Be creative - don't just follow a protocol

Some 20 years ago, there existed very few fixed boulders in the gyms. Instead, everyone had to be creative putting up new boulders on the spray walls. In the same way, beta videos of routes and boulders were rare, meaning that climbers were constantly challenged finding the sequences.

When it comes to training, very few protocols existed and most of the best were just climbing and possibly experimenting with training. Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra became the best climbers in the world without having had a coach or a fixed training program.

Today, a whole industry of online training has emerged, providing shortcuts to advancement in grades. This is, of course, a good thing, but at the same time such structured approaches might reduce climbers' creativity and you can get injured. Furthermore, following a protocol with the only purpose of getting stronger as quickly as possible might make you lose your climbing lifestyle perspective. It might also be that you will lack technical and tactical skills in comparison to your physical strength.

A balanced approach of following structured advices as well as maintaining and developing the creativity is preferred, especially for the kids.