28 March 2021

Wide pyramid instead of long term projects

Almost all the best rock climbers have a wide grade pyramid, i.e. instead of just focusing on setting new grade PBs, they also enjoy climbing easier routes. In the long run, such an approach has shown to be the most successful in terms of long term improvement and making climbing your lifestyle.

Sure, quick progress is great, and in practice it is often quite productive to do some specific training and start a long term PB project. Lately, there are many great online coaches offering fast progress based on focusing on strength and endurance training. The dilemma is that such training focus could be counterproductive as your technical and tactical skill might not follow the same steep learning curve. Furthermore, if only focusing on progress, you might lose part of the climbing lifestyle where you also appreciate nature, friendship, travel, adrenaline etc.

One option for getting both sides could be to focus on creating a grade pyramid based on a multiplication *4 while you also follow a training regime. In other words, if your personal best is 7c+, make sure you have done four 7c+ and/or 16 7c's before starting to project an 8a. The good news is that such an approach is that your 8a project will be done much quicker, in comparison to if you just have a couple of 7c's in the bag.
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