

Imo, some of the most useless training info for the general public comes from pro/elite climbers who started when they were young kids.

This guy just spent 5 minutes saying absolutely nothing. People looking at pros and getting inspired happens in every sport, musical instrument, activity, etc He also never mentioned any specifics... what exactly should a beginner do that a pro doesn't? It's not even clear what he's talking about, it just sounds like gatekeeping frankly. "You have to climb at least 10+ years before you should even think about getting better"

I have been climbing 8 years consistently and I see these young guys who have only started climbing for 1 year or 2, pushing themselves to the limit all the time because they want to get to V10 in less than a year. Absolute stupid mentalilty. It's the same people who climb with almost all of their fingers taped up and don't even do rest days. They're going to break apart before they even get to V10. And fuck moonboard and kilter board clouts seriously. It's the worst kind of content for any beginner/intermediate climbers to look up to.

Not everyone is going to be a pro athlete but everyone should try to be........ this just sounds like nonsense..... alot of what makes a pro is outside of training... like diet and recovery. This guy is just the classic "it takes years to develop tendon strength".... it doesnt.... it took him that long because he made all the excuses he just listed off for others, for himself also.

Rule number one of climbing if you are new do not touch the hangboard. I have no idea why professionals keep recommending hangboards to new people it will only lead to finger injuries

I bet I'm not the only person who thought this was an episode of HONEST GUIDE 🥲