Hörst - Conditioning for Climbers, The Complete Exercise Guide How To Climb Series

PHOTO BY ERIC McCALLISTER

An accomplished climber of more than thirty years, Eric J. Hrst (pronounced Hurst ) has climbed extensively across the United States and has established more than 450 first ascents. A student and teacher of climbing performance, Eric has personally helped train hundreds of climbers, and his training books and concepts have spread to climbers in more than fifty countries. He is widely recognized for his innovative practice methods and training techniques, and since 1994 he has served as a training products design consultant and online Training Center editor for Nicros, Inc., a leading manufacturer of climbing walls and handholds.

Eric is author of Training for Climbing, How to Climb 5.12, and Learning to Climb Indoors. He regularly contributes to outdoor and fitness magazines such as Climbing, Rock & Ice, Urban Climber, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Mens Health, Muscle & Fitness, Experience Life, and Mens Journal, and he has appeared on numerous TV broadcasts. Eric maintains a climbing performance blog for MountainZone.com and broadcasts monthly Training Tip podcasts at PodClimber.com. Visit Erics website, TrainingForClimbing.com, for training articles and information on all his books, or to schedule a training seminar, an editorial interview, or a speaking engagement.

Eric currently lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Lisa Ann, and his sons, Cameron and Jonathan.

Veteran hardman and La Sportiva USA president, Colin Lantz, bouldering in the Front Range of Colorado.

PHOTO BY STEWART GREEN, COURTESY HRST COLLECTION

The idea for Conditioning for Climbers came from the many climbers who urged me to write a book focusing solely on physical conditioning. Given the wealth of positive feedback on my previous books, I decided to accept this challenge and spend a year exercising my fingers on a keyboard. I hope that I meet or exceed the expectations of these climbers, and I thank all of those folks who have encouraged me.

My deepest gratitude goes out to all the climbers I have worked with or talked training with over the years, whether in person, by phone, or over the Internet. Its this interaction that inspires and energizes me to spend frequent late nights and weekends writing climbing books, at the expense of many a good nights sleep and the occasional missed weekend of climbing. Similarly, I am grateful for the climbing companies that continue to supportand enhancemy endeavors both on the rock and as a performance coach and author. Foremost I must thank Nate and Pam Postma, Greg, Kimberly, and everyone else at Nicros, Inc. You guys are such a big part of my various training projects, and I tremendously enjoy working with you all! Likewise, I thank Colin, Jonathan, and Stephanie at La Sportiva for keeping me climbing in the best shoes on the planet. Ditto to Carolyn, Jim, and Paul at Sterling Ropes for supplying my life-lines, and to Christian Griffith for the stylish threads that appear in many photos throughout this book.

The process of creating this book begins and ends with all the good folks at FalconGuides and The Globe Pequot Press. Many thanks to Jeff Serena, Scott Adams, Shelley Wolf, Casey Shain, and everyone who unbeknownst to me has helped enhance this book in some way. And what would this book be without the many beautiful instructional photos? Shooting these photos was a major production for me, and I appreciate everyone who contributed both in front of and behind the camera. Thanks to Eric McCallister, Randy Levensaler, Matt Calardo, Nikki Baillie, Laura Mae Hornberger, Josh DeGeorges, Jessica Rohm, Keith McCallister, Mark Himelfarb, Crystal Norman, and L.A. for lending your talents to this project. Many thanks also to Earth Treks and Cliffhangers for allowing me to shoot instructional photos on your great climbing walls!

Above all I am thankful for my wife, Lisa Ann, for her unconditional love, support, and understanding of the long hours it takes to write these climbing books. I similarly cherish the understanding and inspiration afforded to me by my sons, Cameron and JonathanI truly value our time together above all else! And to my parents: I am blessed to have you in my life and still following my climbing after more than three decades.

Climber on American Sportsman (5.10c), Red Rocks, Nevada. PHOTO BY ERIC J. HRST

Principles for Effective Conditioning

The key to excellent results is not training harder, but training smarter . Premeditating your workouts and acting in accordance with the principles of effective training are the essence of smart training.

Conditioning for climbing is as different from other sports training programs as vertical departs from horizontal. No matter your previous sports experience, you can probably forget much of what you learned about physical conditioning. Consider that it is leg strength and power that generally matter most in field and court sports, while exceptional cardiovascular conditioning and stamina are required for endurance sports such as running and biking. By contrast, the physical constraints of rock climbing relate mostly to arm and finger strength, upper-body power, and a high level of anaerobic endurance. Consequently, getting in shape for climbing requires a highly distinct conditioning program.

Conditioning for many traditional sports involves weight training to build strength and mass, which in turn yields more force and inertia for engaging the opponent. In climbing, however, you might view gravity as the lone opponent, with excessive body mass and lumbering, inefficient movement playing to her favor. Therefore, a climbers conditioning program should yield a maximum strength-to-weight ratio, not maximum lean mass. As a rough blueprint, the prototypical climbers physique should resemble the powerful-looking upper body of a gymnast merged with the lean lower body of a distance runner. Of course, we each possess unique DNA, and we all will come to climb at a high level with somewhat different-looking body builds. Trust that by committing to an intelligent, long-term conditioning program, your physique will gradually morph into the best shape for optimal climbing performance.