Campusboard training

Try this: http://www.moonclimbing.com/blog/school/campus-boarding/

you`ll find lots of videos on youtube..  general..  do it then not tired, ext. before climbing. dont overdo it..  you`ll not get better results doing 20 sett as to 5.. and open hand..  good luck and welcome to the world of tendinitis:)

You can start by doing recruitmen training, i.e. just try to do one or two moves as long as possible. The more you do it that more muscle fibres are recruited and the stronger you feel. I do not think this training is especially dangerous. The dangerous stuff is when you start doing doubble dynos, using crimp and reverse moves. Later you can start doing dead hangs, meaning hanging for like 15 seconds in intervalls.Good luck!

Thanks alot! I'll tryout one of these exersices today abd see how it goes.

Here is an article saying campus board training is not recommended under the age of 18. the reason for this is that the fingers is still growing until you are 18.

I would not suggest following Ben Moon's campus routine. The information on training and general outline are sound, however I personally believe that his "routine" is too intense, and much too long for any but the most elite climbing athletes.. and even then, I think it's too much in one session. Aim for 4-6 sets of approximately 5 repetitions, with around 5 minutes per set. Focus on laddering and skip-laddering. Quality over quantity, always campus when fully recovered from previous training and stop if any thing feels odd.

@Tye: What do you mean by "5 repetitions"?

Ah, I'll explain.  "Skip 1 ladders" Start on rung 1 with both hands. Rep 1- Left hand to rung 3. Rep 2- Right hand to rung 5. Rep 3- Left hand to rung 7. Rep 4- Right hand to rung 9. (most campus boards are done here, match and drop) This would be a total of 4 reps. I would normally suggest 5 sets, of approx. 5 reps, but that puts you going L,R,L,R,L.... and never getting another go with your right hand to start. So you need even numbers of sets on a campus board. . The interesting thing to think about is that you are only doing a 2-3 repetitions PER HAND if you campus this way. Whereas, you can campus to the top of the board leading left hand and to the top of the board leading right hand directly following with no rest. This way you have done around 5 reps per hand, 10 total. I simply choose to skew the campusing slightly more towards Strength and Power (less reps and more rest) and less so towards Power Endurance. (More reps per set, sets, less rest, etc.) I personally believe that it serves most climbers better to increase their raw strength and neurological recruitment. Also, tendons tend to respond better to higher intensity exercise, as opposed to higher volume.

Alternatively, if you were doing "no skip doubles": Start on rung 1 with both hands. Rep 1- Double to rung 2. Rep 2- Double to rung 3. Rep 3- Double to rung 4. Rep 4- Double to rung 5. Rep 5- Double to rung 6. Drop and rest.

I see. I'm looking for power endurance training here. I've started doing no skip ladders up and down, rest for 3-5mins and repeat for a total of 6 sets. not sure if it's working yet since i just started...

I definitely agree with your workout plan. Just watch your sets/reps and look for failure to complete. That means you are not recovered, in some aspect. It doesn't matter if you slept too little, ate too little, pushed too hard last time, or are stressed with other parts of your life. Recovery is recovery, and it MUST be at the forefront of your mind. Especially when working with the campus board where finger/elbow injuries are common. . That being said, I would suggest adding weight via a weight vest. Start with 3-4 lbs (This can be a substantial increase) and add less weight as you are unable to add. Moving down rung size is another option.. but it's really hard to know when to move down. I would love to be able to correlate rung size to poundage.. some day. More training and more research!

What about climbing down, skipping one rug and try to do it as slow as possible or even lookoff halfway? That's what I do. And when I am lazy or anything I just du pullups. One hand on rug3, one on rug 1 and as many as I can do each side.

Alex, I feel that down climbing on the campus board is not beneficial enough to outweight the strain put on your elbows. Plus, eccentric exercises are generally considered not worthwhile in terms of strength gain vs muscular damage done per training session. I would definitely ditch down climbing. If you feel like you are wanting to do up-and-downs on a campus board to work your Power Endurance, then I would campus up, drop and immediately get back on. The 1-2 seconds it takes to drop will not affect your training in any way. Similarly, going slowly (also known as "time under tension") is generally accepted as an inneficient way to train. You are not recruiting all the muscle fiber available, in a climbing specific way. Stick to powerful campusing, with a focus on total body tension and accurate finger placement on the rungs. I don't like lock off training for climbing personally. Weighted pullups train all the same muscles groups, through the exact same ranges of motion (and more), in a less intense manner. Especially on your elbows. That's not to say that isometrics don't have a place.. I just don't think that place is on the campus board. If you are doing lockoff's primarily for finger strength, then I would stick to the hangboard. It's more easily measurable, trackable and not hard on your elbow/shoulder joint.