Eric J. Hörst - The Rock Climbers Exercise Guide: Training for Strength, Power, Endurance, Flexibility, and Stability

Eric J. Hrst (pronounced Hurst) is an internationally renowned author, researcher, climbing coach, and accomplished climber of four decades.

A student and teacher of climbing performance, Eric has coached 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 training techniques and equipment, and he has been a training products design consultant and Training Center editor for Nicros, Inc. since 1994. Eric is author of eight books (with many foreign translations) with worldwide sales of over 300,000 copies. Erics popular texts include Maximum Climbing, Training for Climbing, How to Climb 5.12, and the gym climbing book Learning to Climb Indoors.

Eric has written more than one hundred magazine articles and appeared on numerous TV broadcasts, and his techniques and photos have appeared in many publications including Rock & Ice, Climbing, Outside, DeadPoint, Mens Health, Fortune, Mens Journal, Muscle Media, Muscle & Fitness, Paddler, Urban Climber, Parents, Wall Street Journal, Experience Life, Outdoor 4X, and National Geographic Adventure, as well as European magazines such as Desnivel, Alpen, Climax, and Climber. He has coauthored one research paper (Behavior Analysis and Sport Climbing, Journal of Behavioral Health and Medicine, 2010), with Dr. Richard Fleming. Eric is a member of the International Rock Climbing Research Association (IRCRA) and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

A self-professed climber for life, Eric remains active at the cliffs, traveling widely with his wife, Lisa, and sons, Cameron and Jonathan. Driven by his passion for adventure and challenge, he has established over 400 first ascents, primarily on his home cliffs in the eastern United States. Still pushing his personal climbing limits in his early 50s, Erics focus is now on R & D of new training techniques, traveling and sharing his knowledge with new climbers, and coaching the next generation of elite climbers. Erics website is www.TrainingForClimbing.com.

The idea for The Rock Climbers Exercise Guide came from the many climbers who urged me to write a book focusing solely on physical training. 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 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 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 the supportive crew at La Sportiva for keeping me climbing in the best shoes on the planet. Ditto to my friends at Maxim Ropes, DMM/Excalibur, Organic Climbing, Friction Labs, and Kuhl.

The process of creating this book begins and ends with all the good folks at Falcon and Globe Pequot. Many thanks to the editors and designer and anyone else 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 Chadd Gray, Jessica and Geoff Britten, Dana Bleiberg, Laura Mae Hornberger, Jessica Rohm, Mark Himelfarb, and Crystal Norman for lending your talents to this project. Many thanks also to Earth Treks, Spooky Nook Sports, Philly Rock Gym, and Vertical Endeavors 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. Similarly I cherish the help and support of my two rope-gun sons, Cameron and JonathanI truly value our time training and climbing together above all else! And to my parents: I am blessed to have you in my life and still following my climbing over the past forty years!

Muscular Anatomy

Maximum Climbing (FalconGuides, 2010) presents a climbers guide to the software of the brain, based on the premise that you climb with your mindyour hands and feet are simply extensions of your thoughts and will. Becoming a master climber, then, requires that you first become a master of your mind. In this breakthrough book, Eric Hrst brings unprecedented clarity to the many cognitive and neurophysical aspects of climbing and dovetails this information into a complete mental-training program.

How to Climb 5.12 (FalconGuides, 2011) is a performance guidebook to attaining the most rapid gains in climbing ability possible, and its written specifically for intermediate climbers looking to break through to the higher grades. It provides streamlined instruction on vital topics such as accelerating learning of skills, training your mind and body, and becoming an effective on-sight and redpoint climber.

Learning to Climb Indoors (FalconGuides, 2012) is the most complete book available on indoor climbing. Topics covered include beginning and advanced climbing techniques, tactics, strategy, basic gear, safety techniques, self-assessment, and a primer on mental training and physical conditioning. This guide includes everything you need to know from day one as a climber through your first year or two in the sport.

Training for Climbing, 3rd edition (FalconGuides, 2016), is the most comprehensive and advanced text ever published on the subject of climbing performance. Building on decades of experience and the latest climbing research, this voluminous tome presents a unique synthesis of leading-edge strength and power-training methods, tried-and-true practice strategies, and powerful mental-training techniques that will empower you to climb better, regardless of your current ability. Now in its third edition, TFC remains an international bestseller!